World

  FILE - An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia, on Oct. 11, 2022. Smuggling “Paradoxically, because Russia started using those sophisticated methods of smuggling its oil, they are able not just to fool the West and to hide the oil supplies from sanctions, but also to hide them from their partners in the OPEC+ club,” Danylyuk said. “The real scale of the operations is actually much higher than most observers believe — $60 billion literally stolen from other OPEC+ countries,” he added. “I don\'t think that OPEC originally was founded to have members like that, right? So it\'s not fair. It\'s not how cartels usually work.” Russia response Russia has not directly addressed accusation...

  FILE - A woman holds a photograph of far-right activist Rasmus Paludan during a protest outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 28, 2023. Paludan infuriated Turkey by staging a Quran-burning protest in Sweden on Jan. 21, 2023. MALMO, Sweden — A Swedish court sentenced a far-right politician Tuesday to four months in jail for two counts of "incitement against an ethnic group" after making hateful comments at political rallies two years ago. The Danish-Swedish 42-year-old man, who was not named but has been identified by Swedish media as Rasmus Paludan, founder and head of the Danish nationalist anti-immigration party Stram Kurs, had been previously convicted and sentenced by a Danish court on a similar charge, ...

  Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, right, hosted delegation-level talks with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in Islamabad on Nov. 5, 2024. (Courtesy Pakistani FO) Islamabad — Iran\'s chief diplomat said Tuesday that Tehran opposes military escalation in the region but "will certainly respond" to the deadly Oct. 26 strike by Israel against his country. During an official visit to neighboring Pakistan, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed the Israeli attack on Iranian military bases and other installations, resulting in the deaths of at least five people, mostly security personnel. "Unlike the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran does not seek escalation. However, we reserve our inherent right to le...

  FILE - A nurse practitioner prepares a syringe with the mpox vaccine before inoculating a patient at a vaccination site in New York City, Aug. 30, 2022 The U.K. has three confirmed cases of mpox variant clade 1b, as of Nov. 5, 2024. London — Two new cases of the mpox variant clade 1b detected in the U.K. are the first locally transmitted cases in Europe and the first outside Africa, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed late Monday that the two new cases were household contacts of Britain\'s first case identified last week, bringing the country\'s total confirmed cases to three. The WHO warned that European states should be prepared for "rapid action" to contain the lates...

  Soldiers from the Spanish Parachute Squadron (EZAPAC) look for bodies after floods in Barranco del Poyo, Spain, Nov. 5, 2024. SEDAVI, Spain — Francisco Murgui went out to try to salvage his motorbike when the water started to rise. He never came back. One week after catastrophic flooding devastated eastern Spain, Maria Murgui still holds out hope that her father is alive and among the unknown number of the missing. “He was like many people in town who went out to get their car or motorbike to safety,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press. “The flash flood caught him outside, and he had to cling to a tree in order to escape drowning. He called us to tell us that he was fine, that we shouldn’t worry.” But when Maria set out into...

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, right, attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Oct. 31, 2024. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday the trust between the two men had evaporated over the course of Israel’s war on Gaza. “Over the past few months that trust has eroded,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “In light of this, I decided today to end the term of the defense minister.” “In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and the minister of defense,” Netanyahu said. "Significant gaps were ...

  FILE - A Palestinian girl wounded in Israeli bombing in Gaza is brought by ambulance to Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, May 3, 2024. The WHO says more than 100 patients will be evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment. geneva — In a rare and welcome move, the World Health Organization says more than 100 patients, including children, who are suffering from severe trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be medically evacuated from Gaza Wednesday to countries where they can receive medical treatment for their condition. “These are ad hoc measures. What we have been requesting for repeatedly is a sustained medevac [medical evacuation] outside Gaza, an organized, sustained medevac,” Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO re...

  FILE - Jamshid Sharmahd attends the first hearing of his trial in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 6, 2022. Iran said on Oct. 28, 2024, that it executed Sharmahd, but an Iranian official said on Nov. 5 that the prisoner died before he could be executed. (Mizan News Agency via AFP) DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — An Iranian official claimed Tuesday that Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd died before Tehran could execute him — directly contradicting the country\'s earlier announcement he had been put to death. The comment by Asghar Jahangir came after Germany shut down all three Iranian consulates in the country over Sharmahd\'s death, leaving only the embassy in Berlin open. Germany later disputed Jahangir\'s remark. Meanwhile, even Iran\'s ref...

  Valdecy Urquiza, currently Interpol's vice president for the Americas, poses for a photo at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, Nov. 4, 2024. London — Brazilian police official Valdecy Urquiza will be the next chief of Interpol, the global police organization announced Tuesday. Urquiza was elected secretary-general by a vote of Interpol\'s general assembly at its meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, and will take up the post when the gathering ends on Thursday. Currently Interpol\'s vice president for the Americas, Urquiza is the first chief of the Lyon, France-based organization not to come from Europe or the United States. The Interpol secretary-general essentially runs the organization on a daily basis. Juergen Stock of...

  FILE - A photographer walks past buildings damaged by a Russian military strike, in the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Nov. 4, 2024. Ukraine’s military said Tuesday it shot down two Russian guided missiles as well as 48 of the 79 drones that Russian forces used in overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy and Zhytomyr regions, the Ukrainian air force said. Ivan Fedorov, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Tuesday a Russian attack killed at least six people and wounded 16 others. Fedorov said on Telegram that Russia hit an infrastructure facility. Officials in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region also reported a Russian attack that injured two people and d...