Hungary’s conservative president resigned Saturday amid public outcry over a pardon she granted to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case, a decision that unleashed an unprecedented political scandal for the long-serving nationalist government.

With fireworks, feasts and red envelopes stuffed with cash for the kids, numerous Asian nations and overseas communities have welcomed Saturday the Lunar New Year.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Chants of “Now! Now! Now!” ring out at nearly every protest in Israel imploring the government to do everything possible to win the immediate release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas. But a small group of hostages' families is pushing a different message: Let the army first finish the job of defeating the militant group, even if that delays the return of their loved ones.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's new military chief said Friday his immediate goals are to improve the rotation of troops out of the front lines and harness the power of new technology in the fight against Russia's invasion. Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who previously was the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, spoke a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put him in charge of the battlefield campaign against Russia’s invasion.

A group of Russian tourists arrived in North Korea on Friday, likely the first from any country to enter the isolated state since the pandemic. The tour underscores deepening cooperation between the two countries following a meeting last September between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Seven royal artifacts looted 150 years ago by British colonial forces from Ghana’s ancient Asante kingdom and kept by a United States museum have been returned and presented to the kingdom on Thursday, the latest of a series of stolen treasured items being repatriated to several African countries.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president replaced his top general Thursday in a shake-up aimed at reigniting momentum in the deadlocked war with Russia, which is grinding into its third year as the country grapples with shortages of ammunition and personnel and struggles to maintain support from the West.

GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted on Thursday for the third time since December, sending jets of lava into the sky and triggering the evacuation of the Blue Lagoon spa, one of the island nation’s biggest tourist attractions.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed confidence his party would win national elections on Thursday, a vote that has been marred by violence, deep political tensions and the imprisonment of a popular contender.

BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. drone strike hit a car in the Iraqi capital Wednesday night, killing three members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander, officials said. The strike came on a main thoroughfare in the Mashtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. A crowd gathered as emergency response teams picked through the wreckage.

TOKYO (AP) — A pod of killer whales that was trapped in drift ice off Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido, prompting concern from environmental groups, has apparently safely escaped, officials said Wednesday. The killer whales, also known as orcas, were initially spotted by a local fisherman who reported them to officials in the nearby town of Rausu on the northeastern coast of Hokkaido on Tuesday morning.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired cruise and ballistic missiles and Shahed-type drones at six regions across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, authorities reported, killing at least five civilians and wounding almost 50 others, including a pregnant woman. The attacks hit at least three major cities, including the capital, Kyiv, where the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, was discussing military aid and financial support for Ukraine.

MADRID (AP) — Mirroring protests across Europe, thousands of farmers in Spain staged a second day of tractor demonstrations on Wednesday across the country, blocking highways to demand changes in European Union farming policies and measures to combat production cost hikes and severe drought.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas' terms for a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement, calling them “delusional,” a position that complicates efforts to strike a deal between the sides. Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with Israel's war against Hamas, now in its fifth month, until achieving “absolute victory.”

LONDON (AP) — Prince William returned to royal duties Wednesday for the first time since his father, King Charles III, announced his cancer diagnosis and his wife Kate was hospitalized for abdominal surgery. William performed an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle and is attending a fundraising dinner for London’s Air Ambulance Charity on Wednesday evening.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Bombs ripped through two separate political offices in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 29 people and wounding more than two dozen, officials said, the day before the country was set to elect a new parliament.

VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile (AP) — The death toll from wildfires that ravaged central Chile for several days increased to 131 on Tuesday, and more than 300 people were still missing as the blazes appeared to be burning themselves out. The fires in Valparaiso are said to be Chile's deadliest disaster since an earthquake in 2010. Officials have suggested that some could have been intentionally set.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Hamas' response to the latest plan for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages was “generally positive,” key mediator Qatar said Tuesday, as the militant group reiterated its demand for an end to the war, something Israel has thus far ruled out.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Two ships traveling in Middle East waters were attacked by suspected Yemen Houthi rebel drones early on Tuesday, authorities said, the latest assaults in the Iranian-backed fighters' campaign of targeting vessels over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Security at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains fragile amid worrying recent staff cuts enacted by Russian authorities occupying the facility, which is one of the 10 biggest atomic power plants in the world, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief said Tuesday.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Thirteen children are dying each day of severe malnutrition at the Zamzam camp in Sudan's northern Darfur as a consequence of the 10-month war in their country, a medical charity said Monday. The head of the U.N. refugee agency, meanwhile, warned that Europe may have to deal with a rise in the numbers of Sudanese refugees if a cease-fire agreement isn't signed soon between Sudan's warring sides and relief efforts aren't strengthened.

LONDON (AP) — Britain's King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said Monday. Less than 18 months into his reign, the 75-year-old monarch will suspend public engagements but will continue with state business, and won't be handing over his constitutional role as head of state.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday on his fifth visit to the region since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, hoping to press ahead with a potential cease-fire deal and postwar planning while tamping down regional tensions.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is thinking about dismissing the country's top military officer as part of a broader leadership shakeup, a possibility that has shocked the nation fighting a war to end Russia's invasion and also worried Ukraine's Western allies.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Volunteers in central Chile tried to remove charred metal, broken glass and other debris Monday from neighborhoods devastated by wildfires over the past several days, as officials raised the death toll to 122. Hundreds of people remain missing.