AP World News

HONG KONG (AP) — Monday’s sentencing of Hong Kong democracy advocate and one-time media magnate Jimmy Lai brought an outcry from governments and rights groups. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities defended it, saying it reflected the spirit of the rule of law. The 78-year-old Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British police said they were examining claims that the former Prince Andrew sent confidential trade reports to Jeffrey Epstein, as Prince William’s office said he was “deeply concerned’’ about the revelations coming out of the U.S. investigation into the late sex offender. Thames Valley Police, which serves

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Vice President JD Vance landed in Armenia on Monday — a country that no sitting U.S. vice president or president has visited before — as the Trump administration looks to advance a U.S.-brokered deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict with Azerbaijan. The vice president

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign Monday after revelations about the relationship between former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Sarwar said that “the distraction needs to end

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian security forces have launched a campaign to arrest figures within the country’s reformist movement, reports said Monday. That widens a crackdown on dissent after authorities earlier put down nationwide protests in violence that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands more detained. Detained

By PETER PRENGAMAN Associated Press REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — As rising global temperatures speed up the melting of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, it’s set off a boom of ships taking routes that previously were frozen and not traversable. The increase in marine Arctic traffic, which received increased attention as President Donald Trump pushed

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s top prosecutor said on Monday that his office had requested the arrest of one of the closest allies of opposition leader María Corina Machado, less than 12 hours after his release from a detention facility as part of a government move to free those

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — The Bhumjaithai Party of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is on track to win the most seats in Thailand’s general election, according to unofficial results released by the state Election Commission after about 94% of polling stations had reported Monday. It’s the first decisive victory of a conservative

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The man who killed 51 Muslim worshipers at two mosques in New Zealand’s deadliest mass shooting told an appeals court Monday that he felt forced to admit to the crimes because of “irrationality” due to harsh prison conditions, as he sought to have his guilty

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison in the longest punishment given so far under a China-imposed national security law that has virtually silenced the city’s dissent. Lai, 78,

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel ’s security cabinet on Sunday approved measures that aim to deepen Israeli control over the occupied West Bank and weaken the already limited powers of the Palestinian Authority. The office of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a statement announced the decisions that would make it easier for Jewish settlers to

By FERNANDA FIGUEROA The Associated Press MILAN (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said that it is hard to cheer for American Olympians who are speaking out against administration policies, calling one such critic “a real Loser” who perhaps should have stayed home. It was the latest and most prominent example of U.S.

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Before U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn’s devastating crash on Sunday while racing on a badly injured left knee, Iran’s Alpine women’s skiing coach shared words of admiration for the American. “She’s my superhero,” Mitra Kalhor told The Associated Press in the Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Village

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government on Sunday released from prison several prominent opposition members, including one of the closest allies of Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, after lengthy politically motivated detentions. Their releases come as the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces mounting pressure to

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s chief of staff resigned Sunday over the furor surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, 72, to

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of traders and customs clearance company owners protested in central Baghdad on Sunday, demanding that Iraq’s government reverse recently imposed customs tariffs that they say have sharply increased their costs and disrupted trade. The new tariffs that came into effect on Jan. 1 were imposed as

By SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A limited number of Palestinians traveled between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday as the Rafah crossing reopened after a two-day closure, Egyptian state media reported. The vital border point opened last week for the first time since mid-2024, one of the main requirements for

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities said Sunday that the man suspected of shooting a deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency in Moscow was detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia, and they alleged he was working on behalf of Ukraine. Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after being shot several times Friday by

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to over seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, supporters said Sunday, as Tehran cracks down on all dissent following nationwide protests and the deaths of thousands at the hands of security

By JAMES BROOKS Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The makers of mobile apps designed to help shoppers identify and boycott American goods say they saw a surge of interest in Denmark and beyond after the recent flare-up in tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland. The creator of the “Made O’Meter” app,

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results with 99% of votes counted. Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with 66.7% of votes, compared with

By KAMILA HRABCHUK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — It is pre-dawn in the historic Podil district of the Ukraine capital, Kyiv, and warm light from the Spelta bakery-bistro’s window pierces the darkness outside. On a wooden surface dusted with flour, the baker Oleksandr Kutsenko skilfully divides and shapes soft, damp pieces of dough. As

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and FOSTER KLUG Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s governing party secured a two-thirds supermajority in parliamentary elections, Japanese media reported, citing preliminary results. The landslide victory was due, in large part, to the extraordinary popularity of Japan’s first female prime minister, and allows her to pursue

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to convene the first meeting of his Board of Peace this month in Washington to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza. The meeting, proposed for Feb. 19, would include both world leaders who accepted Trump’s invitation in January to join the