AP World News

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar will hold the first phase of a general election on Sunday, its first vote in five years and an exercise that critics say will neither restore the country’s fragile democracy undone by a 2021 army takeover, nor end a devastating civil war triggered by the nation’s

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. launched a “powerful and deadly” strike against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. In a Christmas evening post on

By The Associated Press The Kremlin on Thursday said it was in contact with the French authorities over the fate of a French political scholar serving a three-year sentence in Russia and reportedly facing new charges of espionage. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia has made “an offer to the French” regarding Laurent

By SILVIA STELLACCI and COLLEEN BARRY The Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV during his first Christmas Day message on Thursday urged the faithful to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, such as in Gaza, those who are impoverished, such as in Yemen, and the many migrants

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro underwent double hernia surgery on Thursday at a hospital in the national capital, Brasilia, his doctors said. The procedure lasted about 3½ hours and was completed without complications, according to the medical team at the DF Star Hospital. Doctors said

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press Three Palestinians have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Christmas tree and damaging part of a Nativity scene at a Catholic Church in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian Authority police said. Police said late Wednesday that the arrests were made after reviewing surveillance footage.

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The son of a former prime minister of Bangladesh returned home Thursday, promising to work for a safe country after more than 17 years in self-imposed exile as a frontrunner to become the nation’s next leader in upcoming elections. Tarique Rahman moved to London in 2008

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday called on Emirati-backed separatists in southern Yemen to withdraw from two governorates they now control, a move that has threatened to spark a confrontation within a fragile coalition that has been battling the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the country’s north.

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — On a Christmas Day when the war in Ukraine casts a shadow over Europe, concerns over immigration divide societies, and some politicians fan anger and resentment, Britain’s King Charles III called on people to focus on kindness instead of conflict. Delivering his annual holiday address from Westminster

By MARLON GONZÁLEZ and MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura won Honduras’ presidential election, electoral authorities said Wednesday afternoon, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility of the Central American nation’s fragile electoral system. The election is continuing Latin America’s swing to the right, coming

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The president of Fenerbahce, one of Turkey’s leading sports clubs, was taken into custody in Istanbul on Wednesday as part of a widening drug investigation that has ensnared prominent entertainment and media figures, state media reported. Sadettin Saran, a dual citizen of Turkey and the U.S., was detained just hours after

By The Associated Press An explosion in Moscow on Wednesday killed three people, including two police officers, Russian investigators said, days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking general not far away. An official from Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as GUR, told The Associated Press that the attack had been carried out as part of

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — An explosive device detonated in Gaza on Wednesday, injuring one Israeli soldier and prompting Israel to accuse Hamas of violating the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. It was the latest incident to threaten the tenuous truce that has held since Oct. 10 as each side accuses the other of violations.

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — France, Germany, the European Union and the United Kingdom on Wednesday hit out at a U.S. decision to impose travel bans on five Europeans the Trump administration accuses of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American views. The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, which supervises

By MARK BANCHEREAU Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Voters in Guinea will head to the polls on Sunday for the West African nation’s first presidential election since the military took power in a 2021 coup, with analysts predicting a likely win for junta leader Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya. Guinea is one of 10 African countries

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces. The proposal offered

By SUZAN FRASER and FAY ABUELGASIM Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Search teams in Turkey on Wednesday recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from a jet crash that killed eight people, including western Libya’s military chief, while efforts to retrieve the victims’ remains were still underway, Turkey’s interior minister said. The private

By PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was “very disappointed” that his home state of Illinois had approved a law allowing for medically assisted suicide, and he called for greater respect of life. Leo said he had spoken “explicitly” with Gov. JB Pritzker and urged him

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s parliament on Tuesday approved a measure that criminalizes a broad range of activities that can hinder navigation and commerce in the South American country, such as the seizure of oil tankers. The bill — introduced, debated and approved within two days in the National

AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said he will be extending invitations to next year’s U.S.-hosted Group of 20 summit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as the Republican administration looks to deepen its relationship with the Central Asian nations. Trump announced the plan on Tuesday after holding separate phone

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels have reached an agreement to free 2,900 detainees in the largest swap during the 11-year civil war, according to Saudi and Houthi officials. Saudi Ambassador Mohamed AlJabir said in a statement on X that the agreement was signed under the supervision of the Office

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A former close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli leader instructed him to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach. Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas. The barrage struck

By MARIAM FAM Associated Press Attallah Tarazi recently received Christmas presents that included socks and a scarf to shield him against the Gaza winter, and he joined some fellow Palestinian Christians in a round of hymns. “Christ is born,” the group sang in Arabic. “Hallelujah.” The presents and hymns offered the 76-year-old a taste of