AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT

Over the weekend, the U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond, and its Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports were “clear signs” of Washington’s disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, Iran state media reported.

With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan has intensified diplomatic contacts with both Washington and Tehran over the past 24 hours with the goal of resuming the talks on Tuesday as planned, according to two Pakistani officials involved in the preparations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said American negotiators would head to the Pakistani capital on Monday, but it was not immediately clear whether those plans would now change.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that there were no plans yet to attend the talks with the U.S. But at the same time, he did not rule it out.

Man kills 8 children and shoots his wife and another woman in Shreveport, Louisiana

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A man killed eight children, including seven of his own, and shot two women in an attack in a Shreveport, Louisiana, neighborhood that was the nation's deadliest shooting in more than two years, authorities said.

At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred early Sunday, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community.

“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana.

Mourners laid flowers outside the single-story house on 79th Street, and people lit candles for the victims at an evening prayer vigil in a nearby parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” said Kimberlin Jackson, who was at the vigil.

An Iraqi captain keeps sailing despite the threat of attack amid regional war

BAGHDAD (AP) — Aboard an oil tanker plying the tense waters between the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, Iraqi Captain Rahman Al-Jubouri continues to work in one of the world’s most volatile maritime corridors, where the U.S.-Israel war with Iran has disrupted global trade and left some crews stranded and exposed to attacks.

The hostilities are not new for al-Jubouri, a veteran who has worked at sea since 1984 and lived through decades of upheaval, including the Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War. Once again, he finds himself operating in high-risk waters, as sporadic military strikes threaten vessels seeking to navigate through chokepoints like Bab el-Mandeb and the Persian Gulf.

“Work has become a real risk; we don’t know when we might be bombed. We’re sailing over a ball of fire,” he said.

Al-Jubouri has been on board his tanker, the Palau-flagged Sea Moon, for four months. Currently he and his crew are sailing from the Gulf of Aden toward the Gulf of Oman to unload oil at Ras Isa port in Yemen. He spoke to The Associated Press by phone.

The war has put commercial vessels in the crossfire of the regional war amid the ongoing standoff between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz. Several tankers have been targeted in attacks carried out by Iranian forces and allied groups. Intermittent disruptions and threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil flows, has also left vessels delayed, rerouted, or stranded in the Gulf.

British Prime Minister Starmer faces angry lawmakers over Mandelson's appointment as ambassador

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will try on Monday to get a grip on a crisis that has left power slipping from his grasp.

Starmer will face a tough barrage of questions in Parliament when he stands up to explain why Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished politician and friend of Jeffrey Epstein, became Britain’s ambassador to Washington despite failing security checks — and seemingly without Starmer being told about the concerns.

The revelation has left furious opponents calling for Starmer to resign and uneasy allies wondering what else the nation’s leader didn’t know about.

Starmer repeatedly told lawmakers that “due process” was followed when Mandelson was appointed. He now says he’s “furious” that he wasn’t informed that an intensive vetting process had recommended Mandelson not be given security clearance. The Foreign Office, which oversees diplomatic appointments, cleared him anyway.

“The fact that I wasn’t told that Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting when he was appointed is astonishing,” Starmer told the Daily Mirror. “The fact that I wasn’t told when I said to Parliament that due process had been followed is unforgivable.”

UK police arrest 2 in connection with weekend arson attack on synagogue

LONDON (AP) — British police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a weekend arson attack on a synagogue in northwest London, as Jewish leaders express concern about a wave of incidents targeting their community.

Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes of London’s Metropolitan Police Service on Monday said officers arrested two young men, aged 19 and 17, overnight in relation to the attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in the borough of Harrow. The department has made 15 arrests related to six attacks on Jewish targets and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran's government that occurred over the past few weeks, he said in an interview with the BBC.

One “serious line of inquiry” is that Iran is hiring local criminals to carry out these attacks amid tensions in the Middle East, including the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, Jukes said.

“We’ve seen a pattern with other actors of thugs for hire, people taking cash that looks like quick and easy money,” Jukes said. “This is part of the modern hybrid war fought by proxies.”

In the most recent incident, a bottle containing a flammable liquid was thrown through the window of the Harrow synagogue on Saturday night, causing smoke damage, police said.

Oil prices jump and stocks are mixed as the US-Iran standoff keeps the Strait of Hormuz in limbo

Oil prices climbed more than 5% while world shares were mixed Monday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz.

The Persian Gulf waterway was closed again after Iran reversed a decision to reopen the strait and President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.

U.S. benchmark crude gained 5.3% to $87.88 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 5.3% at $95.62 a barrel.

In share trading, U.S. futures declined, with the contracts for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.7%.

In early European trading, benchmarks declined. Germany's DAX lost 1.6% and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 1.2% to 8,325.67. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.6% to 10,601.64.

US military strike on alleged drug boat kills 3 in Caribbean Sea

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people Sunday.

The Trump administration's campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 181 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Despite the Iran war, the series of strikes have ramped up again in the past week or so, showing that the administration's aggressive measures to stop what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere are not letting up. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

In the latest attack Sunday, U.S. Southern Command repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. It posted a video on X showing a boat moving along the water before a massive explosion engulfs the vessel in flames.

French prosecutors summon Elon Musk over allegations of child abuse images and deepfakes on X

PARIS (AP) — Elon Musk has been summoned to Paris on Monday, where investigators are looking into allegations of misconduct related to the social media platform X, including the spread of child sexual abuse material and deepfake content.

The world’s richest man and Linda Yaccarino — the former CEO of X — have been summoned for “voluntary interviews," while other employees of the platform are scheduled to be heard as witnesses throughout this week, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

It remains unclear whether Musk and Yaccarino will travel to Paris. A spokesperson for X did not respond to questions from The Associated Press and Yaccarino’s current company, eMed, did not answer a request sent to the press email.

French prosecutors also suspect that controversy around the platform’s AI system Grok's deepfakes was concocted to boost the value of Musk-owned companies ahead of a key market listing, and alerted U.S. authorities. Musk welcomed a report that U.S. justice officials refused to help French investigators, posting on X, “This needs to stop.”

Musk was summoned after a search took place in February at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Musk and Yaccarino have been invited in their capacities as managers of X at the time of the events investigated. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.

EU hosts Palestinian leader in conference about security and peace in Gaza and the West Bank

BRUSSELS (AP) — More than 60 nations are sending representatives to Brussels to discuss with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa stability, security and long-term peace in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as global attention largely remains focused in the Middle East on the ongoing crises in Iran and Lebanon.

Ongoing attacks in the West Bank and continued devastation in Gaza dims the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot ahead of the meeting Monday. He is co-hosting the meeting with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

“We observe without naivety that the two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day," Prévot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”

The 27-nation European Union is the largest single donor to the Palestinian Authority, with its 90-year-old president Mahmoud Abbas ruling from Ramallah for two decades. And while the EU has avoided directly joining the Board of Peace created by United States President Donald Trump, preferring the multilateralism of the United Nations and global legal norms, the bloc is eager to not be sidelined in diplomacy in a volatile region just across the Mediterranean.

Outrage in Europe over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza drove many EU leaders to condemn Israel’s war conduct and to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. With the recent ouster of long-serving Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Netanyahu, there might now be enough political support within the bloc for stronger actions like targeted sanctions on Israeli settlers or even the suspension of some ties to Israel.

Pope prays at Catholic shrine in Angola that was a center of African slave trade

MUXIMA, Angola (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday recalled the “sorrow and great suffering” Angolans endured for centuries, as the American pope prayed at a Catholic shrine located at the site of an important hub of the African slave trade during Portugal's colonial rule.

Leo traveled to the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, nestled in the Angolan savanas of baobab trees at the edge of the Kwanza River. It became a major pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.

But the Church of Our Lady of Muxima was originally built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex and it became a hub in the slave trade. It was where enslaved Africans were gathered to be baptized by Portuguese priests before being forced to walk to the port of Luanda, over 110 kilometers (70 miles) to the north, to be put on ships to the Americas.

Leo, whose own ancestors include enslaved people and slave owners, prayed the Rosary at the sanctuary, a simple whitewashed church with blue trim and a statue of the Madonna inside. Speaking in Portuguese, he recalled it was here “where, for centuries, many men and women have prayed in times of joy and also in moments of sorrow and great suffering in the history of this country.”

He didn’t refer specifically to slavery. After viewing plans to build a basilica at the site, Leo urged the estimated 30,000 people gathered outside to also build “a better, more welcoming world, where there are no more wars, no injustices, no poverty, no dishonesty."