US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that it’s “critical” the US and China maintain a relationship so they can “work together” on global challenges, coming just after President Joe Biden’s remarks calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator” drew condemnation from Beijing. Speaking at a news conference in Paris, Yellen said that “with respect to the comments, I think President Biden and I both believe it’s critical to main

HONG KONG — Chinese shoppers were treated to deep discounts, new products and payment plans as online merchants sought to revive their sluggish appetite for spending during China’s first major online shopping festival after the end of zero-COVID policies. For the first time, e-commerce retailer JD.com did not release the results of its 618 shopping festival, which ended Sunday, making it hard to know just how much was spent. A bigger shopping festival, Single's Day, held on Nov.

BEIJING — The United States and China have pledged to stabilize their badly deteriorated ties during a critical visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi pronounced himself satisfied with progress made during talks in Beijing. But, Blinken told media, China refused to resume military to military communications, a US priority. It remains to be seen whether the two countries can resolve their most important disagreements, m

A project using artificial intelligence to track social media abuse aimed at players at the 2022 World Cup identified more than 300 people whose details are being given to law enforcement, FIFA said Sunday. The people made “abusive, discriminatory, threatening posts or comments” on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, soccer’s governing body said in a report detailing efforts to protect players and officials during the tournament played in Qatar. The

MILAN — Silvio Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy's longest-serving premier despite scandals over his sex-fueled parties and allegations of corruption, died Monday, according to his television network. He was 86. Mediaset announced his death with a smiling photo of the man on its homepage and the headline: “Berlusconi is dead.” Berlusconi was admitted to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan on Friday, his second recent hospitalization for treatm

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Four Indigenous children survived an Amazon plane crash that killed three adults and then braved the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers, bringing a happy ending to a search-and-rescue saga that captivated a nation but also prompted questions about their extraordinary survival. Officials in the South American country announced their rescue Friday, following days of highs and lows as searchers frantically combed through the rainforest hunting for

ISTANBUL — Manchester City won the Champions League title for the first time by beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul’s Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium on Saturday. Rodri struck in the 68th minute to see the Premier League champions and FA Cup winners complete a treble of trophies this season. "Today we made history," City captain Ilkay Gundogan said. "We knew everyone was talking about the treble. The pressure was there but this team is built to handle the pressure in the b

GREENSBORO -- Former President Donald Trump blasted his historic federal indictment as "ridiculous" and "baseless" Saturday during his first public appearances since the charges were unsealed, painting the 37 felony counts as an attack on his supporters as he tried to turn dire legal peril to political advantage and project a sense of normalcy. Speaking at Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina, Trump cast his indictment by the Department of Justice as a

Donald Trump's indictment on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate has brought renewed attention to one of the most notable cases in Justice Department history. The federal charges represent the biggest legal jeopardy so far for Trump, coming less than three months after he was charged in New York with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Here's a look at the charges, the special counsel's investigation and how Trump's case differs from

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis may be facing an even bigger challenge now than he did a year ago when captain Lorenzo Insigne, club record scorer Dries Mertens and defensive stalwart Kalidou Moulibaly left the club. Napoli more than exceeded expectations when new signees Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae helped the southern club win Serie A for the first time in more than three decades. But now Luciano Spalletti — the coach whose attacking tactics garnered plaudits from all ove

HIROSHIMA (AP) -- 8:15 on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945. It's a big reason leaders from the world's most powerful democracies descended on Hiroshima for this weekend's Group of Seven summit: Part commemoration, part effort to confront the continuing consequences of the moment a US B-29 Superfortress released what the Americans named “Little Boy” over the city in the first wartime use of a nuclear bomb. It also presents Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the driving

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russian forces weren't occupying Bakhmut, casting doubt on Moscow's claims that the eastern Ukrainian city had fallen. Responding to a reporter’s question about the status of the city at the Group of Seven meeting in Japan, Zelenskyy said: “Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today.” The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the inv

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Authorities in Bangladesh and Myanmar prepared to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people Friday, warning them to stay away from coastal areas as a severe cyclone churned in the Bay of Bengal. Cyclone Mocha is expected to hit land on Sunday with wind speeds of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour and gusts up to 175 kph (110 mph) between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar, India's Meteorological Department said. Bangladesh, a delta nati

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem on Friday, further escalating the most violent confrontation in months between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip despite efforts to broker a cease-fire. The burst of rocket fire from Gaza sent warning sirens wailing as far north as the contested capital of Jerusalem — about 48 miles (77 kilometers) from the Gaza border — breaking a 12-hour lull that had raised hopes that regional powers could soon

PODGORICA, Montenegro — A trial opened in Montenegro on Thursday against Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon and another citizen of South Korea who are charged in the Balkan country with using forged identification documents, state-owned media reported. The two have pleaded not guilty and offered 400,000 euros ($437,000) each to be released on bail, the RTCG television report said. The court in Podgorica, Montenegro's capital, hasn't yet decided on the motion. Do Kwon was arrested in

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities raided a luxury yacht belonging to a wealthy Russian businessman as part of a probe into possible breaches of Western sanctions imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials said Wednesday. Specialists from the German navy and federal and state police took part in the search of the superyacht at an undisclosed shipyard in northern Germany, Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement. The ship belongs to a 67-year-old Russian businessman, whose n

DADEVILLE, Alabama -- Alabama law enforcement officers Sunday were imploring people to come forward with information about a shooting that killed four people and injured 28 others during a teenager’s birthday party. Among those killed was a high school senior who planned to play college football and was celebrating his sister’s 16th birthday. The shooting erupted Saturday night at a dance studio in downtown Dadeville. During two news conferences Sunday, Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the A

NEW YORK — Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, prosecutors and defense lawyers said Thursday, making him the first former US president to face a criminal charge and jolting his bid to retake the White House next year. The charges remained under seal late Thursday, but the investigation centered on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. Prosecutors said they were working to coordinate Trump's

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump has returned to Facebook after a more than two-year ban. “I’M BACK!” Trump posted on the site weeks after his personal account was reactivated. Trump, who is running his third campaign for the White House, also shared an old video clip in which he said: “Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business.” He posted the same clip on YouTube, which announced Friday that it, too, was welcoming him back. Facebook parent Met

THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court said Friday that it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. It was the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The ICC said in a statement that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (c