Pope Francis has called for a “negotiation” to end the war in Ukraine in a Christmas Day message where he appealed for weapons to be laid down in global conflicts and reconciliation between enemies.

With Russia’s diminished influence in Syria, Ukraine calls on Israel to reconsider its stance and provide essential defensive weapons and technology.

Pope Francis called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as well as for the release of hostages, adding aid needs to be given to the people “worn out by hunger and by war.”

Associated Press journalists have been covering these conflicts since they began. Now, as 2024 ends and a new year begins, we asked two veteran AP reporters — Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Samya Kullab in Kyiv — to talk about what they saw the past year and what struck them. Here are their accounts:

AI warfare may conjure images of killer robots and autonomous drones, but a different reality is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. There, artificial intelligence has been suggesting targets in Israel’s retaliatory campaign to root out Hamas following the group’s Oct.

German arms exports to Ukraine doubled, while halved to Israel, with Ukraine receiving 8.1 billion euros in weapons.

With the collapse of the Assad regime and Russia’s declining influence in Syria, some are saying that an opportunity for a rapprochement between Israel and Ukraine now exists, where it hadn't ...

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world,

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Israel are reshaping the Middle East in a possible, bigger deal involving a peace deal in Ukraine. With the regional militias and Syria out of the strategic equation,

Pope Francis also remembered children suffering from war and hunger, the elderly living in solitude, those fleeing their homelands, who have lost their jobs, and are persecuted for their faith.

Pope Francis in his Christmas message called for talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the war that followed Moscow's full-scale invasion two years ago.