By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The United Nations' refugee agency said Friday that Cypriot efforts at sea to stop numerous Syrian refugee-laden boats departing Lebanon from reaching the European Union-member island nation mustn't contravene ...

By JESSICA DONATI and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United States is attempting to create a new military agreement with Niger that would allow it to remain in the country, weeks after the junta said its presence was no longer justified, two Western officials told ...

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday pressed member countries to give more Patriot missile systems to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated Kyiv's almost daily appeals for more Western air defense equipment. "NATO has ...

By ASHOK SHARMA and KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians began voting on Friday in a six-week election that's a referendum on Narendra Modi, the populist prime minister who has championed an assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics and is seeking a rare ...

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's air force claimed Friday it shot down a Russian strategic bomber, but Moscow officials said the plane crashed in a sparsely populated area due to a malfunction after a combat mission. Neither claim could be independently ...

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's president is in a rush to finish the big legislative and building projects he promised before his term ends in September, and experts say officials are getting a bit sloppy amid all the haste. This week, legislators from the ...

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A former Russian tycoon jailed in Azerbaijan on charges stemming from his time as a top separatist figure in the Karabakh region has gone on a hunger strike, his family said Friday. Ruben Vardanyan started the fast two weeks ago to press demands for a speedy trial, ...

By DALATOU MAMANE and JACK THOMPSON Associated Press NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Drug seizures soared in the West African Sahel region according to figures released Friday in a new U.N. report, indicating the conflict-ridden region is becoming an influential route for drug trafficking. In 2022, ...

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Firefighters stabilizing the burned-out husk of Copenhagen's historic Old Stock Exchange tried to use giant shears on a crane Friday to cut away dangling scaffolding, but suffered a setback when the implement fell into the ...

Switzerland's lower house moves to ban use of Nazi and extremist symbols that could stir violence By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The lower house of Swiss parliament is following in the footsteps of the Senate, or upper house, and has approved a measure that would ban the use ...

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers will on Tuesday debate and vote on the government's plans to introduce a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking. The bill, a key policy announced by Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last ...

By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS Associated Press ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) — Even without the help of Apollo, the flame that is to burn at the Paris Olympics was kindled Tuesday at the site of the ancient games in southern Greece. Cloudy skies prevented the traditional lighting, when an actress ...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Argentina's defense minister signed a deal Tuesday worth about 2.1 billion kroner ($300 million) to buy 24 of Denmark's aging F-16 fighter jets. Denmark is getting new F-35 aircraft, and the sale of the nearly 40-year-old F-16s that "have been thoroughly maintained ...

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press VENICE, Italy (AP) — The artist and curators representing Israel at this year's Venice Biennale announced Tuesday they won't open the Israeli pavilion exhibition until there is a cease-fire in Gaza and an agreement to release hostages. Their decision was ...

By MARK BAKER and ROD MCGUIRK Associated Press SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism. Police arrested a ...

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. citizen arrested on drug charges in Moscow amid soaring Russia-U.S. tensions over Ukraine appeared in court on Monday. Robert Woodland Romanov is facing charges of trafficking large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group — a criminal offense punishable ...

By ERIKA KINETZ Associated Press ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) — If the choice was death or a bullet to the leg, Yevgeny would take the bullet. A decorated hero of Russia's war in Ukraine, Yevgeny told his friend and fellow soldier to please aim carefully and avoid bone. The tourniquets were ...

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A key plank in the British government's plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is expected to become law this week, but opponents plan new legal challenges that could keep deportation flights grounded. A bill aimed at ...

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The mayor of Colombia's capital on Monday announced new measures to reduce water consumption in the city of eight million people, where a drought associated with the El Niño weather pattern has already prompted officials to ration ...

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Lightning and heavy rains have killed at least 36 people, mostly farmers, across Pakistan in the past three days, officials said Monday, as authorities in the country's southwest declared a state of emergency. Most of the deaths occurred ...