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UN watchdog asks Iran to clarify tunnels but upbeat on deal
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency called Wednesday on Iran to explain tunnels built around a nuclear site but voiced optimism that United States-Iran talks would land a deal. The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank, released satellite imagery on Wednesday that it said showed a new, deeply buried tunnel alongside an older one around the Natanz site, as well as a new security perimeter. "I've been raising this issue rep
April 24, 2025 -
Brazil probes alleged scam to defraud pensioners
SAO PAULO (AFP) -- The Brazilian government said Wednesday it was investigating a corrupt scheme in which associations and unions allegedly stole money from retirees by skimming off part of their pensions. The head of Brazil's National Social Security Institute, which administers pensions, was removed from his post over the scandal that comes as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration grapples with plummeting approval ratings. Four other INSS officials and a federal police officer w
April 24, 2025 -
Dozen US states sue Trump administration to stop tariff policy
NEW YORK (AP) — A dozen states sued the Trump administration in the United States Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday to stop its tariff policy, saying it is unlawful and has brought chaos to the American economy. The lawsuit said the policy put in place by President Donald Trump has been subject to his “whims rather than the sound exercise of lawful authority.” It challenged Trump’s claim that he could arbitrarily impose tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Po
April 24, 2025 -
Trump, Zelenskyy clash again and US warns it could abandon Ukraine talks
United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed again on Wednesday on efforts to end the three-year-old war in Ukraine, with the US leader chiding Zelenskyy for refusing to recognize Russia's occupation of Crimea. Trump's Vice President JD Vance said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to either agree to a US peace proposal "or for the United States to walk away from this process," echoing a warning from Trump last week. Speaking to reporters in India, Van
April 24, 2025 -
Trump's cabinet ready to take back power with Musk stepping back
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Members of President Donald Trump's cabinet will likely move to limit the influence of Department of Government Efficiency employees and reassert control over budgets and staffing once Elon Musk steps back from DOGE, two government sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The Department of Government Efficiency, created by executive order the day Trump took office and helmed by billionaire Musk, has spearheaded efforts to shrink the federal workforce and slash th
April 24, 2025 -
A set of first editions of Shakespeare's plays could fetch $6 million at auction
LONDON (AP) — A set of the first four editions of William Shakespeare's collected works is expected to sell for up to 4.5 million pounds ($6 million) at auction next month. Sotheby's auction house announced the sale on Wednesday, Shakespeare's 461st birthday. It said the May 23 sale will be the first time since 1989 that a set of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Folios has been offered at auction as a single lot. The auction house estimated the sale price at between 3.5 million and 4.5 millio
April 24, 2025 -
Bells toll as Pope Francis' body is transferred to St. Peter's Basilica for 3 days of public viewing
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The bells of St. Peter's tolled Wednesday as the body of Pope Francis was transferred from the Vatican hotel where he lived to the basilica, escorted by a procession of solemn cardinals and Swiss Guards. Pallbearers carried the simple wooden coffin on their shoulders through the Vatican's archway gates leading out into St. Peter's Square, the cardinals in their scarlet cassocks processing behind and the Swiss Guards at their sides in their golden and blue uniforms. Francis' b
April 23, 2025 -
Bhutanese teen helps build satellite in Australia
THIMPHU, Bhutan (Kuensel/ANN) — Pema Tsho Sakhu, a 13-year-old Bhutanese student living in Perth, Australia, is already reaching for the stars, literally. She is part of the BinarX program at Curtin University, where she is helping develop a scientific payload that will soon be launched into Earth's orbit aboard a CubeSat, a miniature satellite, typically shaped like a cube, measuring 10cm on all sides. A student at Balcatta Senior High School, she is one of the youngest participants in the prog
April 23, 2025 -
University students fill key role in teaching Japanese to foreign children
TOKYO (Japan News/ANN) — More and more university students are teaching children with foreign roots the Japanese language, and working to create places for them to feel comfortable. Amid a shortage of teachers for Japanese as a second language, students studying Japanese language education at universities are working actively in the field, and putting what they have learned into practice. Club activities "Yu-bin-u-ke. Do you know what that means?" In mid-April in a classroom at Toyo University i
April 23, 2025 -
Singapore's elderly cheerleaders show off their moves
SINGAPORE (Straits Times/ABB) — Lydia Lee pulled off her first cheerleading routine at the age of 77. Decked out in matching blue and white outfits, she and her teammates punched the air with their bright red pom-poms, spun each other around and grooved in sync to the beat. Rah Rah, as their 60-member squad is known, made its debut performance at the World Aging Festival on April 8 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center — the culmination of three months of weekly practice. Their ages
April 23, 2025 -
WHO announces mass layoffs amid funding cuts
GENEVA (AFP) — The World Health Organization chief said Tuesday that operations and jobs would be slashed as US funding cuts had left the UN agency with a budget hole of several hundred million dollars. "The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states, according to a transcript of his remarks. The United Nations health agency has been bracing for President Donald Trump's
April 23, 2025 -
UN to review the impact of its agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief appointed a British human rights activist on Tuesday to carry out a strategic review of the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees to assess its impact under the"present political, financial, security and other constraints." Israel has banned the agency, known as UNRWA, from operating on its territory, but its Palestinian staff have still been key to delivering aid and running medical clinics in Gaza, even though Israel has cut off all humanitarian
April 23, 2025 -
Zelenskyy pushes back on ceding Ukrainian land in potential peace deal ahead of London talks
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday pushed back at the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia as part of any potential peace agreement, a day before American, European and Ukrainian officials are set for high-level talks in London. During similar talks last week in Paris, US officials presented a proposal that included allowing Russia to keep control of occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a deal, according to a European official familiar with the matter. The off
April 23, 2025 -
Rubio unveils massive overhauls to State Department
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a massive overhaul of the State Department on Tuesday, with plans to reduce staff in the US by 15 percent while closing and consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide as part of the Trump administration's "America First" mandate. The reorganization plan, announced by Rubio on social media and detailed in documents obtained by The Associated Press, is the latest effort by the White House to reimagine US foreign policy and scale back the
April 23, 2025 -
Militants kill dozens of tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Gunmen shot and killed at least 26 tourists Tuesday at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said in what appeared to be a major shift in a regional conflict in which tourists have largely been spared. Police blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for the attack in Baisaran meadow, some 5 kilometers from the disputed region's resort town of Pahalgam. At least three dozen people were wounded, many of them seriously, according to two senior police officers. "T
April 23, 2025