India says it is looking to step up purchases of crude oil and natural gas from the U.S. as it diversifies its energy supplies and confronts criticism by U.S. President Donald Trump over its imports of discounted Russian oil.

Trump said Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally assured him his country would stop buying Russian oil, in a move that might add to pressure on Moscow to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday called on world leaders to show responsibility as he urged the international community to focus on the multitudes across the globe who face hunger, wars and misery.

U.S. stock indexes are ticking higher on Thursday following an encouraging signal for the artificial-intelligence boom.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, though trading has been erratic this week, and stocks have repeatedly swung between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 116 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

A German museum has been unexpectedly overrun by Taylor Swift fans because one of its paintings bears a striking resemblance to the opening scene of Swift's current No. 1 hit video, "The Fate of Ophelia."

Hundreds of additional visitors came to the Hessische Landesmuseum in the central German city of Wiesbaden over the weekend to admire the painting, with one family traveling from the northern city of Hamburg especially for the occasion, museum spokesperson Susanne Hirschmann told The Associated Press on Thursday.

An Israeli airstrike targeting the top leaders of Yemen's Houthi rebels in August killed the chief of staff of its military, officials said Thursday, further escalating tensions between the group and Israel even as a ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis have acknowledged the killing of Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, who had been sanctioned by the United Nations over his role in the country's decadelong war.

A bomb exploded Thursday on a Syrian Defense Ministry bus in the country's east, killing four soldiers and wounding others, the country's oil minister said.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survived two votes of no-confidence Thursday that could have toppled his fragile new government and plunged France deeper into political chaos.

The National Assembly votes clear the way for the embattled Lecornu to pursue what could be an even greater challenge: getting a 2026 budget for the European Union's second-largest economy through Parliament's powerful but bitterly divided lower house before the end of the year.

The United Nations on Thursday urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to bring "a lasting end to hostilities" to protect civilians, after days of fighting killed dozens of people in both countries and injured hundreds more.

It's the deadliest crisis between the neighbors since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan following the collapse of the Western-backed government.

That's show business for you! Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," has officially sold 4.002 million equivalent album units — which includes album sales and streaming activity — in its first week in the U.S. That is the biggest first week in modern music history; at least, according to Luminate, the industry data and analytics company that began tracking sales in 1991.

Swift broke the record set by Adele's "25," which sold 3.378 million copies in its first week in 2015 in the U.S.

Leaf-peeping season has arrived in the Northeast and beyond, but weeks of drought have muted this year's autumn colors, and sent leaves fluttering to the ground earlier than usual.

Soaking in the fall foliage is an annual tradition in the New England states as well as areas such as the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina and Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As the days shorten and temperatures drop, chlorophyll in leaves breaks down, and they turn to the autumn tones of yellow, orange and red.