AP World News

By GERALD IMRAY, MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A representative from the U.S. Embassy in South Africa will attend the formal handover ceremony at the end of this weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, but Washington still won’t take part in any talks, a White House official said

By The Associated Press Russian lawmakers approved a new bill Thursday boosting taxes for those labeled foreign agents by the government. The bill, which passed its third and final reading in the lower house of parliament, outlines an income tax rate of 30% for individuals with the designation and takes away their right to government

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Two Roman Catholic priests who were imprisoned on what human rights officials said were politically related charges were released from prison Thursday following talks with the Vatican, officials said. The move, which was confirmed by the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Belarus, comes amid speculation about

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s most wanted drug trafficker was arrested Thursday after years on the run, authorities said. Noah Zeiter was taken into custody during a raid near the eastern city of Baalbeck, according to a high-ranking military official. Zeiter eventually turned himself in to military intelligence after a standoff.

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Supreme Court on Thursday found the country’s attorney general guilty of leaking confidential information about the boyfriend of a leading conservative politician and government rival. The court banned Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz from his post for two years in a split vote of 5-2. The decision is a blow to

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A passenger bus in Cambodia crashed off a bridge into a river on Thursday, killing at least 13 passengers and injuring two dozen others, police said. The bus was traveling from Siem Reap, home to the country’s fabled Angkor Wat temple complex, to the capital Phnom Penh, when it crashed

By WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Israeli strikes in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis early Thursday killed five people, hospital officials said, bringing the death toll from airstrikes in the Palestinian territory over a roughly 12-hour period to 33, mostly women and children. The strikes have been some of the

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. atomic watchdog on Thursday demanded that Iran fully cooperate with the agency and provide “precise information” about its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium, as well as grant its inspectors access to Iranian nuclear sites. The development sets the stage for a likely further escalation between

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine court on Thursday convicted a former mayor, who officials say is a Chinese national, of human trafficking charges for helping establish an illegal online gaming complex in a northern province where hundreds of Chinese and other foreign nationals were forced to conduct scams. The

By SAM McNEIL Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — More than 60 delegations were meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss reconstruction, governance and security in the Gaza Strip and reforming the Palestinian Authority. France and Saudi Arabia are chairing a meeting of the Palestine Donor Group, focusing on reforms of the Palestinian Authority called for

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel plans to seize parts of a major West Bank historic site, according to a government document, and settlers put up a new outpost overnight, even as the country faces pressure to crack down on settler violence in the Palestinian territory. Israel’s Civil Administration announced its intention

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Thursday restored a nonpartisan caretaker government system for national elections but said it won’t apply to the polls being held early next year. The caretaker system was introduced in 1996 and widely accepted by Bangladesh’s people and by international observers as a

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and MICHELLE GUMEDE Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Leaders and delegates from the world’s richest nations and top developing countries are gathering this weekend for the Group of 20 summit in South Africa, an event overshadowed by the boycott of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration. Africa’s first G20 summit will

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The head of the Louvre Museum said Wednesday that new surveillance cameras and anti-intrusion systems will soon be installed at the Paris landmark after last month’s stunning crown jewels heist. The cameras — some 100 of them — will be up and running by the end of

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — On the frozen edge of the world, staying in practice as a professional musician takes ingenuity, grit and a plastic instrument for schoolchildren that’s guaranteed not to freeze to your fingers or face. Natalie Paine is a French horn player in New Zealand’s navy who

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government extended its crackdown on online scam activities to a second major location, detaining hundreds of foreigners and seizing thousands of mobile phones used to carry out the fraud, state media reported Wednesday. Myanmar is notorious for hosting cyberscam operations responsible for bilking people all over the world, which usually

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he plans to put greater attention on helping find an end to the brutal civil war in Sudan after being urged to take action by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump, who claims to have ended several wars since returning

By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press A federal judge said Wednesday he plans to move ahead quickly on a contempt investigation of the Trump administration for failing to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington said a ruling Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals

MILAN (AP) — Italy’s highest court on Wednesday approved the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man suspected of setting off explosions that damaged Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany more than three years ago. The defense lawyer for 49-year-old Serhii Kuznietsov said that his client would be turned over to German authorities within

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympic snowboarder for Canada who is wanted by authorities for running a multi-national drug trafficking network is facing additional charges in connection with the killing of a federal witness, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday. Ten other defendants have been arrested on charges

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations urged “bold reform” of what she called the “bloated, unfocused and ineffective” global organization during her confirmation hearing Wednesday. Tammy Bruce told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United Nations has

By MICHELLE GUMEDE Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police and army units held a parade Wednesday involving helicopters, K-9 dog units and officers on motorcycles in a show of force ahead of expected protests around this weekend’s Group of 20 world leaders summit in Johannesburg. South Africa has deployed 3,500 extra police officers

By NICOLE WINFIELD and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press ROME (AP) — Ukraine has asked the Vatican to formalize its role facilitating negotiations over the return of Ukrainian children and civilians taken by Russia during the nearly four-year war, a Kyiv government official said Wednesday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the request in a letter to Pope

By ZANA CIMILI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo lawmakers on Wednesday failed to elect a new government, paving the way for an early election following a monthslong political crisis in the small Balkan nation. Prime Minister-designate Glauk Konjufca, from the governing Self-Determination Movement party won 56 votes in the 120-member assembly, which is

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Some of the estimated 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas discovered in waters off Cyprus could reach European markets as soon as 2027, the Cypriot president said Wednesday, as Europe looks for more ways to wean itself off Russian energy. President Nikos Christodoulides said that