CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — For tiny Moldova, an impoverished, landlocked nation that borders war-torn Ukraine but isn't in the European Union or NATO, it's been another week plagued by bomb threats.
On an overcast day outside the international airport serving Moldova's capital of Chisinau, hundreds of people lined up this week as bomb-sniffing dogs examined the vicinity.
Aug. 12-19, 2022
From the presidential election in Kenya to the European Championship being held in Munich, Associated Press photographers were out capturing the moment. Rain fell in London after a long very dry period that continues in most of Europe, while the giant flower carpet in Brussels was displayed for the first time in almost two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Turkey's leader and the U.N. chief met in Ukraine with President Volodymr Zelenskyy on Thursday in a high-powered bid to ratchet down a war raging for nearly six months. But little immediate progress was reported.
GENEVA (AP) — Europe's embrace of millions of Ukrainians who fled Russia's invasion showed that it's possible to welcome large numbers of asylum-seekers, and the approach should be replicated to receive those fleeing other nations, the head of the U.N.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia’s foreign minister on Thursday defended his country’s decision to bar Russian tourists, saying they are shirking their “moral responsibility” to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime and its “genocidal war” in Ukraine.
Migration
Troubled by the number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients showing up at his hospital, the French doctor logged on to Facebook and uploaded a video urging people to get vaccinated.
He was soon swarmed by dozens, then hundreds, then more than 1,000 hateful messages from an anti-vaccine extremist group known as V_V.
MILAN (AP) — Firefighters worked Thursday to put out the remnants of two wildfires on a Sicilian island that forced fashion designer Giorgio Armani and dozens of others to flee their vacation villas overnight.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Russian cargo ship that Ukraine alleges holds stolen wheat from territory seized by Moscow appears to have reached the Syrian port of Tartus, according to satellite images analyzed Thursday by The Associated Press.
MOSCOW (AP) — People in Moscow who were disappointed when Starbucks closed its coffee shops after Russia sent troops into Ukraine may now feel a caffeine jolt of hope: A nearly identical operation is opening in the capital.
Troubled by the number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients showing up at his hospital, the French doctor logged on to Facebook and uploaded a video urging people to get vaccinated.
He was soon swarmed by dozens, then hundreds, then more than 1,000 hateful messages from an anti-vaccine extremist group known as V_V.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street rose as investors analyzed conflicting economic signals ahead of a Federal Reserve conference next week.
Shanghai and Seoul declined while Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced.
MADRID (AP) — Mexico forward Jesús “Tecatito” Corona is expected to miss the World Cup after breaking his left leg while training with Sevilla on Thursday, the Spanish club said.
Sevilla said Tecatito broke his left fibula and ruptured ankle ligaments and will be out for four to five months.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski had a watch reportedly worth 70,000 euros (about $70,000) snatched from his arm as he arrived for practice on Thursday, Spanish media said.
MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — A judge refused to grant bail Thursday to the man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie as the acclaimed author prepared to give a talk in western New York.
Hadi Matar, 24, appeared in a western New York courtroom after a grand jury indicted him on charges that he rushed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stabbed Rushdie multiple times in front of a horrified crowd.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo failed Thursday to reach an agreement on longstanding border and mutual recognition issues that have spiked tensions in the Balkans and added to Europe's instability during the war in Ukraine, the European Union's foreign policy chief said.
LONDON (AP) — South Africa strengthened its grip on the first cricket test by dismissing England for 165 before moving onto 289-7 after a late flurry of boundaries at Lord's on Thursday.
The Proteas ended Day 2 with a lead of 124 and in a good position to hand England a first test loss under the new regime of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israel raided the offices of several Palestinian advocacy groups it had previously blacklisted as terrorist organizations early Thursday, sealing entrances and declaring them closed.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A commercial truck driver from Ukraine who was taken into custody by immigration officials shortly after he was acquitted of causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists will ask for relief from possible removal from the United States, his attorney said at a hearing Thursday.
ROME (AP) — Italian environmental activists staged a second museum protest in as many months, gluing their hands Thursday to the base of one of the Vatican Museums’ most important ancient sculptures, the Laocoon.
PARIS (AP) — Violent thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds left at least eight dead Thursday in France and Italy, uprooting trees in Tuscany and on the French island of Corsica and ripping away brick shards from St.
BERLIN (AP) — An iconic lighthouse at the northern German port of Bremen has tilted sideways and could soon topple over entirely, officials said Thursday.
Public broadcaster Radio Bremen quoted the head of the water police, Uwe Old, as saying that nothing could be done to save the lighthouse.
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president on Thursday appointed a caretaker governor of the central bank, the president's office said, a day after the bank's chief resigned amid a grinding economic crisis triggered by Russia's war on Ukraine.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank on Thursday lowered its key interest rate despite inflation surging to nearly 80% and making it difficult for people to buy what they need, falling in line with the unorthodox economic views of the country's president.
LONDON (AP) — Thousands of train workers in Britain staged a new round of strikes Thursday, paralyzing rail service across the country in an escalating dispute over pay and working conditions exacerbated by a deepening cost-of-living crisis.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi court has sentenced a doctoral student to 34 years in prison for spreading “rumors” and retweeting dissidents, according to court documents obtained Thursday, a decision that has drawn growing global condemnation.
LONDON (AP) — New coronavirus cases reported globally dropped nearly a quarter in the last week while deaths fell 6% but were still higher in parts of Asia, according to a report Thursday on the pandemic by the World Health Organization.
LONDON (AP) — In February 2021, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over Wrexham Association Football Club, a small team from the north of Wales, and now they’re releasing a documentary about their journey.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany will temporarily lower taxes on natural gas to ease the pressures on people struggling with soaring energy costs fueled by Russia's war on Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday.
MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military said Thursday that it has deployed warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country's westernmost Baltic region, a move that comes amid soaring tensions with the West over Moscow's action in Ukraine.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Finland’s prime minister says she did not take any drugs during a “wild” party in a private home, adding she did nothing wrong when letting her hair down and partying with friends.
ZURICH (AP) — World Cup ticket sales have reached 2.45 million, FIFA said Thursday, with more than 500,000 seats still available three months before the tournament starts in Qatar.
FIFA said 520,000 tickets were bought in a first-come, first-served phase of sales that closed this week.
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Israel's prime minister Thursday that he condemns any attempts to deny or downplay the Holocaust, offering reassurance after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sparked outrage with remarks to that effect earlier this week.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The international envoy tasked with overseeing a 1995 peace agreement for Bosnia has raised eyebrows with an angry outburst against the country’s political leaders in response to a journalist’s question about their failure to agree changes to voting laws.
Dressed in traditional Cossack clothing, Oleksandr Usyk followed up his face-off with Anthony Joshua by performing a Ukrainian resistance song on stage.
Clapping his hands rhythmically, Usyk — with a horseshoe mustache and those steely eyes of his — broke into “Oi u luzi chervona kalyna,” a song from 1875 inspired by Ukraine’s 18th-century struggle for independence and now chanted in defiance amid the war with Russia.
MADRID (AP) — Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana withdrew from the Spanish Vuelta on Thursday to defend himself against his disqualification from the Tour de France for misuse of an opioid banned during races.