Month: January 2023

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s National Court says it has charged a 74-year-old retired man with terrorism for allegedly sending six letters containing explosive material to Spain’s prime minister and the U.S. and Ukrainian embassies in the country. The as-yet-unidentified man appeared before a judge in Madrid on Friday and was detained without bail. The suspect,

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s Supreme Court has removed the country’s deputy prime minister from office and from his parliamentary seat for violating citizenship laws. Rabi Lamichhane had become deputy prime minister and the powerful home minster after his newly formed party joined the coalition government last month. He was once a United States citizen

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. plans to make it easier for gay and bisexual men to give blood. The Food and Drug Administration proposed easing restrictions on groups that typically face higher risks of HIV. The agency wants to drop the three-month abstinence requirement for donations from men who

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been nearly a decade since Smokey Robinson’s last album, but new music from the King of Motown is on the horizon. Robinson will release the nine-track album “Gasms” on April 28, the music legend behind hits like “My Girl” and “The Way You Do the Things You Do” announced Friday.

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The next novel by Jesmyn Ward, the two-time National Book Award winner, is the story of an enslaved teenage girl that the publisher is calling a blend of magical realism, historical narrative and Dante’s “Inferno.” Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Friday that

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by five Memphis police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother. The video is filled with violent moments showing the

NEW DELHI (AP) — India will receive 12 cheetahs from South Africa next month that will join eight others it received from Namibia in September as part of an ambitious plan to reintroduce the cats in the country after 70 years. India plans to transport an additional 12 annually for the next eight to 10

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press ADVENTDALEN, Norway (AP) — Kneeling by his crew as they drilled steel bolts into the low roof of a tunnel miles-deep into an Arctic mountain, Geir Strand reflected on the impact of their coal mine’s impending closure. “It’s true coal is polluting, but … they should have a solution before

By SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling killed at least 10 Ukrainian civilians and wounded 20 others in a day, the office of Ukraine’s president said Friday as the country worked to recover from an earlier wave of Russian missile strikes and drone attacks. The new deaths included at least two

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Treasury chief says taming inflation is more important than cutting taxes. Jeremy Hunt is resisting calls from some in the governing Conservative Party for immediate tax breaks for businesses and voters. At a speech Friday in London, Hunt said “the best tax cut right now is

By SAM METZ and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nichole Mason first became concerned when she learned administrators at her children’s public school were allowing transgender students to use girls’ bathrooms. Her frustrations mounted when she felt her children’s next school went too far with how they enforced COVID regulations during

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tommy Paul says he went into his Australian Open semifinal against Novak Djokovic with a specific game plan. He also says none of it worked because Djokovic wouldn’t let it work. Paul managed to take four games in a row to make the score 5-all

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatian police on Friday brought in for questioning several people over the disappearance last October of a luxury yacht from an Adriatic Sea marina where it was held there under international sanctions in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The disappearance of the 35-meter Irina Vu from the marina on

BEIRUT (AP) — Angry protesters in several Middle Eastern countries have gathered to denounce the recent desecration of Islam’s holy book by far-right activists in Sweden and the Netherlands. Friday’s protests in Lebanon, Pakistan and Iraq came days after a far-right activist from Denmark received permission from police to stage a protest outside the Turkish

LONDON (AP) — A student nurse has appeared in a British court charged with planning to attack an air force base and taking a home-made bomb to a hospital maternity unit where he worked. Mohammad Farooq was arrested outside St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds, northern England, on Jan. 20 with what prosecutors say was

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A coronavirus-denying former Russian Orthodox monk has been given a seven-year sentence on charges of inciting hatred. Nikolai Romanov, who was known as Father Sergiy until his excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church, urged his followers to disobey the Russian government’s lockdown measures and spread conspiracy theories

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong has protested President Joe Biden’s two-year extension of a program that protects residents of the semi-autonomous Chinese city living in the U.S. from deportation, accusing Washington of “demonstrating sinister intentions and hegemonic bullying.” An unidentified government spokesperson was quoted Friday as saying the U.S. had “wantonly” smeared Hong Kong’s

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An investigation by the global chemical weapons watchdog established there are “reasonable grounds to believe” Syria’s air force dropped two cylinders containing chlorine gas on the city of Douma in April 2018, killing 43 people. A report published Friday by a team from the Organization

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Of all of his considerable talents, Novak Djokovic’s ability to cast aside whatever appears to stand in his way might be the most valuable. So forget about the potential distraction of his father’s decision to stay away from Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic’s semifinal against

BERLIN (AP) — A senior German official says she hopes her country will receive hydrogen made with renewable energy from Australia by 2030. The two countries have stepped up plans for cooperation on clean energy as Germany tries to find replacements for Russian gas supplies while pursuing an ambitious policy of reducing its emissions to

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The foreign ministers of France and the Netherlands paid an official visit to Romania on Friday where they visited a NATO battlegroup, and later signed an agreement to strengthen ties between the three countries amid Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine. Catherine Colonna of France and Wopke Hoekstra of the Netherlands visited the

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren’s name is on the U.S. Navy’s newest fuel ship. Justice Elena Kagan smashed a champagne bottle against its hull in a shipyard ceremony in San Diego last weekend. Two other justices soon will join Warren, who in 1954 wrote the

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Low-cost fashion brand H&M says its net profit for the year ending November 2022 fell 68%, while it took a hit of 864 million Swedish kronor ($84 million) in the fourth quarter. It said it was affected by closing its business in Russia and the hikes in raw materials and freight costs,

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine justice secretary says any investigation violating the country’s sovereignty by the International Criminal Court into the widespread killings of suspects during an anti-drug crackdown under former President Rodrigo Duterte would be “totally unacceptable.” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla spoke in reaction to a decision

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government says it will promote civilian efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea. South Korea hopes to soften a diplomatic freeze deepened by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s growing nuclear ambitions. South Korean Unification Minister Kwon Youngse  didn’t specify the type

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three others before he was shot and killed by police, officials said. It was the deadliest attack on Israelis in years and raised

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Authorities said Saturday that three people had died and at least one was missing after record levels of rainfall pounded New Zealand’s largest city, causing widespread disruption. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins flew to Auckland on a military plane after a state of emergency was declared