A Kenyan woman who survived breast cancer is knitting prostheses and training others to make them in a country where silicone ones are expensive. Women say the affordable prostheses are a relief and a source of dignity. One woman recalled staying indoors after her mastectomy “because I didn’t want people to label me as the ‘woman with one breast’.” Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among women in Kenya, where 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. Reconstructive surgery is out of reach for many and is not covered by the national health insurance system.

A blackout has left millions of people without power in Havana and the rest of western Cuba in the latest outage on an island struggling with dwindling oil reserves and a crumbling electric grid. Government radio station Radio Rebelde quoted an energy official as saying that it could take at least 72 hours to restore operations at one of Cuba’s largest thermoelectric power plants, where a shutdown sparked the outage. The government’s electric utility said the outage affected people from the western town of Pinar del Rio to the central town of Camaguey. It is the second such outage to affect western Cuba in three months.

Canadian and Australian prime ministers have called for a de-escalation of the Iran war but added the Iranians must never gain a nuclear weapon. Canada's Mark Carney and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed the spreading conflict Thursday in Canberra. The meeting came after news that a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s air space. Carney is in Australia after earlier visiting India. He will later visit Japan.

Republicans are invoking the war in Iran and the prospect of retaliatory terrorist attacks as they tee up votes on a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The House already approved a DHS spending bill in January, but it faltered in the Senate as Democrats insisted on changes to immigration enforcement operations following the shooting death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. As a result, funding for the department lapsed on Feb. 14. Republicans are calling on Democrats to reconsider in the wake of the conflict in Iran. But Democrats argue that it's a cynical effort that will fail without changes to immigration enforcement operations.

An Arkansas man awaiting trial for murder has won the Republican nomination in a sheriff’s race in central Arkansas. According to unofficial results posted by the Arkansas secretary of state, Aaron Spencer defeated Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley in Tuesday's primary. Spencer now advances to face Democrat Brian Mitchell Sr. in November’s general election. Spencer would not be able to serve if he is convicted of killing 67-year-old Michael Fosler. Fosler was out on bond after being charged with numerous sexual offenses against Spencer’s then-13-year-old daughter. Spencer’s attorneys do not deny that he shot and killed Fosler but maintain he acted within the law to protect his child from a predator.

Polls are open in Nepal's first nationwide election since last year’s violent, youth-led uprising forced the government from power. Security forces are patrolling streets and guarding polling stations Thursday across the Himalayan nation of about 30 million people as voters line up to cast their ballots. The counting of votes will begin later Thursday, with results expected over the weekend. The election is widely viewed as a three-way contest, with the National Independent Party, founded in 2022, considered the front-runner.

China has set an economic growth target of 4.5% to 5% for this year, a slight decrease in the face of a prolonged property slump and other headwinds and global uncertainty. The target was announced Thursday in an annual report presented by Premier Li Qiang at the opening session of this year’s meeting of the National People’s Congress. The report set the goal and added “while striving for better in practice.” The target was lowered from about 5% in each of the last three years. The economy grew at that same pace in 2025. Setting a range of 4.5% to 5% gives the government more leeway to adjust policies this year.

The war with Iran is disrupting oil and LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy trade, sending prices higher and threatening global growth. The risks are highest for countries in Asia. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan depend heavily on the Middle East for their fuel, while India and China face inflation and supply risks if the conflict drags on. National stockpiles will help but provide only short-term relief. Fast growing Southeast Asian economies are especially vulnerable to price spikes and bidding wars for scarce cargoes. Analysts warn prolonged disruption could slow economic activity worldwide, hitting transport, industry and household budgets across Asia hardest.

The House and Senate fight over war powers and Congress' role in Iran is just the latest wrangling in a constitutional tug of war. Through World War II, Congress declared war 11 times across five wars. But they haven't done so since. Instead, Congress has used authorizations of force and presidents have asserted their authority as commander in chief. Most recently, both chambers declined to attempt to limit Donald Trump’s war-making powers in Venezuela. Some experts — and plenty of lawmakers — say the balance of power has long been tilted away from what the Constitution requires.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has opened an internal investigation into whether the one-time architect of President Donald Trump’s large-scale immigration crackdown made disparaging comments about the Jewish faith while criticizing the U.S. attorney for Minnesota. The investigation comes after The New York Times and CBS News reported on remarks Gregory Bovino allegedly made during a Jan. 12 phone call. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in an emailed statement Tuesday that Customs and Border Protection opened an internal inquiry after it received a letter from a congressman inquiring about reporting on anonymous allegations. The spokesperson said this didn't indicate any confirmation of wrongdoing.

A joke from Hilary Knight on “Saturday Night Live” and a couple of fist-bumps with Jack and Quinn Hughes on “The Tonight Show” capped a whirlwind victory lap celebrating the twin Olympic golds won by the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams. The good humor helped reset the national narrative around the teams that had gone sideways into politics and sexism after a comment by President Donald Trump. Dozens of people at multiple agencies, leagues and networks spent time coordinating a series of television appearances that put the focus back on their accomplishments in Milan.

A new study finds that popular GLP-1 drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity show new promise in fighting multiple substance use disorders. An analysis of electronic health records of more than 600,000 U.S. veterans with diabetes found that users of drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro were less likely to develop addictions to substances like alcohol, nicotine, cocaine and opioids than those treated with another class of drugs. And they prevented serious harms like overdose and deaths. Researchers say the results must be confirmed in future randomized controlled trials.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrapped up two days of scrutiny in Congress, appearing for the first time in front of lawmakers since the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration enforcement officers. Noem came under blistering criticism from Democrats — and a few Republicans — over allegations that under her authority, immigration officers have abused the rights of immigrants and American citizens and used excessive force. She was also slammed over how her department is spending the billions of dollars allocated to it by Congress and accused of dodging accountability. Noem, the secretary leading President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, argues she has strengthened the nation’s security.

The LA city council has voted unanimously to designate the the so-called “Brady Bunch” house in the San Fernando Valley as a historic-cultural monument. The vote grants landmark protections to the house on Dilling Avenue that was used for exterior shots of the TV sitcom that ran from 1969 to 1974. Interior scenes were shot on a soundstage, with sets that bore no resemblance to the property that become a photo-op magnet for “Brady Bunch” fans. The landmark status protects the home, built in 1959, from demolition or major renovations — but doesn’t prohibit them.

A new investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island shows that an estimated 75 priests abused more than 300 children since 1950. On Wednesday, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha released findings from a multiyear investigation. Investigators say the diocese often moved accused priests to minimize scandal and largely avoided contacting law enforcement. Diocesan leaders dispute the report's conclusions and say the abuse is not ongoing. Neronha’s office has charged four current and former priests with sexual abuse for allegations stemming from 2020 to 2022. Three of them are still awaiting trial. The fourth priest died after being deemed incompetent to stand trial in 2022.