PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA — American Samoa reported its first case of coronavirus on Friday. The U.S. territory’s acting governor and health officials said the islands’ first case of COVID-19 was of a resident who returned to America Samoa from Hawaii this week. The infected traveler flew in on Monday, the first day of newly resumed commercial flights from Honolulu…
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution stressing that Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers need to establish an inclusive government with “the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and upholding human rights.” The resolution adopted by the U.N.’s most powerful body on Friday extends the current mandate of the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan for…
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea has reported more than 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus, nearing a one-day record set last month, continuing an alarming surge as the nation enters its biggest holiday of the year. The 2,008 cases reported Friday was the 73rd consecutive day of over 1,000 despite officials enforcing the country’s strongest social distancing rules short…
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Sigrid Kaag has resigned after the lower house of parliament passed a motion of censure against the government over its handling of evacuations from Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover of the country. In a parliamentary debate on Wednesday night, Kaag acknowledged that the government’s slow or muddled response to warnings about the…
This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in the Middle East, Afghanistan & Pakistan region between Sept. 9-15, 2021. This week’s selection includes scenes from across the region, where the Taliban are in full control of Afghanistan, permeating scenes of daily life after America’s withdrawal two decades after their invasion….
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska is reporting its highest number of new coronavirus cases a day after the state’s largest hospital announced it had entered crisis protocol and started rationing care because of a flood of COVID-19 cases. Officials on Wednesday reported 1,068 new virus infections, which is 13% higher than last week. State officials say 201 Alaskans are hospitalized for…
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Impoverished Afghans living in a long-abandoned military compound in the southern city of Kandahar say they’re devastated by the Taliban order to expel them from their homes. Several hundred staged a rally against the order on Monday, saying they have nowhere else to go and that they had years ago paid former Afghan soldiers under the table…
