Month: December 2022

CHICAGO (AP) — Lufthansa says a flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt, Germany, made an unscheduled landing at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after a passenger’s laptop caught fire. The airline says Monday night’s landing at O’Hare was a precautionary step after an overheated laptop caused a small fire in the passenger cabin. WLS-TV reports the

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has been around women’s basketball long enough to see the growing pains of a young WNBA league gradually shifting to increased interest in the sport at all levels. “We probably are bursting at the seams for the people that are decision-makers in our game

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Authorities in North Macedonia say the commander of the police station at a border crossing to Serbia, his deputy and seven other station staff have been arrested for allegedly taking bribes from motorists to ease their crossing. Tackling corruption is a major priority for North Macedonia’s government, and a major

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s governing coalition is arguing over whether remaining COVID-19 restrictions should be dropped after one of the country’s top virologists was quoted as saying that the pandemic is over. Germany has scrapped the bulk of restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic but, unlike other European countries, still requires mask-wearing in

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The new TV series “José Andrés and Family in Spain” follows the groundbreaking chef and humanitarian on a food tour through his homeland. He travels with his three American-raised daughters, Carlota, Inés and Lucia Andrés. The ladies join their dad as they visits such places

By CAROLYN THOMPSON and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — State and military police were sent Tuesday to keep people off Buffalo’s snow-choked roads, and officials kept counting fatalities three days after western New York’s deadliest storm in at least two generations. Even as suburban roads and most major highways in the area

BERLIN (AP) — The U.N. Security Council and the U.N. human rights chief have decried increasing restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan, urging the country’s Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately. The rights chief pointed Tuesday to “terrible consequences” of a decision to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations. Last week, Taliban authorities stopped

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Thousands of travelers have been stranded at airports or stuck on hold trying to rebook flights this week as a massive storm snarled travel in the U.S. and Canada. More than 2,800 more flights had already been canceled in the U.S. earl Tuesday and problems are likely to continue

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — When he ran for the White House, Joe Biden told voters his presidency would be a bridge to the next generation. His first two years on the job have revealed it to be a much more ambitious venture. As he nears the halfway mark on

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Ukraine must meet Moscow’s demand for “demilitarization” and the removal of the military threat to Russia. Lavrov said Tuesday that otherwise “the Russian army (will) solve the issue.” Lavrov also falsely accused the West of fueling the

By ABBY SEWELL and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese army has arrested a suspect in the killing earlier this month of a U.N. peacekeeper from Ireland who died when his convoy was shot at in southern Lebanon. The area where the attack took place is a center of support for the

By LAUREN SCHWAHN of NerdWallet For those of us with big financial plans or resolutions for the new year, such as buying a home or new car, getting our credit scores in shape can play a huge role in getting what we want. But boosting credit is easier said than done. What are some steps

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Thousands of Iranians across the country have attended funerals for 400 troops killed in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. A state-organized funeral procession took place on Tuesday in the capital of Tehran for 200 soldiers whose remains were recently recovered from the former battlefields. Dozens of other Iranian cities and

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The accounts are haunting. Abductions, torture, rapes. Scores of civilians including women and children have been killed by the M23 rebels in eastern Congo, according to a U.N. report In addition, the M23 rebels have forced children to be soldiers, according to the report by a

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC and SYLEJMAN KLLOKOQI Associated Press MITROVICA, Kosovo (AP) — Serbs have erected more roadblocks in northern Kosovo and defied international demands to remove those placed earlier. The move on Tuesday came a day after Serbia put its troops near the border on a high level of combat readiness. The new barriers made

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — Families hoping to catch a Southwest Airlines flight after days of cancellations, missing luggage and missed family connections suffered through another wave of scrubbed flights, with another 2,500 pulled from arrival and departure boards Wednesday. Exhausted travelers sought passage by other means using different airlines, rental

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan will extend its compulsory military service from four months to a year starting in 2024. It’s one of the major steps the self-governed island is taking to address military, diplomatic and trade pressure from China. President Tsai Ing-wen announced a comprehensive set of policies Tuesday

By JOE McDONALD Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Foreign companies welcomed China’s decision to end quarantines for travelers from abroad as an important step to revive slumping business activity while Japan on Tuesday joined India in announcing restrictions on visitors from the country as infections surge. The ruling Communist Party’s abrupt decision to lift some

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Tuesday that Japan will tighten border controls for COVID-19 by requiring tests for all visitors from China starting Friday as a temporary emergency measure against the surging infections there. The announcement comes days after the World Health Organization said it was

CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese police say a passenger bus slammed into a parked truck on a highway in the city of Omdurman, killing at least 16 people. The police say the bus swerved off the road on Tuesday in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital, Khartoum. At least 19 others were injured in the

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Islamic State group says it carried out a car bombing in northeast Afghanistan that killed a local police chief. The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — has increased its attacks since the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021. The car bombing

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ and FERNANDA PESCE Associated Press ECATEPEC, Mexico (AP) — For decades, officials have recognized Mexico’s high femicide rate and violence against women in general as a major problem. Yet little progress is evident in national data. Mexico saw more than 1,000 femicides last year. That’s second only to Brazil in Latin America.

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ and FERNANDA PESCE Associated Press ECATEPEC, Mexico (AP) — On a November afternoon, Mónica Citlalli Díaz left home in a sprawling suburb of Mexico’s capital and headed to the school where she’d been teaching English for years. It seemed an ordinary day, but on this one, she never arrived at work. Her

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press/Report for America GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The co-leader of a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced Tuesday to 16 years in prison for conspiring to abduct the Democrat and blow up a bridge to ease an escape. Adam Fox’s sentence is the longest

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean government of President Yoon Suk Yeol is granting a special pardon to ex-President Lee Myung-bak, who was sentenced to a 17-year prison term for a range of corruption crimes. The Justice Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that Lee is among over 1,300 convicts who will be

By RAHMAT MIRZA and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press PIDIE, Indonesia (AP) — A U.N. agency says at least 26 Rohingya Muslims had died in dire conditions during a month at open sea while making a dangerous voyage that brought scores of others to safety in Indonesia. Exhausted women and children were among 185 people who

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a post-holiday retreat on Wall Street, as markets count down to the end of a painful year for investors. Shares fell in Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul but rose in Hong Kong as the Chinese government took further steps