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Pope Leo XIV arrives to hold an audience with the participants of the Jubilee of Missionaries and Migrants, at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

President Maduro asks Pope Leo XIV to help maintain peace in Venezuela

The Associated Press 2 minute read Yesterday at 8:17 PM CDT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday said he has asked Pope Leo XIV to help maintain peace in the South American country.

Maduro’s comments come as the United States military continues to strike alleged drug-carrying boats in the waters off Venezuela in what President Donald Trump has declared an “armed conflict” with cartels. Maduro said he sought Leo’s help in a letter.

“I have great faith that Pope Leo, as I stated in the letter I sent him, will help Venezuela preserve and achieve peace and stability,” Maduro said during his weekly show on state television.

Maduro did not provide details of the letter. His government’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for a copy of the document.

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The Latest: Israelis and Palestinians mark 2 years of war

The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

The Latest: Israelis and Palestinians mark 2 years of war

The Associated Press 7 minute read Updated: 2:15 AM CDT

It’s been two years since thousands of Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets. They stormed army bases, farming communities and an outdoor music festival, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including women, children and older adults and abducting 251 others.

In response, Israel launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed tens of thousands of people and razed entire towns and cities. As the U.S. is seeking to broker a ceasefire after nearly two years of war, those who can are fleeing another Israeli invasion of Gaza City while others are sheltering in place. Many are unable to make the arduous and costly journey south.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,160 on Monday.

Here's the latest:

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Updated: 2:15 AM CDT

People visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, as Israel marks the second year anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
People visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, as Israel marks the second year anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Thousands in Gaza are missing 2 years into the war. Tormented families search for clues

Wafaa Shurafa And Sarah El Deeb, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Thousands in Gaza are missing 2 years into the war. Tormented families search for clues

Wafaa Shurafa And Sarah El Deeb, The Associated Press 7 minute read Updated: 1:17 AM CDT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza City (AP) — When Israeli bombs began falling, Mohammad al-Najjar, his wife and six children fled their house in southern Gaza in the dead of night, dispersing in terror alongside hundreds of others from their neighborhood.

When the dust settled and al-Najjar huddled with his family in a shelter miles away, his son Ahmad, 23, was missing. After daybreak, the family searched in nearby hospitals and asked neighbors if they had seen him.

There was no trace. Nearly two years later, they are still looking.

“It is as if the earth has swallowed him,” said Mohammad al-Najjar. He spoke from the family’s tent in Muwasi, along Gaza’s southern coast, their ninth displacement camp since that fateful night in December 2023.

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Updated: 1:17 AM CDT

Mohammad and Tahani al-Najjar hold a cellphone showing a picture of their son, Ahmad, at their family's tent in Muwasi, along Gaza's southern coast, Feb. 22, 2025. Nearly two years after Ahmad went missing following Israeli bombardment, the al-Najjars are still searching for him. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Mohammad and Tahani al-Najjar hold a cellphone showing a picture of their son, Ahmad, at their family's tent in Muwasi, along Gaza's southern coast, Feb. 22, 2025. Nearly two years after Ahmad went missing following Israeli bombardment, the al-Najjars are still searching for him. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Thousands of mourners expected to attend Mormon church president’s funeral

Deepa Bharath And Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Thousands of mourners expected to attend Mormon church president’s funeral

Deepa Bharath And Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press 5 minute read Yesterday at 11:04 PM CDT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A funeral service will be held Tuesday in Salt Lake City for Russell M. Nelson, the charismatic sentimentalist who oversaw a significant temple building boom as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Nelson led the faith up until his death in late September at the age of 101.

The funeral is expected to draw thousands of mourners to the faith's Conference Center at Temple Square. About 600 members of Nelson's family are expected to attend along with 20,000 people who quickly snapped up tickets that the church offered online within 20 minutes, said church spokesperson Doug Andersen.

The service also will be broadcast globally on the church's website and other online platforms.

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Yesterday at 11:04 PM CDT

FILE - Church President Russell M. Nelson looks on during The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' conference on April 6, 2019, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - Church President Russell M. Nelson looks on during The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' conference on April 6, 2019, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

A divided Israel marks 2 years since Oct. 7 attack as war in Gaza grinds on and hostages languish

Alon Bernstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

A divided Israel marks 2 years since Oct. 7 attack as war in Gaza grinds on and hostages languish

Alon Bernstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 2:42 AM CDT

REIM, Israel (AP) — Thousands of people converged on southern Israel on Tuesday to mourn the dead as the nation marked two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack plunged the region into a devastating war, while Israel and Hamas hold indirect talks in Egypt.

The main memorial is being organized by the bereaved families, separate from a ceremony the government will hold on the anniversary next week according to the Hebrew calendar. The split reflects deep divisions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s leadership, which many blame for the failure to secure a ceasefire that would free the remaining hostages held by the militants.

In the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of people and razed entire towns and cities, those who can are fleeing another Israeli invasion of Gaza City while others are sheltering in place. Many are unable to make the arduous and costly journey south.

The worst attack in Israel’s history

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Updated: 2:42 AM CDT

People visit the burnt house of Siman Tov family where all five family members were killed during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, a day before Israel marks the two-year anniversary of the attack, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
People visit the burnt house of Siman Tov family where all five family members were killed during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, a day before Israel marks the two-year anniversary of the attack, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Greta Thunberg is among flotilla activists deported from Israel. Others remain in prison

Melanie Lidman And Renata Brito, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Greta Thunberg is among flotilla activists deported from Israel. Others remain in prison

Melanie Lidman And Renata Brito, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:47 PM CDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities said Monday they deported to Greece and Slovakia another 171 people detained for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, including prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

Israel's foreign ministry posted on X that “the deportees were citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia, and the United States." The post included photos of Thunberg and other activists wearing white T-shirts and gray sweatpants.

Thunberg was among dozens of deportees to land in Athens, Greece, on Monday afternoon. Crowds of supporters gathered at the Eleftherios Venizelos international airport and chanted “Free free Palestine!” as activists disembarked.

“That this mission has to exist, it's a shame! It is a shame!" Thunberg told journalists and protesters shortly after arriving. “I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me, but that is not the story,” she added.

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Updated: Yesterday at 4:47 PM CDT

Former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau is embraced by a friend as she arrives at the airport in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, after being arrested on the Global Sumud Flotilla and subsequently released by the Israeli authorities. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
Former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau is embraced by a friend as she arrives at the airport in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, after being arrested on the Global Sumud Flotilla and subsequently released by the Israeli authorities. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)

Pope Leo XIV starts to correct some of Francis’ more problematic financial decisions

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Pope Leo XIV starts to correct some of Francis’ more problematic financial decisions

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:48 AM CDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has begun correcting some of Pope Francis’ more questionable financial reforms and decisions, canceling a law Monday that had concentrated financial power in the Vatican bank.

Leo abrogated the 2022 law that had decreed that management of the Holy See’s assets was the “exclusive responsibility” of the Institute of Religious Works, or IOR.

In his first-ever executive decree, Leo published a new law Monday that says the Holy See generally does use the IOR, but can turn to non-Vatican banks in other countries if the Vatican’s investment committee “deems it more efficient or convenient” to do so.

The law was the clearest sign yet that Leo is starting to fix some of Francis’ more problematic decisions and is recalibrating the Vatican's centers of power, after Francis tended to lean heavily on the advice of the IOR and its top manager.

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Updated: Yesterday at 10:48 AM CDT

Pope Leo XIV waves from his popemobile at the end of a Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants and Missionaries in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV waves from his popemobile at the end of a Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants and Missionaries in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

UK prime minister condemns suspected arson attack on mosque in English coastal town

Lydia Doye, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

UK prime minister condemns suspected arson attack on mosque in English coastal town

Lydia Doye, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:18 AM CDT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned a suspected arson attack on a mosque in an English coastal town, which police were investigating as a hate crime. No one was injured.

The fire on Saturday night came two days after two men were killed when a knife-wielding assailant attacked their synagogue in Manchester on the holiest day of the Jewish year, in what authorities have called a terrorist assault. One of the victims was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block the attacker from entering.

Starmer’s spokesperson said that the prime minister was “appalled by the arson attack in Peacehaven."

“As the home secretary said, attacks against Britain’s Muslims are attacks against all Britons and this country itself," the spokesperson said, adding that "anti-Muslim hatred has no place in Britain.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:18 AM CDT

Locals view the damage outside the front entrance of the mosque in Peacehaven, following a suspected arson attack, in East Sussex, England, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)
Locals view the damage outside the front entrance of the mosque in Peacehaven, following a suspected arson attack, in East Sussex, England, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)

The Latest: Israeli and Hamas officials discuss US peace plan for Gaza

The Associated Press 10 minute read Preview

The Latest: Israeli and Hamas officials discuss US peace plan for Gaza

The Associated Press 10 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:33 PM CDT

Israeli and Hamas officials are holding indirect talks in an Egyptian coastal resort on Monday on a U.S.-drafted peace plan to end the war in Gaza on the eve of its second anniversary.

The talks focus on the ceasefire's first stage, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, according to a Hamas statement.

U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks, Egypt’s state-run media outlet Al-Ahram reported.

Many uncertainties remain about some elements of the plan including the disarmament of Hamas and the future governance of Gaza. Israel is still pounding Gaza with deadly airstrikes despite Trump’s order to stop. Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,160 on Monday.

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:33 PM CDT

Photos of the Siman Tov family are plastered on their burnt house where all five of them were killed during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, a day before Israel marks the two-year anniversary of the attack, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Photos of the Siman Tov family are plastered on their burnt house where all five of them were killed during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, a day before Israel marks the two-year anniversary of the attack, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Analysis: 2 years into the war in Gaza, there is still no clear way out

Joseph Krauss, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Analysis: 2 years into the war in Gaza, there is still no clear way out

Joseph Krauss, The Associated Press 7 minute read 2:56 AM CDT

Two years after Hamas’ attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip, the militant group is weakened but not defeated, Israel has clobbered its enemies across the region but failed to achieve its main goals, and no one knows how it all will end.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the deadliest on Israeli soil, sparked one of the most devastating military campaigns since World War II, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, flattening vast areas of the blockaded territory and triggering a famine in parts.

It sent ripples across the region, bringing Israel into combat with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and their patron, Iran, which suffered major losses in a 12-day war launched by Israel earlier this year.

Through it all, Hamas has held onto hostages — it still has 48, around 20 of whom Israel believes are alive — and maintained influence in the dwindling areas of Gaza that haven’t been destroyed and largely depopulated.

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2:56 AM CDT

People run for cover during an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, after the Israeli army issued a warning. (AP Photo/Yousef Al Zanoun)
People run for cover during an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, after the Israeli army issued a warning. (AP Photo/Yousef Al Zanoun)

A former Gaza hostage’s memoir keeps the focus on those still held by Hamas

Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

A former Gaza hostage’s memoir keeps the focus on those still held by Hamas

Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:35 AM CDT

HERZLIYA, Israel (AP) — Eli Sharabi spent 16 months in filthy tunnels under the Gaza Strip with his legs chained, surviving on moldy pita. Two years after the Hamas attack that started the war in Gaza, he fears a fellow hostage he came to think of as an adopted son is enduring even worse.

Israel has battered its enemies across the region and laid waste to Gaza. But as it marks another grim war anniversary on Tuesday, it has yet to return the last 48 hostages taken in the attack, around 20 of them believed to be alive. A new U.S.-backed peace plan has raised hopes of bringing them home.

Sharabi, 53, was freed in February. It was only then that he learned that his wife and two teenage daughters had been killed in their home by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023. There can be no closure for him, he says, until the return of all the hostages, including his closest companion in captivity, Alon Ohel, and the body of his older brother, Yossi.

Starvation, humiliation, and violence

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:35 AM CDT

Eli Sharabi, who was abducted during the cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and held hostage by Hamas for 16 months, poses with his new book "Hostage" for a photo in Herzliya, Israel, Thursday, September 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Eli Sharabi, who was abducted during the cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and held hostage by Hamas for 16 months, poses with his new book

Jews this week will be celebrating Sukkot, a seven-day holiday intended as a time of joy

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Jews this week will be celebrating Sukkot, a seven-day holiday intended as a time of joy

The Associated Press 2 minute read Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025

Sukkot, a week-long Jewish holiday celebrating the traditional gathering of the harvest, starts at sundown Monday and continues through Monday, Oct. 13.

Sukkot is considered one of the most joyful festivals on the Jewish calendar — distinctive in that it explicitly encourages Jews to rejoice and discourages public mourning.

Descriptions of these holy days are available here from two of the major branches of U.S. Judaism:

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Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children play next to Sukkahs, a temporary structures built for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Sukkot in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children play next to Sukkahs, a temporary structures built for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Sukkot in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Gaza flotilla activists allege mistreatment while being detained in Israel

Veronica Andrea Sauchelli And Andrew Wilks, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Gaza flotilla activists allege mistreatment while being detained in Israel

Veronica Andrea Sauchelli And Andrew Wilks, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025

ROME (AP) — Some of the activists detained while trying to reach Gaza by sea have returned to their home countries to describe mistreatment at the hands of Israeli guards, claims that Israel denies.

Some 450 activists were arrested as Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 42 boats seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid to the famine-stricken territory. Those detained between Wednesday and Friday were brought to Israel, where many remain in prison.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it offered voluntary deportation to all of the activists and those that remain in detention chose to stay there in order to go through a legal deportation process.

On his return at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport late Saturday, Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi said Israeli soldiers withheld medicines and treated prisoners “like monkeys.”

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Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025

This combination of images released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry shows Greta Thunberg, second from right, with other flotilla activists after the Israeli navy intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (Israeli Foreign Ministry via AP)
This combination of images released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry shows Greta Thunberg, second from right, with other flotilla activists after the Israeli navy intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (Israeli Foreign Ministry via AP)

Helping seniors simplify through AI

John Longhurst 4 minute read Preview

Helping seniors simplify through AI

John Longhurst 4 minute read Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025

An artificial intelligence expert and computer science professor will be speaking to seniors who want to know more about the technology at a free event Wednesday.

The evening, titled Artificial Intelligence for Beginners, will feature David Gerhard, who teaches at the University of Manitoba. It is being held at Westworth United Church in River Heights at 6 p.m.

“For many seniors, artificial intelligence is a mystery,” said Rhea Yates, chair of the church’s council and one of the organizers of the event.

“We want them to know it can be helpful for them in many ways.”

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Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025

The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cellphone with an image on a computer screen generated by ChatGPT’s Dall-E text-to-image model (Michael Dwyer / The Associated Press files)
The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cellphone with an image on a computer screen generated by ChatGPT’s Dall-E text-to-image model (Michael Dwyer / The Associated Press files)

What to know as key talks to end the war in Gaza begin

Cara Anna And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

What to know as key talks to end the war in Gaza begin

Cara Anna And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 3:56 AM CDT

CAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas delegations were to hold a second day of indirect talks on ending the war in Gaza on Tuesday, after both sides signaled support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

The talks in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh are brokered by the U.S. and aim at hammering out details for the plan’s first phase. That includes a ceasefire to allow for the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Trump's plan has received wide international backing and raised hopes for an end to a devastating war that has upended global politics, left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and the Gaza Strip in ruins. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251.

Many uncertainties remain around the latest plan, including the demand for Hamas to disarm and the future governance of Gaza. Tuesday marks two years since the war began.

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Updated: 3:56 AM CDT

People run for cover during an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, after the Israeli army issued a warning. (AP Photo/Yousef Al Zanoun)
People run for cover during an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, after the Israeli army issued a warning. (AP Photo/Yousef Al Zanoun)

Pope lends star power to Swiss Guards swearing-in ceremony as his army struggles to find recruits

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Pope lends star power to Swiss Guards swearing-in ceremony as his army struggles to find recruits

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 5 minute read Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV presided Saturday over the swearing-in ceremony of 27 new Swiss Guards, lending some surprise star power to the pomp-filled ceremony as the corps struggles to find enough young men to serve in the world’s oldest standing army.

Leo sat in a throne in a courtyard of the Apostolic Palace as the new guards in their distinctive yellow, blue and red “gala uniforms” held their right arm up in a three-fingered salute and pledged “with all my strength, sacrifice and if necessary my life” to defend him and serve him.

The Vatican didn’t say why Leo decided to preside over the ceremony, though he had attended it in years past as a cardinal. The corps’ commander, Col. Christoph Graf, told the recruits, their family members and Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter that it was the first time a pope had presided since 1968.

The corps is on something of a publicity campaign, showing off new uniforms this week for formal occasions and planning a renewed fundraising push next year to renovate their cramped, outdated barracks.

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Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025

Pope Leo XIV is greeted by Pontifical Swiss Guard's 35th Commander Christoph Graf, left, upon his arrival to the swearing in ceremony of 27 Pontifical Swiss Guards cadets in the St. Damasus courtyard at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV is greeted by Pontifical Swiss Guard's 35th Commander Christoph Graf, left, upon his arrival to the swearing in ceremony of 27 Pontifical Swiss Guards cadets in the St. Damasus courtyard at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

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