World

  Demonstrators gathered in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, call for the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 2, 2024. Tel Aviv, Israel — Hundreds of protesters in Tel Aviv, Israel, voiced their frustration with the government Saturday for failing to secure a truce to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home. Flag-waving demonstrators in the country\'s commercial hub held placards with slogans including "Deal now," "Stop the war" and "We won\'t abandon them," and beat drums and chanted "Why are they still in Gaza?" "There have been countless opportunities to end this crisis, and each o...

  A Lebanese man points to the beach in Batroun, northern Lebanon, where Lebanese officials say a group of armed men landed and took away a ship captain, Nov. 2, 2024. BATROUN, Lebanon — Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday, as the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Israel showed few signs of easing. Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun on Friday. "The operative has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently being investigated,"...

  ATHENS, GREECE — Greek anti-terror investigators have arrested a man in connection with a deadly explosion in Athens, police said Saturday, warning of "a new generation of terrorists" at work. Thursday\'s blast in an apartment in the capital, which killed a man and seriously injured a woman, is suspected to have been caused by the accidental detonation of a homemade bomb. Police sources told AFP they had identified the dead man from his dismembered remains as a 36-year-old from the port city of Piraeus who had been previously arrested in Germany. His fingerprints were in the international database of Europol, the European Union\'s law enforcement agency, the sources said. Investigators have also opened a case for alleged partic...

  Attiq Ur Rehman, 21, walks with his teammates along the beach as they prepare to surf at Turtle Beach in Karachi, Pakistan, Sept. 4, 2024. KARACHI, Pakistan — Attiq Ur Rehman is determined to follow his dream to become Pakistan\'s first professional surfer despite his father\'s concern for his future, a lack of equipment and the messy waves near Karachi. "I don’t care about the money right now. I just want to compete," the 21-year-old says, shrugging off his father\'s plea to take up fishing so he can get married and support his family. "It\'s my surfer attitude." Rehman\'s family are part of a poor coastal community in southern Pakistan that usually make a living from fishing or as lifeguards watching over more aff...

  This handout photograph provided by the Ukrainian State Emergency Service on Nov. 2, 2024, shows a multistory residential building burning as a result of fragments of a downed Russian drone. KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged its allies to stop “watching” and take steps before North Korean troops deployed in Russia reach the battlefield. Zelenskyy raised the prospect of a preemptive Ukrainian strike on camps where the North Korean troops are being trained and said Kyiv knows their location. But he said Ukraine can’t do it without permission from allies to use Western-made long-range weapons to hit targets deep inside Russia. “But instead … America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching. Everyone...

  FILE - This Dec. 14, 2022, photo shows the Orano logo at the crisis unit of the Orano la Hague reprocessing plant, in La Hague, France. Niger's military junta is disputing a decision by French nuclear fuel firm Orano to halt uranium production, according to AFP reporting. Niamey, Niger — Niger\'s military junta is disputing a decision by French nuclear fuel firm Orano to halt uranium production, according to a document from a state partner in the venture seen Friday by Agence France-Presse. Orano announced last month that it was stopping production as of Thursday, owing to what it termed increasingly difficult operating conditions in the country and financial issues. Nigerien state company Sopamin is a shareholder with Orano, which...

  FILE - A spokesperson of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings shows photos captured by a robotic probe inside one of the three melted reactors at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant during a news conference at the TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo on April 4, 2023. TOKYO — A remote-controlled robot has safely returned with a tiny piece of melted fuel it collected from inside one of three damaged reactors at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the first time since the 2011 meltdown. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which manages the plant, said Saturday that the extendable fishing rod-like robot successfully clipped a gravel as big as 5 millimeters, the size of a tiny granola bit, from the top sur...

  The Azores are located in the Atlantic Ocean about 1,290 kilometers (800 miles) from Portugal. MIAMI, FLORIDA — A storm system will likely bring heavy rain to the Azores islands over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday. Subtropical Storm Patty is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 2.5 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) across the archipelago through Sunday. The Hurricane Center said swells generated by Patty are likely to cause dangerous surf and rip current conditions. Patty is clocking maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 kilometers per mile (50 miles per hour) with higher gusts. The Azores are an island chain are located about 1,290 kilometers (800 miles) from Portugal. Tropical Storm Lane Separately,...

  FILE - In this photo taken from video provided by Lefortovo District Court, Robert Shonov, a Russian national who worked at the now-closed U.S. consulate in Vladivostok, is escorted by officers to the courtroom at the Lefortovo District Court in Moscow on May 18, 2023. MOSCOW — A court in Russia\'s far east said on Friday it had convicted Robert Shonov, a former U.S. consular employee, of illegally and covertly cooperating with the U.S. government to harm Russia\'s national security and had jailed him for nearly five years. Russia\'s FSB security service detained Shonov, a Russian national, in Vladivostok in May 2023 and accused him of taking money to covertly supply U.S. diplomats with information that was potentially harmful to Russia...

  FILE - In this photo provided by the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Norwegian Army fires a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS, in Andoya, Norway, on May 10, 2023. Three NASAMS are included in a $2 billion proposed arms sale to Taiwan by the U.S. TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan is expected to receive several weapons that have been battle tested in Ukraine from the United States over the next few years. Analysts say those weapons can help bolster Taiwan’s defense and strike capabilities amid growing military pressure from China. In the latest round of arms sales to Taiwan, worth about $2 billion, the United States plans to deliver three medium-range National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, also known as NASAMS. The wea...