CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet on Wednesday, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga. The criminal case of international intrigue, which had played out for years
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Over the course of more than a dozen years at the top of Dutch politics, Mark Rutte got to know a thing or two about finding consensus among fractious coalition partners. Now he will bring the experience of leading four Dutch multiparty governments to the international stage as NATO’s new
An Iranian-backed umbrella group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed an attack targeting the southern Israeli port city of Eilat on Wednesday. The militants are allied with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are suspected of attacking a ship in the Gulf of Aden early Wednesday. Shipping has reduced drastically through the route crucial to
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled Wednesday that he is getting tough on officials he suspects are shirking their duties in the war with Russia that is now in its third year. Zelenskyy and Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi visited troops in the eastern Donetsk region who have weathered fierce Russian ground
LONDON (AP) — Aer Lingus pilots launched an industrial action on Wednesday, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and tossing the travel plans of tens of thousands into disarray. Pilots imposed ‘’work to rule’’ actions, refusing to work overtime, accept changes in set rosters or take out-of-hours management requests. An eight-hour strike is
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general on Wednesday, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world’s biggest security organization at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine . Rutte’s appointment was sealed by NATO ambassadors during a meeting at the 32-nation alliance’s headquarters
Facts about Yekaterinburg, the industrial city in Russia’s Ural Mountains where U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich went on trial Wednesday on espionage charges that his employer denounced as a sham: Location and population Yekaterinburg is 880 miles (1,416 kilometers) east of Moscow, roughly the distance from London to Rome, or from New York to Missouri. The
LA PINE, Oregon (AP) — Gusty winds fueled a rapidly growing wildfire just outside the central Oregon community of La Pine and prompted evacuations Tuesday. The fire was estimated to be 2.7 square miles (6.9 square kilometers) in size Tuesday night, Central Oregon Fire Information posted on the social media site X. The fire was
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces in Pakistan have arrested two key commanders of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s volatile southwest, an official said Wednesday. The interior minister of Baluchistan province, Ziaullah Langau, congratulated the security forces for “saving the country from possible high-profile attacks” by arresting the militants, whom he identified as Commander
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday denounced drug traffickers as “murderers” and labeled drug liberalization laws a “fantasy” as he marked the U.N.’s day against drug use and illicit trafficking Francis devoted his entire weekly catechism lesson to a reflection on drug abuse. He called for increased prevention efforts and care for addicts, saying
