Month: December 2023

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Brussels on Tuesday to protest what they perceive as new austerity measures as the 27 European Union countries discuss ways to overhaul rules on government spending. Finance ministers from the bloc have been negotiating for months a reform of

BERLIN (AP) — The Austrian interior minister says a 16-year-old teenager has been arrested for allegedly planning to attack a synagogue in Vienna. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said Monday that the teenager who was arrested Thursday had announced in online chats that he intended to procure a weapon to attack an unspecified synagogue in Vienna.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish police say several people have been seriously injured after a temporary elevator crashed to the ground on a building site in Stockholm. A rescue service spokesman said the construction elevator on Monday fell 20 meters (66 feet) with four or five people inside in Sundbyberg, in the north of the

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Reporter WASHINGTON (AP) — With inflation edging closer to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, its policymakers are facing — and in some cases fueling — hopes that they will make a decisive shift in policy and cut interest rates next year, possibly as soon as spring. Such a move would

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Pressure is mounting on Hungary not to veto the start of European Union membership talks and the supply of economic aid to Ukraine at a pivotal EU summit this week. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants the issue to be struck from the agenda. Ukraine is desperate

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it will provide $35 million to BAE Systems to increase production at a New Hampshire factory making computer chips for military aircraft. The aircraft include F-15 and F-35 jets. This is the first allocation of incentives from last year’s bipartisan CHIPS and Science

By SIMINA MISTREANU Associated Press Renowned Chinese doctor and activist Gao Yaojie who exposed the AIDS virus epidemic in rural China in the 1990s, has died at the age of 95 at her home in the United States. Gao’s outspokenness about the virus outbreak embarrassed the Chinese government and drove her to live in self-exile

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces one of the toughest weeks of his 13 months in office. On Monday he will be grilled by lawyers about his decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic while fending off a rebellion from lawmakers over his signature immigration policy. Sunak will be

BERLIN (AP) — Police say two people have been killed and one wounded after a gunman fired shots at two locations in a southern Swiss town. They said the man, who hasn’t yet been identified, opened fire on several people in Sion shortly before 8 a.m. Monday for reasons that aren’t yet clear. Police said

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Eleven informal miners have been confirmed dead and their bodies recovered from an open-pit copper mine in Zambia after landslides buried them as they were digging tunnels last month. One survivor has been found but up to 26 other people remain missing and are feared dead nearly two weeks after the

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — The  U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization says that hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia. A report issued Monday shows 55 million more people were undernourished in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Progress has stagnated as the pandemic reversed a longstanding trend beginning in the

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Ministry of Defense is transferring two minehunting ships to Ukraine as part of a package of long-term support to bolster security in the Black Sea. The transfer comes as Britain and Norway announce plans for a new maritime coalition to increase support for Ukraine in the war with Russia. The coalition

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has met with his Vietnamese counterpart on an official visit to boost relations between the neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Hun Manet attended a welcome ceremony in the capital, Hanoi, where they reviewed an honor guard before holding talks and

By The Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians have resumed voting in a presidential election in which President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi faces no serious challenger and is certain to win another term. That will keep him in power until 2030. Polling centers are open Monday, the second day of the three-day vote. A runoff is

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he plans to take “appropriate steps” over his governing party’s widening slush funds scandal as speculation is rife that he may purge implicated Cabinet members in a major shuffle this week. The scandal mostly involves the Liberal Democratic Party’s largest and

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — India’s top court has upheld a 2019 decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to strip disputed Jammu and Kashmir’s special status as a semi-autonomous region with a separate constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs. The five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the region’s special

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal court jury is poised begin its deliberations in an antitrust trial focused on whether Google’s efforts to profit from its app store for Android smartphones have been illegally gouging consumers and stifling innovation. Before the nine-person jury in San Francisco starts weighing the

By NAJIB JOBAIN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants in Gaza’s two largest cities on Monday, with civilians still sheltering along the front lines even after massive waves of displacement across the besieged territory. Israel has pledged to keep fighting until it removes Hamas from power,

NEW YORK (AP) — Your Google search history for 2023 has arrived. Well, actually, the world’s. On Monday, the California-based tech giant released its “Year in Search,” a roundup of 2023’s top global queries, ranging from unforgettable pop culture moments (hello, Barbenheimer), to the loss of beloved figures and tragic news carrying worldwide repercussions. The

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Singers RM and V of the K-pop band BTS began their mandatory military duties under South Korean law, their management agency announced Monday. This came a day before two of their bandmates, Jimin and Jung Kook, were also expected to report for duty. Three other

By DAVID KEYTON Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As countries at the COP28 climate talks are wrangling over deadlines for lowering their carbon dioxide emissions, a Danish-led group of countries has decided to set the ultimate goal: to remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than they emit. The Group of Negative Emitters

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military chief says he was with Filipino forces aboard a supply boat that was blasted with a water cannon and surrounded and bumped by Chinese coast guard ships over the weekend in the disputed South China Sea. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told The Associated

By UZMI ATHAR, Press Trust of India DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Indigenous women at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai are coming together to share some of their innovative ideas on how communities on the front lines of climate change can contend with it. Those include things like cultivating eucalyptus plants in

BEIJING (AP) — Overnight snowfall across much of northern China prompted road closures and the suspension of classes and train service on Monday. A red alert for a blizzard was in effect until mid-morning in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, and schools were closed there and in two other cities in Henan, state broadcaster

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “All I Want for Christmas is You,” Mariah Carey’s hit from 1994, has grown over the last three decades into the Christmas colossus. It’s arguably the most successful holiday song ever from an economic standpoint. Just try to avoid it if you go out in

By JON GAMBRELL and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Delegates at the United Nations climate talks have little time left to decide how the world plans to cap planet-warming emissions and keep the worst of warming at bay, ramping up the urgency as new drafts were expected on key outcomes

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press At a small rural Missouri high school, two English teachers shared a secret: Both were posting adult content on OnlyFans, the subscription-based website known for sexually explicit content. The site and others like it provide an opportunity for those willing to dabble in pornography to earn extra money — sometimes

By MATTHEW BROWN and JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press DENVER, Colo. (AP) — Wildlife officials plan to release gray wolves in Colorado in coming weeks, at the behest of urban voters and to the dismay of rural residents who don’t want the predators but have waning influence in the Democratic-led state. The most ambitious wolf reintroduction

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is hosting a White House reception Monday to mark Hanukkah, celebrating the holiday as he has continued to denounce rising antisemitism in the U.S. and abroad amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The president, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will attend

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will jet up to Philadelphia on Monday to announce a $22.4 million grant for city firefighters. According to the White House, the money will allow the reopening of three fire companies that were decommissioned during the Great Recession. The funding comes from last year’s

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer After scandal and several troubled years, the Golden Globes are ready for a comeback. The re-vamped group, now a for-profit endeavor with a larger and more diverse voting body, is announcing nominations Monday for its awards show in January. Cedric the Entertainer and Wilmer Valderrama will announce the nominees,

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Holocaust survivors from around the globe will mark the start of the fifth day of Hanukkah together with a virtual ceremony as worries grow among Jews worldwide about the Israel-Hamas war and a spike of antisemitism in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. The New York-based Conference

By JOANNA KOZLOWSKA Associated Press Yekaterina Duntsova is a little-known journalist and mom-of-three from a small town in western Russia. She hopes to force President Vladimir Putin into a run-off in Russia’s next presidential vote scheduled for March, despite her political inexperience and analysts’ assessments that the Kremlin leader’s reelection is all but assured. Duntsova

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The national conservatives who have ruled Poland for eight years are finally expected to start relinquishing power to a centrist bloc led by political veteran Donald Tusk. The transition will come in several steps over three days starting Monday. It is nearly two months since Poles

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A trial set to get underway in Washington on Monday will determine how much Rudy Giuliani will have to pay two Georgia election workers whom he falsely accused of fraud while pushing Donald Trump’s baseless claims after he lost the 2020 election. The

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden goes into next year’s election with a vexing challenge: Just as the U.S. economy is getting stronger, people are still feeling horrible about it. Pollsters and economists say there has never been as wide a gap between the underlying health of the economy and

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press SUMY, Ukraine (AP) — Since Russia invaded Ukraine, thousands of people have fled occupied regions of the country over myriad routes. Now, nearly two years into the war, the only place left to do so is “the corridor.” As refugees traipse along the 2-kilometer path in a no man’s land

By The Associated Press This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include a Christmas TV special from country star Cody Johnson, Taylor Swift’s concert movie “The Eras Tour” lands in homes to celebrate her birthday and the second season of “Reacher” starring Alan Ritchson hits of Prime Video. More than two decades after the release of

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Pro Football Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott threw for two touchdowns, Brandon Aubrey made four field goals and the Dallas Cowboys pulled even in the NFC East with their 15th consecutive home victory, 33-13 over the Philadelphia Eagles. Aubrey extended his NFL record by going 30-for-30 on field goals

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A U.S. Air Force pilot has safely ejected before his F-16 fighter jet crashed into the sea off South Korea’s southwestern coast. The U.S. military says the unidentified pilot was recovered by South Korean maritime forces and is “awake and in stable condition.” It says the pilot was being returned

BY SETH BORENSTEIN and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — It’s the killer detail in international climate talks: Consensus. With nearly 200 nations of different sizes, economies, political systems, resources and needs, they all have to find common ground if they are going to save the one common ground they share:

Asian shares were mixed on Monday after Wall Street reached a 20-month high ahead of a week that includes essential U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s final rate decision of the year. U.S. futures were lower and oil prices rose to recover some of their sharp losses in recent months. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A series of loud explosions has occurred in Ukraine’s capital followed by air raid sirens. There was no immediate word on the origin of the explosions early Monday, but they sounded like air defense units firing into the sky. Kyiv is routinely targeted by Russian drone and missile attacks. Just over

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Voter turnout plunged below 30% in Hong Kong’s first district council elections since new rules introduced under Beijing’s guidance effectively shut out all pro-democracy candidates. It was the lowest level since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. According to official data, 27.5% of the

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Minnesota and Las Vegas played the lowest-scoring NFL game in 16 years, with Greg Joseph’s 36-year-old field goal with 1:57 left giving the Vikings a 3-0 victory over the Raiders. It was the first 3-0 game since Pittsburgh beat Miami on Nov. 26, 2007, the

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jonathan Glazer’s chilling Auschwitz-set drama, “The Zone of Interest,” has been named best movie of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The critics group announced its picks late Sunday after a day-long meeting. It also awarded prizes for Glazer’s directing and Mica Levi’s score. It selected Sandra Hüller

By JUSTIN KABUMBA Associated Press GOMA, Congo (AP) — A fiery President Felix Tshisekedi of Congo has rallied thousands of supporters at a stadium in a conflict-stricken eastern region, making a final campaign sweep through the country in the lead-up to elections this month. Tshisekedi is running against two dozen candidates as he seeks a

NEW YORK (AP) — Parts the Northeast are bracing for a stormy night and messy morning commute. Authorities warn of potential flooding and power outages amid high winds and heavy rains.  Flood watches are in effect in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and southern New England through Monday.  The National Weather Service says 3 to

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana police say a woman has been arrested after driving her vehicle several times at or through an unspecified religious group gathered on a sidewalk. One man was injured. Billings police say the 55-year-old woman was pulled over on Saturday a few hours after the episode. She was taken to jail

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Police say three shepherd dogs escaped from their yard and fatally attacked a 50-year-old Greek woman in her garden. The attack took place Sunday in the village of Neochorouda, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of Thessaloniki. The dogs had escaped through a hole in their owners’ fence about 80 meters

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Students, lawmakers and religious leaders joined forces Sunday at a temple in Philadelphia to strongly denounce antisemitism on college campuses and in their communities. The gathering at Congregation Rodeph Shalom came one day after University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned amid criticism over her testimony at a congressional hearing. Magill was

By BOB SUTTON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A wet court caused by a leaky roof resulted in an interruption of No. 3 North Carolina State’s women’s basketball game with Liberty on Sunday. The game was stopped prior to the start of the fourth quarter with unbeaten N.C. State holding a 60-47 lead at

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois records show that a man who confessed to the 2004 sexual assault and murder of a 3-year-old girl has died in a state prison. An online inmate notification system shows Scott Eby died Thursday at age 52. He was serving a life sentence at the Menard Correctional Center. Riley Fox’s death

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump said Sunday he has decided against testifying for a second time at his New York civil fraud trial, posting on social media that he “VERY SUCCESSFULLY & CONCLUSIVELY” testified last month and saw no need to appear again. Trump had