Month: January 2024

BERLIN (AP) — Police say a cable car has crashed in a skiing region in western Austria, and all four people on board were seriously injured. A tree apparently fell on the cable of the Acherkogelbahn in the Hochoetz skiing area of Tyrol province on Tuesday, bringing down the car, the Austria Press Agency reported.

By DAVID HAMILTON and ALEXANDRA OLSON AP Business Writers The Biden administration has enacted a new labor rule that aims to prevent the misclassification of workers as independent contractors. It’s a step that could bolster both legal protections and compensation for many in the U.S. workforce. The administration proposed the Department of Labor rule 15

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish appeals court has upheld guilty verdicts for three members of an Iranian separatist group convicted of promoting terror in Iran and gathering information for an unnamed Saudi intelligence service. The three were arrested in February 2020 and convicted of promoting terror over a deadly attack on a military parade

By HUSSEIN MALLA Associated Press GHANDOURIYEH, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s military says no damage was caused to one of its army bases in northern Israel after Hezbollah said it launched explosive drones toward the area, while an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon killed three members of the militant group. The Israeli military did not specify

MADRID (AP) — Spanish state prosecutors have opened an investigation into countless tiny plastic pellets washing up on the country’s northwest coastline after they were spilled from a transport ship. The prosecutors fear that the pellets could have toxic properties and added that there are indications that they have also been found on Portuguese and

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s government says face masks will be mandatory in hospitals and healthcare centers starting Wednesday due to a surge in respiratory illnesses. Health Minister Mónica García said late Monday that it was a simple and necessary measure. Spain’s hospitals have come under immense pressure in recent weeks following a spike in cases

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. citizen has been arrested on drug charges in Russia, a move that comes amid soaring Russia-U.S. tensions over Ukraine. The arrest of Robert Woodland Romanov was reported Tuesday by the press service of the Moscow courts. It said the Ostankino District Court ruled on Saturday to keep him in custody

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan navy spokesman says the debt-ridden country’s navy is preparing to join a U.S.-led operation to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea against attacks by Houthi rebels. Capt. Gayan Wickramasuriya said Tuesday that no date has been set for sending the ships.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The former president of a top-division soccer team in Turkey has told a court he regretted attacking a referee at the end of a league game but denied threatening to kill him. Faruk Koca resigned as president of MKE Ankaragucu after punching referee Halil Umut Meler. Koca has been charged with

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s national elections commission has registered the Communist Party’s candidate to  compete with President Vladimir Putin in the March election that Putin is all but certain to win. Nikolai Kharitonov joins two other candidates who were approved for the ballot last week. Kharitonov, a member of the lower house of parliament, has

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s transportation ministry says it has introduced improved emergency measures for the country’s airports, a week after a fatal collision between a Japan Airlines jetliner and a coast guard plane at Tokyo’s busy Haneda airport that is seen as a result of human error. The ministry said

By MATTHEW LEE, NAJIB JOBAIN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks in Israel on Tuesday as he seeks a plan for Gaza’s post-war future, while Israel’s military pushed ahead with its offensive in the beleaguered territory. Heavy bombardment and fighting shook refugee camps,

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — At least three people have been hospitalized after mistakenly eating colorful pods of liquid laundry detergent that were distributed as a campaign freebie in Taiwan’s presidential race. Taiwanese media reports said the victims thought the pods were candy. The pods came in partially clear packaging with photos of Nationalist Party candidate

By JIM GOMEZ, JOEAL CALUPITAN AND AARON FAVILA Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers is marching in an annual procession in the Philippines’ capital, carrying a centuries-old black statue of Jesus. Many worshippers at the event said they were praying for peace in the Middle East, where

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s leading presidential candidate William Lai says he hopes for a reopening of dialogue with China following almost eight years of Beijing’s near-complete refusal to communicate with leaders of the self-governing island it considers its own territory. But Lai told reporters Tuesday he would seek to

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s defense ministry has issued an alert saying China has launched a satellite and urging caution days before the island’s elections. Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections Saturday that China has described as a choice between war and peace. In English, the presidential alert sent to residents’ mobile phones cautioned there

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — An officer wounded in a bombing that targeted police assigned to protect polio vaccination workers has died in a hospital in northwest Pakistan. His death raised to seven the toll from the bombing in Mamund in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Police said at least

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has temporarily grounded three Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners, following an incident last week in which an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage. The three aircraft, grounded since Saturday, belong to the Indonesian budget carrier

By DAVID KOENIG, CLAIRE RUSH and TOM KRISHER Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal investigators say a door panel slid up before flying off an Alaska Airlines jetliner last week, and they are looking at whether four bolts that were supposed to help hold the panel in place might have been missing when the

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced Tuesday after Wall Street rallied to claw back almost all the losses from its slow start to the year. U.S. futures and oil prices declined. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.2%, to 33,763.18, after the market reopened from a holiday on Monday. Hong

By ANUPAM NATH and WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press THIMPHU, Bhutan (AP) — Voters in Bhutan, a landlocked country in the eastern Himalayan mountain range with a population of around 800,000 people, are casting ballots to elect a new Parliament. Bhutan lies sandwiched between China and India, with both neighbors vying for influence in the country.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s parliament has endorsed legislation outlawing the centuries-old practice of consuming dog meat. The National Assembly passed the bill by a 208-0 vote Tuesday and it will become law after it’s endorsed by the Cabinet Council and signed by the president. The bill would make the slaughtering, breeding, trade

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Attorneys for a former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with orchestrating the killing of hip-hop music legend Tupac Shakur in 1996 say their client faces danger, not witnesses, and he should be released from jail to house arrest ahead of his trial in June. In a

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Baseball Writer OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Two council members from the City of Oakland have mailed a letter to Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval expressing their concerns with his club’s decision to block a minor league game by the new Oakland Ballers that had been scheduled for the Coliseum on June

By NATACHA PISARENKO and ALMUDENA CALATRAVA Associated Press MERCEDES, Argentina (AP) — Thousands of faithful Argentines flock every year to the northern city of Mercedes to ask folk cowboy saint Gauchito Gil for protection and to thank him for past favors. But this year, a deepening economic crisis and drastic political shifts seem to dominate

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Supervisors in politically liberal San Francisco will vote on a resolution calling for a sustained cease-fire in Gaza, although its final wording is uncertain. Tuesday’s vote is among dozens of resolutions considered by local U.S. officials despite their irrelevance in international affairs. The draft resolution introduced

By MAYSOON KHAN and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to deliver her annual State of the State address. The Democrat on Tuesday will outline her agenda for the ongoing legisaltive session and is expected to focus on crime, housing and education policies. The address will

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Yoshie Minamidani’s heart leapt when she saw the stray tabby cat, a mainstay of the famous Asaichi Dori shopping street in Wajima city on the western coast of Japan. Like the cat, she is a survivor of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that shook Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture

MADISON, Wis, (AP) — A sprawling storm that pelted much of the nation’s midsection with more than a half a foot of snow and gusty winds created whiteout conditions that closed parts of two interstate highways and prompted officials to close schools and government offices in several states Tuesday. Up to 12 inches (20 to

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — In the center of a desolate and cold Plaza Mexico stadium, a young matador raises a red cape and leaps to the right as he gets charged — not by a bull, but by a bull’s head on a cart. A bellowing colleague is pushing the

By HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign is hoping to generate a commanding win in Iowa’s leadoff voting contest by attracting new caucusgoers. As part of their pitch, the campaign has been playing an instructional video before Trump events that explains how the quirky caucus process works. The get-out-the-vote

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Election integrity activists argue Georgia’s voting system is vulnerable to attack and has operational issues that amount to an unconstitutional burden on citizens’ fundamental right to vote and to have their votes counted accurately. State election officials insist that they’ve taken appropriate protective measures and that the

By ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is set to return for the first time in months to the federal courthouse in Washington as an appeals court hears arguments Tuesday on whether the former president is immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn

CLOQUET, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say a shooter killed two people at a small-town Minnesota motel Monday night and the suspect was later found dead. Police issued an alert at about 7 p.m. about an active shooter at the Super 8 motel in Cloquet and warned people in the motel area to shelter in place.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo has announced his Cabinet picks ahead of his scheduled swearing-in Sunday, despite ongoing investigations of his political party. The progressive president-elect chose an even number of female and male Cabinet members for the first time in Guatemala’s history and looked outside his relatively young Seed Movement party

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Blake Corum ran for 134 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns as Jim Harbaugh and No. 1 Michigan — undeterred by suspensions and a sign-stealing case that shadowed the program — completed a three-year climb to a national championship by beating No. 2 Washington 34-13

SYDNEY (AP) — Four people have been charged over an alleged plot to smuggle hundreds of Australian native reptiles from Sydney to Hong Kong. Police said on Monday they have released 257 reptiles, mostly lizards, that had been tightly bound in small containers for export. Police estimate each reptile would sell for an average $3,365=

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Marine Corps says Gen. Eric Smith, the commandant, has had open heart surgery and is expected to return to full duty as the service’s leader. Smith suffered cardiac arrest near his home at Marine Barracks Washington on Oct. 29, and was hospitalized. He had been

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Sotheby’s is defending itself at a federal court trial against accusations that it participated in the defrauding of a Russian oligarch out of tens of millions of dollars for works by famed artists like Amedeo Modigliani and Leonardo da Vinci. A lawyer for the auction house

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The United States and the United Kingdom said the elections that extended Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s rule were not credible, free and fair. Both countries, which have trade and development ties with Bangladesh, also condemned political violence that preceded Sunday’s election in which Hasina’s party

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was moving to remove his own book from circulation Monday, after learning that it was erroneously published more than a decade ago, and includes an anecdote he says is not true. The 2009 book came to the mayor’s attention on Monday after

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press HARVEY, Ill. (AP) — The viral video of a 73-year-old man who got boarded up inside his low-income apartment is sparking an investigation. Rudolph Williams was home in Harvey, Illinois, about 30 miles south of Chicago when he realized the doors and windows to his courtyard-style apartment had been boarded

By TERRY SPENCER and CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The loud “boom” was startling enough, and the roaring wind that immediately filled the airline cabin left Kelly Bartlett unnerved. Still, it wasn’t until a shaken teenager, shirtless and scratched, slid into the seat next to her that she realized just how close

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The National Park Service is retracting a proposal to take down a statue of William Penn at a Philadelphia historical site as part of a renovation that touched off a torrent of criticism over the legacy of the man who founded the province of Pennsylvania. In

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has set a mid-March special election date to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. In a statement, Newsom set a March 19 primary date for the 20th Congressional District contest. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the top two

By KANIS LEUNG and JOHNSON LAI Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — As Taiwan’s presidential election approaches, many immigrants from Hong Kong are supporting the ruling Democratic Progressive Party after witnessing the alarming erosion of civil liberties at home. Beijing’s crackdown on dissent in the financial hub has cemented their preference for a party committed