Bernat Armangue

A photo gallery documents Sudan entering its fourth year of war amid famine, mass displacement and continuing violence, which aid groups describe as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

As cardinals prepare to gather in Rome for the conclave to elect Pope Francis’s successor, longtime papal tailors are preparing for the possibility of a new set of vestment requirements. Raniero Mancinelli has prepared small, medium and large cassocks for the Vatican, while Lorenzo Gammarelli recalled family stories about tailoring difficulties during a past papal election. The tailors also described differing preferences among recent popes, with Francis favoring practical fabrics and Benedict XVI preferring more elaborate materials.

Crowds gathered in Madrid for Spain’s World Cup victory parade after the team defeated defending champion Argentina 1–0 in the final. The victory marked Spain’s second men’s World Cup title and its first since 2010.

A photo gallery documents Pope Leo XIV’s weeklong visit to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands, a country with a historically strong Catholic identity but declining religious practice. The gallery was curated by AP photo editors.

A curated AP photo gallery documents how ordinary life continues in Sudan as the war between the country’s army and paramilitary forces enters its fourth year.

More than 1,000 migrant children remained in Ceuta after a mass crossing from Morocco, many separated from their families and living in overcrowded or inadequate conditions. The crossing caused dozens of deaths, while Spanish officials offered conflicting estimates of how many people remained. Although adults were being returned or faced asylum procedures, unaccompanied minors were legally entitled to protection, prompting scrutiny of reported attempted repatriations. Spain allocated €25 million for assistance and opened a missing-persons office, while families in Morocco continued searching for relatives.

More than 800 migrant children remained stranded in Ceuta after a mass crossing from Morocco that left at least 72 people dead, mostly in the Mediterranean. Many minors lacked shelter, food and access to overcrowded government facilities, despite Spanish law requiring protection for unaccompanied children. Most adult migrants were returned or pushed back to Morocco, while migrants from Sudan, Gaza, Afghanistan and other countries remained in the enclave. Humanitarian groups accused authorities of using hunger, thirst and exhaustion to pressure migrants into returning.

Khartoum is slowly reopening after three years of war, but much of the Sudanese capital remains devastated, with damaged landmarks, unexploded weapons and improvised graveyards. Volunteers are exhuming graves to identify the dead, while families search for missing relatives through Al Nao Hospital’s morgue database. Although the Sudanese military has retaken Khartoum and encouraged residents to return, fighting continues elsewhere and the threat of renewed violence remains.

Survivors of Sudan’s three-year war describe amputations, permanent injuries, bereavement, displacement and sexual violence. In and around Khartoum, civilians injured by unexploded weapons and shelling struggle to obtain medical care, prosthetics and surgery, while families cope with deaths and trauma. The accounts also highlight resilience: survivors continue studying, coaching soccer and running soup kitchens despite poverty, inadequate healthcare and ongoing fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.

Students and volunteers from Valencia Polytechnic University are restoring photographs damaged in the devastating October floods in eastern Spain. The project has received about 230,000 photos and 1,800 albums, cleaning, digitizing and returning images to families who lost possessions and personal records. Survivors say the recovered photographs restore irreplaceable emotional and family memories, although organizers may not complete the work by the floods’ first anniversary because of the scale and condition of the material.

The collapse of Bashar Assad’s government and his flight to Russia ended decades of Assad family rule but left northeastern Syria facing profound uncertainty. The Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces remain concerned about the approximately 9,000 suspected Islamic State members detained in the region, especially after militants reportedly exploited the governmental collapse to acquire weapons. Kurdish residents also distrust the Islamist-led interim government under Ahmad al-Sharaa and remain caught in conflict with Turkish-backed forces. Fighting has displaced civilians, while the closed Syrian-Turkish border and the region’s Kurdish political symbolism underscore the unresolved tensions over security, autonomy and the future of Syria.

Heavy Holy Week rains brought relief to drought-stricken parts of Spain but disrupted or canceled religious processions, including those in Seville and Logroño. In Quesada, worshippers briefly covered a float bearing Christ and the Virgen with a tarp and completed their procession during a break in the weather. The rainfall was especially welcomed by farmers and olive growers after two years of drought, depleted reservoirs, and severe irrigation restrictions, although water availability remained sharply uneven across the country, with Catalonia and southern Spain still facing particularly low reserves.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group has spent four months conducting continuous combat operations in the Red Sea, intercepting more than 95 drones and anti-ship missiles and striking over 50 Houthi targets. U.S. commanders are increasingly concerned about unmanned surface vessels, which are harder to track and could carry explosives directly toward ships. The prolonged deployment, with no port calls and limited connectivity for destroyer crews, is taking a toll on sailors, although commanders emphasize mission importance and crew solidarity.

Teatro Real’s annual opera week is bringing free broadcasts of its performances to more than 100 towns and cities across Spain, requiring only a computer, Wi-Fi connection and a place to project the video. The initiative, which cost €107,000, aims to broaden interest in opera and challenge its image as an elitist art form. Public screenings included a July performance of Puccini’s Turandot, drawing audiences in Madrid and in small villages such as Mino de San Esteban, where residents have limited access to cultural events.

Spain’s Easter Week processions require year-round preparation by artisans, conservation workshops and religious brotherhoods. In Elche, palm-leaf artisans cultivate, preserve and weave golden-white leaves into elaborate bouquets, while in Madrid, brotherhood members train to carry massive religious floats through the streets. The traditions involve multigenerational family participation, attract millions of visitors and support numerous small businesses across Spain.

Residents of Kherson are facing continued shelling, power and water outages, shortages and displacement nearly a month after Ukrainian forces retook the city from Russian occupation. Russian troops remain positioned across the Dnieper River, leaving the city vulnerable to artillery and sniper fire. The aftermath has also included allegations of torture and other possible atrocities, while some residents flee and others remain determined to endure the hardship.

After Ukrainian forces retook Kherson following nearly nine months of Russian occupation, residents and community workers removed Russian propaganda billboards declaring the city part of Russia and promoting Russian history and annexation referendums. The signs, some featuring children in Ukrainian embroidered shirts digitally overlaid with Russian symbols and others depicting General Alexander Suvorov, fueled anger amid shelling, power outages, infrastructure damage and emerging evidence of atrocities. Ukrainian messages and blue-and-yellow banners gradually replaced them, emphasizing Kherson’s liberation and status as a Ukrainian hero city.

Indian security forces have used pellet-filled shotguns to control protests in Kashmir, despite describing them as non-lethal weapons. The pellets have caused widespread injuries, including hundreds of cases of partial or complete blindness, and have reportedly killed at least eight people according to officials and 18 according to a local rights group. Survivors describe permanent physical, psychological and economic hardship, while Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for the weapons to be withdrawn. The continuing use of pellet guns has intensified resentment and contributed to a cycle of violence in the region.