MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines has emerged as a global hot spot for online child sexual exploitation, and coronavirus lockdowns that restrict millions to their homes may be worsening the abuses, a U.S. official said Thursday. A new study released by the Washington-based ...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The first visit to Kabul by Washington's peace envoy since Afghanistan's squabbling political leadership reached a power-sharing agreement comes amid increased violence blamed mostly on an Islamic State affiliate that has been targeted in stepped-up U.S. ...

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called for stability in relations with China in her inaugural address Wednesday but said she would not accept Beijing's political terms that would "downgrade Taiwan and undermine the cross-strait status quo." Reelected by a landslide ...

BEIJING (AP) — When China convenes its National People's Congress on Friday, will the 3,000 delegates stand shoulder to shoulder as they have in years past? Will they wear masks? This year's version of China's biggest annual political meeting will be unlike any other. Delayed from March ...

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia's President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday scheduled a parliamentary election in the European Union nation for July 5. Milanovic formally set the date for the ballot after Croatia's lawmakers voted earlier this week to dissolve parliament. The Balkan country of ...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singapore has sentenced a drug suspect to death on the popular videoconferencing app Zoom because of the city-state's coronavirus lockdown, in a move slammed by a human rights group as callous and inhumane. Defense lawyer Peter Fernando said the Supreme Court ...

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's president has pledged to protect Serbs in Montenegro who he says are threatened by the possible formation of an independent Orthodox Church in the small state, as tensions escalated between the two former Balkan allies. President Aleksandar Vucic said after ...

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A crucial election was underway Wednesday in the East African nation of Burundi, where President Pierre Nkurunziza is stepping aside after a divisive 15-year rule but will remain "paramount leader" in the country that continues to reject outside scrutiny. The vote is ...

LONDON (AP) — An influential group of British lawmakers on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government of failing to conduct enough tests for the new coronavirus, saying the lapse helped COVID-19 cut a deadly swath through U.K. nursing homes. As official statistics revealed ...

LE PECQ, France (AP) — How's this as an antidote for coronavirus blues: A genuine painting by Pablo Picasso on your wall. After an eight-week delay caused by France's COVID-19 lockdown, the Christie's auction house in Paris is hosting a raffle draw Wednesday for "Nature Morte," an oil on ...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A song took aim at an alleged abuse of power by Poland's ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. It rose to the top of the chart of a public radio station. Then it disappeared. The public broadcaster is now accused of censorship. The scandal, which has been a top issue ...

NEW DELHI (AP) — A strong cyclone was moving toward India and Bangladesh on Tuesday as authorities tried to evacuate millions of people while maintaining social distancing. Cyclone Amphan is expected to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon, and forecasters warned of extensive damage from ...

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium is taking the next step in its relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown on Monday and is also telling people: get up! Schools are opening up to more students, markets are setting up again and museums are the reopening their doors. And the ...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Italy and the Vatican opened a new phase in the virus crisis Monday, with churches resuming public Masses after a sharp confrontation between the Italian church and state over limits on worshipping in the era of COVID-19. Guards in hazmat suits took the temperature of the ...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber in a stolen military Humvee targeted a base in eastern Afghanistan belonging to the country's intelligence service early on Monday, killing at least nine members of the force, Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the ...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — St. John Paul II was honored on the centennial of his birth Monday with special Masses at the Vatican and in his native Poland, an anniversary that comes as the Polish church finds itself confronted by new allegations of clerical sex abuse. From the small town of ...

NEW DELHI (AP) — People trickled outdoors and thin traffic returned to roads in some Indian states on Monday, a day after the federal government extended the nationwide coronavirus lockdown to May 31 but eased many restrictions to restore economic activity. Small shops and other businesses ...

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian police clashed Sunday with opposition supporters who were protesting the demolition of the country's National Theater building in the capital. Police pulled a group of artists and some opposition leaders away from the building in Tirana early in the morning ...

MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — In the remote Amazon community of Betania, Tikuna tribe members suspect the coronavirus arrived this month after some returned from a two-hour boat trip down the Solimoes River to pick up their government benefit payments. Dozens subsequently got headaches, fevers and ...

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Burundi is pushing ahead with an election on Wednesday that will end the president's divisive and bloody 15-year rule. When President Pierre Nkurunziza hands over power, it could be the first truly peaceful transfer of authority in the East African nation since ...