BAGHDAD (AP) — For months, the United States has restricted Iraq’s access to its own dollars, trying to stamp out what Iraqi officials describe as rampant money laundering that benefits Iran and Syria. Iraq is now feeling the crunch, with a drop in the value of its currency and public anger blowing back against the … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles hit residential areas in an eastern Ukrainian city Thursday for the second time in 24 hours, while top European Union officials held talks with the government in Kyiv as the war with Russia approaches its one-year milestone. The latest strikes in Kramatorsk came as rescue crews searched for survivors … Read more
KHAN AL-AHMAR, West Bank (AP) — Protesters streaming up the windswept hills east of Jerusalem interrupted Maha Ali’s breakfast. Palestinian chants of support for her West Bank Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, at risk of demolition by the Israeli army since it lost its legal protection over four years ago, drowned out the singing birds … Read more
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed Wednesday that Turkey won’t allow Sweden to join the NATO military alliance as long as the Scandinavian country permits protests desecrating Islam’s holy book to take place. Turkey, which had already been holding off approving Sweden and Finland’s membership in the Western military alliance, has … Read more
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Congo’s people to forgive those who committed “inhuman violence” against them, celebrating a Mass for 1 million people and then hearing first hand of the atrocities some of them have endured: a teen- age girl “raped like an animal” for months; a young man who watched … Read more
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, put its navy on alert and activated missile systems in response to nearby operations by 34 Chinese military aircraft and nine warships that are part of Beijing’s strategy to unsettle and intimidate the self-governing island democracy. The large-scale Chinese deployment came as Beijing increases preparations for a … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — It used to be that visitors would browse through Bakhmut’s late 19th century buildings, enjoy their walks in its rose-lined lakeside park and revel in the sparkling wines produced in historic underground caves. This city of salt and gypsum mines located around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Russia’s border was once … Read more
BRUSSELS (AP) — A decade ago this year, the head of the European Union’s executive branch stood, visibly shaken, before rows of coffins holding the corpses of migrants drowned off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Some of them, small and bone-white, contained the bodies of infants and children. “That image of hundreds of coffins will … Read more
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis began a six-day visit to Congo and South Sudan on Tuesday, aiming to bring a message of peace to two countries riven by poverty, conflict and what Francis has called a lingering “colonialist mentality” that still considers Africa ripe for exploitation. Francis landed at Kinshasa’s airport and was greeted … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s push for fighter jets to help beat back Russia’s invasion force risks straining the unity of Ukraine’s Western allies, amid fears that the move could escalate the nearly year-long conflict and draw them deeper into the war. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was due in Paris Tuesday where discussions about … Read more