Iran’s Revolutionary Guard runs drill on disputed islands as US military presence in region grows | AP News

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard runs drill on disputed islands as US military presence in region grows | AP News

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a surprise military drill Wednesday on disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, just as the U.S. military increase its presence in the region over recent ship seizures by Tehran. The drill focused primarily on Abu Musa Island, though the Guard also landed forces on the Greater

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India’s top court hearing petitions challenging government’s removal of Kashmir’s special status | AP News

India’s top court hearing petitions challenging government’s removal of Kashmir’s special status | AP News

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court Wednesday began hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the legislation passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 that stripped disputed Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs.The five-judge constitutional bench that includes the Supreme

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Malians who thrived with arrival of UN peacekeeping mission fear economic fallout from its departure | AP News

Malians who thrived with arrival of UN peacekeeping mission fear economic fallout from its departure | AP News

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Nearly 10 years ago, Mariame Coulibaly Sangare lost everything when armed violence in northern Mali forced her to flee her home. Desperate for money, she saw an opportunity with the arrival of a new United Nations peacekeeping mission in the West African nation’s capital, Bamako.Sangare left her previous job of trading

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29 inches of rain from Saturday to Wednesday was Beijing’s heaviest rainfall in 140 years | AP News

29 inches of rain from Saturday to Wednesday was Beijing’s heaviest rainfall in 140 years | AP News

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in 140 years over the past few days.The city recorded 744.8 millimeters (29.3 inches) of rain between Saturday and Wednesday morning, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said on Wednesday. Chinese authorities on Tuesday said the torrential rains around Beijing had destroyed roads, knocked out power

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Pope Francis can expect to find heat and hope in Portugal, along with fallout from sex abuse scandal | AP News

Pope Francis can expect to find heat and hope in Portugal, along with fallout from sex abuse scandal | AP News

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis plans to head to Portugal on Wednesday to open the first post-pandemic edition of World Youth Day, hoping to inspire the next generation of Catholics while coping with the church’s ongoing clergy sexual abuse scandal.More than 1 million young people from around the world were expected to attend the

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Some of Niger’s neighbors defend the coup there, even hinting at war. It’s a warning for Africa | AP News

Some of Niger’s neighbors defend the coup there, even hinting at war. It’s a warning for Africa | AP News

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Not everyone is hostile to the coups in Niger and other African nations in the past few years that have worried the West. In the “family photo” for last week’s Russia-Africa Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin stood next to Ibrahim Traore, the young military officer who seized power in Burkina Faso

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