Europe

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — For years, Fatima Mhattar has welcomed shopkeepers, students, bankers and retirees to Hammam El Majd, a public bath on the outskirts of Morocco’s capital, Rabat. For a handful of change, they relax in a haze of steam then are scrubbed down and rinsed off alongside their friends and neighbors. The public […]

Russia’s February oil and gas revenues jumped by over 80% from a year ago. The increase comes despite sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia managed to circumvent sanctions and maintain revenue, most recently by activating a price floor mechanism. Russia played a card that nearly doubled its energy revenues ahead of […]

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s exports and imports for the first two months of the year beat estimates, an indication that demand may be improving as Beijing attempts to boost economic recovery. Exports for the January-February period grew 7.1% from a year earlier, customs data released Thursday showed, higher than the 2.3% rise in December. […]

Stricter rules for large online platforms are coming into force in the European Union on Thursday as part of an effort to prevent abuse of power. The European Commission has so far identified 22 services from six companies as so-called “gatekeepers” to which the new rules apply, and the rules largely impact US tech giants […]

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday is making his first official visit to Kashmir’s main city since New Delhi stripped the disputed region’s semi-autonomy and took direct control of it in 2019. Thousands of armed paramilitary troops and police in flak jackets maintained extra vigilance across the Kashmir Valley, the […]

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to make his first visit to the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley since revoking the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019. Mr Modi will address a rally in Srinagar, just weeks before India’s general election dates are announced. Reports say his Bharatiya Janata Party will mobilise thousands of people to attend the event […]

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian and Vietnamese prime ministers on Thursday discussed ways of improving an already booming economic relationship, as part of Australia’s strategy to diversify trade away from China. Vietnamese Pham Minh Chinh’s official state visit came after he attended a summit of Southeast Asian leaders this week co-chaired by his Australian counterpart […]

Social media posts falsely claimed a video of a fire in the Philippines showed the situation in western Myanmar, where fighting intensified between the Burmese military and ethnic rebel groups from January 2024. The clip in fact showed a massive blaze that left thousands homeless in the Philippines’ central Cebu province in December 2023. “Most […]

Homophobia is not uncommon in Ghana, where gay sex is already against the law and carries a three-year prison sentence, but now the LGBTQ+ community is feeling terrorised. A new bill, passed by MPs last week, will impose a jail term of up to three years for simply identifying as LGBTQ+ and five years for […]

In eastern Ukraine, the tide of this war hasn’t just changed – it’s coming in fast. “We know what’s coming,” says Mariya as she packs up the TV in her flat in Kostyantynivka. She’s having it delivered to Kyiv before making the journey there with her son. “We’re tired all day [and suffer] moods and […]

The Houthis killed three people and injured several more in an attack on a commercial ship Monday. An anti-ship ballistic missile hit the True Confidence as it was transiting the Gulf of Aden. It’s the first time the Iran-backed rebels have caused fatalities during their attacks. A Houthi missile strike on a commercial vessel killed three […]

Azerbaijan’s biggest arms supplier has been Russia but it will likely acquire jets from elsewhere. The rumored deal suggests the longtime ally is detaching more from Moscow, a defense analyst said. Russia’s answer to America’s F-22 and F-35, the Su-57, has severe shortcomings. The small, oil-rich South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan has big plans to […]