World

  FILE - Sri Lanka's President and National People's Power (NPP) party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake addresses supporters during a rally in Colombo, Nov. 11, 2024. New Delhi — Sri Lanka’s Marxist leaning president has won a sweeping mandate to fulfill his pledges to combat corruption and implement pro-poor reforms, but he faces huge challenges in a country whose economy is still fragile, analysts say. Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s coalition, the National People’s Power, or NPP, party, secured an unprecedented two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament in snap elections held a year ahead of schedule. The parliamentary polls — held seven weeks after he emerged victorious in presidential voting — reinforced the remarkable shift in Sri Lankan politics, where mainstream par...

  FILE - Part of the temples of Baalbek, a UNESCO world heritage site in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, illuminated in blue light, Oct. 24, 2015. Beirut — Hundreds of cultural professionals, including archeologists and academics, called on the United Nations to safeguard war-torn Lebanon\'s heritage in a petition published Sunday ahead of a crucial UNESCO meeting. Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east and Tyre in the south — both strongholds of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah — hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites. FILE - This picture shows closed shops on an empty street in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek on Oct. 19, 2024. The petition, signed by ...

  Election officials count ballots cast in parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Diamalaye, a neighborhood in Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 17, 2024. Dakar — Senegal began counting votes Sunday after parliamentary elections in which the new government is aiming for a resounding majority to deliver the ambitious reform agenda that swept it to power eight months ago. Voting took place peacefully across the West African country, and reliable projections of the new parliament\'s makeup could be available from Monday morning. Tallying started shortly after a polling station in the capital Dakar closed at 6:00 pm (1800 GMT), an AFP journalist saw. The governing Pastef party of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is the favorite to win. Faye secured victory in March pledging e...

  Balochistan province, Pakistan ISLAMABAD — Pakistani authorities reported Saturday that seven soldiers and six insurgents were killed in fierce clashes in the troubled southwestern Balochistan. The predawn violence erupted when the insurgents assaulted a security post in Kalat, a mountainous district in the sparsely populated province, according to a late-night Pakistan military statement. It stated that the clashes also injured four assailants but shared no further details. Multiple area security officials reported that at least 18 soldiers were also injured and admitted to hospitals, where some were said to be in critical condition. An outlawed militant group known as the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the d...

  FILE - Military personnel stand guard in front of a large cutout portrait of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 30, 2024. Interim leader Muhammad Yunus said, Nov. 17, 2024, that his administration will seek the extradition of ousted prime minister from India. DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh\'s interim leader and Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said Sunday that his administration will seek the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, where has been in exile since fleeing a mass uprising in August. In a televised address to the nation on his first 100 days in office, Yunus said that the interim government will try those responsible including Hasina for hundreds of deaths during the student-led...

  Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, center right, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stand on the podium before a meeting, at the Presidential Villa, in Abuja, Nigeria, Nov. 17, 2024. ABUJA, Nigeria — The leaders of Nigeria and India pledged stronger ties in maritime security and counterterrorism during a meeting on Sunday where they also agreed on more support for Global South nations. In his first visit to Nigeria, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosted by President Bola Tinubu in capital Abuja, where both spoke of a new chapter in their strategic partnerships in the areas of defense, energy, technology, trade and development. Modi has often touted India as the voice of the Global South, the group of countries pr...

  FILE - President-elect Donald Trump, right, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem dance to the song "YMCA" during a campaign town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Oct. 14, 2024. Videos of Trump dancing to the song have brought Trump to a new height of fame on Chinese social media. TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Memes, inspirational quotes, and even dance videos have brought President-elect Donald Trump to a new height of fame on Chinese social media since his election. On Xiaohongshu, a media platform most similar to Instagram, the search term “Trump” shows more than 200,000 posts on the topic and 880 million views, with recent top posts each accruing more than 72,000 views and thousands of comments. Videos of the president-elect dancing to the ...

  Pope Francis delivers his speech during a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Nov. 17, 2024. Rome — Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff\'s jubilee year. It\'s the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel\'s actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel\'s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war. The book, by Hernán Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is en...

  Palestinians react in front of the bodies people killed in an Israeli strike, at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Nov. 17, 2024. TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight killed 12 people, Palestinian medical officials said Sunday. Israeli police meanwhile arrested three suspects after flares were fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\'s private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea. In Lebanon, Israeli warplanes pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut after the military warned people to evacuate from at least seven buildings. The Hezbollah militant group has a strong presence in the area, known as the Dahiyeh, and the strikes came as Lebanese officials are consider...

  FILE - People plant trees in the Zamblara forest in Mali's Sikasso region Oct. 2, 2024, as part of a campaign with Malian NGO Energia, a partner of the Great Green Wall initiative. BAMAKO, Mali — After years of serving as Mali\'s minister of the environment, Aida M\'bo now spends her time planting trees in a fight that many in the arid West African country acknowledge they are losing. "Deforestation is an important issue in Mali," she said, standing in front of the Zamblara forest. For decades it has been classified as protected, but like many forests in the vast Sahel, it could be wiped out. "It is mainly due to the excessive wood-cutting," M\'bo said. Even some of her fellow tree-planters that day were to bla...