TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday in quiet holiday trading, while Japan’s benchmark rose to new records on hope for more government spending and lower taxes under Japan’s first woman prime minister. U.S. futures slipped and oil prices rose. Markets in mainland China and South Korea were closed. Over the weekend, Japan’s […]
REIM, Israel (AP) — Israelis prepared to mourn the dead Tuesday as the nation marks two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack plunged the region into a devastating war, while Israel and Hamas hold indirect talks in Egypt. The main memorial ceremony is being organized by bereaved families, not the government, reflecting deep divisions over […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday said he has asked Pope Leo XIV to help maintain peace in the South American country. Maduro’s comments come as the United States military continues to strike alleged drug-carrying boats in the waters off Venezuela in what President Donald Trump has declared an “armed conflict” […]
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned a network of companies and their affiliates that allegedly supplied precursor chemicals to make fentanyl to a faction of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. A dozen Mexico-based companies and eight of the people managing them were accused of using their pharmaceutical, laboratory, chemical, cleaning and real […]
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. refugee agency suggested Monday that President Donald Trump’s America has carried out deportation practices that violate international law, and criticized a wider “backlash” in some countries against migrants and refugees. Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, used a speech to lament that drastic funding cuts […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela warned Monday of an alleged plan by extremists to attack the shuttered U.S. Embassy complex in Caracas with explosives, coming as bilateral tensions simmer over Washington’s military deployment in the Caribbean. Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly and of Venezuela’s delegation for dialogue with the U.S., said in a […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked U.S. President Donald Trump during a phone conversation Monday to lift the 40% tariff imposed by the U.S. government on Brazilian imports. The leaders spoke for 30 minutes, exchanged phone numbers, and Lula reiterated his invitation for Trump to attend the upcoming climate […]
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Monday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about Russia’s offer to extend the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the United States, saying it raises hope for keeping the pact alive after it expires in February. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his readiness to adhere to nuclear […]
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — On a recent afternoon, Kenrick Modie finished untangling his fishing net in a quiet Caribbean village. As he slipped into a hammock at his home overlooking the sea, he worried that his life and livelihood could be wiped out by a U.S. military strike. Modie lives in the Caribbean twin-island nation […]
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights body agreed Monday to set up an ongoing probe of human rights violations in Afghanistan under the Taliban, including against women and girls, in a measure pushed for by the European Union. With no opposition and only China opting out of the consensus, the Human Rights Council […]
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali government forces successfully ended a six-hour siege by militants at a major prison located near the president’s office in the capital, Mogadishu, killing all seven attackers, the government said Sunday. The government said no civilian or security officers were killed in the Saturday attack, which was claimed by the al-Qaeda-linked […]
CAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas prepared for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday, as hopes for a possible ceasefire began to build and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a truce and hostage release could take shape this week. The negotiations will take place after President Donald Trump welcomed the militant group’s statement it has […]
LONDON (AP) — Police on Saturday were questioning six people arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on a synagogue in northwest England that left two men dead and Britain’s Jewish community shocked and grieving. Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police on Thursday outside the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Manchester […]
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s army said Saturday that it would advance preparations for the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and return all the remaining hostages, after Hamas said it accepted parts of the deal while others still needed to be negotiated. The army said […]
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Friday after heavy buying of tech shares led benchmarks on Wall Street to more records. US. futures and oil prices were higher. Markets have largely shrugged off the shutdown of the U.S. government after Democrat and Republican lawmakers failed to reach agreement on funding. U.S. President […]
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States that supplies of long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington but will not change the situation on the battlefield where the Russian army is making slow but steady advances. The potential supply of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv […]
HONG KONG (AP) — Beijing’s top diplomat in Hong Kong met with the city’s new U.S. Consul General this week to warn her against interfering in the territory’s internal affairs, his office said in a statement Thursday. Cui Jianchun, commissioner of the Hong Kong office of China’s foreign ministry, met with U.S. top diplomat Julie […]
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli navy soldiers boarded vessels and detained dozens of activists aboard a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, but 12 hours after the military began intercepting the vessels, several boats continued sailing and were nearing the besieged territory on Thursday, activists said. Supporters of the flotilla took to the streets […]
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares advanced on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s rise to records despite the the shutdown of the U.S. government. Technology shares jumped on expectations of higher demand for computer chips due to a partnership between South Korean tech and OpenAI. U.S. futures and oil prices also rose. South Korea’s Kospi climbed […]
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military has begun drawing down its mission in Iraq under an agreement inked with the Iraqi government last year, officials said Wednesday. Washington and Baghdad agreed last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with U.S. […]
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has intervened for the first time in an abortion dispute roiling the U.S. Catholic Church, raising the seeming contradiction over what it really means to be “pro-life.” Leo, a Chicago native, was asked late Tuesday about plans by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich to give a lifetime achievement award to […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States has agreed to allow South Korean workers on short-term visas or a visa waiver program to help build industrial sites in America, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The announcement came weeks after South Korea flew home more than 300 of its nationals who had been detained in […]
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s chief trade negotiator has defended a tariffs deal with the U.S., expressing respect for President Donald Trump and calling him a “tough negotiator.” Trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa noted that the pact setting on most Japanese exports to the U.S. at 15% was comparable to a deal between Washington and the European […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Workers and industry are bracing for the end of a longstanding U.S. trade agreement that gave African exporters preferential treatment and now leaves businesses vulnerable to new competitive pressures and tariffs. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) will terminate as scheduled on Tuesday amid uncertainty over renegotiations and the looming […]