AP World News

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s parliament approved on Tuesday a government plan to dismantle an independent office that protects those who report corruption and other criminal activities. A total of 78 lawmakers representing the coalition government led by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico voted in favor of the move in the 150-seat parliament, despite critical

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — One by one, the soldiers squeezed through a narrow entrance to a tunnel in southern Gaza. Inside a dark hallway, some bowed their heads to avoid hitting the low ceiling, while watching their step as they walked over or around jagged concrete, crushed plastic bottles

By RAJESH ROY Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Microsoft on Tuesday announced its biggest-ever Asia investment, amounting to $17.5 billion, in India over the next four years to advance the country’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure. CEO Satya Nadella revealed this in an X post after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in

By MEGAN JANETSKY and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas on Tuesday called for more international pressure on Israel before the militant group moves forward with the next phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, with a Hamas leader saying it wants Israel to open a key border crossing, cease deadly strikes and allow

By LIUDAS DAPKUS Associated Press VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania’s government on Tuesday declared a national emergency over security risks posed by meteorological balloons sent from Russia-allied Belarus that have violated its airspace in recent weeks, while the Belarusian leader called for negotiations on border tensions and said his country “does not need war.” The

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Riley Allen, a 15-year-old schoolboy living on an Outback sheep ranch, doesn’t know how he’ll keep in touch with his circle of far-flung friends once Australia’s world-first social media ban takes effect on Wednesday. Riley’s family lives 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Wudinna, a community of

By NINIEK KARMINI and EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A fire ripped through an office building in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, on Tuesday, killing at least 22 people, including a pregnant woman, police said. Flames engulfed the seven-story building, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky and causing panic among nearby residents

By PAOLO SANTALUCIA and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press ROME (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffirmed his strong refusal to cede any territory, resisting U.S. pressure for painful concessions to Russia as he moved ahead Tuesday to rally more European support for his country. “Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We,

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Criminal Court sentenced a leader of the feared Sudanese Janjaweed militia to 20 years imprisonment Tuesday for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the catastrophic conflict in Darfur more than two decades ago. At a hearing last month, prosecutors

By TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press The most comprehensive global environment assessment ever undertaken calls for a new approach to jointly tackle the most pressing environmental issues including climate change and biodiversity loss that threaten over 1 million plant and animal species with extinction. The U.N. Environment Assembly — which the U.S. government didn’t attend —

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — Populist billionaire Andrej Babiš was sworn in Tuesday as the Czech Republic’s new prime minister, following October’s parliamentary election, as the next government is expected to steer the country away from supporting Ukraine and reject European Union policies on issues like the environment. Babiš, previously prime minister

BEIJING (AP) — A Beijing court has ruled Malaysia Airlines must pay 2.9 million yuan ($410,000) each to the families of eight passengers who went missing in the disappearance of Flight 370 more than a decade ago. The court ordered the airline to pay each family compensation for the death of their loved one, funeral

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI and SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen vowed a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread renewed combat between the nations Tuesday drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas. The fighting following a skirmish Sunday that injured two Thai

By MARLON GONZÁLEZ Associated Press TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras Attorney General Johel Zelaya said Monday that he had ordered Honduran authorities and asked Interpol to execute a 2023 arrest order for ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández, pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump. Hernández was released from federal prison in the United States last week after

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican National Guardsmen shot and killed three fellow service members at a barracks over the weekend in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, where the government has surged security forces in the wake of recent high-profile killings. A federal official confirmed the shooting Monday to

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV got into the Christmas spirit Monday by taking part in a very Roman papal tradition: praying for peace at a statue of the Madonna near the Spanish Steps on the Dec. 8 feast day that kicks off the Christmas season. Leo greeted thousands of

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off northern Japan late Monday, injuring 23 people and triggering a tsunami in Pacific coast communities, officials said. Authorities warned of possible aftershocks and an increased risk of a megaquake. The Japanese government was still assessing damages from the tsunami and

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met their Australian counterparts Monday in Washington for annual talks focused on Indo-Pacific security and countering China’s increasing assertiveness in the region, including in the South China Sea and directed at Taiwan. Rubio, Hegseth, Australian Foreign

By STEVEN GRATTAN Associated Press PUERTO ASIS, Colombia (AP) — Jani Silva sits inside the wooden house she built on the banks of Colombia’s Putumayo River — a home she hasn’t slept in for more than eight years. The longtime environmental activist has been threatened for work that includes protecting part of the Amazon from

By CHINEDU ASADU and YUNUSA UMAR Associated Press MINNA, Nigeria (AP) — A total of 100 of the schoolchildren abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school last month and released over the weekend were hosted at a government-organized ceremony on Monday, many of them looking lost but relieved. Details surrounding their release were not made public

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Angry farmers protesting delays in the payment of subsidies swarmed onto the aircraft parking area of the international airport on the southern Greek island of Crete on Monday, managing to evade riot police who used tear gas and stun grenades to keep them back. Images from

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — A top European Union official on Monday warned the United States against interfering in Europe’s affairs and said only European citizens can decide which parties should govern them. European Council President António Costa’s remarks came in reaction to the Trump administration’s new national security strategy, which was

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s newly appointed armed forces chief called on Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Monday to choose between maintaining ties with Islamabad or supporting the Pakistani Taliban, the militant group blamed for a surge in deadly attacks in recent years. Gen. Asim Munir made his remarks at his headquarters

By MEGAN JANETSKY and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police forcibly entered the compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem early Monday, escalating a campaign against the organization that has been banned from operating on Israeli territory. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or

By JILL LAWLESS and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press LONDON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met British, French and German leaders in London on Monday in a show of European support for Ukraine at what they called a “critical moment” in the U.S.-led effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Prime Minister Keir Starmer held talks

By OPE ADETAYO and VIRGILE AHISSOU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The short-lived coup in Benin left “casualties on both sides” of the government forces and the mutinous soldiers, authorities said Monday, as security forces intensified the search for the coup leader who was on the run. The military takeover attempting to overthrow President

By NASSER KARIMI and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A second flight carrying Iranians deported from the United States has left America, Iranian officials said, as Washington reportedly planned to send hundreds of prisoners back to the Islamic Republic. The deportations come as tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S. after