KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A police swoop on 20 child welfare homes in Malaysia where hundreds of children were allegedly sexually abused has exposed weaknesses in child protection in the country and cast a spotlight on the Islamic business group that ran the homes. Malaysian authorities rescued 402 children, half of them boys and
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Gunmen killed 14 people in a Shiite-majority area in central Afghanistan, the Taliban said Friday, in one of the deadliest attacks in the country this year. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility before the Taliban acknowledged the shootings, which took place Thursday and targeted people as they traveled between the Shiite-majority provinces
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisians are expected to take to the streets on Friday to denounce the tumult that’s plagued the country’s upcoming election, with candidates arrested, kicked off the ballot or banned from politics for life. The newly-formed “Tunisian Network for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms” hopes to draw attention to what it
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s central bank raised its key interest rate by a full percentage point to 19% to combat high inflation as government spending on the military strains the economy’s capacity to produce goods and services and drives up workers’ wages. The central bank said in a statement Friday that “growth in domestic demand
BERLIN (AP) — Wolfgang Gerhardt, a politician who led Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats from 1995 to 2001, died on Friday at the age of 80. Gerhardt’s death was announced by Christian Lindner, the current head of the Free Democrats, a small party that has been a coalition partner in several German governments, including the current
HONG KONG (AP) — Dozens of Hong Kong journalists and some of their family members and associates were harassed over the summer, a prominent media professional group said Friday. Drastic political changes have created an increasingly restricted environment for journalists in the semi-autonomous city once regarded as a bastion of press freedom in Asia. Selina
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday it has granted its first authorization for use of a vaccine against mpox in adults, calling it an important step toward fighting the disease in Africa and beyond. The pre-qualification of the vaccine by Bavarian Nordic A/S means that donors like GAVI the Vaccine Alliance and
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later. Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi
MILAN (AP) — A 56-year-old Canadian woman died after being caught in a sudden snowstorm in Italy’s Dolomite mountains and her companion was being treated for severe hypothermia, Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps said Friday. The two climbers, exhausted and suffering hypothermia, called for help Thursday evening after being hit by the snowstorm about two kilometers
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In a significant show of defiance against the United States, North Korea on Friday provided the outside world with a rare view into a secretive facility built to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs as leader Kim Jong Un called for a rapid expansion of his nuclear weapons program. Here’s a
