International News

Shanghai Disneyland reopens with anti-virus controls

SHANGHAI — Visitors wearing face masks streamed into Shanghai Disneyland as China’s most prominent theme park reopened Monday in a new step toward rolling back anti-coronavirus controls that...

International News

New Iraq PM releases protesters, promotes respected general

BAGHDAD — Iraq's judiciary ordered courts on Sunday to release anti-government protesters, carrying out one of the first decisions of the recently inaugurated prime minister just as dozens of...

International News

Swiss plan to ask diners for contacts dropped over privacy

GENEVA — The Swiss government on Friday backed down from plans to require restaurants and bars to take the names and phone numbers of their patrons as a way to fight the coronavirus, after...

International News

Vatican cardinal in row over claim that virus hurts religion

ROME — A petition signed by some conservative Catholics claiming the coronavirus is an overhyped “pretext" to deprive the faithful of Mass and impose a new world order has run into a...

International News

Troubled Zimbabwe hopes for some relief in tobacco sales

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Adjust Saidi, a foreman at a farm outside Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, paced through rows of tobacco plants. Desperate to complete the harvest and sell the crop, he pushed...

International News

Volunteers put faces to names of Americans in WWII cemetery

OPIJNEN, Netherlands — Staff Sgt. Maurice Gosney was just a name carved on a white cross until a young Dutch historian went in search of the fallen American soldier's face.

International News

Leningrad siege survivor supplies needy amid pandemic

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — As a child during the World War II siege of Leningrad, Galina Yakovleva learned how to make the best of fearful times. Today she’s using those lessons as she brings...

International News

Polish ruling coalition postpones Sunday presidential vote

WARSAW, Poland — Poland's ruling party leader and a partner in the governing coalition announced an agreement late Wednesday to postpone Sunday's presidential election, saying a new date will...

International News

Astronomers find closest black hole to Earth, hints of more

Meet your new but shy galactic neighbor: A black hole left over from the death of a fleeting young star.

International News

Philippine TV network’s shutdown amid pandemic sparks uproar

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine church and business leaders expressed alarm Wednesday over a government agency’s shutdown of the country’s largest TV and radio network, which has been a...

International News

UK’s ‘Captain Tom’ inspires campaign by 97-year-old Russian

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia —

International News

Putin awards commemorative WWII medal to Kim Jong Un

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded Kim Jong Un a commemorative war medal marking the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang...

International News

India’s virus lockdown eased while infection rate speeds up

NEW DELHI — India relaxed some coronavirus lockdown restrictions on Monday even as the pace of infection picked up and reopenings drew crowds of people.

International News

Asia Today: Vietnam schools reopen, New Zealand hits zero

BANGKOK — Students across Vietnam started returning to classrooms Monday after being closed for three months to curb the spread of COVID-19.

International News

Asia Today: No new cases in N Zealand; Malaysia reopens some

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand reported no new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, marking a significant moment that indicated the country’s bold strategy of trying to eliminate the...

International News

Spaniards race out for 1st open-air exercise since mid-March

BARCELONA, Spain — Thousands of Spaniards woke early and laced up their sports shoes Saturday after a prohibition on outdoor exercise during the coronavirus pandemic ended after seven weeks....

International News

Serbia opposition stage curfew protest against government

BELGRADE, Serbia — A group of Serbian opposition leaders on Thursday staged a protest during an evening curfew to voice their criticism of the populist government's measures against the new...

International News

Johnson: UK ‘past the peak’ of outbreak but must be cautious

LONDON — Britain is past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday, as he promised to reveal a “road map” out of national lockdown — but not...

International News

Germany raids sites linked to Hezbollah, extends ban

BERLIN — German police raided five sites linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as authorities announced Thursday that they were banning activities by its political wing in...

International News

South Korea investigating cause of fire after 38 workers die

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean authorities on Thursday were investigating what caused a fire that killed 38 construction workers in one of the country’s deadliest fires in years.

International News

UK leader Boris Johnson, fiancee announce birth of baby boy

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds announced the birth of a son on Wednesday, just two days after Johnson returned to work following hospitalization...

International News

Virus lockdown worsens suffering for Johannesburg beggars

JOHANNESBURG — Inock Mukanhairi shows the small amount of food that he has for himself, his wife, Angeline, and five children — barely enough to make it through another week of South Africa's...

International News

UK mourns ‘fallen’ front-line workers, expands virus testing

LONDON — The U.K. held a minute's silence Tuesday for all front-line workers who have died from the coronavirus, as the government extended its testing program and concerns mounted about the...

International News

Virus-ravaged Europe nudges some doors open, not others

PARIS — Europeans are starting to venture outside after weeks of confinement, scarred by a virus that has overwhelmed some of the world's best health care systems and killed more than...

International News

Asia Today: Officials: No more hospitalized Wuhan patients

BANGKOK — Wuhan, the city at the center of China’s coronavirus outbreak, has no more hospitalized patients after the last 12 were discharged Sunday, the Hubei province health commission...

International News

Facing disaster, Russian businesses find Kremlin aid lacking

MOSCOW — Desperate business owners in Russia have been pleading with the Kremlin for help in the pandemic shutdown. The response, however, has been slow and largely focused on big industries,...

International News

“Green light! Ants!” Spain’s kids get freedom from lockdown

BARCELONA, Spain — After six weeks cooped up with 3-year-old twins, mother Susana Sabaté was finally able to release her energy-filled boys onto Spain’s sunny streets.

International News

Hong Kong bookstore under attack in China reopens in Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The part-owner of a Hong Kong bookstore specializing in texts critical of China’s leaders reopened his shop in Taiwan on Saturday after fleeing Hong Kong due to legal...

International News

Asia Today: Sri Lanka reimposes curfew; 12 cases in China

BANGKOK — Sri Lanka has reimposed a countrywide 24-hour curfew after a surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, most of them navy sailors who were hunting those evading quarantine....

International News

Sources: Guaido allies take slice of first Venezuela budget

MIAMI — Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela quietly agreed to pay themselves $5,000 a month when they approved special $100 bonuses for doctors and nurses battling the coronavirus — a large...

International News

Germany: Syrian ex-secret police go on trial for war crimes

BERLIN — Two former members of Syria's secret police go on trial Thursday in Germany accused of crimes against humanity for their role in a government-run detention center where large numbers...

International News

UK slammed over testing amid warning over social distancing

LONDON — The British government came under sustained criticism Wednesday for responding slowly to the coronavirus pandemic as its chief medical adviser warned that social distancing measures...

International News

Asia Today: Clusters among crew on 2 ships in Taiwan, Japan

BANGKOK — Japanese officials said Wednesday that 33 crew members on a docked cruise ship tested positive for the coronavirus in one day of testing after the first case from the ship was...

International News

Trump tells Chevron to “wind down” oil fields in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela — The Trump administration on Tuesday ordered Chevron Corp. to “wind down” operations in Venezuela by Dec. 1, barring the California-based oil giant with a century-long run...

International News

UK Parliament to hold virtual debates amid virus lockdown

LONDON — Britain’s Parliament is going back to work, and the political authorities have a message for lawmakers: Stay away.

International News

Syria refugees to face their torturers in German court

BERLIN — Six years ago Wassim Mukdad fled Syria, demoralized and fearing for his life as the country spiraled ever deeper into all-out war.

International News

Southeast Asian nations struggling against coronavirus

Few Southeast Asian nations enacted serious measures to contain the coronavirus until their own number of cases starting climbing sharply. Indonesia, as the most populous country in the region, is...

International News

After denial, Indonesia sees mounting coronavirus deaths

JAKARTA, Indonesia — While Indonesia’s neighbors scrambled early this year to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the government of the world’s fourth most populous nation insisted...

International News

India reports biggest one-day virus spike as lockdown eased

NEW DELHI — India recorded its biggest single-day spike in coronavirus cases on Monday as the government eased one of the world's strictest lockdowns to allow some manufacturing and...

International News

‘A stroke of luck’ to be on global cruise during pandemic

BARCELONA, Spain — For Spanish traveler Carlos Payá, being on an around-the-globe luxury cruise while the rest of world scurried into their homes for fear of the COVID-19 pandemic was beyond...

International News

AP PHOTOS: The workers who keep Spain going under lockdown

PAMPLONA, Spain — As Spain hunkers down after five weeks of confinement, the brave few keep the country going during a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 20,000 of their fellow...

International News

US-Russian space crew lands safely in Kazakhstan

MOSCOW — A U.S.-Russian crew landed safely Friday in the steppes of Kazakhstan following a stint on the International Space Station and was greeted with extra precautions due to the...