Month: February 2023

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Swedish government has again sought to discredit claims that Swedish social service agencies kidnap Muslim children. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said there was a “systematized” and “extensive” disinformation campaign. Kristersson said that “Sweden and the social services do not kidnap children, neither Muslim nor other children.” An earlier disinformation campaign prompted

By HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 50 businesses and nonprofits including rideshare companies Uber and Lyft and industrial giant 3M are pledging millions of dollars in initiatives to stem a crisis in road fatalities under a new federal effort. The effort announced Friday is part of the Department of Transportation’s “Call to

By SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Top European Union officials were due to meet Friday in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of support for the country as it battles to counter Russia’s invasion and strives to join the EU as well as NATO. European Commission President Ursula von

BEIJING (AP) — China said Friday it is looking into reports that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying in U.S. airspace and urged calm, adding that it has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning also said she had no information about whether a

By NICOLE WINFIELD and DENG MACHOL Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis opened the second and final leg of his African pilgrimage by heading to South Sudan on Friday, hoping to encourage the young country’s stalled peace process and draw international attention to continued fighting and a worsening humanitarian crisis. Francis had one

By KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Trading in shares in troubled Adani Enterprises gyrated Friday as the flagship company of India’s second-largest conglomerate tumbled 30% and then rebounded after more than a week of heavy losses that have cost it tens of billions of dollars in market value. The debacle, which led

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press on Friday showed damage done to what Iran describes as a military workshop attacked by Israeli drones, the latest such assault amid a shadow war between the two countries. While Iran has offered no explanation yet of

BERLIN (AP) — Police say one boy was killed and another seriously injured when they were hit by a freight train in western Germany. The boys, ages 9 and 10, were hit by the train in Recklinghausen, in the Ruhr industrial region, on Thursday evening. The elder boy died while the younger was taken to

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BINCHE, Belgium (AP) — On a sunny winter morning heralding a radiant Mardi Gras, Beatrice and Karl Kersten don’t have a minute to spare. In their warm workshop decorated with ancestral photos, the couple bend over their sewing machines. They are busy putting the finishing touches to the delicate lace

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military says security forces have killed two insurgents during a raid of a militant hideout in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold near Afghanistan. Friday’s shootout in North Waziristan, a district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, came days after a suicide bomber attacked a mosque on

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court has sentenced a former justice minister, Cho Kuk, to two years in prison, after he was found guilty of creating fake credentials to help his children get into prestigious schools, a scandal that rocked the country’s previous government and sparked huge