Month: January 2022

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatian rescuers are praising a dog who protected his injured owner from freezing high on a snowy mountain, keeping him warm for 13 hours in the dark until he could get medical attention. “Friendship and love between man and dog know no boundaries,” the county’s mountain rescue service wrote on Twitter

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Police say a second man has been arrested in a shooting at the Mall of America in a Minneapolis suburb last week that left two people wounded. Bloomington police say the 18-year-old St. Paul man was arrested in nearby Roseville and is being held on a possible charge of first-degree assault.

MADRID (AP) — Spanish authorities say an eight-year-old girl has died from her injuries after strong winds blew a bouncy castle several meters into the air during a fair in eastern Spain. Spanish news agency EFE reported Wednesday that another eight children were injured, including some that needed hospital treatment. The town hall of Mislata

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago school leaders canceled classes in the nation’s third-largest school district for the second straight day after failing to reach an agreement with the teachers union over remote learning and other COVID-19 safety protocols. The Chicago Teachers Union sought to revert to remote instruction during the latest

By STEPHEN McGRATH Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Fifteen years after Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, many residents say the former communist nations certainly are better for it. But the two countries still have a way to go on generating the kind of economic growth that would keep their citizens from seeking

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s defense minister has met with the Jordanian king. The meeting in the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday comes as part of a reset of ties between the two countries. Defense Minister Benny Gantz’ office said the two discussed “security and policy topics,” while a statement from King Abdullah II

LONDON (AP) — Germany’s antitrust watchdog has paved the way for extra scrutiny of Google by designating it a company of “paramount significance.” It’s the first such decision since regulators got more power to curb abusive practices by big digital companies. The regulator’s decision Wednesday comes after rules were introduced last year that allow it

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has been discharged from a hospital in Sao Paulo, where he spent two days after an intestinal obstruction. On Tuesday, the medical team accompanying him had ruled out the need for surgery. Bolsonaro, 66, has undergone four surgeries stemming from the abdominal stabbing he suffered during a

NEW YORK (AP) — Staff writers for The New York Times and The New Yorker, an art expert based in Rome and an associate professor at Oxford University. Those are among the nine inaugural winners of the Silvers-Dudley Prizes for criticism and journalism. The awards are named for the late Robert Silvers, the longtime editor

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.N. official says unknown perpetrators have attacked a group of U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, vandalizing their vehicles and stealing official items from them. Such scuffles with U.N. peacekeepers are not uncommon in southern Lebanon since the force was expanded following the 2006 war between Israel and the militant Hezbollah group.

By DALATOU MAMANE Associated Press NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger officials say that police have seized more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of cocaine from the vehicle of the mayor of a small town in the country’s north. Niger’s Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking issued a statement saying that nearly 200

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli court has sentenced a man to a year in prison for his involvement in the beating of an Arab motorist during a spasm of communal violence last year. The man was convicted of incitement to violence and racism, as part of a plea

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A year after thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, hundreds of people who assaulted officers and committed other crimes still haven’t been caught. The investigation into last January’s insurrection has been a massive undertaking for federal law enforcement officials. More than 700 people have been

By ANNIE MILLERBERND of NerdWallet The busy season for home remodeling usually ends in late summer or early fall, but contractors say demand from the pandemic renovation rush hasn’t let up. That means homeowners could call a dozen contractors, just to get a few calls back. To grab their attention, you may need to put

By MICHAEL CANTU Edmunds The semiconductor chip shortage and supply chain disruption have forced many automakers to remove certain features from their new vehicles. Here are a few notable examples and what you need to know. 

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An aide says Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time but has no serious symptoms. The aide said Wednesday on Twitter that Duda was under medical observation but feels well. He says the 49-year-old president has been vaccinated against the coronavirus and received a booster

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden has created an agency to combat disinformation as the country approaches a September general election. The mission of the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency is to “defend our open and democratic society and free opinions by identifying, analyzing and responding to inappropriate influences and other misleading information directed at Sweden or

By DANICA KIRKA and MIKE CORDER Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Health authorities across the U.K. have simplified COVID-19 testing requirements in a move designed to cut isolation times for many people. It may also ease the staffing shortages that are hitting public services from hospitals to garbage collection amid an omicron-fueled surge in infections.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s foreign minister has tested positive for the coronavirus as the European Union member country experiences a nationwide resurgence of infections. The foreign ministry’s press office said Wednesday that Teodora Genchovska tested positive from a PCR test for COVID-19 and will remain under medical supervision. The 50-year-old Genchovska is fully vaccinated.

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s biggest opposition party says it will support the reelection of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Wednesday’s move gives the incumbent a clear run to a second term. A few figures in ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union had advocated nominating a woman to run as Germany’s next

By AYA BATRAWY and ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI Associated Press RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — An influential Saudi cleric who once served for years as head of the kingdom’s Shariah courts and whose ultraconservative views sparked outcry has died. His family announced the sheikh’s death on Twitter on Wednesday. The 90-year-old cleric leaves behind a legacy that

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A Russia-led military alliance says it will dispatch peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan after the country’s president asked for help in controlling protests that have escalated into violence, including the seizure and setting afire of some government buildings. Protesters in Kazakhstan’s largest city stormed the presidential residence and

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has called for making it simpler for couples to adopt children as he presided over his first general audience of the New Year with a novel supporting cast. For the first time, a layman and a nun provided the English and Spanish translations of Francis’

BEIJING (AP) — A troubled Chinese real estate developer with $310 billion of debt is asking investors in one of its bonds to postpone when they will be repaid. Evergrande Group says it will conduct a three-day online vote starting Friday for holders of the 4.5 billion yuan ($700 million) bond. Evergrande is the global

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military has apologized for causing public concern about its security readiness, days after it failed to stop a suspected North Korean defector who crossed the heavily fortified border to return to the North. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Won

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. and the Iraqi military say Katyusha rockets have struck Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. troops at Baghdad’s international airport and in the western Anbar province. In Syria, eight rounds of indirect fire hit a base where members of the U.S.-led coalition are deployed. No damage

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Officials in Ethiopia have arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared thousands of ethnic Tigrayans who recently were deported from Saudi Arabia, a new Human Rights Watch report says as the country’s deadly Tigray conflict continues. This is the latest report citing witnesses who have described mass arrests of ethnic Tigrayans. Ethiopia’s government

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister is advocating tougher curbs on contact between people as the country prepares for a new rise in coronavirus infections fueled by the omicron variant. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the country’s 16 state governors are set to confer Friday on charting a way forward. They’re likely to build on restrictions

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A year after the Jan. 6 insurrection, some of the lawmakers who were trapped in the upper House balcony that day are still recovering from lingering trauma. They were the last group to be evacuated, after the rest of their colleagues had been ushered out from