World

  FILE - People walk near the Roman ruins of Baalbek, Lebanon, Jan. 5, 2024. Israeli airstrikes hit the historic eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek on Wednesday, killing at least 19 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Hours before it struck, Israel’s military issued evacuation orders for the entire city and parts of eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where Baalbek is located. Tens of thousands of Lebanese fled in a chaotic scene of panic, one Lebanese civil defense official said. "The whole city is in a panic trying to figure out where to go; there\'s a huge traffic jam," Bilal Raad, regional head of the Lebanese civil defense, told Reuters. Baalbek is the site of a Roman temple complex listed as a UNESCO World Heritage ...

  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, listens as South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, right, speaks during a joint press briefing at the Pentagon on Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. At left is Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. Pentagon and United Nations — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun, urged North Korea on Wednesday to withdraw from Russia an estimated 10,000 troops, which both countries believe are headed to fight alongside Russia in its war in Ukraine. "They\'re doing this because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has lost a lot of troops, a lot of troops. And, you know, he has a choice of either getting other people to help him, or he can mobilize. And he doesn\'t want to mobilize, because then the ...

  This undated picture provided on Oct. 16, 2024, shows Saudi cartoonist Mohammed al-Ghamdi at an unspecified location. Al-Ghamdi, already serving six years on a range of charges, was sentenced to an additional 23 years in prison. (AFP Photo/Family Handout) The decision by Saudi authorities to sentence a cartoonist to an extra 23 years in prison marks an escalation in the kingdom’s suppression of dissent, analysts say. Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a cartoonist for Qatar-based Lusail newspaper, was already serving six years on a range of charges. But a court in October reopened the case and sentenced him to an additional 23 years without the possibility of appeal. Known as al-Hazza, al-Ghamdi gained prominence for cartoons that critiqued Saudi poli...

  Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili talks to reporters in Tbilisi, Oct. 30, 2024. Zourabichvili said she challenged prosecutors' summons for questioning over her allegation of fraud at this weekend's vote. (Georgian Presidential Press Service) State prosecutors in the country of Georgia said Wednesday that they had initiated an investigation into Saturday’s parliamentary election amid claims that the vote was rigged. The Georgian Dream ruling party won the election with 54% of the vote, according to the electoral commission, a figure that would give the party a clear majority in Parliament. The opposition alleged the election was rigged. Western countries and international observers also raised concerns, citing inst...

  FILE - A foraging emperor penguin preens on snow-covered sea ice in Antarctica, Dec. 9, 2006. taipei, taiwan — China and Russia are deepening cooperation in Antarctica in a trend that analysts say could undermine marine conservation efforts and disrupt the long-standing status quo in the resource-rich region. China and Russia were accused of collaborating to block key proposals that would establish new marine protected areas and revise the krill fishery management plan in the Southern Ocean, during the annual conference of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Australia last week. The commission was established in 1982 and is a part of the Antarctic Treaty System, which establishes the leg...

  This combination of photos created on Oct. 25, 2024, shows SpaceX, Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Paris on June 16, 2023, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan on Oct. 23, 2024. WASHINGTON — Reports that billionaire Elon Musk has been talking on a consistent basis with Russian President Vladimir Putin are still reverberating among current and former U.S. officials, almost a week after news of the conversations first surfaced. Musk, who owns electric car maker Tesla and the X social media platform, also owns SpaceX, a commercial spaceflight company that has numerous contracts with the U.S. government, doing work for the Department of Defense and U.S. space agency NASA. Some of that work is so sensitive that the United States ...

  A record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps are lit along the Saryu River during celebrations on the eve of Diwali, creating a new Guinness World Record in Ayodhya, India, on Oct. 30, 2024. LUCKNOW, INDIA — Millions of Indians began celebrating the annual Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, by symbolically lighting a record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps at dusk on Wednesday on the banks of the Saryu River in a northern Indian city they believe to be the birthplace of the deity Lord Ram. Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India — for the Hindu majority in particular. It is marked by socializing and exchanging gifts with loved ones. Many light earthen oil lamps and candles, and fireworks are set off. In the evening, a special...

  FILE - Smoke rises after an airstrike hit territory held by Islamic State militants in a desert in Syria, Feb. 19, 2019. U.S. strikes in late October 2024 have hit Islamic State group camps in Syria, killing up to 35 militants, the U.S. reports. The U.S. military has struck a number of Islamic State group camps in Syria this week, killing as many as 35 militants, U.S. Central Command said Wednesday. The airstrikes in the desert of central Syria were done Monday evening and targeted multiple locations and senior leaders of the group. The attacks came on the heels of a number of joint operations with Iraqi forces that targeted IS militants in Iraq. Pentagon officials have said that the Islamic State group remains a threat in the region,...

  This photo provided by Apsara National Authority shows a centuries-old sandstone statue being measured at Angkor Thom in Cambodia on Oct. 24, 2024. PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Archaeologists in Cambodia have unearthed a dozen centuries-old sandstone statues in a "remarkable discovery" at the Angkor World Heritage Site near the city of Siem Reap, authorities said Wednesday. The statues — depicting "door guardians" — were discovered last week near the north gate leading to the 11th-century Royal Palace at Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire, said Long Kosal, spokesperson for the Apsara National Authority, the government agency that oversees the archaeological park. Teams were assessing the ancient gate\'s stru...

  Voters queue outside a polling station in Thamaga, Botswana, west of Gaborone, on Oct. 30, 2024. GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi is defending the country’s electoral body amid criticism of its preparedness as voting began Wednesday. Critics said some polling stations opened late, there weren’t enough stations to handle the number of voters, and lines were long. Masisi, who is seeking a second and final term, told journalists after casting his vote in his home village of Moshupa, southwest of Gaborone, that he is confident of victory. The election will determine the makeup of parliament, and lawmakers will later elect the president. Masisi also said he was content with the conduct of the Independent Electoral C...