World

Italy PM Conte to resign, League party pulls backing

Published on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 3:58pm
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ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte announced his resignation Tuesday, blaming his decision to end his 14-month-old populist government on his rebellious and politically ambitious deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini.

Desperate migrants jump off rescue ship, seeking Italy

Published on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 3:57pm

MILAN (AP) — At least 15 more migrants jumped into the sea Tuesday from the Open Arms rescue ship in desperate bids to reach the shores of Italy after 19 days on the boat in deteriorating conditions as Italy refuses to open its ports.

With the situation on board described by Open Arms as “out of control” and “desperate” over Italy’s repeated refusal to allow the migrants into the southern island of Lampedusa, Spain said it was dispatching a naval ship to escort the aid group’s boat and its passengers to a port in the Spanish island of Mallorca.

Nuclear watchdog: Russia has resumed sharing radiation data

Published on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 3:56pm

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has resumed sharing data from its radiation monitoring stations in Siberia after some were taken offline following a deadly explosion at a missile range, a nuclear weapons watchdog said Tuesday.

The mysterious accident at a naval weapons testing range on the White Sea in northwestern Russia earlier this month has been accompanied by changing or contradictory information from Russian authorities. That has led to speculation about what really happened in the town of and what type of weapon was involved.

Police kill armed man, held bus passengers hostage

Published on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 3:55pm

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An armed man on Tuesday took dozens of hostages on a bus in Brazil and threatened to set the vehicle on fire with gasoline before police shot him dead in a four-hour standoff broadcast live on television.

All of the hostages were freed unharmed in the confrontation, which unfolded on a 8-mile-long bridge linking Rio de Janeiro to the Niteroi municipality across Guanabara Bay.

The seized bus was coming from Sao Gonçalo, a community struggling with poverty and violence that lies across a bay. 

Urgency for vaccine grows as virus ravages China’s pigs

Published on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 3:55pm

BEIJING (AP) — Scientists are working to develop a vaccine to help guard the world’s pork supply as a deadly virus ravages Asia’s pig herds.

Farmers have long contained its spread by quarantining and killing infected animals, but the disease’s devastating march into East Asia is intensifying the search for another solution.

Afghanistan mourns, vows to crush militants after attack

Published on Mon, 08/19/2019 - 4:09pm
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — As Afghanistan mourned the 63 people killed in a suicide bombing at a Kabul wedding, a brother of the groom spoke through tears of his weariness at the bloodshed in the country and the crushing guilt he felt at having to face his neighbors, many of whom lost relatives in the weekend blast.

“Around 20 victims’ families live in our very neighborhood,” said 22-year-old Ramin, whose brother, Mirwais Alami, survived along with his bride, Raihana.

Tanker sought by US heading toward Greece

Published on Mon, 08/19/2019 - 4:07pm
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MADRID (AP) — An Iranian supertanker with $130 million worth of light crude oil that the U.S. suspects is tied to a sanctioned organization left Gibraltar and was heading east into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday, with its next destination reported to be Greece.

The Iran-flagged Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, set course for Kalamata, Greece, with an estimated arrival on Aug. 25, according to ship tracking service MarineTraffic. It wasn’t immediately clear why the tanker would be heading there or whether the destination could change.

Turkey says airstrikes target Turkish army convoy in Syria

Published on Mon, 08/19/2019 - 4:06pm

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Airstrikes targeted a Turkish army convoy inside a rebel-held part of Syria on Monday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said, killing 3 civilians and wounding 12 others. The Syrian government, however, said the convoy entered the country carrying ammunition to help rebels who have lost ground this month amid a government offensive to retake the country’s last rebel stronghold.

China lashes out at Taiwan over Hong Kong asylum offer

Published on Mon, 08/19/2019 - 4:06pm

HONG KONG (AP) — China lashed out at Taiwan on Monday over its offer of political asylum to participants in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest movement, a day after hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully in the latest massive demonstration in the Chinese territory.

Greenland to Trump: Thanks, but we’re not for sale

Published on Fri, 08/16/2019 - 12:05am
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TASIILAQ, Greenland (AP) — Greenland said Friday it’s happy President Donald Trump has taken an interest in the nation, talking to aides and allies about buying the island for the