AP World News

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s parliament on Friday passed an amendment to the constitution that recognizes only two sexes, along with other measures that critics say might breach the country’s international obligations and undermine the protection of human rights. The amendment, which was drafted by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government, required a three-fifths majority.

By EMMA BURROWS AP European Security Correspondent LONDON (AP) — Russia is selling military equipment and technology to China that could help Beijing prepare an airborne invasion of Taiwan, according to an analysis of leaked Russian documents by a U.K.-based defense and security forum. The Royal United Services Institute’s analysis is based on around 800

By JAMEY KEATEN and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Eurovision Song Contest organizers said Friday that member broadcasters will vote in November on whether Israel can participate in the musical extravaganza next year, as calls have mounted for the country to be excluded over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. According to spokesperson Dave

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European defense ministers agreed on Friday to develop a “drone wall” along their borders with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace. The decision comes after a spate of incidents in which Europe’s borders and airports have been tested by rogue

By RAJESH ROY Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India retired its last fleet of Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jets Friday, ending more than six decades of service with an aircraft once celebrated for its combat prowess but later derided as a “flying coffin” due to frequent crashes. The phaseout underscores the urgency for the Indian

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A tropical storm blew out of the central Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 10 dead, knocking down trees and power and prompting the evacuation of more than 433,000 people from landslide- and flood-prone villages long battered by typhoons. Bualoi was the latest of back-to-back storms

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Behind the scenes at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, key countries and regional organizations have been coordinating efforts to try to end the horrific war in Sudan, which has created the most devastating humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world.

By The Associated Press Intrusions into NATO’s airspace blamed on Russia reached an unprecedented scale this month, raising questions about whether the Kremlin is trying to test the alliance’s willingness and ability to respond to a direct attack or divert its attention and resources from the war in Ukraine. Russia has been encroaching on its

By JENNIFER PELTZ and ADAM GELLER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Facing international isolation, accusations of war crimes and growing pressure to end a conflict he has continued to escalate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets his chance to push back Friday on the international community’s biggest platform. Netanyahu’s annual speech to the U.N.

By EDNA TARIGAN, DITA ALANGKARA, and ANDI JATMIKO Associated Press SUMENEP, Indonesia (AP) — Three health care workers rode motorbikes into the Indonesian city of Sumenep, carrying doses of measles vaccine and a list of children who needed them. With blue medical boxes in hand, they went from house to house administering the life-saving shots.

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong lawmakers passed a bill Friday mandating a minimum size, an exclusive bathroom and other standards in subdivided apartments — a common living arrangement in one of the world’s least affordable cities. About 220,000 people live in dwellings created by dividing regular apartments, including migrants,

By ABBY SEWELL Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered at a scenic overlook on Beirut’s coast Thursday and projected images of the group’s former longtime leader and his successor on the iconic arched Raouche rock to commemorate their deaths in Israeli airstrikes nearly a year ago. The move came despite an

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — The Canadian Union of Postal Workers went on strike Thursday after the government announced door-to-door mail delivery would end for nearly all households within the next decade. Canada Post said the strike will mean mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered for the duration of the strike and no

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will put import taxes of 100% on pharmaceutical drugs, 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture and 25% on heavy trucks starting on Oct. 1. The posts on his social media site showed that Trump’s devotion

By SETH BORENSTEIN and MELINA WALLING Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Four men. Four corners of the globe. Four vastly different visions and experiences on climate change. At the United Nations this week, a quartet of leaders with distinct personal styles and decidedly different national agendas demonstrated why saving the planet isn’t simple, fast

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump vowed Thursday not to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, offering strong assurances that he’d block a move that Arab leaders in the region have staunchly opposed. Asked about Israel officials suggesting in recent weeks that their government could move to seize

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration pitched several other countries Thursday on its view that the global system for seeking asylum, in effect since World War II, has been rampantly abused and urged them to join the United States in cracking down on such migration. Deputy

By BERENICE BAUTISTA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The long-held secrets of the Kahlo family, including those of legendary artist Frida, are about to be unlocked for the world with the opening of the Casa Kahlo Museum this weekend. Although located very close to the iconic Casa Azul in Coyoacán’s historic center, the Casa

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang told a group of American business executives Thursday that the U.S. and his country need “to work in the same direction” to further what he called “the most important bilateral partnership in the world.” Li told the roughly 20 executives and others

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and LEE KEATH Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Speaking over video after the United States denied his visa, the Palestinian leader told world leaders Thursday that his people reject the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and pledged that the militant group would have no role in governing the Gaza Strip after

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press DÜSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — There is an intimate portrait of a lesbian couple, a painting of young naked men enjoying themselves by the water and one of a flamboyantly dressed, androgynously looking person at a fairground. Queer art has often been neglected and marginalized in the past but a new

By WAFAA SHURAFA, DAVID RISING and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel struck houses and tents in central and southern Gaza Thursday, crushing families inside and killing at least 17 people, including 10 children and three women, local health officials said, as international pressure for a ceasefire continued to grow.

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Two major news agencies demanded that Israel explain what happened during a strike on a hospital in Gaza last month that killed five journalists, calling for concrete actions and accountability to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Reuters and The Associated Press — through their top

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Every year, tons of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs flow around the world, an underground river that crisscrosses borders and continents and spills over into violence, addiction and suffering. Yet when nations’ leaders give the U.N. their annual take on big issues, drugs don’t usually

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Tattoo artists in South Korea will no longer need to worry about being punished for doing their jobs, as the country’s parliament on Thursday approved a landmark bill to end a requirement that anyone who gives a tattoo must have a medical license. South Korea

By SYLVIE CORBET and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A Paris court on Thursday sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 campaign with funds from Libya, a verdict that the still-influential conservative leader denounced as

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Typhoon Ragasa weakened into a tropical depression early Thursday as it entered northeastern Vietnam, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains across the country’s northern provinces. By Thursday afternoon, the typhoon’s sustained winds had weakened to a maximum 55 kph (34