World

  FILE -In this March 27, 2016, photo, Vietnamese fishermen fix nets on their boat as while docked at Tho Quang port, Danang, Vietnam, after a fishing trip in the South China Sea. Malaysia has sent a complaint letter to Vietnam over its alleged expansion of a South China Sea reef that both countries claim as their own, two officials told Reuters, in a rare bilateral escalation not involving China. The move brings to light another of the multiple disputes in the strategic waterway, most of which China claims sovereignty over, with Beijing involved in frequent altercations with the Philippines and sporadic rows with Vietnam. The most contested features are around the Spratly archipelago, where China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and th...

  FILE - Garment sellers wait for customers beside an overpass in Kolkata, India, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. BENGALURU, India — India\'s manufacturing growth gained momentum in October after decelerating for three months as demand improved significantly, helping in job creation and leading to a better business outlook, according to a business survey released on Monday. The HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers\' Index, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 57.5 in October from an eight-month low of 56.5 in September and was above a preliminary estimate of 57.4. "India\'s headline manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) picked up substantially in October as the economy\'s operating conditions continue to broadly improv...

  A member of Spain's Military Emergency Unit embraces with a local woman, in the aftermath of floods caused by heavy rains, in Sedavi, near Valencia, Spain, November 3, 2024. PAIPORTA, Spain — Spain is deploying 7,500 troops to its eastern region hit by devastating floods, the government said on Monday in the face of rising discontent over the response to the catastrophe that has killed at least 217 people. The army sent about 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clean up streets and protect shops and properties from looters. A further 2,500 would join them, Defense Minister Margarita Robles told state-owned radio RNE. A warship carrying 104 marine infantry soldiers as well as trucks with food and wate...

  ILE - In this Wednesday, June 5, 2019 file photo, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, speaks with French Football Federation President Noel Le Graet before the start of the 69th FIFA congress in Paris. Paris — French prosecutors on Monday said they had dropped an investigation into sexual and moral harassment allegations against former French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet. The preliminary inquiry, opened in January 2023, was closed on Oct. 17 due to insufficient evidence, the Paris public prosecution office said in e-mailed comments. Le Graet, 82, who had led the federation since 2011, resigned in February but denied any wrongdoing. His departure followed a government audit that concluded he no longer had "the nec...

  Cyclists ride along a street as they participate in an awareness campaign against smog and pollution in Lahore on November 3, 2024. LAHORE, Pakistan — Dangerously poor air quality on Monday forced Pakistani authorities in the cultural capital of Lahore to close primary schools for a week, government officials said, after the air-quality index hit a record high over the weekend. The measures in Lahore were part of a larger effort to protect children from respiratory-related and other diseases in the city of 14 million people. The government said everyone in Lahore was required to wear a face mask. Fifty percent of employees must also work from home as part of a “green lockdown” in the city, the government said, adding that barbecuing foo...

  FILE - Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput arrives for the International Monetary and Financial Committee plenary during the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington on October 25, 2024. BANGKOK — The independence of central banks is being challenged and they have come under more pressure lately than at any time in the past decade, the Bank of Thailand chief said, according to a speech transcript released on Monday. "Central bank independence in many countries, including Thailand, is being challenged despite having done a reasonable job over past decades," Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said in remarks made at the Bank of International Settlements annual conference in Switzerla...

  FILE - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock attends a press conference at the German embassy in Dekwaneh, Lebanon October 23, 2024. On Monday, Baerbock pledged Germany's support for Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock pledged her country’s support for Ukraine during a visit Monday to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders. Baerbock said Ukraine needs support amid Russian airstrikes as its heads into another winter season, and with the added threat of North Korean military support for Russia. "We are countering this brutality with our humanity and support, so that Ukrainians can not only survive the winter, but so that their country can survive. Because they are also defending the freedom of all of us in Europe...

  FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration PARIS — Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against social media giant TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said on Monday. The lawsuit alleges TikTok\'s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster franceinfo. The families are taking joint legal action in the Créteil judicial court. Boutron-Marmion said it was the first such grouped case in Europe. "The parents want TikTok\'s legal liability to be recognized in court," ...

  FILE - People chant slogans during a protest against the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey's main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group, in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 31, 2024. ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey stripped three elected pro-Kurdish mayors of their posts in southeastern cities on Monday, for convictions and charges on terrorism-related offenses, the interior ministry said, appointing state officials in their places instead. Local governors replaced the mayors in the provincial centers of Mardin and Batman, while the mayor of Halfeti in Sanliurfa province was also unseated, it said. All belonged to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which has 57 seats in the national parliament. Dozens o...

  FILE - European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium October 17, 2024. SEOUL, South Korea — The European Union\'s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell holds talks on Monday with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul, amid growing concerns in Seoul over the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia for its war with Ukraine. Borrell arrived in South Korea after a trip to Japan and visited the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, the diplomat said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday. "My visit today of the Demilitarized Zone - DMZ - between the Republic of Korea and the DPRK is yet another reminder of the need to invest more in pea...