International News

Mexico president wants central bank to buy up dirty cash
The party of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has raised a storm of criticism with legislation aimed at forcing the country's central bank to be buyer of last resort for all the U.S. cash that enters the country
December 10, 2020

14 minutes ago

Algeria decries neighbor Morocco's normalized Israel ties

Algeria’s prime minister has lashed out at the decision by neighbor Morocco to normalize relations with Israel

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Austria seizes weapons destined for Germany's far right

Authorities in Austria say they have seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition that were intended to be sold to far-right extremists in Germany

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34 minutes ago

Turkey summons Iranian ambassador over Azeri poem tensions

Turkey has summoned the Iranian ambassador to Ankara over Iran’s angry reaction to the Turkish president’s recitation of a poem during a visit to Azerbaijan

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talks during a joint news conference with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Following the approval of European leaders Friday Dec. 11, 2020 of expanding sanctions against Ankara, Turkey called on the European Union to act as an 'honest mediator' in its dispute with EU members Greece and Cyprus over the exploration of gas reserves in the Mediterranean. The leaders said early Friday that Turkey has "engaged in unilateral actions and provocations and escalated its rhetoric against the EU.""(Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)

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More than 100 arrested at Paris protest over security bill

Paris police took more than 100 people into custody at what quickly became a tense and sometimes ill-tempered protest against proposed security laws

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A member of the press, left, films riot police officers during a protest, Saturday, Dec.12, 2020 in Paris. Protests are planned in France against a proposed bill that could make it more difficult for witnesses to film police officers. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

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Israel, Bhutan establish formal relations

Israel and Bhutan have announced the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two countries

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Armenians, Azerbaijan trade blame over breach of peace deal

Armenian officials and Azerbaijan have accused each other of breaching a peace deal that ended six weeks of fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh

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Azerbaijani troops attend the parade in Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. A military parade has been held in the Azerbaijani capital in celebration of a peace deal with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh that saw Azerbaijan reclaim much of the separatist region along with surrounding areas. (AP Photo/Aziz Karimov)

2 hours ago

Pandemic forces 'virtual' Virgin of Guadalupe day in Mexico

For the first time in decades, Mexico's Roman Catholics had to abandon what many consider the world's largest religious pilgrimage, in which millions visit Mexico City's Basilica of Guadalupe on Dec. 12

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A man lights a candle next to an image the Virgin of Guadalupe outside the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Friday Dec. 11, 2020. Nationwide, devotees of the Virgin make a pilgrimage to the Basilica in honor of her Dec. 12 feast day, but the Catholic Church announced the closure of the Basilica for this year's pilgrimage due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

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Iran executes journalist who encouraged 2017 protests

Iran has executed an exiled journalist over his online work that helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017

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In this June 2, 2020 photo, journalist Ruhollah Zam speaks during his trial at the Revolutionary Court, in Tehran, Iran. Iran. The judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, announced Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that Zam, a journalist whose online work helped inspire the 2017 economic protests and who returned from exile to Tehran was sentenced to death. The Persian writing on the podium reads, "defendant's place." (Ali Shirband/Mizan News Agency via AP)

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Venezuela opposition holds 'consultation' to bolster support

Adversaries of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro are inviting Venezuelans to voice their frustrations with the president in a national survey

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Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro smiles during a press conference at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec 8, 2020. Maduro has cemented formal control over all major institutions of power in Venezuela with authorities reporting Monday that his political alliance easily won a majority in congress with 31% of Venezuelans eligible voters voting Sunday. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Pandemic threatens India's children with child labor rising

The coronavirus pandemic is threatening the future of a generation of India’s children as thousands of families put their children to work to get by

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FILE - In this Tuesday, June 12, 2012, file photo, a bonded child laborer rests his head in his hands after being rescued during a raid by workers from Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or Save Childhood Movement, at a garments factory in New Delhi, India. With classrooms shuttered and parents losing their jobs, many children are working in farms, illegal factories, brick kilns and roadside stalls, reversing decades of progress to stop child labor. In rural India, a nationwide lockdown imposed in March, 2020, pushed millions of people into poverty, encouraging trafficking of children from villages into cities for cheap labor. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer, File)

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Indonesian cleric turns himself in for COVID-19 violation

A firebrand Indonesian cleric has turned himself in to authorities after he was accused of inciting people to breach pandemic restrictions by holding events with large crowds

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FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, file photo, Indonesian Islamic cleric and the leader of Islamic Defenders Front Rizieq Shihab, center, gestures to his followers as he arrives from Saudi Arabia in Jakarta, Indonesia. Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. Officers early Monday fatally shot six suspected followers of the Islamic Defenders Front, police said. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)

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Russian nuclear submarine test-fires 4 missiles

A Russian nuclear submarine has successfully test-fired four intercontinental ballistic missiles in a demonstration of the readiness of the nation’s nuclear forces amid the tensions with the United States

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In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Intercontinental ballistic missiles are launched by the Vladimir Monomakh nuclear submarine of the Russian navy from the Sera of Okhotsk, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. The submarine successfully test-fired four intercontinental ballistic missiles in a show of readiness of the nation's nuclear deterrent. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

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Indonesia arrests suspected leader of Jemaah Islamiyah

Indonesian police say they have arrested a man believed to be the military leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network who has eluded capture since 2003

3 hours ago

9 Egyptian policemen sentenced for beating vendor to death

An Egyptian court has sentenced nine police officers to three years in prison after their conviction for beating to death a street vendor held at a police station

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Protest in northern Albanian city leaves 1 officer injured

Authorities in Albania say demonstrators in a northern city have damaged the left-wing governing Socialist Party’s offices and injured a police officer

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Protesters throw stones to riot police during clashes in Tirana, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. Albanian demonstrators clashed in the third day on Friday protesting for the death of a 25-year-old man shot dead by a police officer. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

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Mortar shells hit Afghan capital, killing at least 1

An Afghan official says an early morning barrage of mortar shells has slammed into the capital, killing at least one civilian and wounding a second

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FILE - In this Sept 14, 2020 file photo, families and friends of students who were killed in local conflicts gather at the graves of their relatives, adorned with their pictures, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Optimism among Afghans regarding the country's peace process has decreased significantly in the past few months amid a spike in violence, according to a survey released Friday. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

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As leaders fete Paris climate pact, Biden pledges to rejoin

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris climate accord on the first day of his presidency as world leaders stage a virtual gathering to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the international pact aimed at curbing global warming

4 hours ago

December 12

Relatives make plea for info on Hong Kong detainees in China

Relatives of a dozen Hong Kong residents detained in mainland China have made a plea to be informed of the timing of any trials and whether they can attend

December 12

Relatives of a dozen Hong Kong residents who have been detained in mainland China attend a press conference in Hong Kong, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. The relatives made a plea Saturday to be informed of the timing of any trials and whether they could attend. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

December 12

Mystery over absence of Algeria leader treated for COVID-19

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune marks a year in office Saturday but he's nowhere in sight since his evacuation to Germany more than six weeks ago for treatment of COVID-19

December 12

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019 file photo, Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune delivers a speech during an inauguration ceremony in the presidential palace, in Algiers, Algeria. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune marks a year in office Saturday but he is nowhere in sight since his evacuation to Germany more than six weeks ago for treatment of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Toufik Doudou, FILE)

December 12

Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai denied bail as Pompeo tweets support

Hong Kong media tycoon and democracy advocate Jimmy Lai has been denied bail after being charged under the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s new national security law

December 12

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai is escorted by Correctional Services officers to get on a prison van before appearing in a court, in Hong Kong, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. Lai, who founded the Apple Daily tabloid, has been charged under the city’s national security law, amid a widening crackdown on dissent, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

December 12

Protesters hurl eggs as South Korea releases child rapist

Angry protesters in South Korea threw eggs and shouted insults as one of the country's most notorious child predators was released from a prison in southern Seoul at the end of a 12-year term

December 12

Cho Doo-soon, center, escorted by police officers, arrives home in Ansan, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. Angry protesters threw eggs and shouted insults as Cho, one of South Korea’s most notorious child predators, was released from a prison in southern Seoul on Saturday at the end of a 12-year term. (Kim Jong-taek/Newsis via AP)

December 12

At one Brazil hospital, the ICU is full of COVID-19 patients

Across Brazil, many hospitals are filling up again with COVID-19 patients

December 12

A medical worker treats a COVID-19 patient at the intensive care unit at the Oceanico hospital, in Niteroi, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. Cases of COVID-19 are rising again in the country with the world’s second-highest confirmed death toll and many hospitals are filling up with patients. (AP Photo/Lucas Dumphreys)

December 11

State-run media say Iran has executed once-exiled journalist who encouraged 2017 nationwide protests

December 11

Press groups demand probe of photographer's murder in Mexico

Press groups are demanding authorities in Mexico investigate the killing of a news photographer who was shot to death, reportedly after taking photos of dead bodies

December 11

New Islamic schools open doors to transgender women in Bangladesh

Hijras in Bangladesh have a long and rich history in the region, but they now live on the fringes of society. These Islamic schools are a first step in making them feel like they belong.

December 11

VIDEO: New Islamic schools open doors to transgender women in Bangladesh

December 11

South Asian school open for only transgender students, Hijras

Six days a week, transgender students come to Rina Hijras’ home to learn.

December 11

Nicaragua opposition figure seeks rule changes for 2021 vote

Leading Nicaraguan opposition figure Juan Sebastián Chamorro says he hopes the opposition will be able to win some reforms to make the country’s November 2021 elections a little fairer

December 11

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai charged under security law

Hong Kong media say pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged under the city’s national security law as authorities step up a crackdown on dissent

December 11

In this Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020 photo, pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is escorted by Correctional Services officers to prison in Hong Kong. Lai has been charged under the city's national security law, amid a widening crackdown on dissent, according to local media reports Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

December 11

US attorney general troubled by Mexican limits on agents

U.S. Attorney General William Barr says the United States is troubled by legislation pending in Mexico that would limit foreign agents and remove their immunity

December 11

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2020, file photo Attorney General William Barr speaks during a roundtable discussion on Operation Legend, a federal program to help cities combat violent crime in St. Louis. Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday, Dec. 1, that the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud and has seen nothing that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

December 11

Britain to end state support for fossil fuel sector exports

Britain is ending state support for fossil fuel industry exports and shifting government assistance to low-carbon and renewable energy projects abroad

December 11

ICC prosecutor ready to open investigation into Ukraine

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor says that a preliminary probe found “a reasonable basis at this time to believe” that crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed in Ukraine since late 2013 meriting a full-scale investigation

December 11

FILE - In this Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018 file photo, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. The International Criminal Court's prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Friday Dec. 11, 2020, that a preliminary probe found that “that there is a reasonable basis at this time to believe” that crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed in Ukraine meriting a full-scale investigation. (Bas Czerwinski/Pool file via AP, File)

December 11

First vaccine recipient, Ethiopian refugees and Pinocchio: Week in Photos

A look at the week's top photos from around the globe.

December 11

VIDEO: First vaccine recipient, Ethiopian refugees and Pinocchio: Week in Photos

December 11

Alarm as Ethiopia returns refugees who fled Tigray fighting

Ethiopia says it is returning thousands of refugees who ran from camps in its Tigray region as war swept through

December 11

3rd day of violence in Albania over police curfew killing

New street clashes between demonstrators and police have erupted in Albania’s capital, on a third day of violent protests over a man’s fatal shooting by police enforcing a virus-linked curfew

December 11

Protesters gather during clashes with Albanian police in Tirana, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Albanian protesters on Thursday renewed clashes with police over the fatal police shooting of a man during curfew hours despite the call from the authorities to respect a pandemic ban on public gatherings. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

December 11

Venezuelan official: Authorities thwart oil refinery attack

Venezuelan officials say they’ve thwarted an attack on a key refinery as the nation with vast oil reserves struggles to meet its domestic gasoline demands

December 11

FILE - In this May 19, 2018 file photo, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, right, and then Vice President Tareck El Aissami tour the construction site of La Rinconada baseball stadium on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. The prosecution of El Aissami, Venezuela’s Oil Minister, for violating U.S. sanctions has run into another snag after a federal judge on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, allowed one of his co-defendants to withdraw a guilty plea over allegations U.S. attorneys withheld evidence in the case. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)

December 11

Austria court voids rule outlawing all assistance to suicide

An Austrian federal court has overturned a provision in criminal law that outlaws all forms of assistance to those who kill themselves, ruling that such a sweeping ban is unconstitutional

December 11

World court rules that Paris mansion was not diplomatic post

The United Nation’s highest court has ruled that a Paris mansion at the center of a dispute between France and Equatorial Guinea was never a diplomatic outpost

December 11

Mastercard may have to pay billions in UK class action

Mastercard could have to pay U.K. consumers as much as 14 billion pounds ($18.5 billion) after the country’s Supreme Court allowed a class-action lawsuit against the credit-card company to move forward

December 11

Raccoon is rescued from a tree

A lonely raccoon was trapped in a tree in freezing temperatures for days until emergency services saved him.

December 11

Charges in Beirut port blast stir controversy in Lebanon

Top Lebanese politicians and the militant group Hezbollah have denounced charges filed against the caretaker prime minister over the Beirut port explosion as political targeting

December 11

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2020 file photo, outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, speaks during a press conference after his government was announced, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon. On Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, the Lebanese prosecutor probing this summer's port explosion in Beirut filed charges against Diab, and three former ministers, Lebanon's official news agency said. All four were charged with negligence leading to deaths over the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

December 11

Iran summons Turkish ambassador over Erdogan remarks in Baku

Iran has summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Tehran over the Turkish president’s remarks during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan

December 11

Members of a Turkish forces commando brigade take part in a military parade in which Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, looked on in Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. The massive parade was held in celebration of the peace deal with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh that saw Azerbaijan reclaim much of the separatist region along with surrounding areas. (AP Photo)

December 11

Germany to loosen blanket block on deportations to Syria

A blanket halt to all deportations from Germany to Syria that has been in place since 2012 will expire at the end of this year, but it’s not clear that much will change in practice

December 11

UN boss: pandemic has exposed gloomy picture of world

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the pandemic has exposed “long-term fragilities, inequalities and injustices,” as the world faces its biggest recession in eight decades amid a rise in extreme poverty and a threat of famine

December 11

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to empty seats in the University Hall, during the digital broadcast of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Oslo, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (Heiko Junge/NTB via AP)

December 11

Brexit sends ripples of uncertainty down France's coast

Long lines of trucks carrying stockpiles for British companies jam the highways leading to France’s northern port of Calais

December 11

Fisherman, Nicolas Bishop, on the Boulogne sur Mer based trawler "Jeremy Florent II" prepares to raise fishing nets off the coast of northern France in Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the two sides until Sunday, to salvage a Brexit trade deal, or face a calamitous no-deal split at the end of December that will impact dramatically on fishing rights.(AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

December 11

India accuses China of responsibility for border tensions

India has rejected a Chinese allegation that it is responsible for high tensions along their disputed border

December 11

Building resumes on German-Russian pipeline opposed by US

Construction has resumed after nearly a year of a German-Russian pipeline that the United States has vehemently opposed

December 11

6 officers injured in suicide attack in southern Russia

At least six Russian law enforcement officers have been injured in the country’s south when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a local office of the top security agency

December 11

Cash-strapped Indonesians turn to online Sunday market

Rani Nurwitawati never thought she would lose her job at an Indonesian market research company where she worked for 17 years

December 11

Parahita Satiti, who hopes to get extra income after her office cut her monthly allowance by half during the COVID-19 pandemic, makes traditional Javanese women's clothings in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. Satiti is one of dozens of tenants who joined online events run by Omah Wulangreh, an art and cultural community in Jakarta that provides online space for sellers and for buyers to preorder items like traditional snacks, batik clothes, or coffee. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

December 11

Heavy job cuts in $4.1 bln rescue plan for Portugal airline

Portugal’s government has unveiled a 3.4-billion-euro ($4.1 billion) rescue package for national airline TAP Air Portugal

December 11

FILE - In this April 9, 2020 file photo, TAP Air Portugal airplanes are parked idle at Lisbon airport. Portugal's government unveiled Friday, Dec. 11, 2020, a 3-billion-euro ($3.6 billion) rescue package for national airline TAP Air Portugal. The plan, which requires the consent of European Union authorities, includes axing more than 3,500 jobs and a 25% payroll cut through wage reductions. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

December 11

New report says part of South Sudan is in 'likely famine'

A new report by international food security experts says a single county in South Sudan is likely in famine and tens of thousands of people in five other counties are near starvation

December 11