Hungary's Magyar says new government could take power in May

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – Hungarian opposition leader and election winner Péter Magyar said Wednesday that the country’s president had assured him in a meeting that his new government could take power in the first week of May, an accelerated timeline for the end of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year reign.

Xi calls China-Russia ties 'precious' in current international context

BEIJING (AP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the stability and certainty of China-Russia relations are particularly “precious” in the face of an international landscape intertwined with change and chaos.

From dropping bombs to pressuring banks: US pivots to economic warfare on Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) – If the U.S. and Iran aren’t able to soon come to a deal to end the war or extend the ceasefire that expires next week, the Trump administration is setting the stage to shift its war campaign toward a more economic-focused effort aimed at choking Tehran into submission rather than relying on bombs alone.

China's economy grows at 5%, shrugging off initial impact of Iran war

HONG KONG (AP) – China’s economy accelerated in the first quarter of this year, expanding 5% from a year earlier as it largely shrugged off impacts from the Iran war so far, according to data released Thursday.

El Salvador Permits Life Sentences for 12 year Olds

SAN SALVADOR (AP) – Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday signed into law constitutional reforms to permit life prison sentences for people as young as 12, a contentious reform that follows other heavy-handed measures pushed through by the populist leader.

Israeli settlers block Palestinian kids' path to school with tear gas

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) – Hajar and Rashid Hathaleen have always walked to school from their neighborhood on the outskirts of Umm al-Khair. But when classes resumed this week for the first time since the Iran war began, coiled barbed wire blocked the Palestinian siblings’ path to the village center.

Trump promised peace in the Middle East. In Michigan, it feels farther away

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) – Eighteen months after the nation’s largest Arab American community helped propel Donald Trump to a second term as president, the prayers have not stopped. In Dearborn, just outside of Detroit, families wait restlessly for word from relatives abroad.

Pope doubles down on peace message as Trump's criticism continues

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) – Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday doubled down as U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism showed no sign of letting up, insisting that the message “the world needs to hear today” is one of peace and dialogue.

Allies of former presidents lead in Peru election

LIMA, Peru (AP) – Keiko Fujimori, the conservative daughter of a disgraced former Peruvian president, and Roberto Sánchez, a nationalist congressman and former minister, were leading in the race for Peru’s next president as ballots were being tallied on Wednesday for a fourth straight day.