LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization says nearly 200 cases of monkeypox have been reported in more than 20 countries not usually known to have outbreaks of the unusual disease, but described the epidemic as “containable” and proposed creating a stockpile to equitably share the limited vaccines and drugs available worldwide. During a public […]
Shanghai lockdown: Residents demand release, and some get it
BEIJING (AP) — On a balmy Sunday night, residents of an upscale Shanghai compound took to the streets to decry lockdown restrictions imposed by their community. By the following morning, they were free to leave. The triumphant story quickly spread on chat groups across the Chinese city this week, sparking one question in the minds […]
Ukraine fears repeat of Mariupol horrors elsewhere in Donbas
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow-backed separatists pounded eastern Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region Friday, claiming to capture a railway hub, as Ukrainian officials pleaded for the sophisticated Western weapons they say they need to stop the onslaught. The advance of Russian forces raised fears that cities in the region would undergo the same horrors inflicted on […]
UK minister: Russian meddling ‘must be stopped’ in Bosnia
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss visited Bosnia’s capital Thursday to reaffirm the U.K.’s commitment to the ethnically divided Balkan country amid growing fears of what she described as malign influence from Russia. Truss was meeting with top officials in Sarajevo to announce a deepened security and economic partnership between Bosnia and […]
Davos updates | Iran’s foreign minister talks war, nuke deal
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister sat before an audience of Western business executives and policymakers at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, fielding questions about why Iran has yet to condemn Russia for its invasion in Ukraine and why efforts to revive its nuclear deal have stalled. It was a […]
Kevin Spacey charged in UK with 4 counts of sexual assault
LONDON (AP) — British prosecutors said Thursday they have charged actor Kevin Spacey with four counts of sexual assault against three men. The Crown Prosecution Service said Spacey “has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.” The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and […]
Russia slams sanctions, seeks to blame West for food crisis
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow pressed the West on Thursday to lift sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, seeking to shift the blame for a growing food crisis that has been worsened by Kyiv’s inability to ship millions of tons of grain and other agricultural products due to the conflict. Britain immediately accused […]
EXPLAINER: What’s at stake for China on South Pacific visit?
BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting the South Pacific with a 20-person delegation this week in a display of Beijing’s growing military and diplomatic presence in the region. The U.S. has traditionally been the area’s major power, but China has been pursuing inroads, particularly with the Solomon Islands, a nation less […]
War Crimes Watch: Targeting schools, Russia bombs the future
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As she lay buried under the rubble, her legs broken and eyes blinded by blood and thick clouds of dust, all Inna Levchenko could hear was screams. It was 12:15 p.m. on March 3, and moments earlier a blast had pulverized the school where she’d taught for 30 years. Amid relentless […]
China wants 10 Pacific nations to endorse sweeping agreement
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — China wants 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries in what one leader warns is a “game-changing” bid by Beijing to wrest control of the region. A draft of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that China wants to train […]