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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.