BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Biden administration officials are toughening their language towards NATO ally Turkey as they try to talk Turkish President Recep Erdogan out of launching a bloody and destabilizing ground offensive against American-allied Kurdish forces in neighboring Syria. Since Nov. 20, after six people died in an Istanbul bombing a week before that … Read more
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Even as Ukraine celebrates recent battlefield victoriesits government faces a looming challenge on the financial front: how to pay the enormous cost of the war effort without triggering out-of-control price spikes for ordinary people or piling up debt that could hamper postwar reconstruction. The struggle is finding loans or donations to … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities rejected a price cap on the country’s oil set by Ukraine’s Western supporters and threatened Saturday to stop supplying the nations that endorsed it. Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, the United States and the 27-nation European Union agreed Friday to cap what they would pay for Russian oil at $60-per-barrel. … Read more
SHANGHAI (AP) — The mourners in Shanghai lit candles and placed flowers. Someone scrawled “Urumqi, 11.24, Rest in Peace” in red on cardboard — referring to the deadly apartment fire in China’s western city of Urumqi that sparked anger over perceptions the country’s strict COVID-19 measures played a role in the disaster. What started as … Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Group of Seven nations and Australia joined the European Union on Friday in adopting a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil, a key step as Western sanctions aim to reorder the global oil market to prevent price spikes and starve President Vladimir Putin of funding for his war in Ukraine. Europe … Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has declared that Democrats should give up “restrictive” caucuses and prioritize diversity at the start of their presidential primary calendar — dealing a major blow to Iowa’s decadeslong status as the state that leads off the process. In a letter Thursday to the rule-making arm of the Democratic National … Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden assured Americans on Friday that the US economy is chugging along in the holiday season, but the very strength of a new jobs report showed that high inflation remains a recession threat. At the White House, the president signed an emergency bill to avert a rail strike that he … Read more
MADRID (AP) — Police in Spain detonated a suspicious parcel discovered at the US Embassy in Madrid, Spanish officials said Thursday, a day after a similar package sent to the Ukrainian Embassy ignited upon opening and injured an employee. “We can confirm a suspicious package was received at the US Embassy in Madrid, and are … Read more
HONG KONG (AP) — Videos of hundreds protesting in Shanghai began to appear on WeChat on Saturday night. Showing chants about removing COVID-19 restrictions and demanding freedomthey would stay up only a few minutes before being censored. Elliot Wang, a 26-year-old in Beijing, was amazed. “I started refreshing constantly, and saving videos, and taking screenshots … Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron are celebrating the long-standing US-French relationship, but these are friends with differences. The French leader is using his visit to Washington to sharply criticize aspects of his ally’s signature climate law as a bad deal for Europe. Biden was to honor Macron with the first state … Read more