Hamas official says group would disarm for Palestinian state

By Abby Sewell | Associated Press ISTANBUL — A top Hamas political official told The Associated Press the Islamic militant group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is … Read more

UN calls for probe of mass graves found at 2 Gaza hospitals

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations called Tuesday for “a clear, transparent and credible investigation” of mass graves uncovered at two major hospitals in war-torn Gaza that were raided by Israeli troops. Credible investigators must have access to the sites, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters, and added that more journalists need to … Read more

Iran President refused to back Pakistan’s position on Kashmir issue

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday refused to join ranks with Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif when the latter thanked him for ‘supporting’ Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir.The Iranian president who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan decided to skip any mention of the Kashmir issue during his statement to the media following the meeting with … Read more

Bomber targets Japanese workers in Pakistan; all survive

By Adil Jawad | Associated Press KARACHI, Pakistan — A suicide bomber targeted a van carrying Japanese nationals in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Friday, police said. The Japanese nationals escaped unharmed but officials later said one bystander was killed. Initially, police said the van was heading to an industrial area where the five … Read more

Shoppers return to ‘eerie’ Sydney mall after mass stabbings

By Mark Baker and Keiran Smith | Associated Press SYDNEY — Shoppers and workers returned to a “really quiet” Sydney mall Friday, where six days earlier an assailant stabbed six people to death and wounded more than a dozen others in an attack that police believe targeted women. Westfield Bondi Junction mall near world-famous Bondi … Read more

Brushing off calls for restraint, Netanyahu vows to hit Iran

By Julia Frankel and Tia Goldenberg | Associated Press JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday his country would be the one to decide whether and how to respond to Iran’s major air assault earlier this week, brushing off calls for restraint from close allies. Israel has vowed to respond to Iran’s unprecedented … Read more

Senior UK jurists join the call to end arm sales to Israel

By Jill Lawless | Associated Press LONDON — More than 600 British jurists, including three retired judges from the U.K. Supreme Court, are calling on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the deaths of three U.K. aid workers in an Israeli strike. Britain is just … Read more

Putin blames Islamic extremists for deadly concert attack

By Dasha Litvinova | Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the gunmen who carried out the concert hall attack that killed over 130 people in a Moscow suburb last week were “radical Islamists.” Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists “whose ideology the … Read more

Survivors detail deadly attack by security forces in Burkina Faso

By Sam Mednick and Michael Biesecker | Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal — Women slain with babies wrapped against their bodies, lifeless children intertwined together, a 2-month-old face-up on the ground with puppies crawling on his tiny frame. The scenes were horrifying, but the 32-year-old farmer felt he had to document them, as proof of the … Read more