News

By MATTHEW CHENG and JANICE LO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s granting of a quarantine exemption to Hollywood star Nicole Kidman is drawing criticism from lawmakers as the city tightens entry restrictions for international travelers to control the coronavirus. Kidman, who reportedly flew to Hong Kong last week from coronavirus-hit Sydney, was

By AHMAD SEIR, TAMEEM AKHGAR and REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The scene outside the airport in the Afghan capital is still chaotic. People seeking to escape the Taliban-controlled country struggled Friday to get past crushing crowds, Taliban checkpoints and U.S. bureaucracy. Video images showed crowds gathered in the dark outside barbed-wire

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has marked the anniversary of a poisoning attack against him by urging global leaders to focus on combating corruption and to target tycoons close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an article published in three European newspapers, Navalny chided Western leaders

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan authorities have suspended more than 50 civic groups for allegedly not complying with regulations, dealing a blow to hundreds of thousands of people who benefit from the organizations’ activities. The suspensions, targeting agencies ranging from rights watchdogs to women’s groups, were announced Friday by the

BERLIN (AP) — A union representing many train drivers at Germany’s national railway operator is calling members out on a new strike. The head of the GDL union said drivers of passenger trains will strike from 2 a.m. Monday to 2 a.m. Wednesday. Freight train drivers will start their strike on Saturday afternoon. It’s the

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Seven years after Boko Haram extremists abducted more than 270 schoolgirls in northeast Nigeria, two of the more than 100 still being held by the rebels returned this month, renewing the hope of parents who have all but given up on the long wait for the

By ROD McGUIRK and NICK PERRY Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian state leader is warning that Melbourne may be losing control of a COVID-19 delta variant outbreak that began in Sydney and has also spread to the New Zealand capital. The fast-moving outbreak was first detected in mid-June in Sydney, Australia’s largest

By ELENA BECATOROS and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Turkey’s president has told Greece’s prime minister that the European Union should assist Afghans both inside Afghanistan and in neighboring countries if it wants to avoid a new influx of migrants. The two leaders discussed the situation in Afghanistan in a telephone call

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s longest-governing political party has reclaimed the premiership it lost in a shock 2018 election defeat, after the king named its candidate, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, as the country’s new leader. Ismail was the deputy prime minister under the government of Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned Monday

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A major wildfire that has ravaged a pine forest and burned homes northwest of the Greek capital has been contained, the minister for citizens’ protection says, adding that a prosecutor for organized crime cases is involved in the investigation of major fires in Greece this summer.

By COLLEEN BARRY and KERSTIN SOPKE Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Hundreds of Western nationals and Afghan workers have been flown to safety since the Taliban reasserted control over the country. Yet still unprotected, and in hiding, are untold numbers of Afghans who tried to build a fledgling democracy. They include Afghans who worked with