BEIJING — Eight people were killed and 17 others injured Saturday in a knife attack at a vocational school in eastern China, and the suspect — a former student — has been arrested, police said. The attack took place in the evening at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in the city of Yixing in Jiangsu province, police in Yixing said in a statement, …
Russia’s Gazprom stops flow of natural gas to Austria, utility says
VIENNA — Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped supplies to Austria early Saturday, according to the Vienna-based utility OMV, after OMV said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award. The official cutoff of supplies before dawn Saturday came after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Friday held a hastily called news conference to emphasize that his country has a secure supply of …
Super Typhoon Man-yi pounds Philippines
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Super Typhoon Man-yi battered the Philippines on Saturday, with the national weather forecaster warning of a “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening” impact as huge waves pounded the archipelago’s coastline. More than 650,000 people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi, which is the sixth major storm to hit the country in the past month. Man-yi brought maximum wind speeds of 195 kilometers (121 miles) per …
Iranian press divided over envoy’s reported meeting with Elon Musk
TEHRAN, IRAN — Iranian media were divided Saturday over a reported meeting between Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations and tech billionaire Elon Musk — unconfirmed by Iranian authorities — with some describing it as “positive” while others called it “treason.” The New York Times reported Friday that Musk, who is a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, met earlier this week with Iranian Ambassador to …
Protesters in Georgia’s separatist region refuse to give up government buildings
TBILISI, GEORGIA — Opposition protesters in Georgia’s breakaway province of Abkhazia have refused to cede control of key government buildings that demonstrators stormed to protest new measures allowing Russians to buy property in the area. Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhania announced Saturday that he would step down and hold early elections if demonstrators vacated the region’s parliament building. But crowds that gathered in the Abkhazian capital, Sukhumi, …
Protesters gather at UN climate talks in ‘global day of action’
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Hundreds of activists formed a human chain outside one of the main plenary halls at the United Nations climate summit on what is traditionally their biggest protest day during the two-week talks. The demonstration in Baku, Azerbaijan, will be echoed at sites around the world in a global “day of action” for climate justice that’s become an annual event. Activists waved flags, snapped …
Why is only limited aid getting to Palestinians inside Gaza?
jerusalem — The United States decided not to punish Israel over the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip after giving it an ultimatum to increase aid entering the territory. But the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians is still at nearly its lowest level of the entire 13-month war. The White House last month gave Israel 30 days to improve conditions or …
Japan’s sake brewers hope UNESCO heritage listing can boost rice wine’s appeal
OME, Japan — Deep in a dark warehouse the sake sleeps, stored in rows of giant tanks, each holding more than 10,000 liters of the Japanese rice wine that is the product of brewing techniques dating back more than 1,000 years. Junichiro Ozawa, the 18th-generation head of Ozawa Brewery, founded in 1702, hopes sake-brewing will win recognition as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, when the decision …
Strike hits south Beirut after Israeli evacuation call
Beirut — A strike hit the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Saturday, AFPTV footage showed, shortly after the Israeli army issued a new call to evacuate the area. Since Tuesday, Israel has carried out several strikes on the city’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah. AFPTV video showed three plumes of smoke rising over the buildings in the area on Saturday morning. …
Monkey business drops in Thai city after community clamps down on critters
LOPBURI, Thailand — Marauding monkeys won’t face slingshots anymore in the historic Thai city of Lopburi, where they have been rounded up and sterilized after turning rampant over the past four years. Before COVID-19 shut Lopburi, some of its 58,000 residents casually fed the 3,000 long-tailed macaques that lived alongside and even threw an annual fruit banquet for them, drawing tourists to “Monkey City,” a three-hour …
Wild deer population boom has some in England promoting venison to consumers
WINCHESTER, England — In the half-light of dusk, Martin Edwards surveys the shadows of the ancient woodland from a high seat and waits. He sits still, watching with his thermal camera. Even the hares don’t seem to notice the deer stalker until he takes aim. The bang of his rifle pierces the stillness. He’s killed a buck, one of many wild deer roaming this patch of …
China’s underground raves include street techno, quotes from Chairman Mao
CHANGCHUN, China — Crouch through the small metal door and walk down the dark tunnel, and even before you step into the abandoned air raid shelter, the air reverberates with pounding techno beats. Young Chinese holding booze and cigarettes shake and sway in a red-lit passageway, below a big screen rolling through quotations from Chairman Mao. This is an underground rave in China, part of a …
Operation False Target: How Russia plotted to mix a deadly new weapon among decoy drones in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — At a secretive factory in Russia’s central grasslands, engineers are manufacturing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses as they try to protect against a horrific new weapon, an Associated Press investigation has found. The plant at Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone recently started churning out thermobaric drones alongside the decoys, the investigation found. The thermobaric warheads create a vortex of …
Protesters demand resignation of leader in Russian-backed breakaway region of Georgia
Protesters stormed the parliament of the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia on Friday and demanded the resignation of its leader over an unpopular investment agreement with Moscow. The self-styled president of the region, Aslan Bzhania, said he had no intention of stepping down or fleeing. He said talks were proceeding with opposition representatives. But opposition representatives rejected the president’s statement, and news reports said …
Dutch government survives dispute over Amsterdam violence
AMSTERDAM — Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof saved his governing coalition on Friday despite threats of an exodus by Cabinet members over the right-wing government’s response to violence against Israeli football fans last week. Junior Finance Minister Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit the Cabinet on Friday to protest claims by some politicians that Dutch youths of Moroccan descent attacked Israeli fans in Amsterdam around the November 7 …
‘History is going on right now,’ says Ukrainian journalist honored for her coverage
washington — Three investigative journalists are being recognized with international awards for their courage and reporting. Reporters John-Allan Namu from Kenya, Valeriya Yegoshyna from Ukraine and Rana Sabbagh from Jordan were in Washington this week for a ceremony highlighting their work. Namu and Yegoshyna were honored with the ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award by the global media network, the International Center for Journalists, or ICFJ. Sabbagh …
Families of North Korean soldiers in Russia face fear, anxiety
washington — North Korean defectors say Pyongyang has likely kept the deployment of that nation’s soldiers to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine as a secret from its own people, including the soldiers’ own families, but the news will undoubtedly leak out, causing anxiety and pain. Western intelligence officials estimate that as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers are now in place, mainly in locations around …
Germany’s Scholz speaks with Putin, demands Russia withdraw from Ukraine
A German government spokesperson said that Chancellor Olaf Scholz held direct talks via telephone Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which he demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and that Russia show a willingness to negotiate a just and lasting peace. A statement from German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and called on Putin …
Blinken discusses economic cooperation with Taiwan’s APEC envoy
STATE DEPARTMENT — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Taiwan’s envoy to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Lin Hsin-I, on Thursday ahead of the bloc’s Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Lima, Peru. The discussion centered on economic cooperation, as Blinken highlighted in a social media post. “Met with Lin Hsin-i in Lima. We spoke about our growing economic relationship and our enduring shared commitment …
Dutch government says needs ‘more time’ for strategy on anti-Semitism
The Hague, Netherlands — The Dutch government needs “more time” to flesh out a strategy to fight anti-Semitism after last week’s violence between Israeli football fans and locals, the justice minister has said. “Because of the terrible events of November 7 and 8 and because I want to promote a fruitful debate in parliament, I have decided to take more time to get a strategy ready,” …
Spanish regional leader admits ‘mistakes’ in handling deadly floods
Valencia, Spain — The head of Spain’s eastern Valencia region admitted Friday to “mistakes” in handing the country’s deadliest flood in decades that killed 216 people there. “I’m not going to deny mistakes,” Carlos Mazon told the regional parliament in an address, adding he was “not going to shirk any responsibility.” As the head of the regional government “I would like to apologize” to those who …
Australia’s plan to ban children from social media proves popular, problematic
MELBOURNE, Australia — How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult. The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning …
1 dead, thousands without heat after Russian strike on Ukraine port city
Kyiv, Ukraine — A massive Russian attack that set apartments alight and knocked out heating to thousands in Ukraine’s southern port city Odesa killed one person and wounded 10 others, authorities said Friday. The Thursday night strikes on the Black Sea city damaged residential buildings, the heating system, churches and educational institutions, according to Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, who said it had been “a massive combined …
Israeli airstrike hits south Beirut
Beirut — An airstrike hit the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs on Friday, sending plumes of gray smoke into the sky after the Israeli military called for people to evacuate, AFPTV images showed. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone fired two missiles at the Beirut suburb of Ghobeiry before the air force carried out a “very heavy” strike that leveled a building near municipal …