AP World News

PARIS (AP) — Authorities in Paris have launched an investigation after several Jewish sites across the capital were defaced with green paint. The vandalism, discovered early Saturday morning, targeted the Shoah Memorial, two synagogues and a Jewish restaurant in the city’s historic Marais district, as well as a third synagogue in the 20th arrondissement (district).

By GHAITH ALSAYED Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria and Saudi Arabia said Saturday they aim to boost economic cooperation to for their mutual benefit and create jobs for Syrians after Western sanctions imposed on the war-torn country were eased earlier this month. The announcement was made during a visit to Damascus by Saudi

By TAIWO ADEBAYO and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria’s north-central state of Niger rose to at least 151 on Saturday, the local emergency service said, amid efforts to find more victims. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating

By SAM MEDNICK and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Hamas is seeking amendments to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza, a senior official with the group told The Associated Press on Saturday, but U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff called the Hamas response “totally unacceptable.” The latest friction in negotiations comes as

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press VIENNA (AP) — Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a confidential report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Saturday. In a separate report, the agency called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with its years-long probe. The report comes at a

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press TICUMÁN, México (AP) — There was something about her body, but Mexican actress Eréndira Castorela couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Some casting directors told her she was “too tall” to play a Mexican woman. Others insinuated her features weren’t sufficiently “Indigenous.” “It wasn’t until later that I

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine on Saturday killed at least two people, including a 9-year-old girl, officials said, as uncertainty remains about whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul. Russian troops launched some 109 drones and

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election on Sunday between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner will succeed President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome will determine whether Poland embraces

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Brigitte Bardot lounged barefoot on a Saint-Tropez beach, drawing languorous puffs from her cigarette. Another actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo, swaggered down the Champs-Élysées with smoke curling from his defiant lips, capturing a generation’s restless rebellion. In France, cigarettes were never just cigarettes — they were cinematic statements, flirtations

By DAVID McHUGH, DARIA LITVINOVA and KATIE MARIE DAVIES Associated Press Hundreds of foreign companies left Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including major U.S. firms like Coca-Cola, Nike, Starbucks, ExxonMobil and Ford Motor Co. But after more than three years of war, President Donald Trump has held out the prospect of restoring U.S.-Russia

By TARA COPP and DAVID RISING Associated Press SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China, while insisting that they also contribute more to their own defense. He said Washington will bolster

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — The Canadian prairie city of Flin Flon was virtually deserted and more evacuees were expected, Manitoba’s premier said Friday, as wildfires raged in the province. Premier Wab Kinew told a news conference that the mayor, councilors, health-care staff and other officials have had to depart Flin Flon, a city of 5,000

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 60 United Nations offices, agencies and operations have been ordered to submit proposals by mid-June to cut 20% of their staff, as part of a major reform effort to consolidate operations in the face of a critical funding crunch. The cuts affect about

By ANNIE MA, JOCELYN GECKER and BIANCA VÁZQUEZ TONESS AP Education Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — Since coming from China as a teenager for boarding school, Bob Zeng has imagined building a career in the United States. But as he prepared to graduate Thursday from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it felt like the last chapter

MOSCOW (AP) — A monument to Josef Stalin has been unveiled at one of Moscow’s busiest subway stations, the latest attempt by Russian authorities to revive the legacy of the brutal Soviet dictator. The sculpture shows Stalin surrounded by beaming workers and children with flowers. It was installed at the Taganskaya station to mark the

By ABDEL KAREEM HANA and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas said Friday it was still reviewing a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where 27 people were killed in new Israeli airstrikes, according to hospital officials. The ceasefire plan, which has been approved by Israeli

By THOMAS ADAMSON, BISHR ELTONI, and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press MARSEILLE, France (AP) — The lighthouse appeared overnight. Painted on a wall tucked away in a quiet Marseille street, its beam aligned perfectly with the real-life shadow of a metal post on the pavement. At its center, stenciled in crisp white, are the words: “I

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press For months, U.N. officials, aid groups and experts have warned that Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of famine. Earlier this month, Israel eased a weekslong blockade on the territory as a result of international criticism, but the U.N. humanitarian aid office said Friday that deliveries into Gaza remain

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech Republic Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned from his post over a bitcoin-related scandal on Friday. Blažek was under fire from the opposition after his ministry accepted a donation of bitcoins and sold them for about 1 billion Czech koruna (more than $45 million) earlier this year. Blažek said that he wasn’t

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer PARIS (AP) — For the fourth French Open in a row, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo was asked about a lack of women’s matches during the tournament’s night sessions — there was one in 2022, one in 2023, zero in 2024 and, so far, zero in 2025. And for the

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A performance inside a Catholic cathedral in Germany earlier this month that featured raw, plucked chickens wrapped in diapers onstage — and the country’s president and the local archbishop in the audience — has prompted the church and municipal leaders to apologize that the show “hurt religious

By The Associated Press Israeli airstrikes killed at least 27 people in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Friday, while Hamas was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal after giving it an initial cool response. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week about brokering an agreement that could halt the Israel-Hamas war,

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is ready to resume direct peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, following days of uncertainty over whether Kyiv would attend a further meeting proposed by Moscow. But Ukrainian officials have insisted that the Kremlin provide

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court Friday to rape and sexual assault charges involving four women dating back more than 25 years. Brand, who turns 50 next week, denied two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count

By TAIWO ADEBAYO Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Torrents of predawn rain unleashed flooding that killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south, officials said Friday, predicting the death toll would grow. The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams won his libel suit against the BBC on Friday over a claim that he authorized the killing of an informant inside the Irish republican movement. A jury at the High Court in Dublin ruled in Adams’ favor and awarded him 100,000

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — China will resume Japanese seafood imports it banned in 2023 over worries about Japan’s discharge of treated but slightly radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, a Japanese minister said Friday. Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the agreement was reached after

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for two attacks in southern Syria, including one on government forces that an opposition war monitor described as the first on the Syrian army to be carried out by the extremists since the fall of Bashar Assad. IS said in

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A natural stones quarry in Indonesia’s West Java province collapsed on several people who were working inside on Friday, killing at least two people and leaving several workers missing, officials said. At least 10 people were trapped in the rubble when the mine in Cirebon district collapsed, West Java Governor Dedi

By JUWON PARK Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Big Ocean, a three-member K-pop group composed entirely of artists with hearing disabilities, is redefining the limits of music and performance — one beat at a time. When Big Ocean takes the stage, they seamlessly incorporate sign language into their performances. But their polished shows