AP World News

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to convene the first meeting of his Board of Peace this month in Washington to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza. The meeting, proposed for Feb. 19, would include both world leaders who accepted Trump’s invitation in January to join the

By NATALIE MELZER Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday about American talks with Iran, his office said Saturday, as concerns remain high about possible regional conflict. “The prime minister believes that all negotiations must include limiting the ballistic missiles, and

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Tourists to Milan during the Winter Olympics hoping to see Leonardo da Vinci’s “ The Last Supper” were in for an unwelcome surprise: Access to the masterpiece is closed to the public for 3 1/2 days. The painting, created between 1494 and 1498 by the Italian

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s presidential council stepped down on Saturday after almost two years of tumultuous rule alongside a U.S.-backed prime minister, who is expected to remain in power as the country prepares for the first general elections in a decade. Days before the nine-member council

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press MILAN (AP) — The performance by pop star Mariah Carey at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony was the talk of the town — but it also raised a few questions. The rendition by the American singer of Italian classic “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu” — better known as

By MUNIR AHMED and MUHAMMAD YOUSAF Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces raided multiple locations and arrested four suspects, including the alleged mastermind, behind a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of the capital that killed 31 people, the interior minister said Saturday. The announcement by Mohsin Naqvi came a

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A prince, an ambassador, senior diplomats, top politicians. All brought down by the Jeffrey Epstein files. And all in Europe, rather than the United States. The huge trove of Epstein documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice has sent shock waves through Europe’s political, economic and

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal to end the nearly four‑year war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters, as Russian strikes on energy infrastructure forced nuclear power plants to cut output on Saturday. If the June deadline is not

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s prime minister is a heavy metal music fan. She loves motorcycles and playing the drums, including with visiting dignitaries. She thrilled a nation that often fetishizes company loyalty by declaring that her secret for success as leader would be “ work, work, work, work, work. ”

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — After a day spent selling books, Solanda Oña typically boards a bus from a wealthy seaside district in Havana to her home in the city’s working-class center. But on Thursday night, the bus never came. The 64-year-old bookseller spent the night sleeping in a nearby restaurant instead,

By GONZALO SOLANO Associated Press ALTO ILA, Ecuador (AP) — On a recent journey into the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle, Ramón Pucha realized he was being trailed. Fresh puma tracks now lined the path alongside his own footprints. Unfazed, he continued his trek, focused entirely on the precious cargo he carried — seeds from some of

By ABBY SEWELL, JOHN LEICESTER and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — U.N. peacekeepers patrolling southern Lebanon have faced a dramatic surge of “aggressive behavior” by Israeli forces over the last year, including drone-dropped grenades and machine-gun fire, according to an internal report seen by The Associated Press. The report by one of

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Vice President JD Vance met Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — one of the Trump administration’s closer allies in Europe — during his trip to Italy for the Olympic Games. Vance is on a weeklong visit that combines sports and diplomacy,

By ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An alleged participant in the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, has been taken into custody to face prosecution for the rampage that killed four Americans and emerged as a divisive political issue, the Justice Department said Friday. Zubayar Al-Bakoush,

By KAMILA HRABCHUK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday described the performance of the air force in parts of the country as “unsatisfactory,” and said that steps are being taken to improve the response to large-scale Russian drone barrages of civilian areas. The repeated Russian aerial assaults have in

By PELUMI SALAKO and OPE ADETAYO Associated Press WORO, Nigeria (AP) — Weeks after residents of two Nigerian villages ignored a letter from militants announcing they would come to spread their extreme form of Islam, gunmen arrived on motorbikes and embarked on a 10-hour frenzy of killing. The attackers went from door to door, shooting

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian and U.S. negotiators discussed the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between the two countries and agreed on the need to quickly launch new arms control talks, the Kremlin said Friday. At the same time, the U.S. emphasized the need for

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and wounding at least 169 others, officials said, a rare bombing in Pakistan’s capital as its Western-allied government struggles to rein in a surge in militant attacks across the

MOSCOW (AP) — A deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency was shot and wounded in Moscow on Friday in an attack that follows a series of assassinations of senior military officers that Russia has blamed on Ukraine. Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after being shot several times by an unidentified assailant at an

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Canada and France opened diplomatic consulates on Friday in the capital of Greenland, showing support for NATO ally Denmark and the Arctic island in the wake of U.S. efforts to secure control of the semiautonomous Danish territory. Canada’s maple-leaf flag went up and dozens of people sang “O Canada” as Foreign

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina and the United States agreed Thursday to ease restrictions on each other’s goods in an expansive trade deal that boosts a drive by President Javier Milei to open up Argentina’s protectionist economy and a push by the Trump administration to reduce food prices for

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, negotiations that appeared to return to the starting point on how to approach discussions over Tehran’s nuclear program. But for the first time, America brought its top military commander in the Middle East to

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. government on Thursday announced an additional $6 million in aid for Cuba as the island’s crisis deepens and tensions escalate between the two countries, with Cuba’s president accusing the U.S. of an “energy blockade.” The aid is largely meant for those living

By FERNANDO LLANO and FERNANDA PESCE Associated Press ZAPOPAN, Mexico (AP) — The Mexican state of Jalisco on Thursday issued a health alert and mandated the use of face masks in schools as a measles outbreak hit the state capital, a key host city for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup. The measures come on

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch military has got a new high-profile volunteer as it seeks to boost recruitment to counter growing fears about peace and security in Europe. Queen Máxima, the 54-year-old Argentinean-born wife of King Willem-Alexander, started training this week to become a reserve member of her