Prime Minister Mark Carney set a goal for Canada to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade, saying American tariffs are causing a chill in investment.

Carney, who will release his government's budget on Nov. 4, said Wednesday many of Canada's former strengths — based on close ties to America — have become vulnerabilities.

President Donald Trump's administration is preparing for a visit to the United States by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next month, in what could be the first state visit to the U.S. by a foreign leader in Trump's second term, according to several people familiar with the planning.

Work is underway to prepare a package of agreements that Trump and the crown prince could sign or witness during the visit, U.S. officials familiar with the plans for the trip said. The trip is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17-19, but the timing and status of the visit could change, according to two people familiar with the planning.

European Union leaders are seeking a more active role in Gaza and the occupied West Bank after being sidelined from the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

At a summit Thursday in Brussels largely focused on Ukraine and Russia, EU heads of state are also expected to discuss the shaky ceasefire in Gaza and potential EU support for stability in the war-torn coastal enclave. The EU has been the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and is Israel's top trading partner.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday Israel's parliament vote on West Bank annexation, saying the move was an "insult."

Speaking on the tarmac of Tel Aviv's international airport before departing at the end of his visit to Israel this week, Vance said that if the vote was a "political stunt, then it is a very stupid political stunt."

A Sudanese paramilitary force targeted the country's capital and its main airport on Thursday with drones, just a day after the first passenger flight in two years landed in the city, according to military officials and local media.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces came as the group seeks to maintain pressure against Sudan's military while the deadlocked conflict grinds on.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla prayed Thursday with Pope Leo XIV in an historic visit to the Vatican to forge closer relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church, a welcome spiritual respite for the royals from the turmoil at home over sexual misconduct allegations against Prince Andrew.

Charles, who is the titular head of the Church of England, and Camilla sat in golden thrones on the raised altar of the Sistine Chapel, in front of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment," while Leo and the Anglican archbishop of York presided over an ecumenical service.

China's ruling Communist Party said Thursday it will focus on speeding up self-reliance in science and technology, a long-running push that has become more pronounced as the U.S. has imposed increasingly tight controls on its access to semiconductors and other high-tech items.

The announcement by the state media came in a communique after a four-day meeting that approved a draft of the party's next five-year development plan.

The European Union on Thursday heaped more economic sanctions on Russia, adding to U.S. President Donald Trump's new punitive measures the previous day against the Russian oil industry.

It is a broadened effort to choke off the revenue that funds Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and to force President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war.

Iran has been bombed, seen United Nations sanctions reimposed and its economy collapse further into the red this year. But its theocracy so far hasn't taken any major action to halt the slide, restart crucial nuclear negotiations with the West nor fully prepare for possible further hostilities with Israel and the United States.

In the past, Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei heralded the benefit of Tehran's "strategic patience" in confronting its enemies. Now, however, concern is growing that patience has slipped into paralysis as Iran's partners in its self-described "Axis of Resistance" have been devastated and there's no overt sign of materiel support from either China or Russia.

The pumpkin is the undisputed star of the show at the Klaistow farm near Berlin.