AP

By MICHELLE GUMEDE and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Many supposedly invincible leaders have been forced to flee their countries to avoid incarceration, execution, or political retaliation by successor governments due to revolutions, military coups or mass protests. The most recent international leader to join the list is Andry Rajoelina, the president of

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — They will be treated for malnutrition, lack of sunlight and the trauma of wearing leg chains for months. They suffer from unexplained pain and unresolved emotions, and they will have to relearn how to make everyday decisions as simple as when to use the bathroom.

By BRIAN INGANGA, NQOBILE NTSHANGASE and GERALD IMRAY Associated Press ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — The leader of Madagascar’s military coup told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he is “taking the position of president” and that the armed forces would be in charge of the African island nation for up to two years before any

MOSCOW (AP) — Syria’s interim leader, who led a swift rebel offensive last year that ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad despite years of Moscow’s support, held talks Wednesday in Russia during his first visit to the country that gave asylum to the deposed autocrat. Welcoming interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Kremlin, Russian President

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations’ food aid agency said Wednesday that severe funding cuts from its top donors are hurting its operations in six countries and warned that nearly 14 million people could be forced into emergency levels of hunger. The World Food Program, traditionally the U.N.’s most-funded agency,

By SAM METZ, SAMY MAGDY and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel received the remains of two more hostages Wednesday, hours after the Israeli military said that one of the bodies previously turned over was not that of a hostage. The confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany on Wednesday pledged more than $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine, as the government in Kyiv signaled that it would need $120 billion in 2026 to stave off Russia’s nearly four-year all-out war. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany would buy $500 million worth

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday announced a ceasefire following days of the deadliest clashes in years that killed dozens of people on both sides of the border. The pause came after appeals from major regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as the violence threatened to further

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI and RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Raila Odinga, a former prime minister of Kenya and perennial presidential candidate whose populist campaigns challenged one-party rule, rattled authorities and gave him outsized influence on political life in the East African country, died Wednesday of a heart attack while traveling in India.

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — When Russian drones smashed into the Shostka train station in northeastern Ukraine earlier this month, they killed a 71-year-old man, injured at least eight people and left train cars buckled by fire and riddled with shrapnel holes. It was one of the latest examples of what