BEIJING —China's foreign ministry in Hong Kong urged the British government to stop its so-called half-yearly report on Hong Kong, state media reported on Friday local time.A spokesperson at the ministry branch said Britain's report grossly interfered with Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, and seriously trampled on international law.Britain criticized what it said was the systematic erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong by the Chinese government and a crackdown on free spee

Iranian American Siamak Namazi has launched a seven-day hunger strike to call attention to his continued detention in Iran, while calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to bring home all Americans jailed in Iran.Namazi was arrested in 2015 and convicted of what the United States and the United Nations said were false spying charges.His appeal Monday came in the form of a letter to Biden, released by Namazi’s lawyer Jared Genser, on the seventh anniversary of a deal in which Iran freed five America

Ukrainian officials said Monday the death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Dnipro had risen to at least 40, with rescue crews still searching the rubble for any survivors.Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on social media said the attack had injured 75 people and that the fate of 30 others was unknown. Thirty-nine have been rescued.Rescue workers used shovels and cranes to move the debris on Monday, working continuously in the hopes of locati

BERLIN —Germany’s much-criticized defense minister announced her resignation Monday following a series of missteps while her department steers the massive project of modernizing the country’s military and oversees expanding weapons deliveries to Ukraine.Christine Lambrecht said in a written statement that she had submitted her resignation to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, adding that “months of media focus on my person” had stood in the way of a factual debate about the military and Germany’s sec

DAMASCUS, SYRIA —Syria and key ally Iran agreed Saturday to renew an economic strategic arrangement between the two countries as Damascus prepares to welcome Iran's president in the near future.Since Syria's uprising turned into civil conflict in 2011, Tehran has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to help President Bashar Assad stay in power amid fighting that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced millions.Iran has also been a critical economic lifeline for Syria,

BEIRUT, LEBANON —Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian expressed hope Friday during a visit to Lebanon that diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh could be restored through dialogue between the two regional archrivals.Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in January 2016, after protesters attacked its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the second city Mashhad following Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.Amir-Abdollahian told a news conference in Beirut we are ready