News

By THEODORA TONGAS and MICHAEL VARAKLAS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek novelist and his partner are the first same-sex couple to be married in Athens’ city hall following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Orthodox Christian Greece. The mayor of the Greek capital officiated at the wedding on Thursday of Petros Hadjopoulos,

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — The divide between China and Europe over the war in Ukraine was on display this week. As a Chinese envoy crisscrossed Europe for talks on ending the war, the Chinese foreign minister trumpeted the export of Chinese cars to Russia and Russian natural gas to China. The

KYIV (AP) — Ukraine’s former military chief has been appointed the country’s new ambassador to the United Kingdom. It comes a month after he was sacked as head of the armed forces by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy announced that he has approved the appointment of Valerii Zaluzhnyi to one of Ukraine’s most important diplomatic positions.

By GIADA ZAMPANO Associated Press ROME (AP) — A new trial opened Friday for two American men in the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation after Italy’s highest court threw out their convictions. Italy’s highest Cassation Court ordered a new trial last year, saying it hadn’t been proven beyond

By ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China has reported large increases in arrests and cases of phone and internet scams last year, as leaders showcase the ruling Communist Party’s determination to safeguard national security and public order. Top judicial officials presented reports from China’s Supreme People’s Court and from its top prosecutors on

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — European shares mostly declined early Friday, but Asian benchmarks rose after U.S. stocks climbed to records. France’s CAC 40 edged up less than 0.1% in early trading to 8,019.83, while Germany’s DAX dipped 0.1% to 17,823.36. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed nearly 0.2% to 7,680.05. U.S. shares

By NOHA ELHENNAWY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Over 230 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation, most of whom live in Africa, according to a report issued on Friday by the United Nations children’s agency. In the last eight years, some 30 million people have undergone the procedure, in which external genitalia

By MOHAMED JAHJOUH, JACK JEFFERY and LEE KEATH Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — After months of warnings over the risk of famine in Gaza under Israel’s bombardment, offensives and siege, children are starting to die. Hunger is most acute in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by Israeli forces and has suffered long

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union official is in Cyprus on Friday to inspect preparations to send desperately needed aid to war-ravaged Gaza by sea, just hours after President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. military will set up a temporary port off Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to support

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.N. fact-finding mission says Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 and sparked nationwide protests against the country’s mandatory headscarf laws and its ruling theocracy. The U.N. mission published its findings in the

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Akira Toriyama, the creator of the best-selling Dragon Ball and other popular anime who influenced Japanese comics, has died, his studio said Friday. He was 68. Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga series, which started in 1984, has sold millions of copies globally and was adapted into hugely popular