By MARÍA VERZA and FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico celebrated Thursday having dodged the latest round of tariffs from the White House taking aim at dozens of U.S. trading partners around the world, but was also quickly reminded that in a global economy the effects of uncertainty can’t be entirely avoided.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said the free-trade agreement signed by Mexico, Canada and the U.S. during Trump’s first administration had shielded Mexico.

Now her government will focus on the existing 25% U.S. tariffs on imported autos, steel and aluminum, while accelerating domestic production to safeguard jobs and reduce imports.

“During my last call with President Trump, I said that, in the case of reciprocal tariffs, my understanding was that there wouldn’t be tariffs (on Mexico), because Mexico doesn’t place tariffs on the United States,” Sheinbaum said.

Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard noted that despite having free-trade agreements with the U.S., many countries were targeted by the tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday on what he dubbed “Liberation Day.” Trump framed the tariffs as a way to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.

Noting that Mexico dodged the latest round of tariffs, Ebrard said swaths of Mexican exports including agricultural products like avocados, clothing and electronics will continue to enter the U.S. without import duties.

Sheinbaum, meanwhile, encouraged companies producing in Mexico who had not been exporting under the free-trade agreement for various reasons to take the necessary steps to qualify. She cited major German auto producers as an example.

Qualifying for the free-trade agreement could involve anything from doing paperwork to making adjustments to the sourcing of a product.

Despite Trump’s latest tariffs not being imposed on Mexico, the uncertainty they created and the interconnectedness of the North American auto supply chains meant it didn’t take long for the effects to touch Mexico.

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Stellantis, maker of auto brands including Dodge and Jeep, announced that it would pause production at its assembly plant in Toluca west of Mexico City for the month of April while it assesses the tariffs’ impact on its operations. A similar temporary production halt was scheduled for an assembly plant in Canada and some 900 workers were to be temporarily laid off across several plants in the United States.

That uncertainty is part of the reasons why Sheinbaum is pushing Plan Mexico, an initiative to promote and cultivate more domestic production.

As an example, she cited a collaboration between her government, local universities and Mexican companies Megaflux and Dina to produce electric buses for public transportation.

Ebrard said recently that the buses represent not only a technological advance in Mexico, but also a “strategic decision” in favor of Mexico’s industrial sovereignty.

At a factory in Mexico City, the electric buses called Taruk — trail-runner in the Indigenous Yaqui language – are already in production. Megaflux Director General Roberto Gottfried said the company hopes to deliver some 200 by year’s end.

He noted that some 70% of the Taruk’s components are produced in Mexico, including its motor, but the lithium batteries that power them come from China.

In a country where one out of every three people use public transportation every day, developing this sector domestically is critical, Gottfried said.

Despite the global economic challenges presented by the uncertainty caused by tariffs, he said, Mexico’s large internal market gives the initiative a competitive advantage to develop and weather the storm.

By GRAHAM DUNBAR, Associated Press Sports Writer

The United States and the United Kingdom looked set on Thursday to be picked by FIFA next year as hosts of Women’s World Cups expanded to 48 teams from 32.

Their respective intentions to bid for the 2031 and 2035 editions are alone in the contests after a first deadline to enter the race passed. The first formal bid documents must be signed by the end of April.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino shakes hands with delegates at the 49th ordinary UEFA congress in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

FIFA President Gianni Infantino told European soccer officials the governing body received one expression of interest to host the 2031 event — from the U.S. with the possibility of other countries in the CONCACAF region joining the project. That long-promised bid would likely include Mexico.

“We look forward to sharing more details and unveiling our full vision for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the near future,” the U.S. Soccer Federation said in a statement.

FIFA has just one “valid bid” to host the 2035 event, from the British member federations centered on England, Infantino said at UEFA’s annual meeting in Belgrade, Serbia.

“Hosting the first FIFA World Cup since 1966 with our home nations partners will be very special,” English FA CEO Mark Bullingham said. “The hard work starts now, to put together the best possible bid by the end of the year.”

The U.K.’s interest was quickly supported last month by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer when FIFA said it was formally seeking bids from member federations. FIFA excluded Europe from the 2031 contest, clearing the way for a long-expected U.S. win.

Spanish soccer officials said last week they hoped to bid, possibly with Portugal and Morocco in a repeat of the co-hosting plan for the men’s 2030 World Cup. It was unclear why Spain did not then meet Monday’s deadline set by FIFA to express interest in bidding.

Infantino’s comments to the annual meeting of UEFA seemed to rule out a Spain bid now being allowed.

“So the path is there for the Women’s World Cup to be taking place in ’31 and ’35 in some great countries,” the FIFA president said, “to boost even more the women’s football movement.”

FIFA is scheduled to confirm Women’s World Cup hosts next year. The 2027 edition with 32 teams is being hosted by Brazil.

The Women’s World Cup would return to the U.S. for the first time since the 2003 edition. The U.S. also hosted in 1999.

England hosted the Women’s European Championship in 2022 — which the home team won — and the men’s Euro 2028 will be co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Women’s soccer at 2028 LA Olympics

In a further boost for women’s soccer, Infantino detailed FIFA’s plan to have more women’s teams than men’s playing at the next Olympics.

There were just 12 teams in the women’s tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics and 16 in the men’s tournament.

Though the International Olympic Committee strongly supports gender equality at the games, adding four more women’s teams — and about 70 extra players, plus team officials — would push the limit of agreed athlete quotas for organizers in Los Angeles.

Infantino said on Thursday that FIFA’s new proposal is to flip the numbers to have 16 women’s teams and 12 in the men’s tournaments.

The final decision is for the IOC, which has an executive board meeting next Wednesday.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

By WAFAA SHURAFA and NATALIE MELZER

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 100 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including at least 27 sheltering at a school in the north, according to Palestinian medical authorities, in a stepped-up offensive that Israel’s military said is intended to put new pressure on Hamas and eventually expel the group.

The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, and the death toll could still rise because some of the 70 wounded had critical injuries, said Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi. More than 30 other Gaza residents were killed in strikes on homes in a nearby neighborhood of Shijaiyah, he said, citing records at Ahli Hospital.

The Israeli military on Thursday ordered more residents in parts of northern Gaza to move to shelters in the western side of Gaza City, warning that it planned to “work with extreme force in your area.” A number of the Palestinians leaving the targeted area did so on foot, with some carrying their belongings on their backs and others using donkey carts.

“My wife and I have been walking for three hours covering only one kilometer,” said Mohammad Ermana, 72. The couple, clasping hands, each walked with a cane. “I’m searching for shelters every hour now, not every day,” he said.

Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza ahead of expected ground operations, which the U.N. says have forcibly displaced around 280,000 Palestinians since the ceasefire broke down last month.

The fresh evacuation orders came a day after senior government officials said Israel said it would seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor across it. Israel has imposed a month-long halt on all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle.

Another deadly day in Gaza

Overnight strikes by Israel killed at least 55 people in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Thursday.

Officials in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the strip, said the bodies of 14 people had been taken to Nasser Hospital – nine of them from the same family. The dead included five children and four women. The bodies of another 19 people, including five children aged between 1 and 7 years and a pregnant woman, were taken to the European hospital near Khan Younis, hospital officials said. In Gaza City, 21 bodies were taken to Ahli hospital, including those of seven children.

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The attacks came as the Israeli military promised an independent investigation of a March 23 operation in which its forces opened fire on ambulances in Gaza. U.N. officials say 15 Palestinian medics and emergency responders were killed and their bodies and ambulances buried by Israeli soldiers in a mass grave.

The military initially said the ambulances were operating suspiciously and that nine fighters were killed. The military said the probe would be led by an expert fact-finding body “responsible for examining exceptional incidents” during the war. Rights groups say such investigations are often lacking and that soldiers are rarely punished.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel was establishing a new security corridor across Gaza to pressure Hamas, suggesting it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of the Palestinian territory. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Israel has also reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor, which separates the northern third of Gaza from the rest of the narrow strip. Both that and another corridor, along Gaza’s southern perimeter, run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.

Netanyahu visits Hungary

Netanyahu arrived in Hungary early Thursday on his second foreign trip since the world’s top war crimes court issued an arrest warrant against him in November over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the the International Criminal Court has said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas — charges that Israeli officials deny.

ICC member countries, such as Hungary, are required to arrest suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that and relies on states to comply. As Netanyahu arrived in Budapest, Hungary said it will begin the procedure of withdrawing from the ICC.

Plans for Gaza

On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel plans to maintain overall security control of Gaza after the war and implement U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle much of its population elsewhere through what the Israeli leader referred to as “voluntary emigration.”

Palestinians have rejected the plan, viewing it as expulsion from their homeland after Israel’s offensive left much of it uninhabitable, and human rights experts say implementing the plan would likely violate international law.

The war began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The war has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and at its height displaced around 90% of the population.

Israeli strikes on Syria

Separately, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southwestern Syria, Syrian state media reported Thursday.

SANA said the nine were civilians, without giving details. Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they were local gunmen from the Daraa province, frustrated with Israeli military encroachment and attacks in recent months.

Israel has seized parts of southwestern Syria and created a buffer-zone there, which it says is to secure Israel’s safety from armed groups. But critics say the military operation has created tensions in Syria and prevents any long-term stability and reconstruction for the war-torn country.

Israel also struck five cities in Syria late Wednesday, including over a dozen strikes near a strategic airbase in the city of Hama. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Thursday that the strikes were intended to prevent Syrian forces and armed groups from maintaining a presence in border areas.

Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel.

By JUSTIN SPIKE

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary will begin the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, an official said Thursday, just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived to red carpet treatment in the country’s capital despite an arrest warrant from the world’s only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide.

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Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave the Israeli leader a welcome with full military honors in Budapest’s Castle District. The two close allies stood side by side as a military band played and an elaborate procession of soldiers on horseback and carrying swords and bayoneted rifles marched by.

As the ceremony unfolded, Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, released a brief statement saying that “the government will initiate the withdrawal procedure” for leaving the court, which could take a year or more to complete.

Orbán later said that he believes the ICC is “a political court.”

Netanyahu makes second trip abroad since warrant

Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary, which is scheduled to last until Sunday, was only his second foreign trip since the ICC issued the warrant against him in November.

The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said when issuing its warrant that there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had committed crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies.

The ICC also issued arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders who were later killed.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, and European Union.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 terrorists, without providing evidence, and resumed its campaign last month, shattering a ceasefire.

After the ICC issued the warrant, Orbán invited Netanyahu to Budapest, and accused the court of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes.” That invitation was in open defiance of the court’s ruling and contradicted Hungary’s obligations as a signatory to arrest any suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil.

All countries in the 27-member European Union, including Hungary, are signatories, but the court relies on member countries to enforce its rulings. Hungary joined the court in 2001 during Orbán’s first term as prime minister.

‘No longer an impartial court’

At a news conference following their meeting, Orbán said that he believes the ICC is “no longer an impartial court, not a court of law, but a political court. And this was most clearly shown by the decisions regarding Israel.”

“I am convinced that this otherwise important international judicial forum has been degraded into a political tool, with which we cannot and do not want to engage,” Orbán said.

The Hungarian leader, regarded by critics as the EU’s most intransigent spoiler in the bloc’s decision-making, is seen as using some of the tactics that Netanyahu has been accused of employing in Israel: subjugation of the judiciary, antagonism toward the EU and cracking down on civil society and human rights groups.

During the news conference, where journalists weren’t permitted to ask questions, Netanyahu praised Hungary’s decision, thanking Orbán for taking a “bold and principled decision.”

“The ICC directs its actions against us fighting a just war with just means,” Netanyahu said, calling Hungary “the first state that walks out of this corruption and this rottenness, and I think it’ll be deeply appreciated, not only in Israel but in many, many countries around the world.”

ICC has criticized Hungary

Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary was his second opportunity to travel abroad following the issuance of the warrant — the first was when he met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington in February. It was also a chance to project an image of statesmanship while he faces mounting discontent at home.

He has faced mass protests by Israelis who fear his decision to resume the war in Gaza endangers the lives of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. He has also sparked anger by trying to fire or sideline top officials in what critics view as a power grab and an attack on state institutions.

Along with resuming its offensive in Gaza last month, Israel halted all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to the territory’s 2 million Palestinians to pressure Hamas to release more hostages and accept proposed changes to the truce agreement.

The ICC has criticized Hungary’s decision to defy its warrant for Netanyahu, with the court’s spokesperson, Fadi El Abdallah, saying on Thursday that the court “recalls that Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC.”

Hamas said in a statement that it considers the move by Hungary an “immoral stance that shows collusion with a war criminal who is running away from justice.” The group called on Hungary to reverse its decision and hand Netanyahu over to the ICC to stand trial.

Molly Quell in Amsterdam and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.