Russian, Chinese bombers fly joint patrol
MOSCOW -- Russian and Chinese strategic bombers on Wednesday flew a joint patrol over the western Pacific in a show of increasingly close defense ties between the two countries.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Tu-95 bombers of the Russian air force and the Chinese H-6K bombers flew over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea during an eight-hour mission.
As part of the drills, the Russian bombers for the first time landed in China and the Chinese bombers flew to an air base in Russia, the ministry said in a statement. It noted that the joint patrols weren't directed against any other country.
China's Defense Ministry described Wednesday's patrols as a "routine" part of an annual cooperation plan between the two militaries.
The exercise comes after a series of joint drills intended to showcase a growing military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing as they both face tensions with the United States.
Pakistan suicide bomber targets police
QUETTA, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber blew himself up near a truck carrying police officers on their way to protect polio workers near Quetta on Wednesday, killing a police officer and three family members traveling in a car nearby. The bombing wounded 23 others, mostly police, officials said.
Ghulam Azfer Mehser, a senior police officer, said the attack happened as the police were heading to the polio workers as part of a nationwide vaccination drive launched Monday.
The blast was so powerful that it toppled the truck carrying police officers into a ravine, he said, adding that the bombing also damaged a nearby car carrying members of a family.
He said that the anti-polio campaign will continue even after the bombing.
Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other officials in separate statements condemned the attack. It came a day after Pakistani Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khan traveled to Kabul to discuss a range of issues with the Afghan Taliban, including the latest threat from the local Taliban.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan group, or TTP, said the attack in Baluchistan targeted police to avenge the killing of their former spokesperson, Abdul Wali. He was widely known as Omar Khalid Khurasani and was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan's Paktika province in August. His death was a heavy blow to the group.
Guatemalan newspaper stops printing
GUATEMALA CITY -- The prominent Guatemalan investigative newspaper "El Periodico" announced Wednesday that it is stopping its print edition, after the government arrested the paper's president.
Jose Ruben Zamora was arrested in July and charged with money laundering and extortion. Zamora has overseen dozens of investigations into corruption during his leadership at El Periodico since the paper was founded in 1996.
All of the paper's reporters have been let go, and it is not clear how it can continue with digital editions only. The government has withdrawn advertising and is alleged to have pressured businesses to do the same.
"It has been 30 years of struggle against corruption and impunity, against governmental abuses and terrorism, in favor of freedom transparency and accountability," Zamora wrote in a final editorial, datelined from the prison cell where he is being held.
The closure of the print edition came on Guatemala's "Day of the Journalist." Guatemala's chief prosecutor has been criticized by the United States government for blocking corruption investigations and instead pursuing the prosecutors and judges who carried them out.
LGBTQ restrictions sent for Putin's signing
MOSCOW -- The upper house of Russia's parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill significantly expanding restrictions on activities seen as promoting LGBTQ rights in the country, the latest move in an ongoing crackdown on the country's embattled LGBTQ community.
The Federation Council quickly rubber-stamped the bill after its equally speedy approval last week by the lower house, the State Duma. It will now go to President Vladimir Putin who will sign it into law.
A 2013 law banned what authorities deem to be spreading "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" to minors. The new bill expands that ban to spreading such information to people aged 18 and older.
The new bill outlaws advertising, media and online resources. books, films and theater productions deemed to contain such "propaganda."
It also broadens the existing restrictions by banning information about gender transitions to be conveyed to minors.
Violations are punishable by fines and, if committed by non-residents, could lead to their expulsion from Russia.
The fines range from $1,660-$33,000. For some violations, foreigners could face 15 days' detention prior to expulsion.
The bill does not make violations a criminal offense as Russian law stipulates that the criminal code can be amended only through an independent bill. Some lawmakers have suggested they favor such a measure.
In this handout photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, a view of a Tu-95 strategic bomber of the Russian air force taxiing before takeoff for a joint air patrol with Chinese bombers at an airbase in an unspecified location in Russia. Russian and Chinese strategic bombers on Wednesday flew a joint patrol over the western Pacific in a show of increasingly close defense ties between the two countries. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this handout photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, a Tu-95 strategic bomber of the Russian air force flies as part of a joint patrol with Chinese bombers over the Pacific. Russian and Chinese strategic bombers on Wednesday flew a joint patrol over the western Pacific in a show of increasingly close defense ties between the two countries. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Security officials inspect the site of a suicide bombing Wednesday in Quetta, Pakistan. (AP/Arshad Butt)