Peace process

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris arrives in Downing Street to attend a cabinet meeting in London, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

UK delays N Ireland election call to buy time for talks

LONDON (AP) — The British government on Wednesday delayed calling a fresh election in Northern Ireland, hoping to buy time to break an impasse over post-Brexit trade rules that put the administration there on ice.

FILE - Palestinians burn tires during a protest against Israeli military raid in the West Bank, along the border fence with Israel, in east of Gaza City on Oct. 25, 2022. The U.N. Mideast envoy said 2022 is on course to be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the U.N. started tracking fatalities in 2005, and he called for immediate action to calm "an explosive situation" and move toward renewing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)

UN: 2022 likely deadliest for Palestinians in West Bank

FILE - Ethiopian military parade with national flags attached to their rifles at a rally organized by local authorities to show support for the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), at Meskel square in downtown Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Nov. 7, 2021. The Tigray forces battling Ethiopian troops said Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, they’re willing to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities and participate in a peace process led by the African Union, a significant shift that came after new pressure by the United States and others following the renewal of fighting last month that shattered months of relative calm. (AP Photo, File)

Ethiopia’s Tigray forces say willing to enter peace process

With the Dome of the Rock shrine in the background, U.S. flags fly ahead of a visit by President Joe Biden, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. Biden arrives to Israel on Wednesday for a three-day visit, his first as president. He will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders before continuing to Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel grants more Palestinian permits ahead of Biden visit

FILE - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chairs the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee meeting at the Palestinian Authority headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met Thursday, July 7, 2022, in the occupied West Bank to discuss security coordination ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to the region next week. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)

Palestinian president and Israeli defense minister meet

More News

UN extends Central African Republic peacekeeping mission

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council extended the nearly 17,500-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in the troubled Central African Republican for a year on Monday, with Russia, China and Gabon abstaining.

Tesfay, center, sits with his wife and grandchildren, who have been displaced for 18 months, as they receive food assistance for the first time in 8 months from the World Food Programme (WFP), in the town of Adi Mehameday, in the western Tigray region of Ethiopia, Saturday, May 28, 2022. Hunger is tightening its grip on millions of people in Ethiopia who are facing a combination of conflict in the north and drought in the south while dwindling resources mean food and nutrition support may run dry from next month, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned Thursday, June 23, 2022. (Claire Nevill/WFP via AP)

Ethiopia names negotiators for looming Tigray peace process

Ethiopian authorities have named a team of seven negotiators for possible peace talks with Tigray forces.

FILE - People fleeing the fighting between M23 forces and the Congolese army find refuge in a church in Kibumba, north of Goma, in Congo on Jan. 28, 2022. Kenyan authorities said Thursday, April 28, 2022 that some Congolese armed groups participating in peace talks in Kenya have asked for more time before laying down their weapons, signaling the talks have not made a breakthrough. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

Kenya mediates Congo peace talks, but breakthrough elusive

Kenyan authorities say that some Congolese armed groups participating in peace talks in Kenya have asked for more time before laying down their weapons, signaling the talks have not made a breakthrough.

UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan extended for a year

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council extended the mandate for the 19,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in South Sudan for a year Tuesday, while demanding an immediate end to fighting in the country and political dialogue to advance a plan to prevent the world’s newest nation from returni

FILE - Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha speaks during a news conference in Tunis, Tunisia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019. Libya's East-based lawmakers named Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, Bashagha to replace Abdul Hamid Dbeibah as head of a new interim government, according to the parliament spokesman, Abdullah Bliheg. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi)

Libya’s east-based lawmakers name new PM, fueling divisions

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s east-based parliament on Thursday appointed a new prime minister, a development that counters U.N. efforts to reconcile the divided country and will likely produce two parallel administrations.

FILE - Palestinians use a ladder to climb over the separation barrier with Israel on their way to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, July 11, 2014. Israel on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, called on Amnesty International not to publish an upcoming report accusing it of apartheid, saying the conclusions of the London-based international human rights group are “false, biased and antisemitic.” (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)

Amnesty joins rights groups in accusing Israel of apartheid

Amnesty International says Israel has maintained “a system of oppression and domination” over the Palestinians going all the way back to its establishment in 1948, one that meets the international definition of apartheid.

FILE - In this photo provided by the An Khoun Sam Aun/National Television of Cambodia, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures as he joins an online meeting of the ASEAN-China special summit at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Nov. 22, 2021. Prime Minister Hun Sen begins a visit to strife-torn Myanmar on Friday, Jan. 7, that he hopes will invigorate efforts by Southeast Asian nations to start a peace process, but critics say will legitimize the rule of the military that took power last year and its campaign of violence. (An Khoun SamAun/National Television of Cambodia via AP, File)

Cambodian leader to make controversial visit to Myanmar

BANGKOK (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen begins a visit to strife-torn Myanmar on Friday that he hopes will invigorate efforts by Southeast Asian nations to start a peace process, but critics say will legitimize the rule of the military that seized power last year and its campaign of violence

FILE - Libyan Gen. Khalifa Hifter joins a meeting with the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in Athens, Greece, Jan. 17, 2020. Libya has failed to hold its first presidential election as planned in Dec. 2021. The vote has faced many challenges, including controversial presidential hopefuls, disputes over laws governing the elections and occasional infighting among armed groups. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

EXPLAINER: Libya future at stake after failing to hold vote

Libya has failed to hold its first presidential election as planned this month. The postponement was a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich country.

FILE Jordan's King Abdullah II listens during a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Bayt Al Urdon, Wednesday, May 26, 2021, in Amman, Jordan. The head of the Islamist party in Israel’s governing coalition has met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman, the latest sign in the warming ties between the two countries. The Jordanian Royal Palace said in a statement Tuesday, Nov. 9, that Abdullah and Mansour Abbas discussed “the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and ways to advance the peace process.”(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool, File)

Jordan says King Abdullah met with Israeli Islamist lawmaker

JERUSALEM (AP) — The head of the Islamist party in Israel’s governing coalition met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday, the latest sign of warming ties between the two countries.

FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020 file photo, the P&O ferry port of Larne, Northern Ireland, situated north of Belfast handling freight and travel for the two hour crossing of the Irish Sea between Scotland and Northern Ireland. Britain and the European Union are once again trading insults and accusations as they wrangle over Brexit. The conflict centers on Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that shares a border with an EU member. Britain says new customs checks and other barriers to goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. are causing economic hardship and undermining the peace process. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)

EXPLAINER: Why are UK and the EU still fighting over Brexit?

Britain and the European Union are once again trading insults and accusations as they wrangle over Brexit.

Police in N Ireland arrest 2 more over journalist’s slaying

LONDON (AP) — Police in Northern Ireland arrested two more men Friday over the death of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot and killed while covering a 2019 riot in the city of Londonderry.

Bishop Street Court House, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Friday Sept. 17, 2021, where two men appeared in court in connection with the murder of Lyra McKee, a Northern Irish journalist shot dead as she covered rioting in Londonderry in 2019. (Cate McCurry/PA via AP)

2 charged with murder of N Ireland journalist Lyra McKee

LONDON (AP) — Two men appeared in court Friday in connection with the murder of Lyra McKee, a Northern Irish journalist shot dead as she covered rioting in Londonderry in 2019.

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, speaks at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, in London, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Pelosi warns UK not to imperil N Ireland peace with Brexit

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned Britain that there will be no U.S.-U.K. trade deal unless Britain solves post-Brexit problems that risk destabilizing Northern Ireland’s peace.

Leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Palestinians meet in Cairo

Egypt’s president has held talks in Cairo with the King of Jordan and the president of the Palestinian Authority aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process and strengthening a cease-fire that halted the Israel-Hamas war.

Afghan security personnel take a position during fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces in Herat province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. In Herat, the capital of the province by the same name, Afghan forces appeared on Tuesday to be able to push the Taliban back, with the insurgents on the edge of the city. Also, Herat city's civilian airport re-opened. (AP Photo/Hamed Sarfarazi)

UN Security Council condemns attacks on Afghan civilians

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council condemned deliberate attacks on civilians in Afghanistan and all instances of terrorism “in the strongest terms” on Tuesday, while declaring its opposition to restoration of rule by the Taliban.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks at the extraordinary meeting of the Parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan president seeks defense of cities as Taliban advance

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Afghan president on Monday blamed the American troops’ speedy pullout for the worsening violence in his country and said that his administration would now focus on protecting provincial capitals and major urban areas in the face of the rapidly advancing Taliban.

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2021 file photo, a P&O ferry from Scotland crosses the Irish Sea making way towards the port at Larne on the north coast of Northern Ireland. Tense post-Brexit relations between Britain and the European Union face further strain on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, when the U.K. calls for major changes to trade rules agreed on by both sides, Brexit minister David Frost will set out proposals for smoothing trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that has a land border with the 27-nation bloc. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, file)

UK irks EU with call to change post-Brexit trade rules

Tense post-Brexit relations between Britain and the European Union are facing further strain and drawing a message of concern from Washington.

Russia and China try to end Bosnia’s international overseer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and China have circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would immediately strip the powers of the international high representative overseeing implementation of the 1995 peace agreement that ended the devastating war in Bosnia and eliminate the position e

Afghanistan's former President Hamid Karzai speaks during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 13, 2021. Former President Karzai calls on both the Afghan government and the Taliban to resume negotiations and end fighting in the country. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Official: Afghan delegation, Taliban to talk peace in Qatar

An Afghan official says a high-powered Afghan government delegation is to meet with the Taliban in Qatar to jump-start a long-stalled peace process.

European Commissioner for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight Maros Sefcovic speaks during a news conference on Brexit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The European Union and the United Kingdom agreed Wednesday not to let a fight over the transport of chilled meats from Britain to Northern Ireland sputter out of control for the moment and further damage already fraught relations. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, Pool)

Great Brexit sausage fight goes into freezer for 3 months

The European Union and the United Kingdom have agreed not to let a fight over the transport of chilled meats from Britain to Northern Ireland sputter out of control for the moment and further damage already fraught relations between the two.

Palestinian security officers in plainclothes detain a demonstrator during clashes that erupted following a rally protesting the death of Palestinian Authority outspoken critic Nizar Banat, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, June 26, 2021. Banat who was a candidate in parliamentary elections called off earlier this year died after Palestinian security forces arrested him and beat him with batons last Thursday, his family said. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

EXPLAINER: Why are Palestinians protesting against Abbas?

Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets in recent days to protest against President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority.

Angry demonstrators carry pictures of Nizar Banat, an outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority, and chant anti-PA slogans during a rally protesting his death, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, June 24, 2021. Banat who was a candidate in parliamentary elections called off earlier this year died after Palestinian security forces arrested him and beat him with batons on Thursday, his family said. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Critic of Palestinian Authority dies after violent arrest

JERUSALEM (AP) — An outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority who was a candidate in parliamentary elections called off earlier this year died after Palestinian security forces arrested him and beat him with batons on Thursday, his family said.

Palestinians gather during a Hamas rally in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Hamas militants held a rally to commemorate the members of the group who were killed in an 11-day war with Israel in May. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Poll finds dramatic rise in Palestinian support for Hamas

JERUSALEM (AP) — A new poll released Tuesday finds a dramatic surge in Palestinian support for Hamas following last month’s Gaza war, with around three quarters viewing the Islamic militants as victors in a battle against Israel to defend Jerusalem and its holy sites.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki shake hands as they leave a joint news conference following their talks in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russia ready to promote direct Israeli-Palestinian contacts

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia is ready to promote direct contacts between Israel and the Palestinian leadership and working toward a high-level meeting of the Middle East Quartet mediating the Israel-Palestinian peace process, the Russian foreign minister said Wednesday.

FILE - President Bill Clinton, center, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, left, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat walk on the grounds of Camp David, Md., at the start of the Mideast summit on July 11, 2000. The documentary "The Human Factor" shows the behind-the-scenes story of the U.S.'s effort to secure peace in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

Review: ‘Human Factor’ gets personal about Mideast peace

Ready for a documentary about three decades of agonizing fits and starts of the Mideast peace process, from the perspective of U.S. negotiators?

Abandoned houses behind barbed wires inside the U.N controlled buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, April 29, 2021. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots failed to make headway in informal talks on the future of their ethnically divided island, but talks will continue and “I do not give up.” The United Nations chief invested his political capital in overseeing three days of talks in Geneva aimed at re-igniting dormant negotiations to reunify Cyprus. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

UN-led informal Cyprus talks stall, new round planned

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots failed to make headway in informal talks on the future of their ethnically divided island, but talks will continue and “I do not give up.”

An abandoned Cyprus Airways Trident passenger jet is parked on the tarmac of the long-abandoned Nicosia airport that lies inside a United Nations-controlled buffer zone, that separates the breakaway Turkish speaking north of ethnically divided Cyprus from the internationally recognized Greek speaking south, with a giant Turkish Cypriot breakaway, right, and Turkish flags painted on mountain in the background, in the Turkish occupied area, on Friday, April 4, 2021. United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres is hosting an informal gathering of the rival Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders as well as the foreign ministers of ethnically split Cyprus' 'guarantors' - Greece, Turkey and former colonial ruler Britain – aimed at getting the two sides to embark on a fresh round of formal reunification talks, despite low expectations of success, in Geneva between April 27-29. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Turkish Cypriots to UN: two-state basis best for Cyprus deal

GENEVA (AP) —

Cyprus’ rival leaders remained polar opposites on what is needed for a peace deal on reunifying the ethnically divided island nation as U.N.

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2020, file photo, Afghanistan's chief peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah is photographed during an interview with The Associated Press, in Ankara, Turkey. Afghan President Ashraf...

Afghan president appoints 2 ministers, angers ruling partner

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has made two key Cabinet changes, evoking a strong response Saturday from powerful governing partner Abdullah Abdullah amid increasing pressure from the U.S. to reach a peace agreement with the Taliban.

Suhail Shaheen, member of negotiation team gestures while speaking during a joint news conference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 19, 2021. The Taliban warned Washington against defying a May 1 d...

Taliban expect US withdrawal, vow to restore Islamic rule

MOSCOW (AP) — The Taliban warned Washington on Friday against defying a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan, promising a “reaction,” which could mean increased attacks by the insurgent group.

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, center, with other members of the Taliban delegation attend an international peace conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Russia is hosting a peace conference for Afghanistan, bringing together government representatives and their Taliban adversaries along with regional observers in a bid to help jump-start the country's stalled peace process. The one-day gathering Thursday is the first of three planned international conferences ahead of a May 1 deadline for the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the country, a date fixed under a year-old agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russia hosts Afghan peace conference, hoping to boost talks

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia hosted a peace conference for Afghanistan on Thursday, bringing together government representatives, the Taliban and international observers in a bid to help jump-start the country’s stalled peace process.