Talipot palms in a Rio de Janeiro park are flowering for the first and only time in their lives.

A man alleged to be the founder and leader of a Haitian gang has been sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the kidnapping of 17 people, including five children, who were on a missionary trip to the Caribbean country.

The Pentagon’s watchdog has found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.

Exclusive drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows a devastated Ukrainian town nearly encircled by Russian forces near the city that Moscow this week claimed to now control.

Lebanon’s prime minister says his country is “far from” diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they have released mariners they have held since an attack in July on the ship Eternity C in the Red Sea.

Decorated Native American veteran Charles Shay has died at age 101 in France.

Researchers who examined climate change’s potential effect on the global economy say data errors led them to slightly overstate an expected drop in income over the next 25 years.

The Pentagon’s watchdog has found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.

Spotify Wrapped is here.

A resistance group in Myanmar has reportedly detained a candidate for the election scheduled for later this month.

The death toll from a high-rise apartment fire in Hong Kong has risen to 159.

Iran’s currency has hit a new low of 1.2 million to a U.S. dollar.

Ukraine and its European allies have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of feigning interest in peace efforts after five hours of talks with U.S. envoys at the Kremlin produced no breakthrough.

The European Union has unveiled a plan to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine over the next two years.

Police in New Zealand are monitoring a man accused of swallowing a $19,000 pendant with the intention of smuggling it out of a jewelry store.

Australia is set to enforce its age limit for social media accounts starting next week, and the platforms must provide monthly reports on how many children's accounts they have closed or face fines.

Rescue teams are racing to reach communities isolated by last week’s catastrophic floods and landslides in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand as over 800 people remained missing.

Israel says it launched an airstrike in southern Gaza in retaliation for an attack by militants earlier in the day that wounded five Israeli soldiers.

U.S. stocks rose near their record levels.

Britain’s King Charles III and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier put on a show of Anglo-Saxon unity Wednesday as their countries expand cooperation to fend off threats to European security, combat climate change and bolster economic growth.

Southeast Asia has been hit by unusually severe floods this year, with late storms killing more than 1,400 people and leaving hundreds missing across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Amnesty International has accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces of committing war crimes in Darfur.

Malaysia's transport ministry has announced that a private firm will resume the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 later this month.

French President Emmanuel Macron has landed in Beijing for a three-day visit to China focused on trade talks and global crises.

Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the darkest spots on Earth, a crown jewel for astronomers who flock to study the origins of the universe in this inhospitable desert along the Pacific coast.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he did not want Somali immigrants in the U.S., saying residents of the war-ravaged eastern African country are too reliant on U.S. social safety net and add little to the United States.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is citing the “fog of war” in defending a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in early September.

Dressed in traditional Palestinian prints and a suit, Eman Hassan Lawwa and Hikmat Lawwa walked hand-in-hand past the crumbled buildings of southern Gaza in a line of couples dressed exactly the same as them.

Authorities have charged a Texas man with making threats online after they say a video showing him threatening to build a bomb and conduct a suicide attack was posted to TikTok and other social media sites.

Costco is joining other companies that aren’t waiting to see whether the Supreme Court strikes down President Donald Trump’s most sweeping import taxes.

A rare Fabergé egg crafted for Russia’s ruling family before the revolution has sold for more $30 million.

Authorities have charged a Texas man with making threats online after they say a video showing him threatening to build a bomb and conduct a suicide attack was posted to TikTok and other social media sites.

Pope Leo XIV has shared his thoughts during the conclave that elected him, saying he resigned himself to the inevitable and put the rest in God’s hands.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte brushed off fresh concern about the United States’ commitment to the military organization on the eve of a meeting of allied foreign ministers focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

U.S.-operated flights returning deported migrants to Venezuela will continue despite President Donald Trump’s assertion to consider the country’s airspace closed.

The wife of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández says he has been released from prison following a pardon from President Donald Trump.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday over a peace plan to end the war with Ukraine.

The Prada Group has officially purchased Milan fashion rival Versace for $1.375 billion.

Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains.

Bulgaria’s government has withdrawn a controversial budget proposal after protests erupted into clashes with police.

Uncomfortable questions are being raised over who is to blame for Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades.

Israel says it has received remains handed over by Palestinian militants in Gaza to the Red Cross.

Emergency crews are racing to reach survivors and recover bodies after catastrophic floods and landslides in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia.

Palestinians in the West Bank are living in fear of more attacks by armed Israeli settlers.

A new report by the United Nations Development Program is urging governments to focus more on how artificial intelligence technologies might affect people already disadvantaged in a data-driven world.

India’s telecoms ministry has ordered smartphone manufacturers to install a government-run cybersecurity app on all new devices.

Conservationists are hoping to strengthen regulations at a wildlife trade conference on birds, reptiles and other animals that are seeing their numbers decline due to the exotic pet trade.

Pope Leo XIV has offered a silent prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion as he wrapped up his first foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV has prayed at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, urging justice for the 218 victims.

The U.S. stock market held steadier as both bond yields and bitcoin stabilized.

Hong Kong is setting up an independent committee to investigate a deadly fire that burned seven apartment buildings and killed at least 156 people.

The world economy has proven surprisingly durable in the face of President Donald Trump’s trade wars, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday, upgrading its outlook for global and U.S. economic growth this year.

For travelers from the United States and Israel, visiting Bolivia has just become a little easier.

The White House says a Navy admiral ordered a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and insists the September attack that has come under bipartisan scrutiny was lawful.

Babson College has instructed faculty and staff to support a student deported to Honduras.

Belgian authorities are puzzled by the theft of an infant Jesus icon from a Nativity scene in Brussels.

A charitable foundation is making 25 Christmas stockings from the drapes of King Charles III’s Sandringham estate.

Heavily armed gangs have attacked Haiti’s central region, killing men, women and children and setting fire to homes.

A recent Ebola outbreak in southern Congo has been declared over by health officials, after no new cases were reported for 45 days.

The last supermoon of the year will soon shine in December skies.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended his Treasury chief Rachel Reeves against claims she misled the public about government finances before last week's tax-hiking budget.

Pope Leo XIV has celebrated Lebanon's tradition of interfaith coexistence as a beacon of hope for a conflict-torn region.

Hong Kong authorities say some of the netting on buildings that caught fire last week did not meet codes for fire resistance.

Pope Leo XIV visits holy sites in Lebanon on Monday, drawing Christians and Muslims.

Over 800 people remain missing after devastating floods killed over 1,000 people last week in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to five years in prison and her niece, British Labour Party lawmaker Tulip Siddiq, to two years for corruption involving a government land project.

Pope Leo XIV's visit to Lebanon highlights the country's religious pluralism and sends a message to Christians not to abandon the region.

U.S. stocks gave back some of last week’s rally, as bitcoin fell sharply again.

With votes from about 57% of polling places counted in Honduras, preliminary and partial results showed conservative candidates Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla leading the presidential contest early Monday and the governing party trailing.

Ukrainian officials met with U.S. President Donald Trump's representatives Sunday, and Washington officials are expected in Moscow for more peace talks this week.

President Donald Trump says he’s invited the family of a National Guard member fatally shot last week to the White House.

A long-lost painting by Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens has sold for $2.7 million at an auction Sunday.

Pope Leo XIV has doubled down on the Holy See’s insistence on a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Israel's president for a pardon during his ongoing corruption trial.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that the Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House had been unraveling for years.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials completed roughly four hours of talks aimed at finding an endgame to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Poll workers have begun tallying Hondurans’ votes as the country moves to elect a new president only days after U.S. President Donald Trump intervened in a close race with an endorsement of one candidate and announced he would pardon a former president.

The death toll from a fire in a Hong Kong apartment complex has risen to 146.

Pope Leo XIV has challenged Lebanon’s political leaders to be true peacemakers and put their differences aside.

Hondurans are buzzing about U.S. President Donald Trump's recent involvement in their presidential election.

The Venezuelan government is accusing President Donald Trump of making a ”colonial threat” and seeking to undermine the South American country’s sovereignty.

British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998’s “Shakespeare In Love” has died.

The African Union has suspended Guinea-Bissau following a military coup, emphasizing its zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes in government.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began.

A confident far-right Alternative for Germany has set up its new youth organization as thousands of protesters converged on the western city of Giessen.

A massive fire in Hong Kong's Tai Po district has become the deadliest in the city's memory, causing 128 deaths with dozens unaccounted for.

U.S. officials are meeting in Florida this weekend with their Ukrainian counterparts about the Russia-Ukraine war.

Pope Leo XIV has visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque without praying there as he focused on strengthening ties with Orthodox patriarchs.

Ukraine has used Sea Baby naval drones to strike two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea.

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades is raising questions about corruption and negligence in the renovations of the apartment complex where at least 128 people died.

Improved weather has helped rescuers on Indonesia's Sumatra island recover more bodies after landslides and flash floods.

French police have arrested a man believed to be the fourth member of the team that stole France’s crown jewels from the Louvre Museum.

Italy’s fashion house Armani has appointed a new board to guide the company following the death of its founder Giorgio Armani earlier this year.

Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau have appointed a close ally of the deposed president as prime minister after seizing power following disputed elections.

The Louvre museum has approved a ticket price increase for non-EU visitors, raising it from 22 to 32 euros starting in January.

Israeli forces have raided a village in southern Syria, killing at least 13 people, according to Syrian officials.

The death toll from flooding in southern Thailand has reached at least 145, according to officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who was also the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S. The resignation on Friday came hours after Yermak’s residence was searched by anti-corruption investigators.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks at the Kremlin.