Month: December 2022

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — This was the year war returned to Europe, and few facets of life were left untouched. Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine unleashed misery on millions of Ukrainians, shattered Europe’s sense of security, ripped up the geopolitical map and rocked the global economy. The shockwaves made life

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping met on Thursday with Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince while on a visit to the kingdom, solidifying ties with a region crucial to his country’s energy supplies as sanctions intensify on Russia over its war on Ukraine. Xi arrived

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer Young women diagnosed with breast cancer often must delay pregnancy for years while they take hormone-blocking pills. A reassuring new study finds they can take a two-year break from these drugs to get pregnant without raising their short-term risk of cancer coming back. “This is really good news

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer Federal regulators opened their campaign to block Facebook parent Meta’s acquisition of a virtual-reality company in a San Jose, California, courtroom. In a landmark legal challenge Thursday to a Big Tech merger, the Federal Trade Commission has sued to prevent Meta’s acquisition of Within Unlimited and its fitness app

TAMAQUA, Pa. (AP) — Two firefighters died responding to a house fire Wednesday in rural eastern Pennsylvania where a man’s body was found outside, state police said. The New Tripoli Fire Company members who lost their lives were identified as Assistant Fire Chief Zachary Paris, 36, and Marvin Gruber, 59, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David

By ZARAR KHAN Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has slammed the U.S. State Department’s listing last week of the South Asian country as one of “particular concern” regarding religious freedoms. Washington grouped Pakistan along with 11 other countries as being states that have “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” In

By STEVE DOUGLAS and LUIS ANDRES HENAO Associated Press DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A future for Portugal’s national team without Cristiano Ronaldo could be a daunting prospect to the country’s up-and-coming generation of internationals. They respect and even revere him with Bruno Fernandes calling him the most famous athlete in sports. Yet they are showing

LONDON (AP) — Artist Veronica Ryan has won the prestigious Turner Prize for work that transforms materials including fruits, seeds and volcanic ash into elusive and evocative sculptures. The Montserrat-born British artist was awarded the 25,000 pound, or $30,000, prize at a ceremony in Liverpool on Wednesday evening. She won for work including public sculptures

By RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Supreme Court of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan says that 27 people were lashed in public in a northern province for alleged adultery, theft, drug offenses and other crimes. Thursday’s lashings took place in Parwan province, with 18 men and nine women punished. An official with the court says

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Ukrainian rights activist who leads the group that won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize says there will be no lasting peace in Ukraine until there is justice and human rights. Oleksandra Matviichuk spoke Thursday upon arrival in Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize with fellow human rights campaigners from

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s government is calling for calm after overnight unrest in an Athens neighborhood and an area outside Greece’s second-largest city in the north following the police shooting of a Roma teenager during a police chase. Protesters in the industrial eastern Athens neighborhood of Aspropyrgos allegedly torched a local tire business and

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 additional deaths and 13 million more infections globally over two years, according to a report from the World Health Organization published Thursday. Cases of the parasitic disease went up in 2020 and continued to climb in 2021, though

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and JOSH BOAK Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has helped mark a milestone in U.S. history by holding up a newly minted $5 bill signed for the first time ever by two women. Yellen’s signature will appear alongside that of U.S. Treasurer Lynn Malerba, the first

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump’s attacks on fellow Republican David McCormick contributed to the former hedge fund manager’s loss in Pennsylvania’s Senate primary. Now, as McCormick considers running again for the Senate, Trump’s derision may not be such a liability. While McCormick, 57, has not said whether he will

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Experts say an alleged plot to topple the German government, led by a self-styled prince, a retired paratrooper and a Berlin judge, had its roots in a murky mixture of post-war grudges, antisemitic conspiracy theories and anger over recent pandemic restrictions. Police detained 25 people Wednesday described

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press President Joe Biden is announcing the infusion of nearly $36 billion to shore up a financially troubled union pension plan. The federal aid is intended to stop severe cuts to the retirement incomes of more than 350,000 Teamsters workers and retirees. The Biden administration says it’s the largest-ever federal

BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists have briefly disrupted traffic at Munich airport in southern Germany, in a protest against the environmental impact of air travel. The group Last Generation said some of its members glued themselves to the tarmac in Munich, while others entered the grounds of Berlin airport. A spokesperson for Munich airport confirmed

Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Portugal’s Civil Protection Agency says one person died Thursday during the heavy rains that fell overnight in the capital, Lisbon. The victim was a woman who drowned when she got trapped in the basement where she lived. The intense rainfall washed away cars and flooded streets, buildings and public transport

BEIJING (AP) — China has begun implementing a more relaxed version of its strict “zero COVID” policy amid steps to restore normal life, but also trepidation over a possible broader outbreak once controls are eased. The National Health Commission announced relaxed anti-pandemic regulations on Wednesday, including a loosening of lockdowns and the elimination of a

BERLIN (AP) — The former chief executive of financial services company Wirecard and two other ex-managers has gone on trial over the firm’s collapse. It has been described as the biggest case of fraud in post-war Germany. Wirecard was the darling of Germany’s fintech scene until it filed insolvency proceedings in 2020, saying 1.9 billion

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party looks set to retain control in his home state of Gujarat following a record state legislature win, but it is trailing behind its rival Congress party in northern Himachal Pradesh state. The landslide win in Modi’s home state

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The son of a Russian businessman close to President Vladimir Putin has been acquitted in Norway of violating a law that bars Russians from flying drones. Andrey Yakunin who holds both a Russian and a British passport and lives in Italy, flew two drones over Norway’s Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard in

By DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, made a sweeping indictment of Britain’s media and the racism they believe has fueled coverage of their relationship in a new Netflix series that promises to tell the “full story” of the couple’s estrangement from the royal family.

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press TABAWA, Nigeria (AP) — When the floodwaters reached Aisha Ali’s hut made of woven straw mats and raffia palms, she packed up what belongings she could and set off on foot with her eight youngest children. Ali, 40, knew she and her family might never see their home again. In

BANGKOK (AP) — Authorities say Thai soldiers clashed with suspected drug smugglers in a forested area in the country’s north near the Myanmar border, killing 15. The soldiers encountered the group of suspects carrying backpacks Wednesday evening and ordered them to stop, but they instead opened fire, according to the Pha Muang Task Force, the

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — People across China reacted with relief and caution Thursday to the dramatic government decision to loosen some of the world’s most severe COVID-19 restrictions. For the first time in months, Jenny Jian hit the gym in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou without being required to scan

By STEPHEN McGRATH and LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Croatia has been given a green light to join the group of nations that make up Europe’s ID-check-free travel area, the European Union’s presidency says. The decision came during a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels Thursday. Bulgaria and Romania must wait longer.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares rose in Asia on Friday after an advance on Wall Street led by the latest rally in technology companies. Chinese benchmarks rose on reports the government is planning new measures to support the ailing property sector, which has dragged on growth over the past several

By PETER SMITH and VASILISA STEPANENKO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After its searches of holy sites belonging to Ukraine’s historic Orthodox church, the nation’s security agency posted photos of evidence it recovered — including rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch. Supporters and detractors of the church debate whether

BEIJING (AP) — In a move that caught many by surprise, China announced a potentially major easing of its rigid “zero-COVID” restrictions, without formally abandoning the policy altogether. It’s not clear what exactly prompted the move, although it follows the largest show of public dissent against the ruling Communist Party in more than 30 years

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press His name was Joseph Augustus Zarelli. Nearly 66 years after the battered body of a young boy was found stuffed inside a cardboard box, Philadelphia police say they have finally unlocked a central mystery in the city’s most notorious cold case: The victim’s identity. Revealing the name to the public

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A tart retort by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a U.S. offer of help and a call by former U.S. President Donald Trump for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution top a Yale Law School librarian’s list of the most notable quotations of 2022. In February, only days after

By WILLIAM J. KOLE Associated Press WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — One of the world’s most ruthless pirates hid in plain sight in the American colonies, according to new evidence. A historian and metal detectorist in Rhode Island says that he’s unearthed 26 silver coins with Arabic inscriptions that notorious English pirate Henry Every once seized