Two senior leaders of an American business organization in Hong Kong were denied entry to neighboring Macau over the weekend amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.

The president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Tara Joseph, and the group’s chair, Robert Grieves, were separately denied entry into the Chinese-ruled territory on Saturday.

Neither Grieves nor Joseph was given a reason for being turned away.

“We are puzzled as to why this happened, given this was simply a social occasion to celebrate AmCham Macau’s annual gathering,” an AmCham spokesperson said in a statement.

Both Joseph and Grieves were en route to Macau to attend AmCham’s annual ball, which the Chief Executive of Macau and the U.S. Consul General in Macau and Hong Kong were expected to attend.

Their refused entry comes at a time of escalating fiction between Washington and Beijing. The world’s first and second largest economies are trying to end their bruising trade war, while also cla..

(WELLINGTON, New Zealand) — A New Zealand volcanic island erupted Monday in a tower of ash and steam while dozens of tourists were exploring the moon-like surface, killing five people and leaving many more missing.

The site was still too dangerous hours later for police and rescuers to search for the missing.

Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said the number of those who remained missing was in the double digits but he couldn’t confirm an exact number. He said there were fewer than 50 people on the island when it erupted and 23 had been taken off, including the five dead.

Tims said experts had told them the island remained unstable but search and rescue teams wanted to get back as quickly as they could. He said there had been no contact with any of those who were missing.

He said both New Zealanders and overseas tourists were among those who were dead, missing or injured. He said most of the 18 who survived were injured and some had suffered severe burns.

Some of those involved..

(BEIJING) — People who were at vocational training centers in China’s far west Xinjiang have all ”graduated” and are living happy lives, an official said Monday. But Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities from the region say their family members continue to be arbitrarily detained in camps and prisons.

Shohrat Zakir, Xinjiang’s Uighur governor, made the remarks during a press briefing as part of a strident propaganda campaign launched following U.S. Congress’ approval last week of the Uighur Human Rights Policy Act.

“When the lives of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang were seriously threatened by terrorism, the U.S. turned a deaf ear,” Zakir said at a press briefing. “On the contrary, now that Xinjiang society is steadily developing and people of all ethnicities are living and working in peace, the U.S. feels uneasy, and attacks and smears Xinjiang.”

The U.S. legislation condemns the mass detentions of an estimated more than 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and oth..

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A 34-year-old transport minister and lawmaker has been tapped to become Finland’s youngest prime minister ever and its third female government leader.

Finland’s ruling Social Democratic Party council voted 32-29 late Sunday to name Sanna Marin over rival Antti Lindtman to take over the government’s top post from incumbent Antti Rinne.

Having emerged as Finland’s largest party in the April election, the Social Democrats can appoint one of their own to the post of prime minister in the Nordic nation of 5.5 million.

Marin has been the party’s vice chairwoman, a lawmaker since 2015 and served as until this week as the minster for transport and communications. According to Finland’s biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and the Ilta-Sanomat tabloid, Marin will become the world’s youngest sitting prime minister.

Finland currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency until the end of the year. Lawmakers are likely to approve the appointment of Marin and her..

(PARIS) — France braced for even worse transportation woes when the new work week begins Monday due to nationwide strikes over the government’s redesign of the national retirement system. French President Emmanuel Macron convened top officials to strategize for the high-stakes week ahead.

Sunday saw more travel chaos as the strikes entered their fourth day, with most French trains at a standstill. Fourteen of Paris’ subway lines were closed, with only two lines — using automated trains with no drivers — functioning. International train routes also suffered disruptions.

Monday will be an even bigger test of the strike movement’s strength and of commuters’ and tourists’ patience. Unions are calling for more people to join the strike Monday. Many employees worked from home or took a day off when the strikes began last week, but that’s not sustainable if the strikes drag on.

Warning of safety risks, the SNCF national train network and the Paris transit authority RATP warned travelers to..