World

  FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2016, photo, Cambodian environmentalist Ouch Leng speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A prominent Cambodian environmentalist was arrested along with five others while investigating illegal logging in a national park, a rights group and a government official said Sunday. Ouch Leng, who was awarded a 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for his activism, was arrested Saturday in northeastern Stung Treng province, the rights group Licadho said in a statement. The activists have documented an increase in illegal deforestation within the Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park, located near an economic land concession, it said. The arrests come durin...

  A man walks past Rimon Market, a kosher grocery store managed by the late Rabbi Zvi Kogan, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 24, 2024. DUBAI/JERUSALEM — Three people have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates in connection with the alleged murder of an Israeli citizen, the Emirati interior ministry said on Sunday. The ministry statement did not give details on the suspects or say if they had been charged, but said all legal powers would be used "to respond decisively and without leniency to any actions or attempts that threaten societal stability." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\'s office had denounced the killing of the rabbi, Zvi Kogan, 28, as a "heinous antisemitic terrorist act" and said Israel would do everything it could to bring those responsible ...

  FILE - Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung answers questions from media during an international press briefing in Taipei on July 19, 2024. He wrapped up a weeklong trip to Europe Sunday after meeting European lawmakers in Brussels. Taipei, Taiwan   — Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, wrapped up a weeklong trip to Europe Sunday after meeting European lawmakers in Brussels and overseeing efforts to deepen bilateral cooperation in developing drone technology between Taiwan and Lithuania. Analysts say the trip was part of Taiwan’s ongoing efforts to deepen engagement with European countries and reflected the current administration’s attempt to focus on facilitating practical and tangible cooperation with individual nations. “European countries and members of the ...

  FILE - Berta Sanyi and Paula Hamadi, left, stand chest deep in water as they collect clams in a mangrove forest where only women are permitted to enter in Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia, Oct. 2, 2024. JAYAPURA, Indonesia — On the southeastern coast of the city of Jayapura, Petronela Merauje walked from house to house in her floating village inviting women to join her the next morning in the surrounding mangrove forests. Merauje and the women of her village, Enggros, practice the tradition of Tonotwiyat, which literally means "working in the forest." For six generations, women from the 700-strong Papuan population there have worked among the mangroves collecting clams, fishing and gathering firewood. "The customs and...

  Elvis Smylie of Australia reacts after sinking his final putt to win the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane, Nov. 24, 2024. BRISBANE, Australia — Australian Elvis Smylie shot a 4-under 67 to win the 54-hole Australian PGA on Sunday by two shots after a final round shootout with his compatriot and former mentor Cameron Smith. Smylie finished on 14-under 199, two ahead of Smith who had a 2-under final round 69. Smith\'s LIV tour teammate Mark Leishman and Australian Anthony Quayle shared third place on 11 under at the par-71 Royal Queensland. Heavy rain showers and an unplayable course on Friday forced the second round to be abandoned and made the joint Australasian PGA and European Tour event a 54-hole...

  A man walks between panels displaying electoral posters ahead of the Nov. 24 presidential elections in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 22, 2024. BUCHAREST — Romanians vote on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that may give a shot at victory to hard-right politician George Simion, who opposes military aid to Ukraine, admires Donald Trump and wants to emulate Giorgia Meloni\'s Italy. Outgoing two-term president Klaus Iohannis, 65, had cemented Romania\'s strong pro-western stance but was accused of not doing enough to fight corruption. Voting starts at 0500 GMT and ends at 1900 GMT with exit polls to follow immediately. The second round is scheduled for December 8 while a parliamentary election is also due next Sunday. Voting by Romanians abroad, who can inf...

  A previously unknown musical manuscript, possibly by Frederic Chopin, rests in a display case after it was discovered at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, Nov. 13, 2024. Its discovery marks the first such find since 1930, though its authenticity remains debated. NEW YORK — The brooding waltz was carefully composed on a sheet of music roughly the size of an index card. The brief, moody number also bore an intriguing name, written at the top in cursive: "Chopin." A previously unknown work of music penned by the European master Frederic Chopin appears to have been found at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan. The untitled and unsigned piece is on display this month at the opulently appointed institution, whic...

  COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev speaks the COP29 Climate Conference in Baku, Nov. 23, 2024. BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Wealthy countries raised their offer of climate finance to $300 billion a year at COP29 on Saturday, raising hopes of a deal with developing nations that had dismissed an earlier proposal as insufficient to address the impacts of global warming. The United Nations climate summit had been scheduled to finish on Friday but ran into an extra day as negotiators from nearly 200 countries — who must adopt the deal by consensus — tried to reach agreement on the contentious funding plan for the next decade. The two-week conference cut to the heart of the global debate over the financial responsibility of rich industrialized countrie...

  Honor guards carry the coffin of fallen Ukrainian serviceman Serhii Solovyov, who was killed during fighting with Russian forces in Kursk on Nov. 12, during the funeral ceremony in Irpin, Ukraine, on Nov. 21, 2024. KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine has lost more than 40% of the territory in Russia\'s Kursk region that it rapidly seized in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counterassaults, a senior Ukrainian military source said. The source, who is on Ukraine\'s General Staff, said Russia had deployed some 59,000 troops to the Kursk region since Kyiv\'s forces swept in and advanced swiftly, catching Moscow unprepared 2½ years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometers; now, of course, this terri...

  Russia claimed Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions as its own in a report at the COP29 climate summit held in Baku, Azerbaijan, this week. BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Russia has included the territories it occupies in Ukraine in its recent greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations, drawing protests from Ukrainian officials and activists at the COP29 climate summit this week. The move by Moscow comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin eyes potential peace negotiations with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump that could decide the fate of vast swathes of territory. "We see that Russia is using international platforms to legalize their actions, to legalize their occupation of our territory," Ukrainian Deputy Environment Minister Olga Yukhymchuk ...