A Chinese woman takes pictures beneath blooming plum trees at a public park in Beijing, China, on Saturday. The Associated Press

Nation

Florida

Trump, Putin to speak this week

WEST PALM BEACH — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to speak this week as the U.S. tries to broker a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war, according to Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff.

It would be the second publicized call between the two leaders since Trump began his second term. Trump and Putin spoke in February and agreed to start high-level talks over ending the war in Ukraine.

New York

Police seek suspect who set man on fire

NEW YORK — Police in New York City are searching for a person they say set a man on fire near Times Square. The department says the crime happened shortly before 4 a.m. on Sunday near West 41st Street and 7th Avenue.

Officers spotted the 45-year-old victim and extinguished the flames. He was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. Police say they believe the victim knows the suspect but declined comment, saying the case is under investigation.

President guts staff at Voice of America

President Donald Trump is ordering his administration to gut Voice of America and other pro-democracy media organizations run by the U.S. government.

Trump issued an order Friday night to reduce costs at the U.S. Agency for Global Media and six other obscure federal agencies to the lowest amount possible. That was followed by staff at Voice of America being put on leave and grants being pulled at Radio Free Asia and other government-backed outlets Saturday morning.

World

Syria

Old ordnance from civil war kills 16

DAMASCUS — Ordnance from Syria’s 13-year conflict exploded in the coastal city of Latakia, collapsing a building and killing more than a dozen people, the Syrian Civil Defense said Sunday.

The White Helmets paramedic group said it worked overnight, searching through debris and recovered 16 bodies, including five women and five children, and that 18 others were injured.

Israel

Netanyahu seeks to oust security chief

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will seek to dismiss the head of the internal security service this week, deepening a power struggle focused largely on who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s effort to remove Ronen Bar as director of the Shin Bet comes as the security service investigates close aides of the prime minister. Netanyahu said he has had “ongoing distrust” with Bar, and “this distrust has grown over time.”

Serbia

Officials deny illegal sonic weapon use

BELGRADE — Serbian officials denied Sunday that security forces used a military-grade sonic weapon to disperse and scare protesters at a huge anti-government rally in the capital.

Opposition officials and Serbian rights groups claimed the widely banned acoustic weapon that emits a targeted beam to temporarily incapacitate people was used during the protest Saturday. They say they will file charges with the European Court of Human Rights.