Weary of many disasters? UN says worse to come

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APRIL 26, 2022 @ 1800 GMT | FILE – A car is flipped over after a tornado tore through the area in Arabi, La., Tuesday, March 22, 2022, in a part of the city that had been heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina 17 years earlier. A United Nations report released on Monday, April 25, 2022, says disasters are on the rise are just going to get worse. A new UN report says the number of disasters, from climate change to COVID-19, are going to jump to about 560 a year by 2030. (AP File Photo)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A disaster-weary globe will be hit harder in the coming years by even more catastrophes colliding in an interconnected world, a United Nations report issued Monday says.

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Top Russian diplomat warns Ukraine against provoking WWIII

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APRIL 26, 2022 @ 2030 GMT | An elderly woman is carried on a stretcher to board a train at a train station in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, Monday, April 25, 2022, to flee the war in Severodonetsk and nearby towns. Russia unleashed a string of attacks against Ukrainian rail and fuel installations Monday, striking crucial infrastructure far from the front line of its eastern offensive. (AP Photo)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat warned Ukraine against provoking World War III and said the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated” as his country unleashed attacks against rail and fuel installations far from the front lines of Moscow’s new eastern offensive.

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Zelenskyy meets top-level US delegation, gets aid promises

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APRIL 25, 2022 @ 1545 GMT | Russian tanks roll along a street in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP Photo)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. secretaries of state and defense met Sunday night with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the highest-level visit to the country’s capital by an American delegation since the start of Russia’s invasion.

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France’s youngest president wins again, troubles and all

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APRIL 24, 2022 @ 2130 GMT | French President and centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron greets well-wishers after casting his vote in Le Touquet, northern France, Sunday, April 24, 2022. France began voting in a presidential runoff election Sunday with repercussions for Europe’s future, with centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron the front-runner but fighting a tough challenge from far-right contender Marine Le Pen. (AP Photo)

PARIS, France (AP) — In just five years as France’s president, Emmanuel Macron has gone from a young newbie in politics to a key world player and weighty decision-maker in the European Union who has been deeply involved in efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

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UN chief to meet with Putin, Zelenskyy to press for peace

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APRIL 23, 2022 @ 1900 GMT | FILE – Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks during a meeting of the UN Security Council, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Guterres plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next week to make an urgent, face-to-face plea for peace in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Guterres is due to meet Tuesday, April 26 with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and that Putin will also host the U.N. chief. (AP File Photo)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is set to meet separately with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine next week to make urgent, face-to-face pleas for peace, the world body said Friday.

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Russian officer: Missile to carry several hypersonic weapons

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APRIL 23, 2022 @ 2030 GMT | In this handout photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from Plesetsk in Russia’s northwest. Russia said on Wednesday it had conducted a first test launch of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new and long-awaited addition to its nuclear arsenal which President Vladimir Putin said would make Moscow’s enemies stop and think. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

MOSCOW,Russia (AP) — A new Russian intercontinental ballistic missile is capable of carrying several hypersonic weapons, a senior Russian military officer said Sunday.

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Rio’s Carnival parade returns after long pandemic hiatus

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APRIL 23, 2022 @ 2130 GMT | Dancers from the Unidos da Vila Maria samba school perform on a float during a carnival parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP Photo)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — Colorful floats and flamboyant dancers are delighting tens of thousands jammed into Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Sambadrome, putting on a delayed Carnival celebration after the pandemic halted the dazzling displays.

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EU law targets Big Tech over hate speech, disinformation

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APRIL 23, 2022 @ 2035 GMT | FILE – The logo of Google is displayed on a carpet at the entrance hall of Google France in Paris, Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. European Union officials are nearing agreement on a set of new rules aimed at protecting internet users by forcing big tech companies like Google and Facebook to step up their efforts to curb the spread of illegal content. EU officials were negotiating over the final details of the new legislation, dubbed the Digital Services Act, on Friday, April 22, 2022. (AP File Photo)

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Big tech companies like Google and Facebook parent Meta will have to police their platforms more strictly to better protect European users from hate speech, disinformation and other harmful online content under landmark EU legislation approved early Saturday.

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Death toll in Afghan mosque bombing rises to 33, Taliban say

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APRIL 23, 2022 @ 2030 GMT | FILE – This frame grab image from video, shows a Taliban fighter standing guard outside the site of a bomb explosion inside a mosque, in Mazar-e-Sharif province, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 21, 2022. A deadly Islamic State affiliate on Friday, April 22, 2022, claimed a series of bombings a day earlier that targeted Afghanistan’s minority Shiite Muslims, while Pakistan issued a warning of IS threats in its eastern Punjab province. (AP File Photo)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban official says a bombing at a mosque and religious school in northern Afghanistan on Friday killed at least 33 people, including students of a religious school.

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Russia’s standing in G-20 not threatened by Ukraine invasion

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APRIL 23, 2022 @ 2030 GMT | FILE – G20 Leaders poses for the family photo of the G20 summit at the La Nuvola conference center, in Rome, Oct. 30, 2021. Despite Russia’s Boots on ground in Ukraine, Moscow’s membership in the Group of 20 remains firmly intact. And, Russia will remain a member unless countries achieve consensus to remove it. That appears less and less likely, as several countries, including China, South Africa and India, have made clear that they will support Russia’s membership. (Pool Via AP, File)

WASHINGTON, United States (AP) — The last time Russia invaded Ukraine, in 2014, outraged world leaders booted Russia out of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, which quickly rebranded itself the Group of Seven.

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