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Hello and welcome to your afternoon news update from The Associated Press. Today, the Vatican and the Trump administration emphasized their solid ties after a visit by the U.S. secretary of state; Russia is ramping up its attempts to kill opponents in Europe, according to intelligence official; and Georgia officials knew chemicals from carpet mills were polluting local water while residents did not.

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In this handout photo provided by Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV exchanges gifts with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as they meet in the pope's private library at the Vatican on Thursday. (Vatican Media via AP)

Vatican and State Department stress solid ties after Rubio’s fence-mending visit over Trump attacks

The Vatican raised the “need to work tirelessly in favor of peace” in talks Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who came to Rome on a fence-mending visit after President Donald Trump’s criticisms of Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war. Both the Vatican and the U.S. State Department stressed that Rubio’s meetings with Leo and the Vatican’s top diplomat underscored strong bilateral ties. Those relations, though, have been strained over Trump’s repeated broadsides about Leo’s calls for peace and dialogue to end the U.S.-Israeli war. Read more.

TOP STORIES

Russia is ramping up its attempts to kill opponents in Europe, intelligence officials say 

Three Western intelligence officials from different countries have told The Associated Press that a campaign of targeted killings they blame on Russia has ramped up since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. While Russian officials have long been accused of silencing the country’s enemies abroad, the officials say this campaign is different. Read more.

Georgia officials knew chemicals from carpet mills were polluting local water. The people did not

State officials knew nearly two decades ago that toxic chemicals called PFAS were spreading from the carpet mills of northwest Georgia into rivers that are the region's main source of drinking water. Local residents did not know. Now the odorless, colorless chemicals that were in their tap water are in the blood of some of them at levels higher than health guidelines consider safe. Read more.