DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran’s supreme leader vowed Thursday in a defiant tone to protect the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and missile capabilities, which U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to curtail through airstrikes and as part of a wider deal to cement the war’s shaky ceasefire.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Even as Iran squeezes world energy supplies with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, its own oil industry is increasingly being threatened by an American blockade. With no way to export the oil it is pumping, Iran may be forced to dramatically reduce or cease production.

NEW YORK (AP) – Teenagers are more inclined than their elders to get news from nontraditional sources such as social media and influencers, heralding a generational shift in how people seek out information. A national study by the Media Insight Project finds 36% of U.S. adults say they get news from social media at least once a day.

The leaders of major media companies around the world, including The Associated Press, are calling on Israel’s government to lift a ban keeping foreign journalists from being able to independently enter and report from Gaza, a barrier that’s been in place since the war’s start in 2023 and continues even as a ceasefire has been in place for more than six months.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking details of a short-term ceasefire Russia proposed to U.S. President Donald Trump, he said in a post on Telegram on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a May 9 ceasefire to coincide with Victory Day in Russia.

LONDON (AP) – In the world of diplomatic faux pas, it could have been a lot worse. At Tuesday’s state dinner honoring King Charles III and Queen Camilla, U.S. President Donald Trump said that during a private meeting earlier in the day the British monarch had agreed with him that Iran should never be allowed to have nuclear weapons.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – Former FBI Director James Comey made his first court appearance Wednesday in a criminal case against him that legal experts say presents significant hurdles for the prosecution and will likely be a challenge for the Justice Department to win.

The Supreme Court has weakened a key tool of the Voting Rights Act that has helped root out racial discrimination in voting for more than half a century in a case concerning a Black majority congressional district in Louisiana. The court’s conservative majority found that the district, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields, relied too heavily on race.