Month: January 2023

PARIS (AP) — France’s national rail operator is recommending that passengers stay home if possible Tuesday to avoid labor strikes. The strikes over pensions are expected to cause major transport woes but largely spare high-speed rail links to Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands. Labor unions mobilized massive street protests in an initial salvo of nationwide

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — India’s main opposition Congress party has ended a five-month cross-country “unity march” in disputed Kashmir with hundreds of members of various opposition groups joining in a public rally in freezing temperatures. The march led by Rahul Gandhi, an opposition leader and scion of the influential Gandhi

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese online retailer JD.com Inc. is closing its consumer e-commerce services in Indonesia and Thailand amid intense competition in Southeast Asia. Announcements on the two websites said JD.com will stop taking orders on Feb. 15 in both countries and end service the following month. The company said it will develop its cross-border

BERLIN (AP) — Official figures show that Germany’s economy shrank by 0.2% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three-month period. The performance by Europe’s biggest economy was worse than expected. The Federal Statistical Office said Monday that gross domestic product shrank for the first time since the first quarter of 2021 largely because

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates has successfully flown a Boeing 777 on a test flight with one of its two engines entirely powered by so-called sustainable fuel. The flight on Monday comes as carriers worldwide try to lessen their carbon footprint. The flight lasted just under

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — World Bank economists say Myanmar’s economy grew 3% last year and will likely achieve the same pace in 2023, but still lags far behind where it stood before the army seized power in early 2021. The global lending agency issued a report Monday that estimates Myanmar’s

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch consumer electronics and medical equipment maker Philips said Monday it is cutting 6,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years as it revealed a net loss of 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in 2022, down from a net profit of 3.3 billion euros last year. The job losses come

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank. Monday’s death was the latest bloodshed in spiraling violence that comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the region. Palestinian authorities say the

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union is taking another big step toward cutting its energy ties with Russia. The 27-nation bloc is banning Russian refined oil products like diesel fuel and joining the U.S. and other allies in imposing a price cap on sales to non-Western countries. Europe’s

By JUSTIN KABUMBA and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press GOMA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis’ long-awaited visit to Congo and South Sudan this week comes amid soaring insecurity in both war-torn countries. Desperate populations say they want his visit to quell the endless violence and bring stability and attention to two of the world’s most neglected

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — As clean water runs short, one of Africa’s fastest growing cities is struggling to balance the needs of creating jobs and protecting the environment, and the population of over 4 million feels the strain. The Nairobi River which traverses informal settlements and industrial hubs morphs from

BEIJING (AP) — Residents and travelers have sought shelter after a strong earthquake rocked a remote part of northwestern China. No injuries or major damage have been reported following the temblor that struck the Xinjiang region on Monday morning. The China Earthquake Networks Center registered the quake at magnitude 6.1 while the U.S. Geological Survey

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — On Idit Silman’s first day as Israel’s new environmental protection minister, she handed out soft drinks in disposable plastic cups to hospital patients. The gesture held deep symbolic meaning in Israel, where soft drinks and single-use cups, plates and cutlery have become weapons in a culture

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell in muted trading Tuesday as investors awaited decisions on interest rates and earnings reports from around the world. Traders were awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, expected on Wednesday. They are also watching for indicators on the Chinese economy,

By SIBI ARASU Associated Press BENGALURU, India (AP) — In May last year Fortum India, a subsidiary of a Finnish solar developer, won the bid for a solar power project in the state of Gujarat. The project was due to be completed three months ago and would have generated enough electricity for 200,000 homes. But

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three women killed in a weekend shooting at a short-term rental home in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood have been identified, while police continued to search for suspects. Four other people were wounded, two critically, when gunfire erupted around 2:30 a.m. Saturday at the property in the Beverly Crest area. The

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Barrett Strong, one of Motown’s founding artists and most gifted songwriters who sang lead on the company’s breakthrough single “Money (That’s What I Want)” and later collaborated with Norman Whitfield on such classics as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “War” and “Papa Was a

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts can conduct a singalong about as well as he can orchestrate the kind of punishing scoring drives that sent the Eagles into the Super Bowl. At the end of one more triumph, Hurts stood on the stage on the field — as his Eagles

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri mother who reported that her infant twins were stillborn has been convicted of manslaughter. Twenty-eight-year-old Maya Caston was convicted Friday of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment. Prosecutors argued that Caston’s lack of action to get care for the babies showed that she caused the deaths.

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in Nigeria say 20 people including children have died in road crashes involving trucks over the weekend. A truck carrying a heavy container landed on a commercial bus Sunday amid heavy traffic in the Ojuelegba area of Lagos, according to Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu with the

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Family members and a forensic expert are questioning why Kansas City police didn’t find a man’s body in the cargo area of his own SUV until after they towed it to a Missouri police station earlier this month. Adam “A.J.” Blackstock Jr.’s death is being investigated as a homicide, according

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Actor Annie Wersching, best known for playing FBI agent Renee Walker in the series “24″ and providing the voice for Tess in the video game “The Last of Us,” has died. She was 45. Wersching passed away Sunday morning in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer, her publicist