Israel arrests Jerusalem activist as reporter recovers

Israeli police arrested a Palestinian protest leader in the contested Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem on Sunday, a day after forcefully detaining a prominent Al Jazeera journalist covering the campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families from the area. The arrest Sunday of Muna al-Kurd, confirmed by phone by her father, Nabil, was the latest move by Israeli police to quell several days of tension in one of the most sensitive neighborhoods in Jerusalem. It came

June 6, 2021

Pope voices sorrow over Canadian deaths, doesn't apologize

Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sorrow over the discovery in Canada of the remains of 215 Indigenous students of church-run boarding schools but didn't offer the apology sought by the Canadian prime minister. Francis, in remarks to faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, called on political and church authorities to work to shed light on what he called "this sad affair" and to foster healing. Two days earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was deeply disappointed that th

June 6, 2021

UK urges commitment to vaccinate the world by end of 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the Group of Seven wealthy democracies' summit next week to urge world leaders to commit to vaccinating the global population by the end of 2022. Johnson is expected to stress the importance of a global vaccination drive when he meets with fellow world leaders on Friday in Cornwall, on the coast of southwestern England, for the first face-to-face G-7 summit since the pandemic hit.  "The world is looking to us to rise to the greatest cha

June 6, 2021

Moderna says its COVID-19 shot works in kids as young as 12

(AP) -- Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12, a step that could put the shot on track to become the second option for that age group in the US. With global vaccine supplies still tight, much of the world is struggling to vaccinate adults in the quest to end the pandemic. But earlier this month, the US and Canada authorized another vaccine -- the shot made by Pfizer and BioNTech -- to be used starting at age 12. Moderna aims to be next in li

May 25, 2021

UN rights council to hold May 27 session on Israel, Palestinians

GENEVA (AFP) -- The UN Human Rights Council said Thursday it would hold a special session on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, amid deadly violence between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza. The session, planned for next Thursday, will address "the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem," the council said in a statement. The session was requested by Pakistan, which is the coordinator of the Organisat

May 20, 2021

World Cup qualifying fixtures set for S. Korea

　Fixtures for South Korea‘s World Cup qualifying matches at home have been set. 　 　The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced Wednesday that South Korea, as the host of the remainder of the second Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will face Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka and Lebanon in Group H action in June. 　 　All matches will be played at Goyang Stadium in the city of Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. 　 　South Korea will play Turkmenistan at 8 p.m. on June 5, followed by

May 19, 2021

India sets global record for daily coronavirus deaths

NEW DELHI (AP) --  India on Wednesday reported more coronavirus deaths in a single day than any other country at any time during the pandemic, while infections continued to spread through vast rural areas with weak health systems. The Health Ministry reported a record 4,529 deaths in the past 24 hours, driving India’s confirmed fatalities to 283,248. It also reported 267,334 new infections, as daily cases remained below 300,000 for the third consecutive day. The numbers are almost ce

May 19, 2021

EU to reopen borders to fully vaccinated travellers

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- EU member states agreed Wednesday to reopen the bloc‘s borders to travellers who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, European sources said. Meeting in Brussels, diplomats also agreed to increase the level of new cases a country can hit before being declared unsafe -- a measure that would open up travel into the EU from more places. The recommendations will be adopted by EU ministers on Friday, they said. Currently, non-essential travel into the 27-memb

May 19, 2021

Israeli police: 2 killed in strike launched from Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- A strike launched from Gaza on Tuesday killed two Thai workers inside a packaging plant in southern Israel, police said, as Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers continued to trade attacks throughout the day. The projectile attack Tuesday afternoon wounded another seven people in southern Israel, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service. The service had earlier said 10 people overall were wounded. It came as Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories

May 18, 2021

Spain, Morocco square off after 6,000 migrants arrive by sea

MADRID (AP) -- Spain deployed its military to the Moroccan border Tuesday as thousands of Moroccans walked or swam onto European soil for the second day in a row after Rabat loosened border controls in a diplomatic spat. Live footage on Spain's public broadcaster TVE showed dramatic scenes of soldiers carrying children in their arms and Red Cross personnel helping migrants who were emerging from the water shivering and exhausted. One unconscious woman laid on the sand before she was carrie

May 18, 2021

Singapore shuts schools, Taiwan bars foreigners to battle outbreaks

SINGAPORE (AFP) -- Singapore will close schools from Wednesday as authorities warned new coronavirus strains such as the one first detected in India were affecting more children. Taiwan also shut schools in the capital Taipei to control an outbreak, and the island banned all foreigners from entry or transit for a month unless they had a residency card. Both governments have been tightening restrictions to fight a recent rise in cases, after remaining relatively unscathed during the pandemic co

May 17, 2021

Israeli strikes kill 33, topple buildings in Gaza City

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 33 people Sunday, medics said, making it the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and the territory's militant Hamas rulers nearly a week ago. A rescuer could be seen shouting into a hole in the rubble. “Can you hear me?” he called out. “Are you OK?” Minutes later, first responders managed to pull a survivor out and carried him off on an orange stretcher. Th

May 16, 2021

Singapore plans to vaccinate children under 16, minister says

Singapore plans to vaccinate children under 16 years old after a recent rise of Covid-19 infections among students in the island state, according to Education Minister Chan Chun Sing. The ministries of education and health are working out plans for the “vaccination of our students,” Chan wrote on his Facebook page. “Once the approval for use is granted, we will roll out vaccinations to those below 16.” The ministry ordered home learning for seven primary schools for th

May 16, 2021

Islamic nations hold emergency summit on Israel-Gaza attacks

The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation opened an emergency meeting Sunday over the heavy fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strip's militant Hamas rulers, the first major move among Mideast nations still grappling with how to address the conflict.  While the Arab League and organizations like the Saudi-based OIC have maintained their view that the Palestinians should have their own independent state, Israel recently has reached recognition deals with several of its members.

May 16, 2021

Elon Musk says he is first SNL host with Asperger's syndrome

Elon Musk kicked off his "Saturday Night Live" debut by declaring himself to be the first person with Asperger's syndrome to host the US comedy sketch show. "Or at least, the first person to admit it," he said. In his opening monologue, the eccentric tech entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX offered an explanation for some of his past eyebrow-raising behavior. "Look, I know I say or post strange things but that's just how my brain works. To anyone I've offended I just

May 9, 2021

Tokyo gives taste of what COVID era Olympic Games will be like

The Tokyo Olympics went off without a hitch. That is, at least, at a test event at the city’s National Stadium in preparation for the main spectacle. About 1,600 athletes, organizers and media got an early look Sunday at what the games will be like when they kick off on July 23. There was a full day of 100-meter heats, hammer throws and pole vaulting to make sure the Omega clocks, jumbo displays and robots on the field were working as they should. A key focus, however, was how such a lar

May 9, 2021

British royal offers to sell access to Putin: report

Queen Elizabeth's cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, has been caught offering investors access to the Kremlin in exchange for personal gain, according to a Sunday Times and Channel 4 investigation. The embarassing claims come at a time of disastrous relations between London and Moscow, notably after the 2018 poisoning of a former Russian spy in England. Prince Michael told undercover reporters posing as investors from South Korea in a virtual meeting that for 10,000 (11,500 euros) a day he could

May 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] China says rocket debris landed in Indian Ocean west of Maldives

BEIJING (Reuters) -- Remnants of China's biggestrocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, with the bulk ofits components destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, according to Chinese state media, ending days ofspeculation over where the debris would hit. The coordinates given by state media, citing the ChinaManned Space Engineering Office, put the point of impact in the ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago. Debris from the Long March 5B has had some people lookingwarily skywa

May 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] Bill and Melinda Gates announce they are getting divorced

SEATTLE (AP) -- Bill and Melinda Gates said Monday that they are divorcing but would keep working together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest charitable foundations in the world. In identical tweets, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said they had made the decision to end their marriage of 27 years. "We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,"

May 4, 2021

UK defends aid cuts after UN warnings of deadly impact

LONDON (AFP) -- Britain on Sunday defended cuts to its aid spending, stressing the budget impact of the coronavirus pandemic, after several UN agencies warned they would translate into thousands of deaths among the world's poor. "I've found the process of making those savings very difficult," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News. "We've had to make this extremely difficult decision to reduce and find savings in the aid budget, that's because of the impact Covid has had,

May 2, 2021