CAIRO (AP) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Wednesday that the U. S. will ramp up its infliction of economic pain on Iran. Bessent said the effort would be the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. CAIRO —...

The commander of Iran’s joint military command on Wednesday threatened to halt trade in the Gulf region if the U. S. does not lift its blockade on Iranian ports. No vessels have made it past U. S. naval forces during the first 48 hours of the blockade, according to the U. S. Central Command. so,...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s top diplomatic priority is securing allies’ help to buy and build more air defense systems, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday between meetings with European leaders, as Russia warned that European sites that make drones and other equipment for were a...

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (AP) — One person entered the lush, green Victorian-era greenhouse and smelled rotting eggs. Another said the odor evoked the memory of dissecting a dead bird. A third compared it to a stinky diaper baking in the sun. “I was expecting it to smell bad, but it smelled like a...

YAOUNDE, Cameroon. (AP) — Pope Leo XIV arrived Wednesday in Cameroon and delivered a masterclass on wielding authority legitimately to its 93-year-old president, Paul Biya, who consolidated his four-decade grip on power with a contested election last year that gave him an eighth term in office...