OCT 26, 2019 1700 GMT | Moscow, The Russian Federation | Maria Butina smiles as she speaks to journalists upon her arrival from the United States at Moscow International Airport Sheremetyevo outside Moscow Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. Butina, a gun rights activist who sought to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups and promote Russia’s agenda around the time that Donald Trump rose to power, was released Friday from a low-security facility in Florida. (AP Photo)
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) — The Russian woman convicted in the United States of being a Russian agent returned to Moscow on Saturday and declared that she has no desire to go back to America.
Maria Butina was deported Friday by the United States after serving a prison sentence, arriving the next day at the Russian capital’s Sheremetyevo airport. Carrying a bouquet of flowers, she rested her head on the shoulder of her father, Valery, who had come from their Siberian hometown of Barnaul to meet her.
OCT 23, 2019 1700 GMT | FILE- In this Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 file photo, soldiers from the presidential guard patrol outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako after it was attacked by Islamic extremists armed with guns and grenades. Islamic extremists have displaced half a million people this year in the border area between Burkina Faso and Mali as their threat continues to spread in West Africa’s Sahel region. The fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are exploiting military and government weaknesses as well as local grievances. A regional counterterror force has failed to stop the attacks and has become a target itself. (AP Photo)
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Assaya Ngweba says Islamic extremists transformed his once-peaceful village in Burkina Faso, near the border with Mali, into “a place of misfortune and death.”
Now the 78-year-old is among half a million people who have fled the area this year as the extremists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group increase attacks and expand their range in West Africa. Concerted military actions by five regional countries, along with a French operation, have failed to stem the violence.
OCT 19, 2019 1400 GMT | Paris, France | Protesters take part of a demonstration against Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria, on Republique plaza in eastern Paris, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. Demonstrators warned that the offensive could allow Islamic State extremists to resurge. Kurdish forces being targeted by Turkey this week were crucial to the international campaign against IS extremists, who orchestrated several deadly attacks against France. (AP Photo)
BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of people in the German city of Cologne and in the French capital demonstrated Saturday against Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria.
Cologne city authorities said around 10,000 people took part in marches organized by left-wing groups. Police were out in force amid concerns about possible violence but authorities said the event was largely peaceful.
OCT 15, 2019 1500 GMT } Quito, Ecuador | An attendant shows an automotive product to a driver in front of a display with new fuel prices at a gas station in Quito, Ecuador, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. The recent strike that paralyzed the Andean nation for almost two weeks, has left a gaping hole in Ecuador’s economy, this after President Lenin Moreno called back his elimination of fuel subsidies which provoked the violent protests. (AP Photo)
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Lenín Moreno survived the toughest political crisis of his presidency by negotiating an end to indigenous anti-austerity protests. Now he faces an even tougher challenge.
Ten years of populist rule and a drop in oil prices have left Ecuador with a $64 billion public debt, which is more than half the gross domestic product, and the government has a $10 billion annual budget shortfall, about a third of the entire budget. Moreno persuaded indigenous protesters to return home Sunday night by restoring fuel subsidies that cost the government $1.3 billion a year.
OCT 11, 2019 1130 GMT | Washington, United States | President Donald Trump receives a letter presented to him by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. (AP Photo)
BEIJING (AP) — Companies have welcomed a U.S.-Chinese trade truce as a possible step toward breaking a deadlock in a 15-month-old tariff war, while economists caution there was little progress toward settling core disputes including technology that threaten global growth.
President Donald Trump said Washington will suspend a tariff hike planned for Tuesday on $250 billion of Chinese goods. In exchange, Trump said China agreed to buy as much as $50 billion of American farm goods. Details of other possible agreements weren’t immediately released.
OCT 9, 2019 1230 GMT | Akcakale, Turkey | In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, smoke billows from targets inside Syria during bombardment by Turkish forces Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. Turkey launched a military operation Wednesday against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria after U.S. forces pulled back from the area, with a series of airstrikes hitting a town on Syria’s northern border. (AP Photo)
AKCAKALE, Turkey (AP) — Turkey launched airstrikes, fired artillery and began a ground offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria on Wednesday after U.S. troops pulled back from the area, paving the way for an assault on forces that have long been allied with the United States.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the campaign, which followed the abrupt decision Sunday by U.S. President Donald Trump to essentially abandon the Syrian Kurdish fighters, leaving them vulnerable to a Turkish offensive that was widely condemned around the world.
OCT 4, 2019 1400 GMT | File – In this Sept. 17, 2019, photo job seekers line up to speak to recruiters during an Amazon job fair in Dallas. On Friday, Oct. 4, the U.S. government issues the September jobs report. (AP Photo)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in September, the lowest level in nearly five decades, even though employers appeared to turn more cautious and slowed their hiring.
The economy added a modest 136,000 jobs, enough to likely ease worries that an economy weakened by the U.S.-China trade war and tepid global growth might be edging toward a potential recession. The government on Friday also revised up its estimate of job growth in July and August by a combined 45,000.
Still, a drop-off in the pace of hiring compared with last year points to rising uncertainty among employers about the job market and the economy in the face of President Donald Trump’s numerous trade conflicts. Pay growth has also weakened, reflecting the hesitance of employers to step up wages.
SEPT 28, 2019 1900 GMT | Kabul, Afghanistan | An Afghan election workers count ballots during the presidential elections, at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. Afghans headed to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president amid high security and Taliban threats to disrupt the elections, with the rebels warning citizens to stay home or risk being hurt. (AP Photo)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Presidential elections are over, and Afghanistan now faces a period of uncertainty and possible political chaos. Saturday’s vote was marred by violence, Taliban threats and widespread allegations of mismanagement and abuse. It was the fourth time Afghans have gone to the polls to elect a president since 2001 when the U.S.-led coalition ousted a regressive Taliban regime.
The latest election seems unlikely to bring the peace sought by Afghans, tired of an increasingly brutal war, or an easy exit for the United States, seeking to end its longest military engagement.
SEPT 27, 2019 2100 GMT | United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA | Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP Photo)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Pakistan and India sparred over Kashmir, Russia chided the West and said its influence in world affairs was diminishing and China’s top diplomat warned that unilateralism and protectionism “are posing major threats to the international order” — a veiled reference to its ongoing tariff war with the United States.
Nations at odds with each other didn’t shy away from taking gibes Friday as their leaders took to the podium on the fourth day of the annual U.N. General Assembly. Decorum prevailed, but that didn’t mean they were playing nice.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, pointedly accused Indian leader Narendra Modi of “cruelty” in the Muslim-majority region and warned of catastrophe if the two nuclear-armed nations tumbled into war.
SEPT 25, 2019 1930 GMT | Mirpur, Azad Kashmir Northeast Pakistan | A man walks alongside a damaged portion of a road caused by a powerful earthquake n Jatla near Mirpur, in northeast Pakistan, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019. Mourners were burying their dear ones in Pakistan-held Kashmir where a powerful earthquake struck a day before. (AP Photo)
MIRPUR, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck northeast Pakistan on Tuesday, badly damaging scores of homes and shops and killing at least 22 people and injuring over 700, officials said.
The quake badly damaged a key road leading to the town of Mirpur in the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir and adjoining villages, where most of the damage was located.
Mushtaf Minhas, information minister in Pakistan-held Kashmir, said 22 people, including women and children, were killed in the quake, mostly due to collapsing roofs and walls.
