Pope criticizes prison overcrowding during special Mass for inmates, guards and families
ROME — Pope Leo XIV criticized prison overcrowding and insufficient inmate rehabilitation programs on Sunday as he celebrated a special Mass for detainees, guards and their families in the final event of the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year. The Vatican said an estimated 6,000 people signed up to participate in the...
Attacker who killed U.S. troops in Syria was a recent recruit to security forces, official says
BEIRUT — A man who carried out an attack in Syria that killed three U.S. citizens had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months earlier and was recently reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with the Islamic State group, a Syrian official told...
Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party votes to disband after more than 30 years of activism
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party voted Sunday to dissolve after more than 30 years of activism, marking the end of an era of the Chinese semiautonomous city ‘s once-diverse political landscape. Democratic Party chairperson Lo Kin-hei said the political environment was “one important point” among the factors...
Hamas confirms the death of a top commander in Gaza after Israeli strike
JERUSALEM — Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City. The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect...
Iraq’s election result ratified by Supreme Federal Court as premiership remains up for grabs
BAGHDAD — The result of last month’s parliamentary elections in Iraq was ratified by the Supreme Federal Court on Sunday, confirming that the party of caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani won the largest number of seats — but not enough to assure him a second term. The court confirmed...
Zelenskyy offers to drop NATO bid for security guarantees but rejects U.S. push to cede territory
BERLIN — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, but rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia as he held talks with U.S. envoys on ending the war. Zelenskyy sat down with President...
Father and son gunmen kill at least 15 people in attack on Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi BeachVideo
SYDNEY — Two gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi beach, killing 15 people, including a child, officials said Monday, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation. The shooters were father and son, authorities...
Authorities release person of interest detained in Brown University shooting
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A person of interest detained after a Brown University shooting that killed two students and injured nine has been released after an investigation took law enforcement authorities in a “different direction,” officials said Sunday night. The disclosure, made at a hastily convened late night news conference, represents...
Police searching Brown University after shooter kills 2, wounds 8 on campus
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A shooter dressed in black killed at least two people and wounded eight others at Brown University on Saturday during final exams on the Ivy League campus, authorities said, as police searched for the suspect. Officers were hunting through campus buildings and sifting through trash cans more...
Multiple victims reported in shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Multiple people were shot Saturday in the area of Brown University, police said, as the Ivy League school issued an active shooter alert and urged students and staff to take shelter during the second day of final exams. Police did not immediately release details about the number...
UN chief says 6 peacekeepers killed in drone strike on a UN facility in Sudan
CAIRO — A drone strike hit a United Nations facility in war-torn Sudan on Saturday, killing six peacekeepers, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. The strike hit the peacekeeping logistics base in the city of Kadugli, in the central region of Kordofan, Guterres said in a statement. Eight other peacekeepers were...
Ukrainian drone attack kills 2 in Russia as millions in Ukraine lose power
A Ukrainian drone attack in southwestern Russia killed two people and parts of Ukraine went without power following Russian assaults on energy infrastructure, authorities said Saturday, as U.S.-led peace talks were about to restart on Sunday. Foreign policy advisers from the U.S., Ukraine and Germany, among others, will meet in...
Trump pledges retaliation after 3 Americans killed in Syria attack that U.S. blames on IS
DAMASCUS, Syria — President Donald Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation” after two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blames on the Islamic State group. “This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and...
Belarus frees Nobel Prize laureate Bialiatski, opposition figure Kolesnikova as U.S. lifts sanctions
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Belarusian authorities on Saturday freed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova and other prominent political prisoners, a human rights group confirmed. Their release comes as authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko seeks to improve relations with Washington. The U.S. earlier on Saturday announced lifting...
Speaker Johnson unveils health care plan as divided Republicans scramble for alternative
WASHINGTON — The Senate failed to get anywhere on the health care issue this week. Now it’s the House’s turn to show what it can do. Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a Republican alternative late Friday, a last-minute sprint as his party refuses to extend the enhanced tax subsidies for those...
Man’s death on roller coaster at Universal Orlando Resort ruled accidental
ORLANDO, Fla. — The death of a 32-year-old man after riding a high-speed roller coaster at the Universal Epic Universe theme park was accidental, and an investigation has been closed, according to a Florida sheriff’s office report released this week. Meanwhile, a medical examiner’s report released Friday showed that the...
GOP chairman threatens Clintons with contempt of Congress in Epstein inquiry
WASHINGTON — The Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee threatened Friday to begin contempt of Congress proceedings against former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton if they refuse to appear for depositions as part of the committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said in...
Critically wounded National Guard member being moved to in-patient rehabilitation
A West Virginia National Guard member who was shot last month in the nation’s capital is being transitioned from hospital acute care to in-patient rehabilitation, a doctor said Friday. Staff. Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was airlifted to MedStar Washington Hospital Center with a critical gunshot wound to the head on Nov....
New Orleans jail escapee who evaded capture for months gets life sentence for double murder
NEW ORLEANS — The last inmate caught after an audacious New Orleans jailbreak was sentenced Friday to two life sentences over a 2018 double murder, with the Louisiana judge rebuking him for the disruption caused by his five months on the run. Derrick Groves, 28, wore shackles and an orange...
TSA renews push to end collective bargaining agreement for airport security screeners
The Transportation Security Administration is renewing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s push to end a collective bargaining agreement with airport screening officers — the second such attempt this year and one that comes just a month after the longest government shutdown on record. The agency said Friday the move is...
Iran arrests Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, supporters say
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran has arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, her supporters said Friday. A foundation in her name said she was detained in Mashhad, some 420 miles northeast of the capital, Tehran, while attending a memorial for a human rights lawyer recently found dead under...
EU indefinitely freezes Russian assets so Hungary and Slovakia can’t veto their use for Ukraine
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Friday indefinitely froze Russia’s assets in Europe to ensure that Hungary and Slovakia, both with Moscow-friendly governments, can’t prevent the billions of euros from being used to support Ukraine. Using a special procedure meant for economic emergencies, the EU blocked the assets until Russia...
U.S. accuses Rwanda of violating peace deal as M23 rebels seize key city in eastern Congo
UNITED NATIONS — The United States accused Rwanda on Friday of violating a U.S.-brokered peace agreement by backing a new and deadly offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Congo and warned that the Trump administration will take action against “spoilers” of the deal. The remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the United...
Navy investigation finds Osprey safety issues were allowed to grow for years
WASHINGTON — After a spate of deadly accidents that have claimed the lives of 20 service members in the past four years, a Navy report acknowledges that the military failed to address a growing series of issues with the V-22 Osprey aircraft since it took flight almost 20 years ago....
House Democrats release photos of Trump, Clinton and Andrew from Epstein’s estate
WASHINGTON — House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew. The 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee were a small part of more than 95,000 they...
