Month: November 2023

BEIJING (AP) — China’s health ministry says a surge in respiratory illnesses across the country that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organization is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus. The ministry called on local authorities to open more fever clinics and promote vaccinations among

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Meeting for the first time in about four years, the top diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China agreed Sunday to revive cooperation among the Asian neighbors and resume their leaders’ trilateral summit — but without a specific timing. Closely linked economically and culturally with

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Heavy snowfall and strong blizzards in Romania and Moldova have left one person dead and hundreds of localities without electricity as well as forcing the closure of some national roads. A 40-year-old man in Moldova died on Sunday after the vehicle he was in skidded off the road and crashed into

BERLIN (AP) — A German government official says Taliban authorities in Afghanistan arrested four local employees of Germany’s main government-owned aid agency. “I can confirm that the local employees of GIZ are in custody although we have not received any official information on why they are detained,” a spokeswoman for the Ministry for Economic Cooperation

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The tense cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track early Sunday after the release of a second group of militant-held hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons, but the swap followed an hourslong delay that underscored the truce’s

By SHONAL GANGULY Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — More than 2,000 people took part in a gay pride event in New Delhi, waving rainbow flags and multicolored balloons as they celebrated sexual diversity in India but also raised concerns over the country’s restrictive laws. Dancing to drums and music, the participants walked for more

By KEMO CHAM and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Sierra Leone’s president declared a nationwide curfew Sunday after gunmen attacked the military’s main and largest barracks in the West African nation’s capital, raising fears of a breakdown of order amid a surge of coups in the region. The unidentified gunmen attacked

By The Associated Press Ukraine tried to attack Moscow with dozens of drones, Russian authorities said Sunday, just a day after Ukrainian officials reported that Russia had launched its most intense drone attack on Kyiv since the beginning of its full-scale war in 2022. Russian air defenses brought down at least 24 drones over the

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday was skipping his weekly appearance at a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, a day after the Vatican said he had come down with a mild flu. In a brief statement, the Holy See’s press office said Francis would still recite the noon prayer, which is followed by

BY KEMO CHAM and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) (AP) — Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has declared a nationwide curfew after gunmen attacked military barracks in the West African nation’s capital, raising fears of a breakdown of order amid a surge of coups in the region. Bio said Sunday, in

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The tense cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track early Sunday after the release of a second group of militant-held hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons, but the swap followed an hourslong delay that underscored the truce’s

By MAJDI MOHAMMED and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces operating in the occupied West Bank killed at least eight Palestinians, including at least one militant, in a 24-hour period, Palestinian health officials said Sunday, as a fragile pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza