AP Top News at 2:49 a.m. EST

Trump expresses hope Russia’s war in Ukraine is nearing an endgame as he meets with France’s Macron

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump expressed hope that Russia’s war in Ukraine is nearing an endgame as he met Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of the invasion. But France’s leader cautioned that it’s crucial that any potential agreement with Moscow does not amount to surrender for Ukraine. Their talks come at a moment of deep uncertainty about the future of transatlantic relations, with Trump transforming American foreign policy and effectively tuning out European leadership as he looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine. While Macron and Trump made nice at the White House, their countries were at loggerheads at the United Nations over resolutions describing Russia as the aggressor in the war.

US refuses to blame Russia for Ukraine war, splitting with European allies in UN votes

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations under President Donald Trump, the United States split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions Monday seeking an end to the three-year war. The growing divide follows Trump’s decision to open direct negotiations with Russia on ending the war, dismaying Ukraine and its European supporters by excluding them from the preliminary talks last week. In the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out Moscow’s aggression and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.

Trump says Canada and Mexico tariffs are ‘going forward’ with more import taxes to come

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that his tariffs on Canada and Mexico are starting next month, ending a monthlong suspension on the planned import taxes that could potentially hurt economic growth and worsen inflation. “We’re on time with the tariffs, and it seems like that’s moving along very rapidly,” the U.S. president said at a White House news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. While Trump was answering a specific question about the taxes to be charged on America’s two largest trading partners, the U.S. president also stressed more broadly that his intended “reciprocal” tariffs were on schedule to begin as soon as April.

Thousands gather outside the Vatican to pray for Pope Francis’ health

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square Monday evening to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suffering, hope for his recovery and gratitude for his efforts to steer the Catholic Church in new directions. The 88-year-old Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and remains in critical condition despite showing a slight improvement after 11 days in the hospital. As Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s No. 2, led prayers for 45 minutes on a chilly, rainy night, the faithful fingered rosary beads while hoping for Francis’ recovery. The Vatican issued a dose of optimism earlier in the evening, delivering a more upbeat health bulletin than in recent days.

Palestinians struggle to restart their lives in the ruins of Gaza

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — When night falls over northern Gaza, much of the cityscape of collapsed buildings and piled wreckage turns pitch black. Living inside the ruins of their home, Rawia Tambora’s young sons get afraid of the dark, so she turns on a flashlight and her phone’s light to comfort them, for as long as the batteries last. Displaced for most of the 16-month-long war, Tambora is back in her house. But it is still a frustrating shell of a life, she says: There is no running water, electricity, heat or services, and no tools to clear the rubble around them.

The fragile ceasefire in Gaza faces a key deadline. Will it last?

The first phase of the ceasefire that paused 15 months of brutal warfare between Israel and Hamas militants is set to end on Saturday — and it’s unclear what comes next. The two sides were supposed to start negotiating a second phase weeks ago in which Hamas would release all the remaining hostages from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which triggered the war, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. But those negotiations have not begun — there have only been preparatory talks — and the first phase has been jolted by one dispute after another.

Hegseth says he fired the top military lawyers because they weren’t well suited for the jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that he was replacing the top lawyers for the military services because he didn’t think they were “well-suited” to provide recommendations when lawful orders are given. Speaking at the start of a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, Hegseth refused to answer a question about why the Trump administration has selected a retired general to be the next Joint Chiefs chairman, when he doesn’t meet the legal qualifications for the job. President Donald Trump on Friday abruptly fired the chairman, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and Hegseth followed that by firing Navy Adm.

Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by DOGE are expected to produce no savings

Nearly 40% of the federal contracts that the Trump administration claims to have canceled as part of its signature cost-cutting program aren’t expected to save the government any money, the administration’s own data shows. The Department of Government Efficiency run by Elon Musk last week published an initial list of 1,125 contracts that it terminated in recent weeks across the federal government. Data published on DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts” shows that more than one-third of the contract cancellations, 417 in all, are expected to yield no savings. That’s usually because the total value of the contracts has already been fully obligated, which means the government has a legal requirement to spend the funds for the goods or services it purchased and in many cases has already done so.

In Rome, talks to protect Earth’s biodiversity resume with money topping the agenda

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — An annual United Nations conference on biodiversity that ran out of time last year will resume its work Tuesday in Rome with money at the top of the agenda. That is, how to spend what’s been pledged so far — and how to raise a lot more to help preserve plant and animal life on Earth. The talks in Colombia known as COP16 yielded some significant outcomes before they broke up in November, including an agreement that requires companies that benefit from genetic resources in nature — say, by developing medicines from rainforest plants — to share the benefits.

Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning ‘Killing Me Softly’ singer with an intimate style, dies at 88

NEW YORK (AP) — Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88. She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022 she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing, Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.