US Secretary of State John Kerry said Iraq's new leadership faces big challenges. Julie Noce reports.
The U.S. has determined that an Israeli military unit committed gross human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza began six months ago, but it will hold off on any decision about aid to the battalion while it reviews new information provided by Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson. The undated letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, defers a decision by the U.S. whether to impose a first-ever block on U.S. aid to an Israeli military unit over its treatment of Palestinians. Blinken stressed that U.S. military support for Israel’s defense against Hamas and other threats would not be affected by the State Department's final decision on the one unit.
An Alabama in hospital has helped deliver twins born in a "one in a million" pregnancy, for the second time. Shellie Pascoe, 29, gave birth in March to a healthy boy and girl, twins whom she carried in two uteruses. Pascoe told "Good Morning America" she learned while trying to become pregnant that she was born with uterine didelphys, or double uterus, a rare condition in which a woman is born with two uteruses and two cervixes.
Inflation showed little signs of letting up in March, with a key barometer the Federal Reserve watches closely showing that price pressures remain elevated.
Support for South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has fallen to just over 40%, an Ipsos opinion poll showed, weeks before a general election that could usher in the biggest political change since the end of the apartheid era. While the ANC is still on track to win the most votes on May 29, if it gets less than 50% support it would have to seek one or more coalition partners to govern the country, the first such alliance since the party swept to power under liberation hero Nelson Mandela 30 years ago.
In an unprecedented year, the core of journalism remains the same
Poland opened an art show Friday to celebrate its only Van Gogh painting, a rare early landscape worth millions that was once hawked by a pedlar for the price of a beer.The small oil painting -- also known as "Farmhouses Among Trees" -- is "interesting for its modesty and for showing a whole different side to Van Gogh," said Agata Smolnicka, co-curator of the Warsaw show.
ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported a dip in profits Friday on lower refining margins and natural gas prices, but ExxonMobil's big takeover appears on track to close before Chevron's. While ExxonMobil's Pioneer deal appears on the cusp of closing, Chevron's proposed $53 billion takeover of Hess hit a speedbump following a challenge from ExxonMobil.
"If we are to reclaim our university, faculty and students must do it together," writes Barnard professor Nara Milanich.
Herds of endangered hippos stuck in the mud of dried-up ponds are in danger of dying in drought-struck Botswana, conservation authorities told AFP Friday.Near the vast wetlands of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, the dried-up Thamalakane River has forced herds of hippos to head for natural water reserves close to the tourist town of Maun.
Meta is spending big on artificial intelligence — only to offer its latest advanced AI models to the public for free.
The owner of a suburban Detroit business that caught fire and exploded, killing a man, was arrested at a New York airport as he was preparing to depart for Hong Kong on a one-way ticket, authorities said Friday. U.S. Customs and New York Port Authority personnel arrested Noor Noel Kestou, 31, on Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Kestou, of Commerce Township, was arraigned Thursday on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Plus: More fake-elector indictments; FBI's controversial report on radical Catholics. It's the week in extremism, from USA TODAY.
A 20-year-old British man has been charged with plotting an arson attack on a Ukraine-linked target in London at the behest of Russia.
Another hot inflation reading released Friday reinforces that any near-term interest rate cuts are less likely, as the Federal Reserve shifts to a higher-for-longer stance.
France and Germany on Friday firmed up plans to jointly develop a next-generation battle tank equipped with artificial intelligence and laser technology, billed as a game changer in modern warfare.In 2017, Germany and France agreed to jointly develop the next-generation battle tank as a successor to the French Leclerc and German Leopard tanks, starting in 2040.
Burkina Faso has suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio networks from broadcasting after they aired a rights report accusing the army of attacks on civilians in its battle against jihadists.It said the decision had been taken because BBC Africa and the VOA had aired and also published a report on their digital platforms "accusing the Burkina army of abuses against the civilian population".
Ukraine warned Friday that Moscow was ramping up attacks on railways in a bid to disrupt military supplies ahead of a fresh Russian offensive while Kyiv waits for new US weapon deliveries.The Russian defence ministry said Friday that a strike on Udachne in the Donetsk region had targeted what it said were "Western weapons and military equipment" being transported by railway.
At least 10 people were killed Friday in a fire that broke out in a defunct hotel being used as a makeshift homeless shelter in the city of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, officials said.The fire broke out around 2:00 am (0500 GMT), officials said.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Friday rejected criticism over the arrests of journalists and said the fact that people had access to the internet meant press freedom was assured. "We must protect our media landscape from external negative influences, just like any other country, and everyone must comply with the laws," Aliyev told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to Berlin. It was the first time Aliyev had spoken publicly about the arrests, which have prompted strong concern from the United States, the European Union and press watchdogs.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has suspended all duties and gone silent while he considers whether to step down on Monday over a graft investigation against his wife. Sanchez said he would suspend all public duties until he announces his decision on Monday and the normally hyperactive premier has since remained out of sight and silent.
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