News

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Negotiations on a global treaty to end plastic pollution will draw to a close Friday, as nations remain deadlocked over whether to tackle the exponential growth of plastic production. A new draft of the treaty was expected Thursday, the last scheduled day of negotiations, and a meeting

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Fire crews in Greece, Spain and Portugal raced Thursday to contain wildfires, taking advantage of calmer winds that slowed the blazes’ advance. Much of southern Europe, however, remains at high risk under hot, dry conditions. A drop in wind speeds allowed firefighting aircraft in the three hard-hit countries to step up

By DAVID CRARY Associated Press The leader of the small Baha’i community in Qatar was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for social media posts that allegedly “cast doubt on the foundations of the Islamic religion,” according to court documents obtained by an international Baha’i organization monitoring the case. A three-judge panel of Qatar’s

By OHAD ZWIGENBERG and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank (AP) — Israel’s far-right finance minister said Thursday that a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is going ahead — a project that Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a Palestinian state by effectively cutting the territory

By PAN PYLAS and JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, more than three years after Moscow launched its invasion, as the two leaders prepared for a pivotal U.S.–Russia summit Friday in Alaska. Following a meeting Thursday

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAM METZ Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 100 nonprofit groups warned Thursday that Israel’s rules for aid groups working in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank will block much-needed relief and replace independent organizations with those that serve Israel’s political and military agenda — charges

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BENXI, China (AP) — Eighty years after the end of World War II, Japan and China are marking the anniversary with major events, but on different dates and in different ways. Japan remembers the victims in a solemn ceremony on Aug. 15, the day then-Emperor Hirohito announced in a crackly