AROUND THE WORLD FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

World News

Taliban tortured and threatened Afghans expelled from Pakistan and Iran, UN report says

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban have tortured and threatened Afghans forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan because of their identity or personal history, a U.N. report said Thursday. Pakistan and Iran are expelling millions of Afghans who they say are living in their countries illegally. Afghan authorities have urged nationals to return, pledging amnesty for […]
1 year ago

Australia to reduce US beef import restrictions denounced by Trump as a ban

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia will reduce restrictions on U.S. beef imports after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized what he described as an Australian ban on the meat, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said. Collins said Thursday that relaxing the restrictions designed to keep Australia free of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy […]
1 year ago

Small Brazilian coffee producers fear for the future after Trump’s 50% tariff

PORCIUNCULA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian José Natal da Silva often tends to his modest coffee plantation in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state in the middle of the night, sacrificing sleep to fend off pests that could inflict harm on his precious crops. But anxiety has troubled his shut-eye even more in recent weeks, […]
1 year ago

Asian shares rise, buoyed by expectation of more trade pacts after US-Japan tariff deal

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares rose Thursday, buoyed by optimism that the U.S.-Japan tariff agreement will be followed by more trade deals. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged nearly 2% to 41,983.50. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4% to 3,595.58 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.4% to 25,631,08. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.9% to […]
1 year ago

Thai and Cambodian soldiers fire at each other in disputed border area

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai and Cambodian soldiers fired at each other in a contested border area Thursday after the nations downgraded their diplomatic relations in a rapidly escalating dispute. A livestream video from Thailand’s side showed people running from their homes and hiding in a concrete bunker Thursday morning as explosions sounded periodically. It was […]
1 year ago

Remarks by Trump’s pick for ambassador spark a political storm in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice for ambassador to Buenos Aires sparked a storm Wednesday over his remarks that Argentina’s powerful ex-president should face justice in cases in which she was never convicted and his pledges to use his posting as a bulwark against China. Opposition politicians in Argentina accused Peter […]
1 year ago

Iran state TV says an Iranian navy helicopter confronted a US destroyer in the Gulf of Oman

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian navy helicopter confronted a U.S. warship attempting to approach Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, Iranian state TV reported. The incident was the first direct encounter reported between Iranian and U.S. forces since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, during which U.S. B-52 bombers […]
1 year ago

A former security guard at the US Embassy in Norway is accused of spying for Russia and Iran

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A former security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Norway has been indicted by prosecutors there on suspicion of espionage after he allegedly spied for Russia and Iran, according to state broadcaster NRK on Wednesday. The Norwegian man, whose name has not been made public, was arrested last November on suspicion […]
1 year ago

Venezuela’s returning migrants allege abuses in El Salvador’s ‘hell’ prison where US sent them

LOBATERA, Venezuela (AP) — Carlos Uzcátegui tightly hugged his sobbing wife and stepdaughter on Wednesday as the morning fog in western Venezuela lifted. The family’s first embrace in more than a year finally convinced him that his nightmare inside a prison in El Salvador was over. Uzcátegui was among the migrants being reunited with loved […]
1 year ago

Asian markets gain, with Japan’s Nikkei up more than 3%, lifted by deal on Trump’s tariffs

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares rallied on Wednesday, with Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index up more than 3% after Japan and the U.S. announced a deal on President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The agreement as announced calls for a 15% import duty on goods imported from Japan, apart from certain products such as steel and aluminum […]
1 year ago

4 US cruise ship passengers accused of smuggling drugs and detained in Bermuda

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in Bermuda said Tuesday that they arrested four U.S. cruise ship passengers accused of drug possession. Police said in a statement that the suspects had a “significant quantity of illegal drugs” including cannabis and carfentanyl, which experts say is 100 times more potent than fentanyl and is used […]
1 year ago

US says it’s leaving UN cultural agency UNESCO again, only 2 years after rejoining

PARIS (AP) — The United States announced Tuesday it will again pull out of the U.N.’s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias, only two years after rejoining. This will be the third time that the United States leaves UNESCO, which is based in Paris, and the second […]
1 year ago

Asian markets are mixed and Japan’s shares slip after election leaves Ishiba’s future in doubt

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday after U.S. stock indexes inched to more records at the start of a week of profit updates from big U.S. companies. Japan’s benchmark surged and then fell back as it reopened from a holiday Monday following the ruling coalition’s loss of its upper house majority in […]
1 year ago

Federal agents in Miami arrest a prominent Haitian businessman and once presidential hopeful

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal agents in Miami have arrested Pierre Réginald Boulos, a well-known Haitian businessman, doctor and former presidential hopeful. The arrest occurred at Boulos’ home in South Florida late last week, a person familiar with the arrest said Monday. Boulos was born in the United States but renounced his citizenship […]
1 year ago

US envoy doubles down on support for Syria’s government and criticizes Israel’s intervention

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S. envoy doubled down on Washington’s support for the new government in Syria, saying Monday there is “no Plan B” to working with the current authorities to unite the country still reeling from a nearly 14-year civil war and now wracked by a new outbreak of sectarian violence. He took a […]
1 year ago

Syrian government starts evacuating Bedouin families from Sweida in bid to end weeklong clashes

BUSRA AL-HARIR, Syria (AP) — The Syrian government on Monday started evacuating Bedouin families trapped inside the city of Sweida, where Druze militiamen and Bedouin fighters have clashed for over a week. The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria’s already fragile […]
1 year ago

Asian shares are mixed after Wall Street logs a 3rd straight winning week

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares are mixed and U.S. futures have edged higher after U.S. stocks logged their third straight winning week. Markets were closed for a holiday in Japan, where the ruling Liberal Democrats have lost their coalition majorities in both houses of parliament for the first time since 1955 following Sunday’s election and […]
1 year ago

Guatemala denies that Chilean green-card holder was deported from the United States

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The Guatemalan government on Sunday denied that U.S. authorities deported a Chilean man to the Central American country. The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania, reported Luis Leon, 82, a legal permanent resident of the United States who won asylum in 1987, ended up in Guatemala after being handcuffed in a Philadelphia […]
1 year ago

Ecuador extradites leader of violent Ecuadorian drug gang to the United States

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador on Sunday extradited to the United States the leader of a violent Ecuadorian gang who relied on hitmen, bribes and military weapons to do business. José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is “Fito,” escaped from a prison in Ecuador last year and was recaptured late June. In April, a U.S. […]
1 year ago
Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and First Lady Cilia Flores welcome children...

Venezuela releases jailed Americans in deal that also frees migrants deported to El Salvador by US

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela released 10 jailed Americans Friday in exchange for getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador months ago under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The resolution represents a diplomatic achievement for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, helps President Donald Trump in his goal of bringing home […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with African leaders including Senegalese President Ba...

Trump’s pivot from aid to trade leaves Africa wary as it faces tariffs and uncertainty

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — When U.S. President Donald Trump met five African leaders in Washington in July, his lack of familiarity with the continent was on display. He praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s English — Liberia’s official language — and gestured at another leader to wrap up remarks. But the bigger takeaway was Trump’s pledge […]
1 year ago
Visitors walk in front of a CATL Naxtra battery is seen at a CATL booth during the 3rd China Intern...

China pledges to crack down on illicit exports of rare earths, urges US to lift more trade controls

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s state security agency says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security, just weeks after Beijing and Washington agreed to make it easier for American firms to obtain from China those materials, which are critical for manufacturing and computer chip production. In […]
1 year ago
The bell, which was reproduced and returned by a group of Americans, is shown to the media at the U...

Nagasaki cathedral blesses a bell that replaces one destroyed by the US atomic bomb

TOKYO (AP) — A Nagasaki cathedral has blessed the final piece to complete its restoration nearly 80 years after being destroyed by the second U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Japan: a reproduction of its lost bell restored by a group of Americans. The new bell was blessed and named “St. Kateri Bell of Hope,” by […]
1 year ago
FILE - U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Louisiana G...

Trump’s tariff pressure pushes Asia toward American LNG, but at the cost of climate goals

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Asian countries are offering to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas in negotiations with the Trump administration as a way to alleviate tensions over U.S. trade deficits and forestall higher tariffs. Analysts warn that strategy could undermine those countries’ long-term climate ambitions and energy security. Buying more U.S. LNG has topped […]
1 year ago