WARSAW, Poland — Poland will use antipersonnel as well as anti-tank land mines to defend its eastern border against the growing threat from Russia, Poland’s deputy defense minister told The Associated Press on Friday as the country officially left an international convention banning the use of the controversial weapons.

The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, prohibits signatories from keeping or using antipersonnel mines, which can last for years and are known for having caused large-scale suffering among civilians in former conflict zones in countries including Cambodia, Angola and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Poland, which ratified the document in 2012 and completed the destruction of its domestic anti-personnel mine stockpile in 2016, withdrew from the treaty on Friday and says it plans to renew manufacturing weapons.

“These mines are one of the most important elements of the defense structure we are constructing on the eastern flank of NATO, in Poland, on the border with Russia in the north and with Belarus in the east,” Paweł Zalewski, Poland’s deputy defense minister, said.

He said Poland needed to defend itself against Russia, a country which “has very aggressive intentions vis a vis its neighbors” and which itself never committed to the international land mine ban treaty.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearby countries have been reassessing their participation in the international treaty. Last year, Warsaw joined Finland, the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Ukraine to announce it would leave the treaty.

Russia is one of nearly three dozen countries that have never acceded to the Ottawa treaty, alongside the United States.

Zalewski said that Poland will begin domestic production of both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines, adding that the government would cooperate with Polish producers. He said Poland was aiming for self-sufficiency.

Land mines are an explosive weapon that’s placed on or just under the ground and blows up when a person or a vehicle crosses over them. Anti-tank mines, which are designed not to be triggered by a person’s weight, are not forbidden by the Ottawa Convention.

Speaking on Thursday after attending a demonstration of Bluszcz, an unmanned vehicle designed to distribute anti-tank mines produced by Polish company Belma S.A. and a military research institute, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would “soon” have the ability to mine its eastern borders within 48 hours in case of a threat.

Given the length of the country’s eastern borders, he said, “a lot” of land mines will be needed.

Poland plans to prepare mine stockpiles as part of the so-called Eastern Shield, a system of enhanced fortifications Poland has been building on its borders with Belarus and Russia since 2024, Zalewski said.

But he said that Poland would only deploy the mines along its borders “when there is a realistic threat of Russian aggression.”

“We very much respect our territory and we don’t want to exclude it from day to day use for the Polish citizens,” Zalewski said.

Human rights groups have condemned moves to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, arguing that anti-personnel mines are too dangerous to civilians.

But Zalewski responded that the country is striking a balance by keeping the mines in reserve unless the country faces attack.

“We are not an aggressive country,” he said, “but we have to use all means to deter Russia.”

DETROIT — Police looking for a missing person found the bodies of three men in a Detroit house, authorities said Thursday.

The victims, ages 65, 66 and 72, were bludgeoned and stabbed late Tuesday or early Wednesday, Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald said.

“It was a brutal scene inside — just awful,” he said.

A motive was not immediately known. Investigators were are seeking tips and searching for a suspect.

“The gentleman that lived in that location opened up his house to a lot of folks. They come and go,” Fitzgerald told reporters. “Unfortunately there has been some speculation that possibly some drugs were being used in the location, but we can’t confirm at this point.”

The victims were “left in a basement area covered in dirty clothing; one person was covered with a carpet,” Fitzgerald said.

A neighbor, Thomas Barnes, said one man was a veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Barnes is president of his block club, which had a recent name change.

“It’s now called Harmony Village,” Barnes told The Detroit News. “Ironic, huh?”

LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mark Zuckerberg will testify in an unprecedented social media trial that questions whether Meta’s platforms deliberately addict and harm children.

Meta’s CEO is expected to answer tough questions on Wednesday from attorneys representing a now 20-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, who claims her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.

Zuckerberg has testified in other trials and answered questions from Congress about youth safety on Meta’s platforms, and he apologized to families at that hearing whose lives had been upended by tragedies they believed were because of social media. This trial, though, marks the first time Zuckerberg will answer similar questions in front of a jury. and, again, bereaved parents are expected to be in the limited courtroom seats available to the public.

The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellwether trial, meaning its outcome could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies would play out.

A Meta spokesperson said the company strongly disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit and said they are “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”

One of Meta’s attorneys, Paul Schmidt, said in his opening statement that the company is not disputing that KGM experienced mental health struggles, but rather that Instagram played a substantial factor in those struggles. He pointed to medical records that showed a turbulent home life, and both he and an attorney representing YouTube argue she turned to their platforms as a coping mechanism or a means of escaping her mental health struggles.

Zuckerberg’s testimony comes a week after that of Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta’s Instagram, who said in the courtroom that he disagrees with the idea that people can be clinically addicted to social media platforms. Mosseri maintained that Instagram works hard to protect young people using the service, and said it’s “not good for the company, over the long run, to make decisions that profit for us but are poor for people’s well-being.”

Much of Mosseri’s questioning from the plaintiff’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, centered on cosmetic filters on Instagram that changed people’s appearance — a topic that Lanier is sure to revisit with Zuckerberg. He is also expected to face questions about Instagram’s algorithm, the infinite nature of Meta’ feeds and other features the plaintiffs argue are designed to get users hooked.

Meta is also facing a separate trial in New Mexico that began last week.

BERLIN — An injured seabird sought help by pecking at the door of an emergency room at a hospital in Germany until medical staff noticed it and called firefighters to help with its rescue.

The cormorant, a shiny black waterbird, had a triple fishing hook stuck in its beak when it made its presence known at the glass door of the Klinikum Links der Weser hospital in the northern city of Bremen on Sunday.

In a joint effort, medical staff and firefighters removed the fishhook and treated the wound, the Bremen firefighter department said in a statement. The bird was later released back into nature on the grounds of the hospital park.

“When an injured cormorant does approach humans, it is usually an animal in extreme distress that has lost its natural shyness,” the statement said.

A cormorant is a large bird with a long neck, wedge-shaped head and a distinctive sharp beak with a hooked tip. A fishhook in the bird’s beak would be extremely dangerous for the animal. Infections, pain and even starvation are possible, the firefighter department said.

BRUSSELS — European allies at NATO on Thursday brushed aside concerns that the United States has stepped back from its leadership role of the world’s biggest security organization, leaving them and Canada to do the lion’s share of defending Europe.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not attend Thursday’s gathering of defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. His no-show came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the last meeting of NATO foreign ministers in December.

It’s rare for members of a U.S. administration to miss a meeting of the organization’s top decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, at the level of ministers, let alone two meetings in a row. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby was sent in Hegseth’s place.

“Sadly for him, he is missing a good party,” Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir told reporters. “Of course, it’s always better that the ministers attend here, but I would not describe it as a bad signal.”

“I’m not disappointed,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. “Each of us has a full agenda. And one time the American defense minister is here, and one time not, so it’s his decision and his duties he has to fulfill.”

When asked what NATO’s purpose was in its infancy in 1949, NATO’s first secretary-general, the British general and diplomat Lord Hastings Ismay, was reputed to have replied: “To keep the Americans in, the Russians out and the Germans down.”

Nowadays, Germany is stepping up. After Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago, it vowed to spend 100 billion euros ($118 billion) to modernize its armed forces in coming years.

A big part of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s job is to keep the Americans in.

“They have to take care of the whole world. This is the United States,” Rutte told reporters before chairing the meeting. “I totally accept it, agree with it.”

“They have always consistently pleaded for Europe doing more, Canada doing more, taking more care of the defense of NATO territory, of course in conjunction with the United States,” he said.

That means more European spending on conventional weapons and defense, while the U.S. guarantees NATO’s nuclear deterrent.

But doubts linger, and surprises from the Trump administration cannot be ruled out. Allies still wonder whether more U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Europe.

“What for me is the most important is the no-surprise policy that has been agreed between the NATO secretary-general and the U.S.,” Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said.

Publicly at least, the Trump administration is doing much less at NATO. A year ago, Hegseth warned that America’s security priorities lie elsewhere and that Europe would have to look after itself, and Ukraine in its battle against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Supplies of U.S. guns and money that were sent to Ukraine by the previous administration of President Joe Biden have dried up under Trump. European allies and Canada are obliged to buy weapons from the United States to donate now.

Western backers of Ukraine were also meeting at NATO on Thursday to drum up more military support. A scheme proudly championed by the Pentagon under Biden, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group is now chaired by the U.K. and Germany.

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey announced that Britain would provide “an extra half a billion pounds ($682 million) in urgent air defense to Ukraine. This is Britain being a force for good in the world, building a new deal for European security within NATO.”

Sweden also intends to fund the purchase of more American weapons. The Netherlands will send more flight simulators to help Ukrainian fighter pilots train to fly F-16 jets.

The one “deliverable” from Thursday’s meeting was the announcement that NATO would launch Arctic Sentry, its response to U.S. security concerns in the high north, and an attempt to dissuade Trump from trying to seize Greenland.

It’s ostensibly aimed at countering Russian and Chinese activities or influence in the Arctic region.

But Arctic Sentry is essentially a rebranding exercise. National drills already underway in the region, like those run by Denmark and Norway, will be brought under the NATO umbrella and overseen by the organization’s military chief.

It is not a long-term NATO operation or mission.

Denmark, France, Germany will take part in the “military activities” happening under Arctic Sentry, but they have not said in what way. Finland and Sweden are likely to get involved. Belgium is considering what role it might play.

It remains unclear what role, if any, the United States will take.

“It can’t just be more from the United States,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said ahead of Thursday’s meeting. “We need capable allies that are ready and strong, that can bring assets to all of these areas of our collective security.”

Trump’s renewed threats last month to annex Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark — have deeply shaken the rest of the alliance. NATO’s primary role is to defend the territory of its 32 member states, not to undermine it.

European allies and Canada hope that Arctic Sentry and ongoing talks between the Trump administration, Denmark and Greenland will allow NATO to move on from the dispute and focus on Europe’s real security priority, Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said the Arctic security arrangement at least means that “we stop having some food fights over the Atlantic.”

“I think that the Greenland saga was not the best moment of NATO (over) the last 76 years,” he told reporters. “It was a crisis that was not needed.”

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Tropical Cyclone Gezani made landfall in Madagascar’s main port city, unleashing winds that collapsed houses and left at least nine people dead on the Indian Ocean island, authorities said Wednesday.

Wind speeds exceeded 195 kph (121 mph) and Madagascar’s weather service issued red alerts for several regions, warning of possible floods and landslides as Gezani moved across the largely poor country of 31 million people.

Madagascar, battered by another deadly cyclone less than two weeks earlier, is especially vulnerable to cyclones blowing in off the Indian Ocean.

The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said at least nine people died as buildings collapsed and at least 19 people were injured as Gezani made landfall late Tuesday in the eastern city of Toamasina.

Toamasna, the island’s main port with around 300,000 residents, bore the brunt of the cyclone and sustained severe damage, residents told The Associated Press.

Madagascar President Michael Randrianirina, who took power in a military coup in October, visited Toamasina to survey damage and meet residents, according to videos posted on the Facebook page of the president’s office. The videos showed flooded neighborhoods, homes and shops with windows blown out and roofs blown off, and trees and other debris strewn across the streets.

“It’s devastation. Roofs have been blown away, walls have collapsed, power poles are down, trees have been uprooted. It looks like a catastrophic landscape,” Toamasina resident Michel, who gave only his first name, said over the phone.

Power has been cut off in Toamasina since Tuesday.

Gezani moved across Madagascar from east to west on Wednesday, weakening to a tropical storm as it moved inland, according to the national weather service.

The storm passed around 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the capital, Antananarivo, which is one of the regions under a red alert warning for possible flooding.

On Jan. 31, Tropical Cyclone Fytia killed 14 people in Madagascar and displaced more than 85,000, according to the risk and disaster management agency.

Cyclone season in Madagascar is from around November to March and brings recurring weather disasters for one of the world’s poorest countries, which barely has time to recover before another hits.

Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island, has been impacted by more than a dozen tropical storms or cyclones since 2020. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction say they cause an estimated $85 million worth of damage to infrastructure each year that impedes the nation’s development.

Forecasts showed Gezani was expected to move into the Mozambique channel between Madagascar and Africa’s east coast on Thursday and warned it might strengthen into a tropical cyclone again and turn back toward Madagascar’s southwest coast next week.

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AP Africa news:

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn, racing on a badly injured left knee, crashed early in the Olympic downhill on Sunday and was taken off the course by a helicopter after the 41-year-old American received medical attention on the snow for long, anguished minutes.

Vonn lost control over the opening traverse after cutting the line too tight and was spun around in the air. She was heard screaming out after the crash as she was surrounded by medical personnel before she was strapped to a gurney and flown away by a helicopter, possibly ending the skier’s storied career. Her condition was not immediately known, with the U.S. Ski Team saying simply she would be evaluated.

Breezy Johnson, Vonn’s teammate, won gold and became only the second American woman to win the Olympic downhill after Vonn did it 16 years ago. The 30-year-old Johnson held off Emma Aicher of Germany and Italy’s Sofia Goggia on a bittersweet day for Team USA.

Vonn had family in the stands, including her father, Alan Kildow, who stared down at the ground while his daughter was being treated after just 13 seconds on the course. Others in the crowd, including rapper Snoop Dogg, watched quietly as the star skier was finally taken off the course she knows so well and holds a record 12 World Cup wins.

Vonn’s crash was “tragic, but it’s ski racing,” said Johan Eliasch, president of the Internationl Ski and Snowboard Federation.

“I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport,” he said, “because this race has been the talk of the games and it’s put our sport in the best possible light.”

All eyes had been on Vonn, the feel-good story heading into the Olympics. She had returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years, a remarkable decision given her age but she also had a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee, too. Many wondered how she would fare as she sought a gold medal to join the one she won in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

The four-time overall World Cup champion stunned everyone by being a contender almost immediately. She came to the Olympics as the leader in the World Cup downhill standings and was a gold-medal favorite before her crash in Switzerland nine days ago, when she suffered her latest knee injury. In addition to a ruptured ACL, she also had a bone bruise and meniscus damage.

Still, no one counted her out even then. In truth, she has skied through injuries for three decades at the top of the sport. In 2006, ahead of the Turin Olympics, Vonn took a bad fall during downhill training and went to the hospital. She competed less than 48 hours later, racing in all four events she’d planned, with a top result of seventh in the super-G.

“It’s definitely weird,” she said then, “going from the hospital bed to the start gate.”

Cortina has always had many treasured memories for Vonn beyond the record wins. She is called the queen of Cortina, and the Olympia delle Tofana is a course that had always suited Vonn. She tested out the knee twice in downill training runs over the past three days before the awful crash on Sunday in clear, sunny conditions.

“This would be the best comeback I’ve done so far,” Vonn said before the race. “Definitely the most dramatic.”

After the crash, the celebration for the medalists was held and fellow skiers thought about Vonn’s legacy.

“She has been my idol since I started watching ski racing,” said Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway. “We still have a World Cup to do after Olympics … I wouldn’t be surprised if she suddenly shows up on the start gate, but the crash didn’t look good.”

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AP Olympics: