Month: July 2024

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has tapped the largest group in parliament, the center-right GERB-UDF coalition, to form the country’s new government. Accepting the mandate, Prime Minister-designate Rosen Zhelyazkov on Monday presented a proposal for a Cabinet and asked the president to send it to parliament for approval. The 56-year-old lawyer and

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Surveys of Chinese factory managers show a mixed outlook for the world’s No. 2 economy, with growth steady but not picking up much steam. The official purchasing managers index compiled by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing remained at 49.5 in June on a scale up to 100,

Associated Press YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A 17-year-old Chinese badminton player has died after collapsing on court during an Asian tournament in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta province. Indonesia’s Badminton Association issued a statement Monday saying Zhang Zhijie collapsed and had seizures during a match against Kazuma Kawano of Japan at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships on Sunday.

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s second largest airline, WestJet, has reached a deal with its mechanics to end a strike that had disrupted the travel plans of tens of passengers over the Canada Day long weekend. WestJet said says there will still be flight disruptions in the week ahead as its planes are brought back into

Associated Press KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from much of Khan Younis on Monday, a sign that troops are likely to launch a new ground assault into the Gaza Strip’s second-largest city. The order suggests Khan Younis will be the latest target of Israel’s raids

Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Renowned Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare has died after being rushed to a hospital in the country’s capital, Tirana. He was 88. His Onufri Publishing House editor Bujar Hudhri said Kadare died on Monday morning. A nurse at the hospital said the author had been taken to the emergency room

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerian authorities arrested two journalists for publishing a video showing businesswomen protesting how they were treated at a government-sponsored event. Journalists in Algeria have faced since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune came to power four years ago, with possible long jail time on flimsy charges, experts say. Many news outlets have also shuttered

Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rajavarothiyam Sampanthan, an ethnic Tamil leader and lawmaker who became the face of the minority group’s campaign for autonomy in Sri Lanka after the end of a brutal quarter-century civil war, has died. He was 91. A lawyer by profession, Sampanthan entered Parliament for the first time in

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say eighteen inmates, including some on death row, have escaped from a prison in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir after overpowering a guard. A local police chief Riaz Mughal said on Monday that one of the prisoners was shot and killed in the breakout from Rawalakot prison the

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — For the first time, North Korean officials have been seen wearing lapel pins with the image of leader Kim Jong Un. That’s another sign the North is boosting his personality cult to the level bestowed on his late father and grandfather. North Koreans are required to wear pins

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Japan has revised earlier estimates to show that its economy contracted at a 2.9% annual pace in the first quarter of the year, as meanwhile a survey by the central bank showed conditions remain sluggish. Analysts had expected the downward revision in the GDP data for January-March and said