SYDNEY (AP) – Mourners at the Sydney funeral for Australian Cardinal George Pell, who was once the most senior Catholic convicted of sexual abuse, remembered him Thursday as a victim of a campaign to punish him regardless of his guilt. Meanwhile, a few hundred protesters yelled slogans from the street denouncing Pell, a staunch conservative … Read more
Resistance to military rule in Myanmar has been defined by optimism. When the military first seized power on February 1, 2021, the mass peaceful protests that emerged were reminiscent of a jubilant street party. Demonstrators sang in the streets, wore silly costumes and carried humorous signs. There were no illusions about what might come next … Read more
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, put its navy on alert and activated missile systems in response to nearby operations by 34 Chinese military aircraft and nine warships that are part of Beijing’s strategy to unsettle and intimidate the self-governing island democracy. The large-scale Chinese deployment came as Beijing increases preparations for a … Read more
Resistance to military rule in Myanmar has been defined by optimism. When the military first seized power on February 1, 2021, the mass peaceful protests that emerged were reminiscent of a jubilant street party. Demonstrators sang in the streets, wore silly costumes and carried humorous signs. There were no illusions about what might come next … Read more
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its 2023 global growth outlook slightly due to “surprisingly resilient” demand in the United States and Europe and the reopening of China’s economy after Beijing abandoned its strict zero-COVID strategy. The IMF said global growth would still fall to 2.9 percent in 2023 from 3.4 percent in 2022, … Read more
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) – A suicide bomber struck a crowded mosque inside a police compound in Pakistan on Monday, causing the roof to collapse and killing at least 59 people and wounding more than 150 others, officials said. Most of the casualties were police officers. It was not clear how the bomber was able to … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Friends and volunteers gathered Sunday at Kyiv’s St. Sophia’s Cathedral to say goodbye to Andrew Bagshaw.a New Zealand scientist who was killed in Ukraine with another volunteer while they were trying to evacuate people from a front-line town. Bagshaw, 48, a dual New Zealand-British citizen, and British volunteer Christopher Parry28, went … Read more
Male, Maldives – The Maldives’ governing party is set to hold a primary that is pitting incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Salih against his former ally and the nation’s first democratically-elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed. The closely fought election on Saturday follows a bitter campaign, with Nasheed framing the poll as a choice between autocracy and democracy, … Read more
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) – A Japanese whaling operator, after struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, has found a new way to cultivate clientele and bolster sales: whale meat vending machines. The Kujira (Whale) Store, an unmanned outlet that recently opened in the port town of Yokohama near Tokyo, houses three … Read more
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) — Just a handful of Chinese visitors were posing for photos and basking in the sun this week in the market and plazas near Chiang Mai’s ancient Tha Phae Gate, one of many tourist hotspots still waiting for millions of Chinese travelers. to return. The beaches and temples of destinations like … Read more