Latest Regional cooperation News
Beshear announces another round of tornado-recovery funding
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Andy Beshear has announced another round of state assistance for regions of Kentucky hit by tornadoes last December. The nearly $800,000 in funding will go to Hopkins and Taylor counties, the governor said Thursday. More than $655,000 will...

Caspian nations reaffirm pledge to keep foreign armies out
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the other four countries along the Caspian Sea on Wednesday reaffirmed their shared commitment to keep foreign militaries out of the region. The presidents of Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan...

Afghanistan earthquake victims face struggles getting aid
Getting donations to Afghanistan earthquake victims will be far more difficult compared with other disasters due to sanctions against the country’s Taliban government and its troubled relationship with Western nations, experts say. International groups that maintained operations in...

US Pacific admiral: Ties with Japan key to regional security
TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. Navy’s top commander in the Pacific and the Japanese defense minister on Friday said that close cooperation between their naval forces is more important than ever in the region amid rising tensions over China, North Korea and Russia. Defense Minister Nobuo...
Aid groups warn of grave consequences if Syria mandate stops
BEIRUT (AP) — Unless the U.N. Security Council extends its approval of aid deliveries to rebel-held parts of northwest Syria next month, food supplies will be depleted by September in the region that is home to some 4 million people, aid agencies warned Thursday. Concerns have been...

EU calls on Ethiopia to reconnect Tigray region to the world
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The European Union says Ethiopia’s government must reconnect its northern Tigray region to the world as a yearlong partial blockade has left food aid for almost 1 million hungry people stuck in warehouses without the fuel to deliver it. Janez...

Japan, Australia to expand defense ties for regional order
TOKYO (AP) — Japan and Australia's defense ministers on Wednesday vowed to step up their ties to support democratic values in the Indo-Pacific region and agreed to work more closely with Southeast Asia and the Pacific island nations where China is seeking to expand its influence. ...
35 children die in Ethiopia's Afar amid drought, conflict
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — At least 35 children have died in recent weeks due to drought and conflict in Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar region, according to a local hospital and the medical charity Doctors Without Borders. The announcement Thursday came days after a government minister...

War surges Norway's oil, gas profit. Now, it's urged to help
STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Europe’s frantic search for alternatives to Russian energy has dramatically increased the demand — and price — for Norway's oil and gas. As the money pours in, Europe's second-biggest natural gas supplier is fending off accusations that it's...
Biggest aid convoy since cease-fire nears Ethiopia's Tigray
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The biggest convoy of aid since Ethiopia’s government declared a unilateral “humanitarian cease-fire” in the country’s long-encircled Tigray region two months ago has departed for Tigray, a U.N. official told The Associated Press, as the conflict gripping Africa’s...
