Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Argentina and Lionel Messi will play Algeria to open its World Cup title defense as part of a group that also includes Austria. The United States was drawn to start against Paraguay at Inglewood, California, on June 12, a day after Mexico hosts the opener against South Africa.

Haiti’s transitional presidential council has adopted an electoral law in the latest step toward holding a general election for the first time in nearly a decade. The adoption late Monday means the government can finally publish an official electoral calendar.

The wife of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández says he has been released from prison following a pardon from President Donald Trump. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons website confirmed his release from a penitentiary in West Virginia on Monday. Hernández was sentenced last year to 45 years for aiding drug traffickers.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered security forces to stop sharing intelligence with the United States until it stops striking suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean.

Shaggy, the Grammy-winning reggae artist, has stepped up to help Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa. He used ChatGPT to determine what supplies were needed and quickly organized relief efforts.

The Federal Aviation Administration is forcing airlines to cut 10% of their flights at 40 of the busiest airports — including Miami and Fort Lauderdale — across the nation to reduce pressure on air traffic controllers during the ongoing government shutdown and ensure that flying remains safe.

Updated: Hurricane Melissa has caused severe flooding and storm surge in Cuba after leaving Jamaica with power outages and killing at least 40 people in Haiti.

Assata Shakur, a Black liberation activist who was given political asylum in Cuba after her 1979 escape from a U.S. prison where she had been serving a life sentence for killing a police officer, has died.

Sandi Streets filed the negligence lawsuit Wednesday in Orlando, a week after a man died from injuries on the same ride. Streets says she was invited to Universal's Epic Universe theme park before it officially opened in May.

Cuban teenagers Fabio and Diego Abreu are part of a new wave of musicians revitalizing Cuba’s music scene. They fill a void left by established artists who have emigrated during one of the island's worst economic crises in decades.

An Orlando restaurant owner has turned 49 parking spots outside her eatery into art spaces. This move is in response to a state mandate removing rainbow-colored crosswalks and other street art in Florida. On Monday, Trina Gregory of Se7en Bites hosted the event “Parking Space for Pride — A Rainbow Connection.” She received 1,000 applications from artists.

A Federal Aviation Administration ban on U.S. commercial flights to Haiti’s capital has been extended to March 7, 2026. The ban had expired on Monday. The FAA notes that Haitian gangs now control 90% of Port-au-Prince as well as nearby strategic routes and border areas. The FAA said in a statement Friday that Haitian foreign terrorist organizations maintain access to small arms and unmanned aircraft systems capable of reaching low-altitude phases of flight. In May, the U.S. government designated a powerful gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm as a foreign terrorist organization.