AP

By KIRILL ZARUBIN Associated Press A NATURE RESERVE NEAR SESTRORETSK, Russia (AP) — It happens every spring along a section of road north of Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg: Volunteers, many in yellow vests, patrol near the Sestroretsk Bog nature reserve. They serve as crossing guards for thousands of toads and frogs, who are

By JON GAMBRELL and AMIR VAHDAT Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program are “in a very crucial” stage, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Thursday while on a visit to the Islamic Republic. The comments by Rafael

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A portrait of a young Palestinian boy who lost both arms as a result of an Israeli attack in Gaza was honored Thursday as World Press Photo of the year. The photo, taken by Qatar-based Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times

BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military government granted amnesty to nearly 4,900 prisoners to mark the country’s traditional new year, state-run media reported Thursday, and an independent watchdog said they included at least 22 political detainees. At least 19 buses with prisoners aboard left Yangon’s Insein prison and were welcomed outside the gate

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing three people, including a child, and wounding dozens, officials said Thursday. The strike late Wednesday was the latest in a string of Russian attacks that have caused civilian casualties and intensified

By EMMA BURROWS and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France hosted high-level talks Thursday to discuss Ukraine and its security, the first time since President Donald Trump’s inauguration that top American, Ukrainian and European officials are known to have met together to discuss an end to the war. U.S. Secretary of State Marco

By WAFAA SHURAFA, FATMA KHALED and LEE KEATH Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Aid groups are raising new alarm over Israel’s blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where it has barred entry of all food and other goods for more than six weeks. Thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people

By SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press SAN MIGUEL ESCOBAR, Guatemala (AP) — Stitch by stitch, artisans have worked for months on the elaborate garments that will debut this week in Holy Week processions across Guatemala and beyond. The hefty velvet cloaks, finely embroidered with gold thread will cover the wooden Virgin Mary and Christ figures

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — At least 62 active-duty Taiwanese military members have been found holding Chinese residency permits, the self-ruled island’s Defense Ministry said, in the latest revelation of Chinese influence in the Taiwanese armed forces. Since splitting amid civil war in 1949, China has considered Taiwan a renegade province