Month: January 2023

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Pramod Mittal, the younger brother of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, has been charged in Bosnia with organized crime and abuse of office while head of the supervisory board and co-owner of a metallurgical coke producer in the Balkan country.  Among other charges, Mittal was formally accused of heading an organized

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (AP) — The warm glow of Svalbard Kirke’s lights gleams on the mountain slope from where the church stands over this remote Norwegian Arctic village, cloaked in the polar night’s constant darkness. A century after it was founded to minister to the coal miners who settled Longyearbyen, the

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — The experimentalism and audacity of 1980s club kids inspired Valentino in one of the last high-octane shows of this Paris Fashion Week couture season. Thousands of fans lined the Pont Alexandre III bridge on a chilly Wednesday night to scream as their idols arrived and departed.

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (AP) — The warm glow of Svalbard Kirke’s lights gleams on the snow-covered mountain slope from where the church stands like a beacon over this remote Norwegian Arctic village, cloaked in the polar night’s constant darkness. A century after it was founded to minister to the coal miners

By EBRAHIM NOROOZI Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A spokesman for the World Food Program says malnutrition rates in Afghanistan are at record highs with half the country enduring severe hunger throughout the year. Speaking in Kabul, the WFP spokesman said Thursday that there are 4 million children under the age of five and

By KATHERINE ROTH Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — There are those for whom recycling and composting are not nearly enough, who have reduced their annual waste to almost zero, ditched their clothes dryer or given up flying, and are ready to take the next step in exploring the frontiers of sustainable living. For Manhattanite

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tommy Paul was too little at the time to remember watching Andy Roddick win the 2003 U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam singles title for an American man. Paul, now 25, does recall seeing posters from that triumph displayed at the club in North Carolina

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shakira’s two outfits worn during a Super Bowl halftime performance, her handwritten lyrics and her heavily crystalized electric guitar are among the items that will be on display for a museum exhibit in Los Angeles. The Grammy Museum announced Thursday that the multi-Grammy winner

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet Airline and hotel elite status extensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic are expiring this year, and the companies are raising the requirements to earn status. In fact, one prediction says about 1 million Americans will lose airline status in 2023. As a small consolation, loyalty programs have introduced some nominal

MOSCOW (AP) — The United States’ new ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, has arrived in Moscow, the U.S. embassy said Thursday. Tracy most recently was the ambassador to Armenia and served as the deputy chief of mission in Moscow in 2014-17. She replaces John Sullivan, who resigned in September. It was not immediately clear when

By HOGIR AL ABDO Associated Press RAQQA, Syria (AP) — Syrian Kurdish-led forces have captured a local commander of the Islamic State group in eastern Syria as part of an ongoing operation targeting sleeper cells in the city of Raqqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces announced in a statement on Thursday that the head of the

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog says antisemitism is on the rise in the Western world and he is urging the European Union to ensure that Jews can live safely on the continent where the Holocaust took place. Speaking at the European Parliament Thursday, on the eve of the

BERLIN (AP) — The German government’s top anti-drugs official has called for tough restrictions on advertising for alcohol, tobacco and sports betting in the country. Burkhard Blienert said Thursday that about 150,000 people die in Germany each year as a result of alcohol and tobacco use, and an estimated one in eight adults has a

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Investigating officials say a 33-year-old man arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing two teenagers and injuring five other passengers on a train in Germany had been released from pretrial detention a week ago and had previous criminal convictions — including for a stabbing. The man, who was

MONTREAL (AP) — Sean Bérubé said he thought it was a joke when he was first asked to help assemble a team of Ukrainian preteen refugees, displaced by war and spread out across Europe, to play in a renowned Quebec City hockey tournament. Bérubé was having a beer in Bucharest last March with Evgheniy Pysarenko,

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — What all seemed so different, so daunting, even, about trying to win a Grand Slam title to Elena Rybakina a little more than six months ago is now coming rather naturally. And if she can win one more match, she will add a championship at

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has discussed South Africa’s transition from its heavy reliance on coal to greener energy sources during talks with the country’s finance minister. Yellen made brief remarks to reporters Thursday ahead of a meeting with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in Pretoria

By SERGIO RODRIGO, JENNIFER O’MAHONY and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press ALGECIRAS, Spain (AP) — Spanish police have raided the home of a 25-year-old Moroccan man held over the machete attacks at two Catholic churches the previous day that left a church officer dead and a priest injured in the southern city of Algeciras. Spain’s interior

KANIS LEUNG HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. consul general in Hong Kong says about 20% of the Americans living in the city have left over the past two years. Greg May says Hong Kong’s strict anti-COVID-19 measures and “diminishing freedoms” have “clearly impacted the city,” citing the departure of roughly 15,000 Americans as one

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say they have arrested a second person in connection with a high-profile espionage case that embarrassed Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. Federal prosecutors said Arthur E., whose surname wasn’t released for privacy reasons, was detained at Munich airport last month after arriving from the United States. Prosecutors said the suspect, a

By The Associated Press From Washington to Berlin to Kyiv, a Western decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine was hailed enthusiastically. Moscow first shrugged it off — and later launched a new barrage of attacks. The Kremlin has previously warned that such tank deliveries would be a dangerous escalation of the conflict in Ukraine,

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia is reporting strong fourth-quarter results on the back of robust demand for 5G technology and an improved product portfolio. The Espoo, Finland-based company reported net profit of 929 million euros ($1 billion) for the October-December period on Thursday, 27% more than

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has successfully launched a rocket carrying a government intelligence-gathering satellite on a mission to watch movements at military sites in North Korea as part of Tokyo’s effort to build up its military capability. The satellite is also meant to improve natural disaster response. The H2A rocket

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese official says eight people died in the sinking of a cargo ship in waters between Japan and South Korea. The Chinese consul general in the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka, Lyu Guijun, told state broadcaster CGTN that six of the eight victims were Chinese. There were 22 crew members —

By ANDREEA ALEXANDRU and STEPHEN McGRATH Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Andrew Tate, the influential internet personality who is detained in Romania on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, appeared at prosecutors’ offices on Thursday for a second day as forensic examinations continue of digital devices that have been confiscated in the case,

BERLIN (AP) — Germany-based software company SAP says it’s cutting up to 3,000 jobs worldwide, or about 2.5% of its workforce. The announcement on Thursday came as the company reported a sharp drop in profits and amid a broader wave of technology industry job cuts. Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giants announced mass layoffs

By MANISH SWARUP and ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have gathered to watch a parade in the Indian capital showcasing the country’s defense capability and cultural heritage on a newly revamped ceremonial boulevard. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi looked on as an official guest at India’s Republic

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. has announced that its CEO and president, Akio Toyoda, will become chairman. The automaker said its chief branding officer Koji Sato will succeed him. The leadership reshuffle came without any forewarning, but the company had a lively promotional video prepared to

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — Retired army Gen. Petr Pavel is challenging populist billionaire Andrej Babis in the Czech presidential runoff vote for the largely ceremonial post that pits the political newcomer against the former prime minister. Pavel and Babis advanced to a second round of voting because none of the eight