World

  Thomas Kwoyelo, a commander in the Lord's Resistance Army, sits in the dock at the International Crimes Division court in Gulu, Uganda, on Oct. 25, 2024, where he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. KAMPALA, UGANDA — A Ugandan court sentenced former Lord’s Resistance Army commander Thomas Kwoyelo to 40 years in prison on Friday. In August, the Ugandan International Crimes Division found Kwoyelo guilty on 44 charges, including murder, pillaging, inhumane acts and gender-based violence such as rape. Lawyers for Kwoyelo, 50, said he is going to appeal the sentence. Francis Okello Oloya, a psychologist and head of a comfort dog project in Gulu for LRA war survivors, was blinded by a bomb blast at the age of 12 during Uganda’s war agai...

  FILE - Women who fled the war-torn Sudan queue to receive food rations near the border crossing in Renk County of Upper Nile State, South Sudan, May 1, 2023. More than 600 million women and girls are now affected by war, say top United Nations officials.  united nations — More than 600 million women and girls are now affected by war, a 50% increase from a decade ago, and they fear the world has forgotten them amid an escalating backlash against women\'s rights and gender equality, top United Nations officials say. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that amid record levels of armed conflict and violence, progress over the decades for women is vanishing and "generational gains in women\'s rights hang i...

  People walk along a busy street in Tehran on Oct. 26, 2024. Residents of Tehran awoke and went about their business as planned on Oct. 26 after their sleep was troubled by Israeli strikes that triggered blasts that echoed across the city. Jerusalem — Israeli officials say its series of strikes Saturday overnight on Iran achieved their objectives. "Following the directive of the political echelon, we carried out precise and targeted strikes on targets in different areas in Iran,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing. “These included missile manufacturing facilities used by Iran in its attacks on the State of Israel over the past year. Simultaneously, we targeted Iran’s surface-to-air missile a...

  FILE - Italian Premier Mario Draghi is shown in Rome on July 20, 2022. A long-awaited report on how to rescue Europe’s economy from weak growth and red tape was released last month. STOCKHOLM — Seven European countries have changed their laws to increase employee ownership in startups to rival the U.S. in attracting talent and investment, while other countries are lagging, a report by venture capital firm Index Ventures found. While stock options were integral to Silicon Valley’s success, Europe has been hampered by bureaucracy and by taxing employees too early, among other restrictions. The European Union needs a coordinated industrial policy, rapid decisions and massive investment if it wants to keep pace with the U.S. and China econo...

  Line of control, Kashmir Two Indian army soldiers and their two civilian porters were killed in a rebel ambush in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said Friday. Police said rebels sprayed bullets at an army vehicle carrying soldiers close to the highly militarized line of control near the resort town of Gulmarg on Thursday night. The de facto frontier divides the disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan, which they both claim it in its entirety. Two soldiers and two civilians working as porters with the Indian military were killed and three other soldiers were wounded, police said. The military said it was a brief firefight and gave no other details. There was no independent confirmation of the incident. On Sunday, gunmen fatally ...

  FILE - Soldiers participate in a demonstration during the training of the Korean People's Army's air and amphibious combat units, in this picture released on March 16, 2024 by the Korean Central News Agency. The Pentagon said Pyongyang has sent 10,000 troops to train in Russia. Pentagon — The Pentagon says North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to train in Russia, more than tripling the previous estimate. "We believe that the DPRK has sent around 10,000 soldiers in total to train in eastern Russia that will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name...

  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India Oct. 25, 2024 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to deepen defense ties with New Delhi and bring the two countries\' militaries closer, he said on Friday, after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Germany has not traditionally had close defense ties with India, but is now pitching to join the latter\'s effort to wean its arms base from decades of dependence on Russia, at a time when the West seeks to counter China\'s growing influence. "Our overall message is clear, we need more co-operation, not less," Scholz said. "At our inter-governmental consultations with India, we also want to deepen c...

  FILE - Farmers harvest maize crop facilitated by the Safaricom DigiFarm App that helps agribusinesses and small holding farmers to share information and transact easily, in Sigor village of Bomet County, Kenya, May 28, 2020. Nairobi — Bioeconomy is the production, use, and conservation of biological resources to produce goods that sustain communities. A new report says the promotion of bioeconomy as a way to deal with climate change holds promise for rural areas in Africa and elsewhere. As the world grapples with how to cope with the effects of climate change on the environment, food production, and people’s livelihoods, experts say the bioeconomy can offer solutions to those challenges and help achieve sustainable development. ...