US demand $15,000 bonds for visa applications from 12 more countries

WASHINGTON (AP) – The State Department says it is adding 12 countries whose citizens must post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply for U.S. visas. Effective April 2, passport holders from Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia will be required to pay the bond.

Oil prices knock down stocks and erase hopes for interest rate cut

NEW YORK (AP) - Another climb for oil prices shook stock markets on Friday, as hopes collapsed for a possible cut to interest rates this year by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% to close its fourth straight losing week, its longest such streak in a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 443 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 2%.

Chile's new far-right president launches work on border barrier

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) – Chilean President José Antonio Kast wasted no time. Less than a week after his inauguration, Chile’s arch-conservative president on Monday began overseeing preparations to build a border barrier – part of his flagship campaign promise to block immigrants from crossing illegally.

Middle East War: The Latest Updates

On one of the holiest days on the Islamic calendar, Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states, insisting that it can still build missiles and issuing a new threat: to deny safety to its enemies in “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide. Israel meanwhile pounded Tehran with airstrikes as Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Ecuador rejects allegations it is bombing inside Colombia

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Ecuador’s president on Tuesday rejected allegations that his country is bombing targets in neighboring Colombia as tensions escalate between the two South American nations.

CBS News shutters its storied radio news service after nearly a century

NEW YORK (AP) – CBS News said Friday it is shutting down its storied radio news service after nearly 100 years of operation as part of a round of layoffs, blaming a shift in radio station programming strategies and challenging economic times.

Brazil ex-President Bolsonaro's kidney function

SAO PAULO (AP) – Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ‘s kidney function has improved but he will remain in an intensive care unit because of pneumonia, a hospital in the capital, Brasilia, said on Sunday.

Editorials from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and others

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

Ecuador deploys 75,000 soldiers to crime-ridden provinces

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Ecuadorian officials said Monday that they have deployed 75,000 soldiers and police officers to four crime-ridden provinces where the government is implementing a nightly curfew banning people from leaving their homes from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.