News

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed a cease-fire in Gaza that’s expected to enable the release of dozens of hostages taken by Hamas. He also urged leaders of the top rich and developing nations to work together to ensure the Israel-Hamas war doesn’t expand. Hosting a

By The Associated Press Russia’s parliament has approved a federal budget that increases spending by around 25% in 2024-2026 and devotes a record amount to defense. The budget was passed unanimously Wednesday by the Federation Council — the upper chamber of the Russian parliament — and will be sent to President Vladimir Putin to sign

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press President Joe Biden declared an emergency over lead-in-water contamination in the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this week after tests on St. Croix revealed levels more than 100 times the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency – among the worst results a U.S. community has seen in decades. But experts

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government has sought to regain the political initiative with a series of tax cuts for businesses and individuals that it hopes will boost its chances in a national election next year that opinion polls suggest it will lose. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt said Wednesday that

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An exploding population of hard-to-eradicate “super pigs” in Canada is threatening to spill south of the border, and northern states like Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana are taking steps to stop the invasion. In Canada, the wild pigs roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba pose a new threat.

By DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS LONDON (AP) — King Charles III honored the K-pop band Blackpink. He saluted their work in raising awareness among young people about the threat of climate change. On the second day of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s three-day state visit to London, Charles made Blackpink members Jennie Kim, Jisoo Kim

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s new parliament is debating the reinstatement of government funding for in vitro fertilization as its first legislation following elections in which the conservative party that had banned it lost control of the legislature. Members of the new centrist majority said in parliament Wednesday that it was symbolic to begin their

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s law enforcement authorities say a member of a violent gang accused of kidnapping four U.S. citizens has been extradited to the U.S. Haiti’s National Police on Tuesday identified the individual as Jhon Peter Fleronvil who is affiliated with the gang known as “Kokorat San Ras,” roughly translated to mean “Cohorts

By PETER SMITH Associated Press Jehovah’s Witnesses are well-known for proselytizing door-to-door and handing out their literature on city streets. Less known to the general public, their adherents have been required for the past century to make regular reports to their congregation’s leaders on how many hours they put into such ministry. Those hourly reports

VATICAN CITY By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press (AP) — Pope Francis has met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living in Gaza. He held the meetings before his weekly general audience Wednesday. There, he begged for peace and an end to what he called terrorism and “the passions that are killing