International News

US group says 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti

Huge asteroids to whiz past Earth in coming weeks

The Soviet space engineer who inspires Elon Musk

Gambian Toufah Jallow on surviving rape, dictator

Father of suspect in UK MP's slaying 'traumatized'

Ally of Venezuela's Maduro extradited to US

Norway studies police response to arrow attack

What escalating China and Taiwan tensions mean

Belarus accused of using migrants as weapons

Kabul orphanage struggles after the Taliban take control of Afghanistan
"We are now trying to run the place with very little money and little food."
October 15, 2021

13 minutes ago

Celebrities join Prince William for Earthshot Prize award

Celebrities have joined Prince William in London for the inaugural awards ceremony of his Earthshot Prize

13 minutes ago

FILE - In this Thursday, July 16, 2020 file photo, Britain's Prince William speaks with service users during a visit to the Garden House in Peterborough, England. Prince William has criticized some of the world’s richest men for using their wealth to fund a new space race and space tourism, and called on the world's great minds to fix the planet first. The Duke of Cambridge spoke to the BBC about climate anxiety, COP26, space travel, and his family's long-standing commitment to environmental issues ahead of his inaugural Earthshot prize awards ceremony Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)

28 minutes ago

Gang with past abductions blamed for kidnapping missionaries

A group of 17 U.S. missionaries including children has been kidnapped in Haiti.

28 minutes ago

Armed forces secure the area where the Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry placed a bouquet of flowers in front of independence hero Jean Jacques Dessalines memorial in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. A group of 17 missionaries including children was kidnapped by a gang in Haiti on Saturday, according to a voice message sent to various religious missions by an organization with direct knowledge of the incident. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn)

42 minutes ago

France commemorates the 1961 massacre of Algerians in Paris

Hundreds of people, including Algerian protesters and their descendants, are commemorating the 60th anniversary of a bloody police crackdown in Paris during the final year of Algeria’s independence war with its colonial power

42 minutes ago

FILE - In this Oct.17, 1967 file photo, Algerians come out of Paris subway station with their hands on their heads after being arrested in Paris for failure to obey curfew imposed on Algerians. A tribute march is organized in Paris Sunday Oct.17, 2021 for the 60th anniversary of the bloody police crackdown on a protest by Algerians in the French capital, during the final year of their country's independence war with the colonial power. About 12,000 Algerians were arrested and "several dozens" were killed, "their bodies thrown into the Seine River." Historians say at least 120 protesters have been killed, some shot and some drowned in the Seine River. (AP Photo, File)

1 hour ago

Israeli officer punished for violence against protesters

The Israeli military says it has reprimanded an officer who used excessive force against protesters in the occupied West Bank

1 hour ago

UN: Syria government, opposition to begin drafting charter

The UN's envoy for Syria has announced that the Syrian government and opposition have agreed to start drafting constitutional reforms for the war-torn country

1 hour ago

Geir O. Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, speaks to the media about the sixth session of the Constitutional Committee Small Body, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

1 hour ago

2 migrants dead, 21 missing off Tunisia in shipwreck

Tunisian authorities say at least two migrants have died and 21 have disappeared after their boat capsized off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea

1 hour ago

2 hours ago

Haiti police say US-based missionaries kidnapped by same gang that earlier seized French priests

2 hours ago

Poles protest pushbacks of migrants at border with Belarus

Thousands of people have marched in Poland in solidarity with migrants and asylum-seekers at the Poland-Belarus border who have been pushed back by Polish authorities

2 hours ago

People join a protest in solidarity with migrants who have been pushed back at Poland's border with Belarus, in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. Thousands of people have marched in Warsaw in solidarity with migrants and asylum-seekers at the Poland-Belarus border who have been pushed back by Polish authorities. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

3 hours ago

Father of suspect in UK lawmaker's slaying is 'traumatized'

The father of a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a British lawmaker is shocked.

3 hours ago

A photograph of member of Parliament David Amess is seen among the flower tribute near the Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, where Amess died after he was stabbed several times on Friday, in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. The slaying Friday of the 69-year-old Conservative lawmaker Amess during his regular weekly meeting with local voters has caused shock and anxiety across Britain's political spectrum, just five years after Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist in her small-town constituency. (Kirsty O'Connor/PA via AP)

4 hours ago

Australians overseas return home after strict lockdowns

Australia still requires strict quarantine measures for residents who have been affected by lockdowns since the start of the pandemic.

4 hours ago

What to know about the escalating tensions between China and Taiwan

There has been increasing "gray-zone" conflict across the strait.

4 hours ago

A woman holds up Taiwan national flags during National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Oct. 10, 2021.

October 17

Japan PM says Fukushima wastewater release can't be delayed

Japan's new prime minister has visited the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and said a planned mass disposal of wastewater stored at the complex cannot be delayed, despite concerns from local residents

October 17

FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, file photo, Nuclear reactors of No. 5, center left, and 6 look over tanks storing water that was treated but still radioactive, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday, Oct. 17 visited the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and said a planned disposal of the massive wastewater stored on the complex cannot be delayed and that his government will explain the safety of the project with scientific evidence to gain understanding from local residents. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, file)

October 17

German Greens agree to start formal talks on new government

Germany’s Green party has given its blessing to opening formal coalition talks on a new government that would speed up the country’s exit from coal-fueled power and the expansion of renewable energy

October 17

Annalena Baerbock, center, and Robert Habeck, federal leaders of the Greens, sit next to Robert Habeck, vote next to Katrin Goering-Eckardt, leader of the parliamentary group during a congress in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. Germany's Green party is deciding whether to open formal coalition talks on a new government that would speed up the country's exit from coal-fueled power and the expansion of renewable energy. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

October 17

Shooting in Syria could mark new phase in Israeli campaign

The death of a former Syrian Druse lawmaker, allegedly by Israeli sniper fire, could mark a new phase in what Israel calls its war against Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria

October 17

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2021 file photo, Druse supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad wave Syrian flags during a rally close to the Syrian border demanding the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967, in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights. The death of Midhat Saleh, a former Syrian Druse lawmaker, allegedly by Israeli sniper fire on Saturday, Oct. 16, 202, could mark a new phase in Israel’s war against Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria. Saleh was born in Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan, and was jailed several times by Israel, most recently for 12 years until 1997. He later moved to Syria. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

October 17

Returning to 'Fortress Australia': Reporter's Notebook

A bold new era of hope for Aussies still in exile has been ushered in.

October 17

A staff member attends to a visitor at a vaccination check station at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium on the venue's first day of re-opening, following an extended closure due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown orders, in Sydney, Australia, Oct. 14, 2021.

October 17

Helicopter crash in southwestern Germany leaves 3 dead

Police say three people have been killed in the crash of a helicopter in southwestern Germany

October 17

Japan's premier sends offering to controversial Tokyo shrine

Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has donated religious offerings to a Tokyo shrine viewed by Chinese and Koreans as a symbol of Japanese wartime aggression

October 17

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga leaves the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. Suga who stepped down at the end of September, prayed at the shrine during the shrine's autumn festival. The shrine is viewed by China and the Koreas as a symbol of Japanese wartime aggression. (Kyodo News via AP)

October 17

Heavy rains, landslides leave 18 dead in south India

At least 18 people have died a day after torrential rains swept through villages and flooded roads in the southern Indian state of Kerala

October 17

This photograph provided by the Indian Navy and taken from a naval helicopter shows the scene after a landslide triggered by heavy rains in the western ghats mountains at Koottickal in Kottayam district, southern Kerala state, India, Sunday, Oct.17, 2021. Bodies of six people have been recovered, and rescuers are searching for those feared missing. (Indian Navy via AP)

October 17

Officials in Yemen: Houthi blockade restricts aid, movement

U.N. aid workers and Yemeni officials say Houthi rebels have continued their weekslong blockade of a district in the central province of Marib

October 17

Gambian Toufah Jallow tells of surviving rape by dictator

Toufah Jallow first became popular as Gambia’s scholarship winner in a contest for young women with academic promise

October 17

In this undated photograph provided Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021 by the The Toufah Foundation, Toufah Jallow, Gambia's face of empowerment for generations of women, poses for a portrait. Jallow first became popular as Gambia’s scholarship winner in a contest for young women with academic promise. Now, she is the face of empowerment for a generations of women who, because of her, feel more emboldened to talk about sexual violence. (Toufah Foundation via AP)

October 17

Rescuers: Last Jew of Kabul making his way to Israel

The man known as the last Jew of Kabul could soon be heading to Israel, after agreeing to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce in a Zoom call

October 17

FILE - In this Aug. 29, 2009 file photo, Zebulon Simentov, the last known Jew living in Afghanistan, sits in his Kabul home. Simentov could soon be heading to Israel, after agreeing to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce in a Zoom call — a precondition for entry to the Holy Land. Simentov, who fled Afghanistan last month after the Taliban takeover, landed Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021 in Turkey on what his rescuers say is a final stop before landing in Israel. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

October 17

Pope decries attacks in Norway, Afghanistan and England

Pope Francis is decrying recent deadly attacks in Norway, Afghanistan and Britain

October 17

4 weeks on, no sign Spanish volcano eruption is close to end

Officials say there is no sign that a volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma is coming to an end, four weeks after it began

October 17

A volcano continues to erupt on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain on Saturday Oct. 16, 2021. Officials say there is no sign that a volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma is coming to an end, one month after it began. The volcano on one of the Canary Islands off northwest Africa has so far destroyed more than 1,800 buildings, mostly homes. (AP Photo/Daniel Roca)

October 17

Kosovo votes in municipal elections, focus on Pristina race

Kosovo is holding municipal elections, with the left-wing governing party aiming to capture the city hall in the capital, Pristina

October 17

People wait in line at a polling station in a northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. Voting in the north populated with a predominantly ethnic Serb minority attracts much attention following two incidents in the last two months soaring tensions between Kosovo and Serbia - earlier this week Kosovo police clashed with ethnic Serbs during an anti-smuggling operation, and last month an issue over vehicle license plates was resolved only after mediation from the European Union and the United States. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

October 17

Russia sees highest daily new COVID case number

Russia is reporting its largest daily number of new coronavirus infections, more than 70% up on the number a month ago as the country faces a sustained rise in cases

October 17

Medical workers carry a patient suspected of having coronavirus on a stretcher at a hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Russia's daily death toll from COVID-19 has exceeded 1000 for the first time as the country faces a sustained wave of rising infections. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

October 17

Venezuela halts talks after Maduro ally's extradition to US

Fugitive close to Venezuelan socialist government faces money laundering charges

October 17

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept 9, 2021, file photo, pedestrians walk near a poster asking for the freedom of Colombian businessman and Venezuelan special envoy Alex Saab, in Caracas, Venezuela. Saab, a top fugitive close to Venezuela's socialist government has been put on a plane to the U.S. to face money laundering charges, a senior U.S. official confirmed Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

October 17

House fire in eastern Pakistan kills 7 family members

Officials say police are investigating after a fire overnight in eastern Pakistan killed seven family members

October 17

Families of Beirut blast victims back judge amid pressure

The families of the victims of last year's massive Beirut port blast have reaffirmed their support for the judge leading the investigation into the explosion

October 17

Lebanese army soldiers are seen through the bullet-riddled window of a car after deadly clashes erupted along a former 1975-90 civil war front-line between Muslim Shiite and Christian areas, in Ain el-Remaneh neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. Lebanese officials say at least six people were killed and dozens were wounded in armed clashes that erupted in Beirut during protests organized by the militant Hezbollah group and its allies against the lead investigator into last year’s massive blast at the city's port. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

October 17

US religious group says 17 missionaries including children kidnapped by gang in Haiti as they returned from orphanage

October 17

October 16

Muslims, Hindus protest amid communal violence in Bangladesh

Violence against Hindus began after a viral image Muslims called insulting,

October 16

Muslims lock hands during a protest over an alleged insult to Islam, outside the country’s main Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Thousands of Muslims protested in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday for what they perceived as an image insulting Islam that had gone viral over social media. About 10,000 Muslims joined a peaceful protest under the banner of Islami Andolon Bangladesh as they took to the streets outside the country’s main Baitul Mukarram Mosque in downtown Dhaka. (AP Photo/Abdul Goni)

October 16

Venezuela's government halts talks with opponents in retaliation for extradition to US of Maduro ally

October 16

'He was Southend': Tributes paid to slain British lawmaker

Leaders from across Britain's political spectrum have come together to pay tribute to a long-serving British lawmaker who was stabbed to death in what police have described as a terrorist attack

October 16

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer, left, followed by Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Lindsey Hoyle, carry flowers as they arrive at the scene where a member of Parliament was stabbed Friday, in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. David Amess, a long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents at a church in Leigh-on-Sea on Friday, in what police said was a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with the attack, which united Britain's fractious politicians in shock and sorrow. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

October 16

Syrian shelling of rebel-held areas close to Turkey kills 4

A truce reached in March last year has been repeatedly violated in recent weeks.

October 16

Sudanese protesters call for dissolving of joint government

Thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets in the capital of Khartoum to call for the dissolving of the joint military-civilian government

October 16

Sudanese protesters take part in a rally demanding the dissolution of the transitional government, outside the presidential palace in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

October 16

Lawmaker's killing wounds 'British tradition' of openness

The fatal stabbing of a British lawmaker has cast fresh doubt on the continued viability of what he had called “the great British tradition” of parliamentarians readily meeting voters

October 16

A note is seen on a photograph showing slain member of Parliament David Amess, right, placed by a floral tribute near the scene where Amess was killed on Friday, in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Amess, a long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents at a church in Leigh-on-Sea on Friday, in what police said was a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old British man is in custody. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

October 16

'God have mercy': Tigray residents describe life under siege

In the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a year of war and months of government-enforced deprivation have left the city of a half-million people with a rapidly dwindling stock of food, fuel, medicine and cash

October 16

6 combatants, 2 workers killed in fresh violence in Kashmir

Five people were killed just says ago in a similar fashion in the region.

October 16

An elderly Kashmiri man walks past barbed wire set up as road blockade by soldiers on a road leading towards the site of a gunfight in Pampore, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Indian government forces killed five rebels in last 24-hours in disputed Kashmir on Saturday, officials said, as violence increased in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

October 16

Laurent Gbagbo launches new political party in Ivory Coast

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has launched a new political party, formally breaking ties with those who led his supporters while he faced war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court

October 16

Horrific delay? Norway eyes police response to arrow attack

Some say police responded too slowly to the attack that left five dead.

October 16

Technicians from the police investigate the apartment of the man who killed five people in a bow and arrow attack, in Kongsberg, Norway, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Norwegian authorities say the bow-and-arrow rampage by a man who killed five people in a small town appeared to be a terrorist act. Police identified the attacker as Espen Andersen Braathen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen, who was arrested Wednesday night. (Terje Pedersen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

October 16

Russia's daily COVID-19 deaths top 1,000 for first time

The country faces a sustained wave of rising infections.

October 16

The Soviet space engineer who inspires Elon Musk

Musk has hosted the grandson of Sergey Korolev at SpaceX.

October 16

Elon Musk poses with Andrey Korolev and his son during their visit to SpaceX in California, on Sept., 2021.

October 16

Moderate earthquake rocks Bali, killing at least 3

A moderately strong earthquake and aftershock has hit Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, killing at least three people and destroying dozens of homes

October 16

A man stands near his house damaged by an earthquake in Karangasem on the island of Bali, Indonesia, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. A few people were killed and another several were injured when a moderately strong earthquake and an aftershock hit the island early Saturday. (AP Photo/Andi Husein)

October 16

Massive asteroids will whiz past Earth in the coming weeks

NASA has tracked over 27,000 near-Earth objects, some over 1 kilometer in size.

October 16

An illustration of a near-Earth asteroid is seen here.

October 16

Tens of thousands demonstrate in Rome against neo-fascists

Tens of thousands of union members and other Italians have gathered in Rome a week after right-wing extremists forced their way into the headquarters of Italy’s most powerful labor confederation

October 16

Demonstrators take part in a march organized by Italy's main labor unions, in Rome's St. John Lateran square, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. The march was called a week after protesters, armed with sticks and metal bars, smashed their way into the headquarters of CGIL, a left-leaning union, and trashed its office, during a demonstration to protest a government rule requiring COVID-19 vaccines or negative tests for workers to enter their offices. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

October 16

Turkey's Erdogan bids farewell to Merkel after 16 years

Two of Europe’s longest serving leaders have paid tribute to one another as Turkishh President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s final visit to Turkey for farewell talks overlooking the Bosporus

October 16

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the occasion of their meeting at Huber Villa presidential palace, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

October 16

Court upholds new 1-year sentence for Iranian-British woman

A lawyer says an Iranian appeals court has upheld a verdict sentencing an Iranian-British woman long held in Tehran to another year in prison

October 16

11 kids drowned, 10 rescued in Indonesian river cleanup

Eleven students have drowned and 10 others were rescued during a school outing for a river cleanup in Indonesia’s West Java Province

October 16

Rescuers search for victims of drowning in a river in Ciamis, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. A number of students drowned during a school outing for a river cleanup on Friday evening in Indonesia's West Java Province. (AP Photo/Yopi Andrias)

October 16

Islamic State claims mosque bombing in south Afghanistan

The Islamic State group says its members are responsible for a deadly suicide bombing on a Shiite mosque in southern Afghanistan

October 16

Damaged wall of a mosque is seen following a suicide bombers attack in the city of Kandahar, southwest Afghanistan, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. Suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque in southern Afghanistan that was packed with worshippers attending Friday prayers, killing several people and wounding others, according to a hospital official and a witness. (AP Photo/Sidiqullah Khan)

October 16

Taiwan's leader pays respects to 46 dead in building inferno

A deadly inferno ripped through an aging tower block earlier in the week.

October 16

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, right, pays her respect to those who died in a building fire at a morgue in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Saturday, Oct 16, 2021. A fire broke out early Thursday in a run-down mixed commercial and residential building in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung, officials said. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

October 16

Iran sentences ex-central bank chief to 10 years in prison

A judiciary spokesperson says a court has sentenced the former governor of Iran’s central bank to 10 years in prison for violating the country’s currency system

October 16