World

  Bangladesh Hindus participate in a rally demanding that an interim government withdraw all cases against their leaders and protect them from attacks and harassment, in Chattogram, Bangladesh, Nov. 1, 2024. DHAKA, Bangladesh — Tens of thousands of minority Hindus rallied Friday to demand that the interim government in Muslim-majority Bangladesh protect them from a wave of attacks and harassment and drop sedition cases against Hindu community leaders. About 30,000 Hindus demonstrated at a major intersection in the southeastern city of Chattogram, demanding their rights while police and soldiers guarded the area. Other protests were reported elsewhere in the country. Hindu groups say thousands of attacks against Hindus have happened since...

  A man flashes the victory sign as holds up a Hezbollah flag while standing on the ruins of his destroyed apartment at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 1, 2024. Rescuers in northeastern Lebanon searched for survivors Friday after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 52 people, according to Lebanon\'s Health Ministry. Israel airstrikes pounded Lebanon\'s Bekaa Valley early Friday, sending families fleeing from their homes. Video from the scene showed some buildings in rubble as smoke rose above the skyline. Lebanon\'s Health Ministry said 72 people were injured in the bombardment. Israeli warplanes also destroyed dozens of buildings Friday in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, but there were no reports...

  FILE - People walk past banners inviting students to study in Canada and other places abroad at a market in Amritsar, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, Oct. 15, 2024. OTTAWA — Canada\'s deepening dispute with India over its alleged campaign of violence against Sikhs in Canada could intensify Indian-based cyber espionage and hold back immigration, but analysts and experts see no immediate impact on trade. Concern about a widening rift between the two countries comes after a senior Canadian official told a parliamentary national security committee on Tuesday that Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the mastermind behind the alleged plots. While Indian officials dismissed the o...

  A view of a damaged home after projectiles fired from Lebanon in Tira, central Israel, Nov. 2, 2024. Israeli police say at least 19 people have been injured by a missile strike in the city of Tira, some 25 kilometers northeast of Tel Aviv, after the military reported three projectiles were fired from Lebanon into central Israel early Saturday. The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted videos on social media showing fire and smoke spilling from a building and emergency responders at the site. "This is the result of a direct hit of a Hezbollah rocket on a building in the Israeli Arab town of Tira, injuring 19 civilians," the ministry said in the post, adding Israel will not rest until Hezbollah is dismantled. The Israeli army said on ...

  FILE - A B-52 Stratofortress prepares for refueling during a close-air-support mission in this undated handout photo from the U.S. Air Force. washington — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending additional bomber aircraft and Navy warships to the Middle East to bolster the U.S. presence in the region as an aircraft carrier and its warships are preparing to leave, U.S. officials said Friday. Austin ordered several B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft, tanker aircraft and Navy destroyers to deploy to the Middle East, according to four U.S. and military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements. The military moves come as Israel\'s wars with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon rage, including...

  When the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on three companies belonging to Denis Postovoy on Wednesday, it was yet another move to break up what U.S. authorities say was an international scheme to violate sanctions. A month earlier, on September 16, law enforcement officials arrested the 44-year-old Russian national in Sarasota, Florida. He was charged with conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia, commit smuggling, commit money laundering and defraud the United States. According to the indictment, Postovoy used an international network of companies to export dual-use microelectronic components from the United States to Russia –– potentially spare parts for military drones used in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine. De...

  FILE - People run away from tear gas during a protest on the street in Kano, Nigeria, Aug. 1, 2024. ABUJA, Nigeria — Twenty-nine children could be facing the death penalty in Nigeria after they were arraigned Friday for participating in a protest of the country\'s record cost-of-living crisis. Four of them collapsed in court due to exhaustion before they could enter a plea. A total of 76 protesters were charged with 10 felony counts, including treason, destruction of property, public disturbance and mutiny, according to the charge sheet seen by The Associated Press. According to the charge sheet, the minors ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old. Frustration over the cost-of-living crisis has led to several mass protests in recent month...

  Sudanese people fleeing Al Jazirah state settle in a camp for the displaced in the city of Gedaref, Oct. 31, 2024. In late October, the Rapid Support Forces attacked villages across Al Jazirah, reportedly killing more than 120 civilians. united nations — The U.N. secretary-general on Friday strongly condemned recent attacks in Sudan\'s Al Jazirah state by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and reiterated his call for the war to end. "The secretary-general is appalled by large numbers of civilians being killed, being detained or being displaced, as well as acts of sexual violence against women and girls, the looting of homes and the looting of markets and the burning of farms," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. ...

  Paramedics and volunteers transport an injured victim of a bomb explosion in Mastung town, upon arrival at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Nov. 1, 2024. ISLAMABAD — A bomb blast in southwestern Pakistan early Friday morning killed at least nine people, including five schoolchildren, and injured 17 others. Authorities said that a homemade bomb attached to a motorcycle was detonated in Mastung, a district in the violence-affected Balochistan province, apparently targeting a police vehicle near a school. At least one police officer was among the dead, and several others also sustained injuries. Officials reported that a police vehicle was transporting personnel to protect polio vaccination teams involved in the ongoing national campaign...

  FILE - The seal of the U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, is displayed on Feb. 6, 2017, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. CENTCOM said on Oct. 30, 2024, that it conducted strikes on Islamic State camps in Syria, killing nearly 35 operatives. WASHINGTON — Airstrikes carried out by the U.S. military this week against several Islamic State targets in Syria highlight concerns about the terror group\'s growing presence in the war-torn country, experts say. U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, said Wednesday that its forces had conducted strikes on Monday targeting multiple camps belonging to IS, or ISIS, in the Syrian desert. Nearly 35 IS operatives, including senior leaders, were killed in the airstrikes, the U.S. military said. SE...