ReportWire

Tag: Protests and demonstrations

  • Walz: Minn. must play role in shooting investigation

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    A day after the ICE officer shot Renee Good in the head as she tried to drive away on a snowy Minneapolis street, tensions remained high, with dozens of protesters venting their outrage outside of a federal facility that’s serving as a hub for the administration’s latest immigration crackdown on a major city.

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    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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    By REBECCA SANTANA and TIM SULLIVAN – Associated Press

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  • 5th anniversary of Jan. 6 attack brings fresh division to Capitol

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    WASHINGTON — Five years ago outside the White House, outgoing President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters to head to the Capitol — “and I’ll be there with you” — in protest as Congress was affirming the 2020 election victory for Democrat Joe Biden.

    A short time later, the world watched as the seat of U.S. power descended into chaos, and democracy hung in the balance.

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    By LISA MASCARO – AP Congressional Correspondent

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  • At least 35 people have been killed and 1,200 detained in Iran’s economic protests

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The death toll in violence surrounding protests in Iran has risen to at least 35 people, activists said Tuesday, as the country’s theocracy acknowledged the unrest in one western province where security forces reportedly raided a hospital.

    The figure came from the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which said more than 1,200 people have been detained in the protests, which have been ongoing for more than a week.

    It said 29 protesters, four children and two members of Iran’s security forces have been killed. Demonstrations have reached over 250 locations in 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces,

    The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.

    The semiofficial Fars news agency, believed close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported late Monday that some 250 police officers and 45 members of the Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force have been hurt in the demonstrations. However, Iran’s government has offered no overall statistics or information about the unrest.

    Late Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian assigned the country’s interior ministry to form a special team for a “full-fledged investigation” of what had been happening in Ilam province. Malekshahi County in Iran’s Ilam province, some 515 kilometers (320 miles) southwest of Iran’s capital, Tehran, has seen protesters killed as online videos purported to show security forces firing on civilians.

    The presidency also acknowledged an “incident in a hospital in the city of Ilam.” Online video showed security forces wearing riot gear raiding a hospital, where activists said they were seeking demonstrators.

    The hospital assault drew criticism from the U.S. State Department, which in Iran’s Farsi language called the incident “a crime.”

    “Storming the wards, beating medical staff and attacking the wounded with tear gas and ammunition is an clear crime against humanity,” a post on the social platform X read. “Hospitals are not battlefields.”

    A report by Fars earlier alleged without offering evidence that demonstrators carried firearms and grenades. Firearms are more prevalent in western Iran, along the border with Iraq, but there’s been no clear evidence provided by the government to support allegations of demonstrators being armed. Ilam has hundreds of kilometers (miles) of border with Iraq.

    Iran’s rural Ilam province is mainly home to the country’s Kurdish and Lur ethnic groups and faces severe economic hardship.

    The growing death toll carries with it the chance of American intervention. U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran on Friday that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.”

    While it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene, his comments sparked an immediate, angry response, with officials within the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Mideast. The comments took on new importance after the U.S. military on Saturday captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.

    The protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. However, the protests have yet to be as widespread and intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities.

    Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after a 12-day war with Israel, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocracy.

    On Tuesday, $1 traded at 1.46 million rials.

    Understanding the scale of this latest round of protests has been difficult. Iranian state media has provided little information about the demonstrations. Online videos offer only brief, shaky glimpses of people in the streets or the sound of gunfire. Journalists in Iran also face limits on reporting in general such as requiring permission to travel around the country, as well as the threat of harassment or arrest by authorities.

    But the protests do not appear to be stopping, even after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “rioters must be put in their place.”

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  • Bulgaria to become the 21st country to join the euro, deepening EU ties despite fears

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    SOFIA, Bulgaria — On New Year’s Day, Bulgaria becomes the 21st country to join the euro currency union, furthering its integration into the European Union. But the historic milestone arrives amid political instability and skepticism among ordinary people fueled by fears of price rises.

    Supporters of switching to the euro from the old currency, the lev, are praising the move as one of the greatest achievements since the 1989 transition from a Soviet-style economy to democracy and free markets. They hope it will make the country more attractive for investors and strengthen its orientation toward wealthier Western Europe.

    But many people are uneasy, in a country where corruption is rife and trust in the authorities is low. One fear is that merchants will round prices up or otherwise use the changeover to worsen inflation, at a time when inflation has rebounded to 3.7%.

    An EU Eurobarometer poll from March showed that 53% of 1,017 people surveyed opposed joining the eurozone, while 45% were in favor. A separate Eurobarometer poll, taken between Oct. 9 and Nov. 3 on a similar sample, showed that about half of Bulgarians opposed the single currency while 42% were in favor. The margin of error was about plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for the March poll.

    The government successfully completed the euro adoption process by beating inflation down to 2.7% earlier this year to comply with EU rules and win approval from EU leaders. But clearing that hurdle was followed by a new chapter of political chaos. The government resigned after less than a year in office amid nationwide anti-corruption protests. This left the country without a regular budget for next year and is hampering plans for long-overdue structural reforms and decisions on use of EU support funds. A new election — the eighth in five years — is expected to be held next spring.

    Nevelin Petrov, 64, said he welcomed the euro. “Bulgaria is a full member of the European Union, and its rightful place is alongside the other developed and democratic European nations,” he said. “I am convinced that the adoption of the euro will contribute to the long-term prosperity of our country,” he said.

    Others, like Darina Vitova, who runs a pedicure salon in Sofia, said things were moving too fast although she welcomed the change “in principle.”

    “The standard of living and incomes in our country are far from those in the richest European countries, while prices here are rising and life for the average person will become more difficult,” she said. She acknowledges that when heading to the beaches in neighboring Greece, it will be more convenient to pay with the same “pocket money” she uses at home.

    Bulgaria, with its 6.4 million people, is one of the poorest members of the 27-country European union. The average monthly wage is 1,300 euros ($1,530).

    Countries that join the EU commit to the euro, but actually joining can take years and some members are in no hurry. Poland in particular has seen strong economic growth since joining the EU in 2004 without adopting the euro.

    Opponents of joining have fed fears that the changes will allegedly lead to more poverty and loss of national identity. Social media has spread disinformation such as false claims that the euro could lead to confiscation of bank accounts. Nationalist and pro-Russian groups exploit these fears.

    European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has said that countries have experienced a slight, transient rise in prices of 0.2%-0.4% right after joining. Price rises can be more apparent than real, as cafe and hairdressers may put off printing new menus and price lists ahead of the change, so that increases are only delayed, not caused by the euro.

    Anti-euro rallies in May and September were organized by the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party but remained smaller than the mass protests that toppled the government. While the anti-euro protests were supported by older people based on economic anxiety, the mass protests that toppled the government appeared to represent a younger electorate fed up with corruption and eager to integrate with Europe.

    Anti-euro disinformation spread by pro-Russian politicians and social media aim “to reduce support for the European Union, NATO and Ukraine,” said Dimitar Keranov, program coordinator for engaging Central Europe at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.

    Bulgaria’s European integration “is not in Moscow’s interest at all, so if it can somehow polarize society and weaken support for the European Union that’s what it tries to achieve,” he said.

    Euro adoption is another way to combat Russian influence, he said: “The further Bulgaria advances in its European integration, the harder it becomes for Russia to influence the country.”

    Petar Ganev, an analyst at the Sofia-based Institute for Market Economics, says that that by stepping down the outgoing government has sent a signal of uncertainty to foreign investors.

    “Instead of capitalizing on euro adoption as a strong and positive signal to the international community—investors, debt holders, and those investing in Bulgarian assets and economic activity—we risk sending the opposite message,” Ganev said in an interview with the Associated Press.

    Ganev believes that eurozone membership should be regarded as an opportunity, an additional mechanism to address corruption and the rule of law, although it alone cannot resolve Bulgaria’s chronic cycle of elections and political fragmentation and instability.

    Local economists think that joining the euro will not bring dramatic changes to Bulgaria’s economy. That is because the lev has been pegged since 1999 to the euro by law, at a fixed rate of 1 lev for every 51 euro cents.

    The lev and the euro will be in dual use for cash payments for the whole month of January, but people will receive only euros in change.

    ___

    McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Valentina Petrova in Sofia contributed to this report

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  • Iran appoints new central bank governor after record currency fall and mass protests

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    TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Wednesday appointed a new governor to the central bank after the former one resigned following a record currency fall against the U.S. dollar that sparked large protests.

    The plummeting of the rial, Iran’s currency, sparked the largest protests in the country in three years, with rallies that began Sunday and continued until Tuesday.

    A report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Cabinet appointed Abdolnasser Hemmati, a former economics minister, as new governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He replaces Mohammad Reza Farzin, who resigned on Monday.

    Experts say a 40% inflation rate led to public discontent. The U.S. dollar traded at 1.38 million rials on Wednesday, compared to 430,000 when Farzin took office in 2022. Many traders and shopkeepers closed their businesses and took to the streets of Tehran and other cities to protest.

    The new governor’s agenda will included a focus on controlling inflation and strengthening the currency, as well as addressing the mismanagement of banks, the government’s spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani wrote on X.

    Hemmati, 68, previously served as minister of economic and financial affairs under Pezeshkian. In March parliament dismissed Hemmati for alleged mismanagement and accusations his policies hurt the strength of Iran’s rial against hard currencies.

    A combination of the currency’s rapid depreciation and inflationary pressure has pushed up the prices of food and other daily necessities, adding to strain on household budgets already under pressure due to Western sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

    Inflation is expected to worsen with a gasoline price change introduced in recent weeks.

    Iran’s currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of the 2015 nuclear accord that lifted international sanctions in exchange for tight controls on Iran’s nuclear program. That deal unraveled after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from it in 2018, during his first term.

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  • Iranian traders and shopkeepers protest as currency hits record low

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    TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian traders and shopkeepers staged a second day of protests Monday after the country’s currency plummeted to a new record low against the U.S. dollar.

    Videos on social media showed hundreds taking part in rallies in Saadi Street in downtown Tehran as well as in the Shush neighborhood near Tehran’s main Grand Bazaar, which played a crucial role in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

    Witnesses told The Associated Press that traders shut their shops and asked others to do the same. The semiofficial ILNA news agency said many businesses and merchants stopped trading even though some kept their shops open.

    There was no reports of police raids though security was tight at the protests, according to witnesses.

    On Sunday, protest gatherings were limited to two major mobile market in downtown Tehran, where the demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans.

    Iran’s rial on Sunday plunged to 1.42 million to the dollar. On Monday, it traded at 1.38 million rials to the dollar.

    The rapid depreciation is compounding inflationary pressure, pushing up prices of food and other daily necessities and further straining household budgets, a trend that could worsen by a gasoline price change introduced in recent days.

    According to the state statistics center, inflation rate in December rose to 42.2% from the same period last year, and is 1.8% higher than in November. Foodstuff prices rose 72% and health and medical items were up 50% from December last year, according to the statistics center. Many critics see the rate a sign of an approaching hyperinflation.

    Reports in official Iranian media said that the government plans to increase taxes in the Iranian new year that begins March 21 have caused more concern.

    Iran’s currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of the 2015 nuclear accord that lifted international sanctions in exchange for tight controls on Iran’s nuclear program. That deal unraveled after U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from it in 2018. There is also uncertainty over the risk of renewed conflict following June’s 12-day war involving Iran and Israel. Many Iranians also fear the possibility of a broader confrontation that could draw in the United States, adding to market anxiety.

    In September, the United Nations reimposed nuclear-related sanctions on Iran through what diplomats described as the “snapback” mechanism. Those measures once again froze Iranian assets abroad, halted arms transactions with Tehran and imposed penalties tied to Iran’s ballistic missile program.

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  • Protesting students in Serbia urge support for early election they hope will oust Vucic

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    BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s protesting university students on Sunday collected signatures throughout the country for their request for an early parliamentary election that they hope would oust the autocratic government of President Aleksandar Vucic from office.

    Braving freezing weather, the students set up nearly 500 stands in dozens of cities, towns and villages in the Balkan country for residents to sign the election demand, which isn’t a formal petition. Students have said that Sunday’s action was meant to put further pressure on Vucic and as a test of support.

    Young protesters have been at the forefront of a nationwide movement against Vucic’s populist rule in Serbia. More than a year of street protests first started in November 2024 after a train station disaster that killed 16 people.

    The concrete canopy collapse in the northern city of Novi Sad was widely blamed on alleged rampant corruption and disregard of construction and safety rules during renovation work at the station. No one has been held responsible for the tragedy.

    Vucic has refused to schedule an immediate early vote, but has suggested that it could be held sometime next year. Both parliamentary and presidential elections are otherwise due in 2027.

    “We have stands that serve to connect with the citizens,” said Igor Dojnov, a student manning one of the points in central Belgrade.

    Youth-led protests during the past year have shaken Vucic more than ever during his 13-year-long tenure. Serbia’s populist prime minister resigned in January, and Vucic later launched a crackdown on protesters that also drew international criticism.

    While street protests have subsided, discontent with Vucic’s government is believed to be widespread.

    Milca Cankovic Kadijevic, a resident of Belgrade, said that she supported the students, because “I have a desire to live decently — me, my children and my grandchildren.”

    Vucic has formally promised to take Serbia into the European Union, but he has maintained close links with Russia and China, while facing accusations of clamping down on democratic freedoms and allowing corruption and organized crime to flourish.

    He has denied this, and accused the protesters of attempting to orchestrate a “color revolution” under unspecified orders from the West. The term “color revolution” has been used to describe a series of mass protests at the beginning of the 21st century that sometimes led to the toppling of governments in the former Soviet Union states, the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Asia.

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  • Myanmar holds first election since military seized power but critics say the vote is a sham

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    YANGON, Myanmar — Voters went to the polls Sunday for the initial phase of Myanmar’s first general election in five years, held under the supervision of its military government while a civil war rages throughout much of the country.

    Final results won’t be known until after two more rounds of voting are completed later in January. It’s widely expected that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who has governed Myanmar since an army takeover in 2021, will then assume the presidency.

    The military government has presented the vote as a return to democracy, but its bid for legitimacy is marred by the absence of formerly popular opposition parties and reports that soldiers used threats to force voters’ participation.

    While more than 4,800 candidates from 57 parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, only six are competing nationwide with the possibility to gain political clout in parliament. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is by far the strongest contender.

    Voting is taking place in three phases, with Sunday’s first round being held in 102 of Myanmar’s 330 townships. Subsequent phases will take place on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25, but 65 townships won’t participate in the election because of ongoing armed conflicts.

    Final results are expected to be announced by February. It wasn’t clear if or when the authorities would release aggregate figures of Sunday’s voting, although counts were publicly announced at local polling stations.

    Critics of the current system say that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to the status quo. Military rule began when soldiers ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. It blocked her National League for Democracy party from serving a second term despite winning a landslide victory in the 2020 election.

    They argue that the results will lack legitimacy because of the exclusion of major parties and government repression.

    The expected victory of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party makes the nominal transition to civilian rule a chimera, say opponents of military rule and independent analysts.

    “An election organized by a junta that continues to bomb civilians, jail political leaders, and criminalize all forms of dissent is not an election — it is a theater of the absurd performed at gunpoint,” Tom Andrews, the U.N.-appointed human rights expert for Myanmar, posted on X.

    However, the election may provide an excuse for neighbors like China, India and Thailand to say that the vote represents progress toward stability. Western nations have maintained sanctions against Myanmar’s ruling generals because of the military’s anti-democratic actions and the brutal war against opponents.

    According to a count carried out at one polling station in Yangon after the polls closed, only 524 of 1,431 registered voters — just under 37% — cast their ballots.

    Of those, 311 voted for the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, suggesting that opposition calls for a voter boycott may have been heeded.

    Khin Marlar, 51, who cast her ballot in Yangon’s Kyauktada township, said that she felt that she should vote, because she hoped that peace would follow afterward. She explained that she had fled her village in the town of Thaungta in the central Mandalay region because of the fighting.

    “I am voting with the feeling that I will go back to my village when it is peaceful,” she told The Associated Press.

    A resident of southern Mon state, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Khin, for fear of arrest by the military, told the AP that she felt compelled to go to a polling station because of pressure from local authorities.

    “I have to go and vote even though I don’t want to, because soldiers showed up with guns to our village to pressure us yesterday,” Khin said, echoing reports from independent media and rights groups.

    Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader, and her party aren’t participating in the polls. She is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, was dissolved in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.

    Other parties also refused to register or declined to run under conditions they deem unfair, and opposition groups have called for a voter boycott.

    Amael Vier, an analyst for the Asian Network for Free Elections, noted a lack of genuine choice, pointing out that 73% of voters in 2020 cast ballots for parties that no longer exist.

    According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offenses, and more than 7,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since 2021.

    Armed resistance arose after the army used lethal force to crush nonviolent protests against its 2021 takeover. The ensuing civil war has left more than 3.6 million people displaced, according to the U.N.

    A new Election Protection Law imposes harsh penalties and restrictions for virtually all public criticism of the polls.

    There were no reports of major interference with the polls, though opposition organizations and armed resistance groups had vowed to disrupt the electoral process.

    Both the military and its opponents believe power is likely to remain with Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 seizure of power.

    “I am the commander in chief. I am a civil servant. I cannot say that I want to serve as a president. I am not the leader of a political party,” he told journalists after casting his vote. “There is a process for electing a president from parliament only when it is convened. I think it is appropriate to speak about it only then.”

    ___

    Grant Peck reported from Bangkok.

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  • Workers organized by a key union rally in Bolivia against scrapping fuel subsidies

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    LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian miners marched in downtown La Paz, the country’s capital, and union-organized protesters took to the streets elsewhere on Monday, the first day of a strike over the government’s scrapping of fuel subsidies that have been blamed for contributing to dollar shortages and economic turmoil.

    The protests were called for by Bolivia’s Central Union of Workers but many trade groups, including transportation workers, did not join the rallies. Some union leaders said they would go along with the elimination of the subsidies, which had been in place for almost two decades.

    Bolivia’s centrist President Rodrigo Paz, who took office on Nov. 8, ended the fuel subsidy that previous left-wing governments had maintained for more than 20 years, keeping gas prices at $0.53 per liter. An emergency decree by Paz last week put the price of gasoline at around $1 per liter.

    “The country is sick and must be healed,” Paz said on Sunday in a town hall meeting that was broadcast on state television.

    “Every day, $10 million is spent on a subsidy that benefits smugglers” who resell the subsidized fuel in Bolivia and abroad, Paz added.

    Business groups in Bolivia have backed Paz’s new economic measures, which are expected to ease dollar shortages and make it easier for companies to import goods and capital.

    “We knew that at some point the subsidies would end” said Luis Paco, a union leader representing merchants in the city of El Alto. “There were no negotiations over the new adjustments, but we knew this was inevitable.”

    Bus drivers unions stayed away from Monday’s protests after Bolivia’s government said they will be able to import auto parts duty-free. Paz has also mandated a 20% increase in the minimum wage.

    Imports of gasoline and diesel — costing the government up to $3 billion a year — had depleted foreign currency reserves and worsened Bolivia’s biggest economic crisis in four decades, following the decline of the nation’s natural gas exports.

    But unions that have traditionally aligned with left-wing political leaders — including those representing miners and coca growers — went on strike on Monday, demanding that fuel subsidies be reinstated.

    La Paz police sealed off access to the central square where the palace housing the government is located, to prevent demonstrators from entering.

    In the neighboring city of El Alto, local councils blocked some avenues. There were also road blocks on highways in six of the country’s nine regions, according to Bolivia’s highway administration agency.

    “We are in the streets in a struggle that will continue until that decree eliminating the subsidy is repealed,” mining leader Andrés Paye told reporters. “This government approves regulations to favor business owners and punish the poor.”

    Unions aligned with former President Evo Morales, led a massive march in Cochabamba, the Andean country’s third-largest city, and blocked two major highways in the east of the country.

    The bus drivers unions did not join the strike, after negotiating over the weekend with Paz’s new government.

    “We will continue to work, to serve the people” said Lucio Gomez, a leader of a transport workers union.

    Carlos Cordero, a political science professor in La Paz, said the union behind the strike was trying to “show its strength” ahead of next year’s elections for governors and mayors. But the relatively low turnout on Monday showed that the union has been weakened, he said.

    “In many sectors of the country, there is a conviction that the adjustment was necessary” Cordero said.

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  • Cloudy future for bourbon has Jim Beam closing Kentucky distillery for a year

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    Bourbon maker Jim Beam is halting production at one of its distilleries in Kentucky for at least a year as the whiskey industry navigates tariffs from the Trump administration and slumping demand for a product that needs years of aging before it is ready.

    Jim Beam said the decision to pause bourbon making at its Clermont location in 2026 will give the company time to invest in improvements at the distillery. The bottling and warehouse at the site will remain open, along with the James B. Beam Distilling Co. visitors center and restaurant.

    The company’s larger distillery in Boston, Kentucky, will continue to operate, the company said.

    “We are always assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand,” the company said in a statement that added they were talking with the distillery’s union to determine whether there will be layoffs or other reductions.

    Bourbon makers have to gamble well into the future. Jim Beam’s flagship bourbon requires at least four years of aging in barrels before being bottled.

    Whiskey makers are dealing with back-and-forth arguments over tariffs in Europe and in Canada, where a boycott started after the Trump administration suggested annexing the country into the U.S.

    Overall exports of American spirits fell 9% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to a year ago, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. The most dramatic decrease came in U.S. spirits exports to Canada, which fell 85% in the April-through-June quarter

    Bourbon production has grown significantly in recent years. As of January, there were about 16 million barrels of bourbon aging in Kentucky warehouses — more than triple the amount held 15 years ago, according to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.

    But sales figures and polling show Americans are drinking less than they have in decades.

    About 95% of all bourbon made in the U.S. comes from Kentucky. The trade group estimated the industry brings more than 23,000 jobs and $2.2 billion to the state.

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  • How a violent police academy drill has been tied to deaths and injuries across the country

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    Associated Press — When recruits were repeatedly punched and tackled during a role-playing exercise at the Texas game wardens academy last year, they were taking part in a longstanding police training tradition that critics say should be retired.

    By the end of the day, at least 13 of the cadets reported injuries. At least two concussions. A torn knee. A bloody nose. A broken wrist. Two would need surgery. One would resign in protest. Another quit even before the drill.

    A state investigation later found nothing wrong with the drill, which its supporters say is intended to teach recruits to make good decisions under intense physical and mental stress. The experience on Dec. 13, 2024, may have been traumatizing for some at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton, Texas, but it was not unique.

    Since 2005, drills intended to teach defensive tactics at law enforcement academies have been linked to at least a dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries, some resulting in disability, according to a review by The Associated Press.

    The drills — frequently referred to as RedMan training for the brand and color of protective gear worn by participants – are intended to teach law enforcement recruits how to defend themselves against combative suspects. They’re among the most challenging tests at police academies. Law enforcement experts say that when properly designed and supervised, they teach new officers critical skills.

    But critics say they can put recruits at risk of physical and mental abuse that runs some promising officers out of the profession. Academies have wide latitude in running such exercises, given a lack of national standards governing police training.

    Here are some takeaways from AP’s report.

    A string of tragedies across the nation in recent years has brought new attention to the details of curricula at law enforcement academies.

    In August, 30-year-old Jon-Marques Psalms died two days after a training exercise at the San Francisco Police Department Academy. He suffered a head injury while fighting an instructor in a padded suit.

    An autopsy found his death was an accident caused by complications of muscle and organ damage “in the setting of a high-intensity training exercise.” His family has filed a legal claim against the city and hired experts for a second autopsy.

    In November 2024, a 24-year-old Kentucky game warden recruit died after fighting an instructor in a pool to the point of collapse, video obtained by AP shows. William Bailey’s death was ruled an accidental drowning due to a “sudden cardiac dysrhythmia during physical exertion.”

    A year earlier, a Denver police recruit had both legs amputated after a training fight that his attorney called a “barbaric hazing ritual” left him hospitalized. An Indiana recruit died of exertion after he was pummeled by a larger instructor, and a classmate was disabled after fighting the same man.

    Academies have discretion to design training within state guidelines, and AP found the drills take many forms at local police, county sheriff and state departments. They’re sometimes called “combat training,” “Fight Day” or “stress reaction training.”

    Some recruits have to ward off several assailants at once. Others fight a series of instructors, one after another. Some academies intentionally use larger, more skilled instructors. The stated goals are generally the same: to use skills learned in the academy to fend off or subdue assailants and to never give up.

    Recruits and instructors wear protective gear to cushion their heads from blows. But there are no uniform safety guidelines, including whether academies must have medical personnel on site.

    One of the recruits injured last year was Heather Sterling, a former Wyoming game warden who had moved back to her home state of Texas to continue her career.

    Sterling had been a defensive tactics instructor in Wyoming before enrolling in the Texas academy, and she was concerned when she learned about the so-called four-on-one drill.

    During the exercise, cadets faced a barrage of attacks from four instructors playing the role of violent assailants. Cadets would have to kick and punch a bag held by an instructor and try to fend off attacks for 90 seconds or more.

    Sterling thought the scenario was unrealistic. She said she had never been ambushed on the job, and she would be able to use her firearm or other force if that happened in real life.

    Video shows that Sterling was punched seven times in the head in less than two minutes, and the last blow knocked off her wrestling helmet. She was also thrown to the ground.

    Sterling said she had a pounding headache, and later drove herself to get medical treatment. She was diagnosed with a concussion.

    Sterling passed the drill but resigned from the academy in protest. Now she’s speaking out in the hopes of bringing change to practices in Texas and elsewhere.

    “I’m worried that someone is going to get killed,” she said. “This is a poorly disguised assault.”

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  • Punk protest group Pussy Riot declared ‘extremist organization’ by a Russian court

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    Punk group Pussy Riot was declared an “extremist organization” by a Russian court on Monday.

    The ruling, which was made by Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court, effectively outlaws the group from operating in Russia and puts anyone linked with the group at risk of criminal prosecution.

    The feminist protest group first catapulted to notoriety in 2012, when its members performed a provocative “punk prayer” against President Vladimir Putin from the pulpit of Russia’s largest cathedral.

    Today, members of the group remain part of Russia’s opposition, largely working in exile.

    In September, five people linked with Pussy Riot — Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova — were handed jail terms by a Russian court after being found guilty of spreading “false information” about the Russian military, news outlet Mediazona reported. Mediazona was founded by Alyokhina alongside another Pussy Riot member, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.

    The case was linked to an anti-war music video made by the group, as well as an art performance in Germany that saw Pletner urinate on a portrait of Putin.

    Alyokhina received a 13-year prison sentence, while Pletner was given 11 years. Burkot, Petrova, and Borisova were given eight years’ imprisonment. All have rejected the charges as politically motivated.

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  • Eurovision champion Nemo returns the winner’s trophy to protest Israel’s inclusion

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    GENEVA — Swiss singer Nemo, who won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, said Thursday they will return the winner’s trophy because Israel is being allowed to compete in the politically troubled pop music competition.

    In an Instagram video, Nemo held the microphone-shaped glass ornament and said “today I no longer feel like this trophy belongs on my shelf.”

    “Eurovision says it stands for unity, for inclusion and dignity for all people,” Nemo said, adding that Israel’s participation, given its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza, shows those ideals are at odds with organizers’ decisions.

    The nonbinary singer won the contest in May 2024 with pop-operatic ode “The Code.”

    Five countries have announced they will boycott the 2026 contest after organizers declined to expel Israel: Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland.

    “When entire countries withdraw it should be clear that something is deeply wrong,” Nemo said before placing the trophy in a box they said would be sent to the Geneva headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision.

    Next year’s Eurovision is scheduled to take place in Vienna in May, after Austrian singer JJ won the 2025 contest in Basel, Switzerland. By Eurovision tradition, the winning country hosts the following year.

    The walkouts cast a cloud over the future of what’s meant to be a feel-good cultural party marked by friendly rivalry and disco beats.

    The contest, which turns 70 in 2026, strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    It has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving.

    Opponents of Israel’s participation cite the war in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

    Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostage.

    A number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim Israel has vigorously denied.

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  • Cincinnati approves $8.1 million settlement with protesters arrested in 2020

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    CINCINNATI, Ohio — The city of Cincinnati approved an $8.1 million legal settlement Wednesday with hundreds of non-violent protesters who had alleged mistreatment at the hands of city and county authorities when they were arrested during the racial justice demonstrations of 2020.

    Cincinnati City Council approved the deal after its terms were outlined last week. It brings to a close years of litigation that stemmed from protests over the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people.

    None of the 479 plaintiffs had been charged with a felony or violent offense nor been involved in any property damage — though some did occur. All were charged with misdemeanor curfew violations during nights of protests from May 30 to June 8, 2020, but those were later dismissed by the city amid a flurry of conflicting court rulings.

    The lawsuit they brought collectively in 2022 alleged police brutality, wrongful arrests, inhumane jail conditions and unlawful seizures of property.

    Hamilton County, whose sheriff and jail were also named in the lawsuit, will pay $65,000 toward the settlement, with the city paying the remainder.

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  • Thousands protest in Bulgaria before budget with steep tax increases gets approval

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    SOFIA, Bulgaria — Thousands took to the streets of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, Wednesday to denounce steep tax increases in next year’s draft budget before its final vote in parliament.

    The opposition coalition We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria organized the rally, which drew an estimated 20,000 protesters. The protest comes as the Balkan country prepares to join the eurozone at the beginning of next year.

    The protest reflects widespread concern over the budget’s economic impact on individuals and businesses, including the increase in social security contributions and the doubling of the dividend tax.

    Protesters formed a human chain around parliament and tried to block deputies’ cars, prompting police intervention to prevent violence. Police reported that demonstrators threw bottles and firecrackers at officers, injuring three.

    Despite opposition from various social groups and warnings from economists that the draft carries significant risks, the budget will likely be approved since the coalition government holds a comfortable majority in parliament.

    The budget sets a record for government spending at nearly 46% of GDP. This increase will be financed primarily through higher taxes on businesses and workers, as well as a sharp rise in public debt.

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  • California labor leader pleads not guilty to misdemeanor over immigration protest

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    LOS ANGELES — The leader of a major labor union in Southern California who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge and will face trial in January.

    David Huerta is president of the Service Employees International Union California. He was arrested June 6 while joining a large crowd of demonstrators outside a business in Los Angeles where federal agents were investigating suspected immigration violations.

    Huerta was initially charged with obstruction, resistance or opposition to a federal officer — a class A felony. However, federal prosecutors last month dismissed the original felony charge of conspiracy to impede an officer.

    On Tuesday, he entered a not guilty plea to misdemeanor obstruction of justice. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 20, 2026, the Los Angeles Times reported.

    During the June protest, Huerta sat down in front of a vehicular gate and encouraged others to walk in circles to try to prevent law enforcement from going in or out, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in an earlier federal court filing.

    An officer told Huerta to leave, then put his hands on Huerta to move him out of the way of a vehicle, the agent wrote. Huerta pushed back, and the officer pushed Huerta to the ground and arrested him, according to the filing.

    Huerta’s union represents hundreds of thousands of janitors, security officers and other workers across California. His arrest became a rallying cry for immigrant advocates across the country as they called for his release and an end to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

    Abbe David Lowell and Marilyn Bednarski, Huerta’s attorneys, said in a statement that they will seek “the speediest trial” to vindicate him.

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  • Leaders arrive for African G20 summit overshadowed by rift between the host and US

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    JOHANNESBURG — World leaders arrived Friday for a historic first Group of 20 summit in Africa that aims to put the problems of poor countries at the top of the global agenda but has been undermined by a rift between host South Africa and the United States over a Trump administration boycott.

    The weekend summit in Johannesburg will be attended by delegations from 18 of the world’s richest and top developing economies — minus the U.S., which has branded South Africa’s hosting a “disgrace ” and won’t participate in the talks.

    The boycott by the world’s biggest economy and founding G20 member was ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump over his claims that majority-Black South Africa is persecuting its white Afrikaner minority.

    Strong U.S. opposition threatens to undercut South Africa’s chosen agenda for the summit, where the host wants to focus world leaders’ attention on issues like the impact of climate change on the developing world, debt burdens for poor countries and widening global inequality.

    Monthslong diplomatic tensions between the U.S. — which takes over the G20 presidency after the summit — and South Africa worsened this week when South African officials said Washington was trying to pressure it to not issue a leaders’ declaration at the end of the summit in the absence of an American delegation.

    South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responded: “We will not be bullied. We will not agree to be bullied.”

    A leaders’ declaration is the traditional climax of G20 summits and details any broad agreement reached by the members, though it’s not a binding document. The bloc has often struggled to put words into action due to the different priorities of members like the U.S., China, Russia, India and countries in Western Europe.

    The G20 has expanded to 21 members, 19 nations plus the European Union and African Union, and is meant to bring rich and poor countries together to tackle problems, especially around the global economy.

    Leaders of the United Nations, the World Bank and other international institutions also traditionally attend the summits as guests and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will be in Johannesburg.

    The U.S. boycott of this G20 is viewed as an example of Trump’s criticism of multinational organizations, having pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization.

    But other leaders have traveled to Africa’s most developed economy hoping to find common ground, especially around new trade deals in the wake of U.S. tariffs.

    “The African states are searching for partnerships,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, “and so I will go to Johannesburg in any case and hold talks there. … I expect that we will return to Germany with good results.”

    While it often operates in the shadow of the Group of Seven richest democracies, G20 members together represent around 85% of the world’s economy, 75% of international trade and more than half the global population.

    “The G20 is such an important gathering, it’s the most important gathering for which Australia is a member,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said he’d planned bilateral meetings with leaders of the EU, India and Germany on the sidelines of the Johannesburg summit. Albanese noted one in four jobs in Australia depended on trade with partners like those in the G20.

    The EU announced a new critical minerals agreement with South Africa in Johannesburg this week and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the G20 was an opportunity to “double down” on their partnership.

    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would announce a new commercial deal for a British rail company to assist South Africa with the reform of its rail network, the U.K. government said.

    “Working with international partners to deliver jobs and opportunity at home is a one-way ticket to growth,” Starmer said.

    Trump is not the only major world leader to miss the summit. China’s Xi Jinping won’t be in Johannesburg after cutting back on his international travel, and Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t travel as he is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over his alleged involvement in abducting children from Ukraine.

    South Africa, as a member of the court, would be expected to arrest Putin if he set foot on South African territory.

    But China and Russia will still send government delegations, leaving the U.S. as the only one of the 19 countries in the G20 not represented.

    Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is Xi’s No. 2, used his trip to the G20 to stop off in Zambia to sign a $1.4 billion, three-country railway refurbishment agreement that will revive a Cold War-era rail line. That will help expand the already extensive influence of China — the U.S.’s biggest economic rival — in Africa and increase its access to critical minerals.

    Some analysts say developing world countries, especially in Africa, could take the U.S. boycott as evidence of their need to further increase ties with others, especially China.

    “This isn’t necessarily negative. It can catalyze more diverse leadership in global governance,” said professor Narnia Bohler-Muller, an international law and democracy researcher in South Africa.

    Ramaphosa, who will chair the summit, put the U.S. boycott more bluntly: “Their absence is their loss,” he said.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the G20 summit in South Africa: https://apnews.com/hub/g20-summit

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  • Leaders press on with G20 summit in South Africa that won’t have US and Trump

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    JOHANNESBURG — Leaders and delegates from the world’s richest nations and top developing countries are gathering this weekend for the Group of 20 summit in South Africa, an event overshadowed by the boycott of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.

    Africa’s first G20 summit will see representatives of 42 countries, but not the United States, a founding member of the group and one that’s supposed to be taking over its rotating presidency in Johannesburg.

    Trump has denounced South Africa’s leadership of the G20 and said he would not attend, citing alleged discrimination of the country’s white farmers. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has said he’s told Trump that information about the alleged persecution of Afrikaners is “completely false.”

    Last Friday, Trump also said that no U.S. officials would attend the gathering. The U.S. boycott has dominated discussions — more so than the summit’s agenda, which includes climate resilience, debt sustainability for poor nations and growing inequality.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this year skipped the G20 meeting of foreign ministers, followed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who missed the finance ministers meeting. The U.S. has also urged member nations not to adopt a “Leaders Declaration” at the end of the summit, which would signal a multilateral consensus.

    Still, Johannesburg has been a hive of activity ahead of the summit — workers have undertaken a massive clean-up of the streets and bright flowers have been planted along some city roads, adorned with colorful G20 banners and billboards.

    While the hosts have admitted that the U.S. absence raises concerns about the summit’s ultimate success, South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, said Tuesday it was also an opportunity “to send a clear message that the world can move on” without the U.S. — but that it won’t be easy.

    “It will not be a walk in the park, but when there is global consensus, we can be able to find persuasive means to enable the world to function,” Lamola said.

    He downplayed both Trump’s absence and those of other heads of state who are not making it to Johannesburg, saying that a “100% attendance of heads of states” has never happened.

    Lamola also cited China’s Xi Jinping who has not been travelling much this year, instead sending Premier Li Qiang to represent him — including in South Africa.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin will also be absent from the summit as there is an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

    The warrant obliges South Africa, a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the court, to arrest Putin if he steps on its territory. Putin also missed the summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies in South Africa in 2023 for the same reason.

    South Africa has used its presidency of the G20 to push for action to address the challenges of poor nations — such as securing financing to help countries facing the devastating effects of climate change, something independent experts estimate would require about $1 trillion a year by 2030.

    On Tuesday, an expert panel’s report called for the International Monetary Fund and G20 countries to adopt broad measures to refinance debt of poor nations.

    The African Union, a G20 member, plans to speak for African countries facing climate change challenges and financial pressures, according to Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the chairperson of the African Union Commission.

    Brian Kagoro, managing director at the think-tank Open Society Foundations, said that while the U.S. boycott is “regrettable,” what matters most is the substance of what Africa advances at the summit.

    “If anything, the situation underscores the need to accelerate global governance reform, ensuring that all regions, including Africa, have a meaningful voice in setting global priorities,” Kagoro said.

    Other powerful countries — including France, Germany and the United Kingdom — have backed the G20 summit and their leaders are expected to arrive in South Africa on Friday, ahead of the two-day event, with many bilateral talks expected on the sidelines of the summit.

    U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has also confirmed his attendance.

    “I will be there and I am totally committed to work within the G20, to move all the key reforms that are essential in the international financial system and to create the conditions for the development agenda, particularly in Africa, to be sustainable,” Guterres said while in Angola last week.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the G20 summit in South Africa: https://apnews.com/hub/g20-summit

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  • Hundreds of thousands rally in Manila against flood-control corruption scandal

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    MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos gathered Sunday in the capital in the largest rally so far to demand accountability for a flood-control corruption scandal that has implicated powerful members of Congress and top government officials.

    Various groups have protested in recent months following the discovery that thousands of flood defense projects across one of the world’s most typhoon-prone countries were substandard, incomplete or simply did not exist.

    Government engineers, public works officials and construction company executives have testified under oath in hearings by the Senate and a fact-finding commission that members of Congress and officials at the Department of Public Works and Highways took kickbacks from construction companies to help them win lucrative contracts and avoid accountability. Most denied the allegations.

    About 650,000 members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, or Church of Christ, joined the start of the three-day rally Sunday in Manila’s Rizal Park despite intermittent rains, police said. Many wore white shirts and carried anti-corruption placards. About 2,000 people, including retired generals, held a separate anti-corruption protest late Sunday at the “People Power” monument in suburban Quezon city.

    “These thieves have made us very outraged because we pay our taxes and these officials just plunder the treasury and rob us of our future,” said Rachel Morte, a 41-year-old resident from northern Pampanga province who joined the huge Manila rally. “We hope we’ll get justice and the stolen money will be returned to the people.”

    Iglesia is an influential group that votes as a bloc and is courted by political candidates during elections.

    The police, backed by the military, went on full alert and deployed thousands of personnel to secure the weekend rallies, which were peaceful, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.

    During a Sept. 21 anti-corruption demonstration, a few hundred black-clad protesters threw rocks, bottles and firebombs at police near the presidential palace in Manila, injuring more than 100 officers. Criminal complaints have been filed against 97 protesters.

    The presidential palace went on security lockdown over the weekend, with major access roads barricaded by anti-riot police, cargo containers and barbed wires.

    National police chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. ordered law enforcement to exercise “maximum tolerance” in Sunday’s rallies.

    Flood control is an especially sensitive issue in the Philippines, one of the Asian countries most prone to deadly typhoons, flooding and extreme weather. Two typhoons left at least 259 dead this month, mostly from flash floods and landslides, and affected millions of others.

    President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been trying to quell public outrage and street protests sparked by the scandal, saying on Thursday that many of the powerful senators, members of Congress and wealthy businesspeople who were implicated would be in jail by Christmas.

    Marcos said an independent fact-finding commission he created has already filed criminal complaints for graft , corruption and plunder against 37 suspects. Criminal complaints have also been filed against 86 construction company executives and nine government officials for allegedly evading nearly 9 billion pesos ($152 million) in taxes.

    Among those accused are lawmakers opposed to and allied with Marcos, including former House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin and a key ally; and former Senate President Chiz Escudero. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

    Sen. Bong Go, a key ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, has also been accused of involvement in corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects. He has denied the allegations.

    Duterte, a harsh Marcos critic, was detained by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands in March on charges of crimes against humanity over his brutal anti-drugs crackdowns.

    His daughter, the current vice president, said Marcos should also be held accountable and jailed for approving the 2025 national budget, which appropriated billions for flood control projects.

    There have been isolated calls, including by some Duterte supporters, for the military to withdraw its backing for Marcos, but Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. has repeatedly rejected the idea.

    “With full conviction, I assure the public that the armed forces will not engage in any action that violates the Constitution,” Brawner said. “Not today, not tomorrow and certainly not under my watch.”

    ___

    Aaron Favila in Manila, Philippines contributed.

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  • Japan protests China’s travel advisory over Taiwan remarks

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    BEIJING (AP) — Japan raised objections Saturday after China advised its citizens to avoid visiting Japan, as a feud over the new Japanese leader’s remarks on Taiwan showed no signs of dying down.

    The government in Tokyo lodged a protest and its top spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, urged China to take “appropriate measures,” Japan’s Kyodo News Service reported.

    China advised its citizens Friday to refrain from traveling to Japan in the near future. It cited earlier attacks against Chinese in Japan and what it called Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s “erroneous remarks” on Taiwan, which it said undermined the atmosphere for China-Japan exchange.

    Kihara told reporters that it is precisely because of the differences between the two governments that multilayered communication is essential, a Kyodo report said.

    China has repeatedly recommended its nationals take security precautions when in Japan over the past year, but the latest announcement appeared to be stronger in advising against travel, according to notices posted on the website of its embassy in Tokyo.

    Japan is an immensely popular destination for Chinese tourists, providing a much-needed economic boost but also sparking an anti-China and anti-foreigner backlash from some. It’s unclear what impact the advisory will have on the willingness of Chinese to visit Japan, but several Chinese airlines offered no-penalty refunds on previously sold tickets to Japan following the government’s announcement.

    The dispute suggests that Japan’s already fragile relations with China could turn rocky under Takaichi, who supports building up the military to counter potential threats from Beijing and its claims to contested territory in nearby waters in the western Pacific.

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    Takaichi, who became prime minister last month, said in parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “an existential threat” to Japan, requiring the use of force by its military.

    The remark prompted strong objections from China, including a social media post from its consul general in Osaka last weekend saying “we have no choice but to cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us.”

    His comment, which was later taken down, sparked a Japanese diplomatic protest that was followed by a back-and-forth that continued all week.

    China claims Taiwan, a self-governing island off its coast, as its territory and has staged threatening military drills in the surrounding waters in recent years.

    Neither the United States nor Japan has official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the U.S. is the main supplier of defense equipment to the island’s military and opposes resolution of the China-Taiwan situation by force.

    Japan is a military ally of the United States and hosts American troops at several U.S. bases on its territory, including a major Navy base south of Tokyo.

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