World

  The youth center serves as a polling place in Karakalpakstan, western Uzbekistan, Aug. 3, 2024. The country is set to vote in parliamentary elections Oct. 27, 2024. Tashkent, Uzbekistan — A country that appeared to promise genuine political opposition during a parliamentary election campaign five years ago is about to vote again on Sunday — still without any. Uzbekistan\'s dissidents persist in efforts to register their parties despite repeated rejections. And America’s top diplomat in Tashkent continues to encourage the country to stay on the course of reforms. But for many Uzbeks, real democracy remains a remote and not particularly appealing prospect. “What is an independent parliament? What is democracy? We have never had either,” s...

  Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto waves as he leaves the Military Academy after a cabinet retreat in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, Oct. 27, 2024. JAKARTA, Indonesia — A major labor group in Indonesia has called on the government to bail out troubled textile giant Sritex, after President Prabowo Subianto ordered his ministers to save the firm from bankruptcy. Prabowo, who took office last week, has ordered his cabinet to find solutions for Sritex quickly, after a court last week accepted a petition by one of its trade partners over unpaid debt, which has put the firm, which employs about 50,000 people, on the brink of bankruptcy. Sritex had $1.6 billion of debt as of June. Said Iqbal, chairman of the labour party, a prominent w...

  Palestinians pray over bodies of relatives, killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on Oct. 27, 2024. TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 22 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Sunday, as the Israeli offensive in the hard-hit and isolated north entered a third week and aid groups described a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel said it targeted militants. In a separate development, a truck rammed into a bus stop near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, wounding 35 people, according to Israel\'s Magen David Adom rescue service. The circumstances were not immediately clear. It occurred near the headquarters of Israel\'s Mossad spy agency. The r...

  A woman walks past an open air reception of We continue the Change party, Oct. 24, 2024, in Sofia, as Bulgarians are called to cast ballots on Sunday in the seventh general elections in just over three years. SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarians were voting Sunday in the seventh general election in more than three years with little hope that a stable government will be formed to stop the country\'s slide into political instability. Voter fatigue and disillusionment with politicians have created an environment where radical political voices, aided by Moscow\'s widespread disinformation, are successfully undermining public support for the democratic process and boosting the popularity of pro-Russian and far-right groups. The never-ending electi...

  Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte takes an oath as he attends a senate probe on the drug war during his administration, in Manila on October 28, 2024. MANILA, Philippines — Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte strongly defended his deadly drug war as he testified on Monday at a senate probe of the crackdown. Police said the campaign left more than 6,000 people dead, but rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating allegations that the killings were a state-sanctioned "crime against humanity." "Do not question my policies because I offer no apologies,...

  Barcelona's Lamine Yamal gestures after scoring his side's third goal during a Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Oct. 26, 2024. Madrid — Real Madrid, the Spanish league and the local government on Sunday condemned racist insults against Lamine Yamal during Saturday\'s "clasico," and Madrid said it was working to identify those who abused the Barcelona forward. Madrid said it "has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken." The league said it was going to formally denounce the "intolerabl...

  Thomas Kwoyelo, a mid-level commander in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) sits in the dock at the International Crimes Division court sitting in Gulu, Uganda, Oct. 25, 2024. KAMPALA — Thomas Kwoyelo, a mid-level commander in the notorious Lord\'s Resistance Army rebel group, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in Uganda on Friday for war crimes including murder, rape, enslavement, torture and kidnap. Kwoyelo was convicted of dozens of war crimes in August, the first time an officer of his seniority had been tried by Uganda\'s judiciary. Founded in the late 1980s with the aim of overthrowing the government, the LRA brutalized Ugandans under the leadership of Joseph Kony for nearly 20 years as it battled the military from bases in...

  People watch a convoy carrying Bushra Bibi, wife of Pakistan's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, leave following her release from prison a day after a court granted her bail in a graft case, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Oct. 24, 2024. Islamabad — Pakistani authorities released the wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from prison Thursday, nearly nine months after the couple was sentenced on corruption allegations. Former first lady Bushra Bibi was allowed to leave the Adiala jail near Islamabad a day after a federal high court approved her bail application. Leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party said Bibi traveled to her residence on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital after her release. “Welcome ba...