By STEVEN GRATTAN Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Deforestation in Colombia fell 36% in 2023 versus the previous year, the government said Monday, marking the lowest level since records began. The decline was driven by a drop in environmental destruction in the Amazon, the ...

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Seemingly so close, and yet still so far away. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen looked to be nearer to power than ever last week after her National Rally party, strengthened by new allies, triumphed in the opening round of legislative ...

By JIM GOMEZ and HARUKA NUGA Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact Monday allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint drills in the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is ...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Nearly 1,000 homes in informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, have been destroyed by gale-force winds, displacing around 4,000 people, authorities and an aid organization said as the city braces for a week of damaging storms. South African weather ...

By HANNA ARHIROVA and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 31 people and injured almost 130 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children's hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency ...

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Election results show French voters have chosen to give a broad leftist coalition the most parliamentary seats in pivotal legislative elections, keeping the far right away from power. Yet no party won an outright majority, putting France in an ...

By SAMY MAGDY and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces deepened an operation in the Gaza Strip's largest city in what the military said was meant to weed out militants, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing on Monday from an area already ...

By SYLVIE CORBET and LORI HINNANT Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron refused the resignation of the country's prime minister, asking him on Monday to remain temporarily as the head of the government after chaotic election results left the government in ...

By HANNA ARHIROVA and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — For Ukrainian hurdler Anna Ryzhykova, each stride on the Paris Olympic track will have meaning far beyond the time she clocks. Her competitions are no longer strictly an individual battle, but war on a different ...

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's government announced Monday it will abandon its plan to suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors as part of its efforts to convince them to return to work and resolve the country's monthslong medical ...

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Several officials in the Middle East and the U.S. believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by a nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a cease-fire ...

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Washington this week to mark the 75th anniversary of the world's biggest security organization just as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine. The three-day ...

By MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Marking nine months since the war in Gaza started, Israeli protesters blocked highways across the country Sunday, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and pushing for a cease-fire to bring back ...

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — After her son, the family's shining light and only breadwinner, was arrested last year, Tambudzai Tembo went into meltdown. In Zimbabwe, where clinical mental health services are scarce, her chances of getting professional help were ...

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea's recent front-line live-fire drills "suicidal hysteria" as she threatened unspecified military steps Monday if further provoked. The warning by Kim Yo ...

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike easily won a third four-year term as head of Japan's influential capital in a closely watched vote Sunday, the city's residents apparently happy with her governance that included providing childcare subsidies and ...

By NAYARA BATSCHKE Associated Press ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — The most notable thing about the Mercosur trade bloc's meetings on Sunday in Paraguay was an absence — that of Argentine President Javier Milei. With the Argentine populist skipping the summit to star at a right-wing rally ...

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Given the choice between a far-right convention to bash his enemies and a presidential summit to discuss regional trade policy, Argentine President Javier Milei preferred the stadium packed with cheering fans. The ...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, famous for his heavy-handed crackdown on street gangs, threatened to use similar tactics against price gougers. Since 2022, Bukele has rounded up tens of thousands of suspected street gang members — often on little ...

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — West Africa's divided regional bloc Sunday asked Senegal's President Basirou Diomaye Faye to have a dialogue with the three military junta-led member states to try to reunite the region whose stability has been under threat following ...