LONDON (AP) — British D-Day veteran Bill Gladden turned 100 on Saturday, a day after his niece threw a surprise birthday party for him. It was a big fuss he didn’t really expect, though the old soldier had tears in his eyes long before he caught sight of a cake decorated with a replica of his uniform and the medals he earned.

But Gladden isn’t focused on his birthday this year, big as it is. He’s looking six months down the road

In recent years, Nicolas Delisle has made new guitars from old barns, logs pulled from river bottoms and even window frames from his 1930s-era Montreal apartment.

The craftsman specializes in turning reclaimed and salvaged wood into one-of-a-kind guitars that he hand makes in the city’s Mile End neighbourhood.

Using recycled materials is “part of the story of the instrument,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s just a richer history.”

Among the wood

In recent years, Nicolas Delisle has made new guitars from old barns, logs pulled from river bottoms and even window frames from his 1930s-era Montreal apartment.

The craftsman specializes in turning reclaimed and salvaged wood into one-of-a-kind guitars that he hand makes in the city’s Mile End neighbourhood.

Using recycled materials is “part of the story of the instrument,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s just a richer history.”

Among the wood

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for calm and a readiness to accept compromises on Saturday as the country faces protests by farmers angry about a plan to cut their fuel subsidies. He warned of extremists stoking rage against a backdrop of wider discontent.

Farmers have blocked major roads and snarled traffic across the country with their tractors as part of against the plan to scrap tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture. They went ahead with the demonstrations although the government its original plan, saying that a car tax exemption for

More than 30 Palestinians, including young children, were killed in Israeli bombardments overnight into Saturday in the Gaza Strip, officials said, while a new U.S. strike against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen heightened fears that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate into a regional conflict.

Fears of a wider conflagration have been palpable since the start of the war, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas and other Gaza militants.

New fronts quickly opened, with Iran-backed groups —

More than 30 Palestinians, including young children, were killed in Israeli bombardments overnight into Saturday in the Gaza Strip, officials said, while a new U.S. strike against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen heightened fears that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate into a regional conflict.

Fears of a wider conflagration have been palpable since the start of the war, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas and other Gaza militants.

New fronts quickly opened, with Iran-backed groups —

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan effectively closed a key northwestern border crossing with Afghanistan to truck drivers on Saturday, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said.

Noor Mohammad Hanif, director of Information and Culture department in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province said that officials at the Torkham began asking for passports and visas from Afghan drivers.

Truckers have for years been able to pass the border without documents so they generally do not have them.

Hanif said that, in response, Afghanistan is now asking Pakistani drivers for passports and visas.

In

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Vietnamese automaker VinFast’s factory on Saturday and said that he would create the necessary conditions for the multinational to be able to build a plant and invest in Indonesia quickly.

On a trip to the sprawling factory in the port city of Haiphong in northern Vietnam, Widodo also sat behind the wheel of a VinFast electric car before wrapping up his .

The Vietnamese EV maker has said it will invest $1.2 billion in Indonesia and build a factory with the

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party will celebrate Saturday the 112th anniversary of its establishment ahead of national elections, expected to be the toughest since it came to power in 1994.

Thousands of party members and supporters are expected to convene in Mbombela Stadium in the Mpumalanga province where President , also the head of ANC, will deliver his annual address and outline the party’s program for the year.

The ANC is the party of South Africa’s first