The Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian government has blocked a Chinese-led consortium from buying the nation’s largest private land holding, a collection of Outback cattle ranches, for 371 million Australian dollars ($284 million). Treasurer Scott Morrison said on Friday the sale of pioneering dynasty-owned S. Kidman & Co. […]
World
The Associated Press MARSEILLE, France — French officials have unveiled a humanoid diving robot that they hope will give a big artificial hand to the practice of underwater archaeology. Ocean One, which looks like something out of a scuba-diving sequel to “Transformers,” is the work of a team of roboticists, […]
By Dusan Stojanovic The Associated Press KRNJACA, Serbia — She has wide brown eyes, rosy cheeks and thick black hair. Her name is Serbia Merkel al-Mustafa. Serbia for the country where she was born just a few days ago, Merkel for the leader of Germany, where her Syrian refugee parents […]
The Associated Press MOSCOW — Russia on Thursday successfully launched the first rocket from its new space facility after a last-minute delay the day before. The Soyuz 2.1a booster blasted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far Easter in the early hours Moscow time on Thursday. The Roscosmos […]
By Colleen Long The Associated Press NEW YORK — An ancient stone sculpture of Buddha’s footprints that was smuggled into the United States and had been expected to sell for more than $1 million was returned to the government of Pakistan on Wednesday. The piece, called a Buddhapada, was taken […]
By Didi Tang The Associated Press BEIJING — A revered Buddhist monk in China has been mummified and covered in gold leaf, a practice reserved for holy men in some areas with strong Buddhist traditions. The monk, Fu Hou, who died in 2012 at age 94 after spending most of […]
By Bill Barrow The Associated Press ATLANTA — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s claim that Hillary Clinton is playing “the woman’s card” has drawn intense backlash, from the Democratic front-runner herself as well as tens of thousands of critics on social media. “If fighting for women’s health care and paid […]
By Eva Vergara The Associated Press SANTIAGO, Chile — Victims of a secretive German colony in Chile hope that Germany’s decision to declassify documents will help shine light on human rights abuses committed there. For three decades beginning in 1961, the enclave of Colonia Dignidad, or Dignity Colony, was the […]
By Meera Sodha The Associated Press Ever since my parents came to England in 1972, my mum has had a wild love affair with roast chicken. The only thing she loves even more is her family and unfortunately for her, my dad is a vegetarian. So for 41 years now, […]
The Associated Press Los Angeles police have identified the body of a woman found stabbed 150 times in 1969 near the site of the Manson family killings as a 19-year-old from Montreal, People magazine reported Wednesday. Police have identified the woman as Reet Jurvetson, who moved to Los Angeles from […]
By Michael Astor The Associated Press NEW YORK — Sexualized violence, online harassment and gender-based discrimination all play a role in inhibiting press freedom according to a new book released by the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday. The book is part of the organization’s annual “Attacks on the Press,” […]
The Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Federal investigators say they have found the missing data recorder for the sunken cargo ship El Faro. The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday said it had recovered the voyage data recorder, which may help investigators better understand the final moments of the ship’s […]
