AP

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV vowed to take “every effort” Wednesday to work for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine and to actively promote the spirituality and traditions of the eastern rite churches, those Catholic communities with origins in the Mideast and eastern Europe that have been

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The nationalist party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán introduced a bill late Tuesday that would allow the government to monitor, restrict, penalize and potentially ban organizations it deems a threat to national sovereignty, marking a significant escalation of the government’s long-running crackdown on critical media

By GABE LEVIN Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Scores of laborers from countries including India, Bangladesh and Nepal have faced preventable deaths from electrocution, road accidents, falling from heights, and more while working in Saudi Arabia, according to a report Wednesday by the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch and

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years and one that could mark a turning point for the region as Syria struggles to emerge from decades of international isolation. The meeting marks a major turn

By ZEKE MILLER, JON GAMBRELL and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press DOHA, Qatar (AP) — President Donald Trump urged Qatar on Wednesday to use its influence over Iran to persuade the country’s leadership to reach an agreement with the U.S. to dial back its rapidly advancing nuclear program. Trump, who is visiting the Gulf nation as

By KATIE MARIE DAVIES Associated Press It was a weekend of diplomatic announcements on the war in Ukraine. First, European leaders assembled in Kyiv on Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire. Then, after midnight, the Kremlin leader surfaced in Moscow to unveil a proposal for

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The talks have taken place in the warring capitals of Moscow and Kyiv, from Washington and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to countries across Europe. Now, all eyes are finally turning to Istanbul to seek an end to Russia’s 3-year-old, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin