AP World News

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press SOUNI, Cyprus (AP) — Aircraft from Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Spain were on their way Thursday to help battle a huge wildfire in Cyprus that has claimed the lives of two people. Police were investigating reports that arsonists were to blame for the flames, which have scorched more than 120

Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — At least six people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion in northern Syria’s Idlib province, officials said Thursday. There was no official statement on the cause of the blast. The U.K.-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the explosion took place in an ammunition

MILAN (AP) — Art restorers have removed a deteriorating piece of graffiti by the street artist Banksy titled “The Migrant Child” from the side of a building overlooking a Venetian canal to preserve the work for future public display, officials said Thursday. The removal from the wall of Palazzo San Pantalon was carried out in

PRAGUE (AP) — Zookeepers in Prague sometimes have to become puppeteers to save newborn birds rejected by their parents. This was the case for a lesser yellow-headed vulture chick hatched three weeks ago. Bird keeper Antonín Vaidl said Thursday that when a dummy egg disappeared from the nest, it signaled to keepers that the parents

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Thursday the U.S. is cutting short Gaza ceasefire talks and bringing home its negotiating team from Qatar for consultations, after the latest response from Hamas “shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.” The talks have been bogged down over

By ILLIA NOVIKOV and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday submitted a new bill that would restore the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies in an effort to defuse tensions following his approval earlier this week of a controversial law that weakened their autonomy. The previous bill was seen

PARIS (AP) — A lawyer for France ‘s first couple said they’ll be seeking “substantial” damages from U.S. conservative influencer Candace Owens if she persists with claims that President Emmanuel Macron ‘s wife, Brigitte, is a man. The lawyer, Tom Clare, said in an interview with CNN that a defamation suit filed Wednesday for the

BANGKOK (AP) — Armed clashes have broken out between Thailand and Cambodia in long-disputed border areas, rapidly escalating months-long tensions. The fighting included gunfire exchanges, shelling and rocket fire, which have killed at least 14 people in Thailand and one in Cambodia and wounded dozens, while driving tens of thousands of people to flee homes

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — They are France ‘s most dangerous drug kingpins, according to the country’s justice minister — prison inmates so wealthy and powerful that even behind bars, they can continue to order assassinations, run narco-trafficking operations and launder money. Flexing his powers as minister in charge of the French

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI and SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed along the border between their countries in a major escalation that left at least 14 people dead, mostly civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also launched airstrikes. Fighting took place in

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — For six hours every day after school, Nahideh works in a cemetery, collecting water from a nearby shrine to sell to mourners visiting loved ones’ graves. She dreams of becoming a doctor — but knows it is a futile dream. When the next school year starts,

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia announced it will reduce restrictions on U.S. beef imports in a move U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration claimed as a major victory over “non-scientific trade barriers.” Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said Thursday that relaxing the restrictions designed to keep Australia free of mad cow disease,

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press SHOHAM, Israel (AP) — Archaeologists believe they have found one of the oldest burial sites in the world at a cave in Israel, where the well-preserved remains of early humans dating back some 100,000 years were carefully arranged in pits. The findings at Tinshemet Cave in central Israel, published in

By JILL LAWLESS and KWIYEON HA Associated Press TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump ’s trip to Scotland this week will be a homecoming of sorts, but he’s likely to get a mixed reception. Trump has had a long and at times rocky relationship with the country where his mother grew up in

By JOSEPH WILSON, DEREK GATOPOULOS and TRISHA THOMAS Associated Press Cruel heat is baking southern Europe as the continent slips deeper into summer. In homes and offices, air conditioning is sweet relief. But under the scorching sun, outdoor labor can be grueling, brutal, occasionally even deadly. A street sweeper died in Barcelona during a heat

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand closed northeastern border crossings with Cambodia and said Wednesday it was withdrawing its ambassador and expelling the Cambodian ambassador to protest a land mine blast in which a Thai soldier lost a leg. Cambodia responded Thursday that it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their

By The Associated Press The State Department said Wednesday that it has approved $322 million in proposed weapons sales to Ukraine to enhance its air defense capabilities and provide armored combat vehicles, coming as the country works to fend off escalating Russian attacks. The potential sales, which the department said were notified to Congress, include

By The Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian navy helicopter confronted a U.S. warship attempting to approach Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, Iranian state TV reported. The incident was the first direct encounter reported between Iranian and U.S. forces since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which

By MOLLY QUELL and MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court has issued a landmark advisory opinion on climate change, its 15 black-robed judges weighing in for the first time on what the court’s president called “an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A top Iranian official warned Wednesday that European threats to reimpose sanctions could lead Iran to withdraw from an international pact that limits the spread of nuclear weapons, one of the last remaining safeguards against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Three Haitian policemen and an informant were killed and a fourth officer is missing in the country’s central region, where gang violence has surged, Haiti’s National Police said Wednesday. The officers were members of a specialized unit known as UDMO, which is largely activated during protests and disturbances. A video shared

By LORNA PETTY and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Ozzy Osbourne’s fans had sensed the end was near. At his final show just a few weeks ago, admirers watched the heavy metal icon perform while seated on a black throne and knew it would likely be the last time they saw the

By WAFAA SHURAFA and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 100 charity and human rights groups said Wednesday that Israel’s blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip toward starvation, as Israeli strikes killed another 29 people overnight, according to local health officials. Meanwhile, the

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press The fiercest voices of dissent against President Nayib Bukele have long feared a widespread crackdown. They weathered police raids on their homes, watched their friends being thrown into jail and jumped between safe houses so they can stay in El Salvador. Then they received a warning: Leave immediately. It’s exile

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — For nearly two decades, no one had spotted the world’s smallest-known snake. Some scientists worried that maybe the Barbados threadsnake had become extinct, but one sunny morning, Connor Blades lifted a rock in a tiny forest in the eastern Caribbean island and held his

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — For nearly a decade, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been using science to warn about evermore dangerous climate change in increasingly urgent tones. Now he’s enlisting something seemingly more important to the world’s powerful: Money. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Guterres

By ILLIA NOVIKOV and MEHMET GUZEL Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Activists on Wednesday called for more protests of a new law that they say weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs, following the first major anti-government demonstration in over three years of war. The legislation, which has also drawn rebukes from European Union officials and international

LONDON (AP) — A shooting in a rural area of Northern Ireland on Wednesday left a woman and two children dead and a man seriously wounded, police and the ambulance service said. All four were from the same household. Police did not indicate a possible motive, but Jemma Dolan, a member of the Northern Ireland

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Syria’s interim government has requested Turkey’s support to strengthen its defense capabilities, Turkish officials said, following sectarian violence over the past two weeks that increased tensions in Syria and drew Israeli intervention. The defense ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity according to procedures, said

PARIS (AP) — With the support of international partners and $115 million in funding, the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO recently helped rebuild the Iraqi city of Mosul after it was devastated by the Islamic State group. The restoration of the historic city’s iconic Al-Nouri Mosque and Al-Hadba Minaret was just one of many programs run