AP World News

TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian man who died in 2019 has been identified as the perpetrator of three cold case homicides in Toronto, and investigators believe there could be more victims. Toronto police said Thursday recent forensic testing and genetic genealogy has conclusively identified Kenneth Smith, 72, of Windsor, Ontario, as the person who killed

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian Conservative opposition lawmaker defected from his party and joined Prime Minister Mark Carney’s governing Liberals on Thursday, a move that leaves the Liberal Party just short of a simple majority of the seats in Parliament. Michael Ma, who represents Markham–Unionville, is the second Canadian Conservative

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul received royal permission Friday to dissolve Parliament, setting up general elections early next year. The election for the House of Representatives would be held 45 to 60 days after the Royal Decree, a period while Anutin will head a caretaker government with limited powers and cannot approve

By FU TING Associated Press China will soon start collecting a value-added tax on contraceptive drugs and products for the first time in over three decades, a move aligned with Beijing’s effort to get families to have more children after decades of limiting most to one child. “Contraceptive drugs and products” will not be tax-exempt

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions on three nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, among others, on Thursday as President Donald Trump looks to inflict further pressure on the South American nation. The new sanctions on Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores and Efrain Campo come a day after Trump announced

By JUSTIN KABUMBA and MONIKA PRONCZUK Associated Press GOMA, Congo (AP) — More than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group escalated its offensive in the South Kivu province in eastern Congo, regional officials said, adding that Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira. “More than 413 civilians

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and MICHAEL BIESECKER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The oil tanker was navigating near the coast of Guyana recently when its location transponder showed it starting to zigzag. It was a seemingly improbable maneuver and the latest digital clue that the ship, the Skipper, was trying to obscure its whereabouts and the

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis was elected Thursday as president of the Eurogroup — a move that would have been unthinkable just 10 years ago when the country was in the throes of a deep financial crisis that almost saw it tossed out of the eurozone

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday linked the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela to the Trump administration’s counterdrug efforts in Latin America as tensions escalate with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Noem’s assertion, which came during her testimony to the House Homeland Security

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s long-celebrated yodeling has received a response from the U.N. cultural agency: The Alpine tradition of chant and song is indeed worthy of classification in a list of the world’s cultural heritage. A committee of Paris-based UNESCO, meeting in New Delhi, on Thursday listed yodeling in its list of intangible cultural heritage.

By WAFAA SHURAFA, BASSEM MROUE, and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Rains drenched Gaza’s tent camps and dropping temperatures chilled Palestinians huddling inside them Thursday as winter storm Byron descended on the war-battered territory, showing how two months of a ceasefire have failed to sufficiently address the spiraling humanitarian crisis

By JAMES BROOKS Associated Press LYNGBY, Denmark (AP) — It was a wedding that captivated the world — in 1981, Lady Diana Spencer said “I will” to Prince Charles, becoming Princess of Wales and bringing youth and glamour to Britain’s royal family. More than 40 years after the wedding and many years after the marriage

By VESELIN TOSHKOV Associated Press SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s government resigned on Thursday after mass protests gripped the country and just weeks before the European Union nation is due to join the eurozone. The resignation of the minority coalition, led by the center-right GERB party, was announced minutes before parliament was scheduled to vote

By REBECCA SANTANA and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defiantly defended the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies on Thursday during a House committee hearing, portraying migrants as a major threat faced by the nation that justifies a crackdown that has seen widespread arrests, deportations and a dizzying pace

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — U.S. strategic bombers joined a fleet of Japanese fighter jets in a joint military exercise meant to demonstrate their military cooperation around Japan’s airspace, defense officials said Thursday, as tensions with China escalate. The exercise showcasing joint Japanese-U.S. air power came a day after Chinese and Russian

By ILLIA NOVIKOV and SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that negotiators are wrestling with the question of territorial possession in U.S.-led peace talks on ending the war with Russia, including the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of

By JERRY HARMER and JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Cambodia said Thailand launched more airstrikes Thursday, as heavy fighting flared along the two countries’ border and both sides accused the other of violating their sovereignty along the contested border region. The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish Sunday that

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press VERONA, Italy (AP) — Verona’s ancient Roman Arena will receive a modern facelift and become more accessible to people with disabilities ahead of the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, where it will host both the Olympic closing ceremony and the Paralympic opening ceremony. Built by the Romans in the 1st Century,

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian authorities on Thursday demanded some of the world’s biggest social media platforms report how many accounts they have deactivated since a ban on accounts for children younger than 16 became law. Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch all said they

By DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration may have softened its language on China to maintain a fragile truce in their trade war, but Congress is charging ahead with more restrictions in a defense authorization bill that would deny Beijing investments in highly sensitive sectors and reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese

By CARLOS VALDEZ and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian law enforcement officials on Wednesday arrested former President Luis Arce as part of a corruption investigation, opening an uncertain chapter in the country’s politics a month after the inauguration of conservative President Rodrigo Paz ended 20 years of socialist rule. A

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreigners who are allowed to come to the United States without a visa could soon be required to submit information about their social media, email accounts and extensive family history to the Department of Homeland Security before being approved for travel. The notice published Wednesday in the

By SAM METZ Associated Press RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Two adjacent four-story buildings collapsed overnight in the Moroccan city of Fez, killing 22 people in the second fatal collapse there this year, authorities said Wednesday. Morocco’s state news agency, MAP, reported that the two buildings housed eight families. Sixteen people were injured and taken to