AP

By ELENA BECATOROS AND WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The United Nations’ emergency relief coordinator urged Israel on Thursday to lift its blockade of aid into the Gaza Strip, saying the halting of humanitarian aid amounts to “cruel collective punishment.” The U.N. said thousands of Palestinians had breached a humanitarian field office in

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan opposition legislator was shot dead in the capital Nairobi in what police have described as a “targeted and premeditated” crime. MP Charles Were was shot on Wednesday night after his car stopped at a roundabout on a busy major road. President Willian Ruto urged police to conduct a “through

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Several countries were sending firefighting aircraft to Israel on Thursday as crews battled for a second day to extinguish a wildfire that had shut down a major highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and sent drivers scrambling from their cars. The fire broke out around midday in

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After months of tense negotiations, the U.S. and Ukraine signed a deal that is expected to give Washington access to the country’s critical minerals and other natural resources, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure long-term support for its defense against Russia. According to Ukrainian officials, the

By HANNA ARHIROVA and ELISE MORTON Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian drone attack left at least seven people dead and a Russian strike on Odesa killed two people Thursday, officials said, just hours after Kyiv and Washington signed a long-anticipated agreement granting U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources. The attack in the

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, said Thursday he is resigning to take on “heavier responsibility” as expectation mounted he will run in next month’s presidential election. Han has emerged as a potential conservative standard bearer as the main conservative People Power Party

By RAJESH ROY and SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India will include caste details in its next census, in a move likely to have sweeping socio-economic and political ramifications for the world’s most populous country. Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw didn’t say when the census would begin when he announced it would include

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called senior officials in India and Pakistan in an effort to defuse the crisis that followed last week’s deadly attack in Kashmir, the State Department said. Rubio urged Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister