AP

JERUSALEM (AP) — Tens of thousands of people gathered at the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Tuesday for the traditional priestly blessing. The “Birkat Cohanim,” or Cohen’s blessing, is a ritual dating back over 2,500 years to when King Solomon’s Temple stood on the same site. The blessing is performed by male Jews

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s new special envoy to the United States is already under scrutiny for calling U.S. President Donald Trump a racist, homophobic and narcissistic “right-winger” in a speech in 2020. Mcebisi Jonas, a former deputy finance minister, was appointed Monday by President Cyril Ramaphosa

By STEVEN GRATTAN ASSOCIATED PRESS BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A recent amendment to Peru’s Forestry and Wildlife Law is drawing fierce backlash from environmental groups and Indigenous groups that warn it could accelerate deforestation in the Amazon rainforest under the guise of economic development. The amendment eliminates the requirement that landowners or companies get state

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — They walked out of the compound in Myanmar not knowing where they would go. Though they were aiming for the river that separated them from Thailand and freedom, they didn’t know if they would make it across. A group of more than 270 some men and women,

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press DORAL, Fla. (AP) — A clandestine opposition movement remains active in Nicaragua, but options for restoring democracy in the Central American country are dwindling, former presidential challenger and political prisoner Félix Maradiaga told The Associated Press from his forced exile in the United States. “The options are increasingly limited because

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China said Tuesday it is pursuing three alleged U.S. operatives accused of carrying out cyberattacks on Chinese infrastructure during the Asian Games held in the city of Harbin in February. A notice from the Harbin police headquarters named them as Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling,

Singapore’s parliament was dissolved Tuesday, paving the way for general elections in which the city-state’s long-ruling People’s Action Party will seek to strengthen its dominance under Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The election will be held on May 3, the Elections Department said later in the afternoon. Victory is virtually assured for the PAP, which has

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States flew long-range B-1B bombers in a show of force against North Korea on Tuesday, days after the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to resist a U.S.-led push to eliminate the North’s nuclear program. North Korea often reacts

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A second U.S. aircraft carrier is operating in Mideast waters ahead of the next round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, satellite photos analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed. The operation of the USS Carl

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press MARACAIBO, Venezuela (AP) — Erick Ojeda has no money. He returned to land almost empty-handed from an overnight trip fishing for shrimp. His sister and her newborn are waiting for him to pick them up from a hospital. He has had no luck finding a ride there, so he