South Korea orders striking cement truckers back to work

A top Russian diplomat warned the U.S. in July 2022 against proceeding with efforts to bring the country before an international war court. 'Wrath Of God:' Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, said the U.S. may have to face the "wrath of God" if it helps set up an international tribunal to investigate Russia's action in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson compared Justin Trudeau to Fidel Castro and said he was "completely in favor of a Bay of Pigs operation" in Canada.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, have agreed to strengthen their security, defense and economic ties and pledged to cooperate in responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other threats in Europe and Asia. They said they agreed to upgrade their nations’ relations to a “strategic partnership,” with defense ties including military equipment and technology. The leaders also said they recognized the importance of strengthening NATO engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and of further promoting NATO cooperation with Japan. The recognition came as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Tokyo after a visit in South Korea, where he called for Seoul to provide direct military support to Ukraine.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s Interior Ministry says a roadside bomb has targeted a bus carrying Syrian policemen in the country’s south wounding 15 of them. The ministry said in a terse statement that the policemen were returning Monday to the capital Damascus from the southern province of Daraa when the bomb exploded on the north-south highway near the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh south of the capital. It said seven of the troops were seriously wounded. Such attacks are not uncommon in Syria where the nearly 12-year conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Japan and the Netherlands have agreed to a deal with the U.S. to restrict China’s access to materials used to make advanced semiconductors. That’s according to a person familiar with the agreement who spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday but declined to be identified because the agreement hasn’t yet been formally announced. It’s unclear when all three sides will unveil the deal. The White House declined to comment Sunday. The Biden administration imposed export controls last fall to limit China’s ability to access advanced chips. It’s urged allies like Japan and the Netherlands to follow suit. China says trade curbs will disrupt supply chains and the global economic recovery.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Trying to sell France to Emirati investors, France’s finance minister has highlighted what he described as the business-friendly overhaul of President Emmanuel Macron while on a trip to Abu Dhabi. However, Bruno Le Maire’s comments Monday in the United Arab Emirates sidestepped ongoing protests back home over a planned pension overhaul. Le Maire’s trip to Abu Dhabi comes as over 1 million people marched days earlier to protest a plan by Macron’s government to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64. More marches are planned for Tuesday, with labor unions already uniting against the proposal affecting state pension system that all retirees can access. Le Maire backed the overhaul in later comments to journalists.

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in Nigeria say 20 people including children have died in road crashes involving trucks over the weekend. A truck carrying a heavy container landed on a commercial bus Sunday amid heavy traffic in the Ojuelegba area of Lagos, according to Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu with the state emergency response agency. Nine people including two children died in the crash, he said. Earlier on Sunday, another truck collided with a bus in Odigbo council area of Ondo state near Lagos, killing all the passengers on board, said Nigeria’s road safety agency.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president has suggested his country might approve Finland’s application for NATO membership before taking any action on Sweden’s, while the Turkish government issued a travel warning for European countries due to anti-Turkish demonstrations and what it described as Islamophobia. The travel warning...

ROME (AP) — After 15 weeks on a hunger strike to protest particularly harsh prison conditions, an Italian man convicted in attacks claimed by anarchists is being transferred to another prison in Italy for medical care. Sky TG24 TV quoted Alfredo Cospito’s lawyer as saying he would be moved later on Monday from a prison in Sardinia to Milan’s Opera Prison, which has a special section for those needing specialized medical care. Cospito began his hunger strike in October to protest prison conditions reserved for terrorists and top organized crime bosses. Anarchists who have been linked to or claimed responsibility for three recent violent incidents have demanded Cospito receive less harsh treatment.

LONDON (AP) — Eva Green has said in a British court that she grew disillusioned with a film project because it was becoming a “B movie” that could ruin her career. The French actress is suing producers for a $1 million fee she says she is owed for “A Patriot,” a sci-fi thriller that collapsed in 2019. The production company is countersuing, claiming Green made excessive demands and undermined the production. Green said Monday she “fell in love” with the script but became increasingly concerned as producers cut corners. She said “I never wanted this to be a B movie but I realized more towards the end that it was going to happen.” The case is continuing at the High Court in London.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates has successfully flown a Boeing 777 on a test flight with one engine entirely powered by so-called sustainable aviation fuel. The flight on Monday comes as carriers worldwide try to lessen their carbon footprint. The flight lasted just under an hour over the coastline of the United Arab Emirates, after it took off from Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel. The fuel powered one of the Boeing’s two General Electric Co. engines, with the other running on conventional jet fuel for safety.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government has criticized U.S. controls on technology exports as a trade violation after Japan and the Netherlands agreed to join Washington in limiting Beijing’s access to materials to make advanced processor chips. The Foreign Ministry didn’t mention the latest development but accused Washington of abusing export controls and organizing other governments to maintain its hegemony and contain China. The United States is trying to block China from acquiring the most powerful processor chips and technology that might help its fledgling industry develop the ability to make them. Washington says they can be used to make weapons and to facilitate the ruling Communist Party’s surveillance and human rights abuses.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Germany announced on Monday that it would make 204 million euros ($222 million) available for environmental policies in Brazil. Of this total, $38 million is a donation to the Amazon Fund, the most important international cooperation effort to preserve the Amazon rainforest. In 2019, former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who saw Amazon as a domestic affair, dissolved the steering committee that selects sustainable projects to finance. In reaction, Germany froze its donations.

LONDON (AP) — Struggling U.K. airline Flybe has collapsed for the second time in less than three years. The flyer initially limped into bankruptcy in March 2020, with the loss of 2,400 jobs. It was relaunched in April 2022 with hedge fund backing, but has called in the bankruptcy accountants once again after less than 12 months back in the air. The U.K’s Civil Aviation Authority warned passengers currently away from home that they should find alternative flights back, with all Flybe flights now canceled.

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Authorities in Western Australia are searching for a tiny but potentially deadly radioactive capsule that got lost while being transported on a truck from a mine to a depot in the city of Perth. Emergency services say they’re hampered by a lack of equipment and have called on the Commonwealth and other states to provide assistance. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has deployed teams with handheld radiation detection devices and metal detectors along 22 miles of a busy freight route to look for the unit, which measures 0.31 inches by 0.24 inches. It is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck on a 870-mile journey. It is said to emit the equivalent of 10 X-rays in an hour.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon, two international oil giants and state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy agreed Sunday that the Qatari firm will join a consortium that will search for gas in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast. The deal inked in Beirut brings Qatar into Lebanon’s gas exploration market three months after Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated maritime border agreement ending a yearslong dispute. Qatar Energy is replacing a Russian company that withdrew from the Lebanese market in September. In 2017, Lebanon approved licenses for an international consortium including France’s TotalEnergies, Italy’s ENI and Russia’s Novatek to move forward with offshore oil and gas development for two of 10 blocks in the Mediterranean.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — When police fire tear gas at protesters demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, most run away. A few, though, run toward the gas canisters as quickly as possible — to neutralize them. These are the protest movement’s “deactivators.” Donning gas masks, safety goggles and thick gloves, these volunteers grab the hot gas canisters and toss them inside large plastic bottles filled with a mixture of water, baking soda and vinegar. The deactivators made their debut in Peru street protests in 2020, drawing inspiration from Hong Kong protesters in 2019 who unveiled new strategies to try to neutralize the effects of tear gas. They are now a common part of the protest landscape.

BANGKOK (AP) — World Bank economists say Myanmar’s economy grew 3% last year and will likely achieve the same pace in 2023, but still lags far behind where it stood before the army seized power in early 2021. The global lending agency issued a report Monday that estimates Myanmar’s level of economic activity is still more than 10% below where it stood before the pandemic and the military takeover. It says that if the global economy slows further as expected, the country might see exports and investment weaken further. But the report says agriculture and garment manufacturing have recovered somewhat and the military administration has relaxed some foreign exchange controls that have hindered exports and other business.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Central Bank says the pound has dipped to a new low of just over 30 for $1 dollar as the cash-strapped North African country continues to battle surging inflation and foreign currency shortages. Monday’s slide is the latest in a series of tumbles following the country’s $3 billion International Monetary Fund bail-out package ratified in mid-December. The IMF agreed to the deal in exchange for Cairo implementing a number of sweeping economic reforms. Among these included a shift to a flexible exchange rate. The deal allows for a further $14 billion in possible financing for Egypt. Since January 2022 the Egyptian pound has lost around 50% of its value against the dollar.

PRAGUE (AP) — A retired army general has defeated a populist billionaire in a runoff vote to choose the new president of the Czech Republic. With all the ballots counted Saturday, Petr Pavel had 58.3% of the vote compared with 42.7% for Andrej Babis, who conceded defeat. The 61-year-old Pavel ran as an independent and will succeed controversy-courting Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious post. Pavel is a former chairman of NATO’s military committee. He fully endorsed the Czech Republic’s military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and stresses the importance of the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO..