Month: February 2024

By BASSEM MROUE and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Hamas officials said Friday that the group is studying a proposed cease-fire deal that would include prolonged pauses in fighting in Gaza and swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, but at the same time appeared to rule out some of its key components.

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A U.N. expert says steps have been taken under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to address human rights abuses such as the killings of journalists and rights activists. However, U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan on Friday said more needs to be done and called on the

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers have approved cuts to fuel subsidies for farmers that prompted angry protests, along with a 2024 budget the government had to revamp after a court ruling blew a hole in its financial plans. Parliament’s lower house on Friday voted in favor of both the overhauled

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press FORT LAWN, S.C. (AP) — Democrats in South Carolina may be holding the nation’s first presidential primary. But the party is struggling inside the Southern state. Democrats have lost 31 straight statewide elections in South Carolina. The Republican governor won by 17 percentage points in 2022. The state’s only Democratic

A U.S. investigation into steering problems with more than 334,000 Tesla electric vehicles is a step closer to a recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Friday that it upgraded a 2023 investigation to an engineering analysis. The probe was opened in July after the agency received a dozen complaints about

BRUSSELS (AP) — Farmers have parked their tractors across key road crossings on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands in their latest protest against excessive red tape and competition from cheap imports. Friday’s road blocks are mainly by Belgian farmers with the support of some Dutch colleagues. They are choking highways that are vital

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s domestic security agency says that it’s investigating  “a dangerous object” that was found at the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm earlier this week as possible terrorism. SAPO said Friday that it had taken over the investigation from Stockholm police which haven’t disclosed what exactly was found on the embassy’s grounds on Wednesday.

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly all of the vehicles it has sold in the U.S. because some warning lights on the instrument panel are too small. Documents posted Friday by U.S. safety regulators say the recall will be done with an online software update. It covers the 2012 through 2023 Model

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Nevada again holds the first-in-the-West slot in the presidential campaign calendar. But this year’s showdown in the Silver State won’t look like it did in previous years. Nevada will hold Democratic and Republican primaries on Tuesday, but the GOP primary will be non-binding and former President Donald

LONDON (AP) — The 16-year-old convicted killers of a transgender teenager in northwest England last year have been named in court after the judge lifted a ban on reporting their identities. The judge named Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe during Friday’s sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court. The defendants each face a mandatory life sentence

By KEVIN McGILL and STEPHEN SMITH Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It’s Carnival season in New Orleans and that means the morning lines outside popular bakeries are long and the pace inside is brisk to meet customer demand for king cake. The seasonal sweet has exploded in popularity over the years. One New Orleans

By ZEN SOO AP Technology Writer SINGAPORE (AP) — After a U.S. senator grilled Singaporean TikTok CEO about his nationality and affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party, Singaporeans are complaining about ignorant — or even racist — views of their country. TikTok CEO Shou Chew, along with executives from technology firms such as Meta, X

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A man who died this week at a Japanese hospital told police before he passed away that he was one of the country’s most wanted fugitives and had been on the run for nearly 50 years for being part of a radical group that conducted bombings in

PARIS (AP) — French farmers are gradually lifting their roadblocks around Paris and elsewhere in the country. The move comes one day after the government offered over 400 million euros ($436 million) in various measures meant to answer their grievances over low earnings, heavy regulation and unfair competition from abroad. On major highways around the

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are urging Hungary to immediately ratify Sweden’s application to join NATO. They say that patience with the Central European country is “wearing thin.” Hungary is the only country in the 31-nation military alliance that hasn’t yet backed Sweden’s membership bid.

LONDON (AP) — The Japanese Grand Prix will stay on the Formula One calendar until at least 2029 after a five-year contract extension  to keep the race at the Suzuka Circuit. It’s a sign of confidence in the Japanese GP ahead of a move, from its usual date in September or October, to April, which

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian intelligence official says that the country has repeatedly asked Russia to hand over the bodies of scores of prisoners of war who Moscow claimed were killed in the downing of a Russian military transport plane by Ukrainian forces. Andrii Yusov, the spokesman for Ukraine’s

TOKYO (AP) — Winger Junya Ito has been removed from Japan’s squad at the Asian Cup in the midst of sexual assault allegations that he has denied. Japan is the favorite to win the Asian Cup for a fifth time. The tournament is being played in Qatar. Japan is to play Iran in the quarterfinals

BERLIN (AP) — Local buses, trams and subway trains were canceled in much of Germany on Friday as transport employees walked off the job in the country’s third transport-related strike in two weeks. The Ver.di service workers’ union called Friday’s “warning strike,” a common tactic in German contract negotiations, earlier this week. It said that

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s Pardons Board has reduced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 12-year prison sentence by half and sharply cut the fine imposed after his corruption conviction. The board said Friday that Najib will be freed by August 2028. Najib remains influential in his party, the United Malays National Organization, which is now

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Authorities have issued several warnings for landslides and avalanches in southern Norway as bad weather continues to hammer the Scandinavian country. Some 200 passengers slept inside the airport in Tromsoe, a city in the Arctic, because of Norway’s most powerful storm since 1992. Norwegian Meteorological Institute warned of strong winds in the north

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — China has rolled out a flurry of measures to help prop up its ailing property market, while also promising to boost government spending. The moves to help renters and increase the supply of affordable housing to spur demand come just weeks before officials gather in Beijing

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have arrested seven people on suspicion of selling information to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. The suspects, who allegedly passed details to Mossad via private detectives, were detained in a joint operation with Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization on Friday. The Anadolu news agency says police anti-terror

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — More than 100 Rohingya immigrants have escaped from a detention center in Malaysia after a protest. Immigration Department Director-General Ruslin Jusoh says one of the 131 detainees who escaped from a center in Perak state Thursday night was hit by a car and killed. He said nearly 400 people were

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Court of Justice is set to rule on whether it has jurisdiction to hear a case filed by Ukraine in the days after Russia’s invasion accusing Moscow of breaching the genocide convention. Kyiv claims that Russia breached the landmark 1948 convention by using

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Half of U.S. adults say Israel’s 15-week-old military campaign in Gaza has “gone too far,” a finding driven mainly by growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Broadly, the poll

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose Friday, helped by optimism about technology shares following a Wall Street rally led by big tech stocks. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.5% to 36,158.02. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.5% to 7,699.40. South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.7% to 2,610.49 after the country

By STEVE PEOPLES and JAMES POLLARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley’s path to the Republican presidential nomination is rapidly shrinking. But she’s vowing to stay in the race indefinitely. And the harder she fights, the more Republican officials fear she may be hurting Donald Trump’s long-term prospects in the all-but certain general

By MARK THIESSEN and BECKY BOHRER Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Much of Alaska has plunged into a deep freeze, with temperatures well below zero. Anchorage has seen some of its coldest temperatures in years and the mayor opened warming facilities for people who are homeless or don’t have reliable heating. To the south

By JOSH FUNK and PATRICK ORSAGOS Associated Press EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Daily life largely returned to normal for the nearly 5,000 residents of East Palestine, Ohio, months after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled a cocktail of hazardous chemicals that caught fire a year ago. But residents’ worries and fears are always

By MEGAN JANETSKY and FERNANDA PESCE Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — From its inception, the newscast La Verdrag was meant to radically transform the way the LGBTQ+ community are viewed in Mexican society. First broadcast in October, the program goes against the grain in a highly “macho” country where nearly 4 in every 5

By SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will join grieving families at Dover Air Force Base on Friday in a “dignified transfer” to honor three American servicemembers killed in a drone attack in Jordan on Sunday. The solemn ritual has become relatively uncommon in

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — If Taylor Swift is jetting from her upcoming concert in Tokyo to Las Vegas to see boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl, she’d better already have a place to park her plane. Officials at Harry Reid International Airport and the FAA say space for

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand police are investigating alleged death threats made against referees involved the Rugby World Cup in France last year.  The acting director of the National Criminal Investigations Group, Detective Inspector Stuart Mills, has confirmed three complaints have been received from World Rugby about death threats against referees and match

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Almost immediately after he walked into the Oval Office on his first day as president, Joe Biden began rolling back his predecessor’s immigration policies, which he had assailed throughout the 2020 campaign as harsh and inhumane. A lot has changed in three years. Biden, now

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Hardly a day goes by without news of another set of layoffs or business failure in journalism, an industry in the midst of a decades-long decline that has only seemed to accelerate lately. The news website The Messenger, in business for less than a year,

By JULIE WATSON and HAVEN DALEY Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — More storms, rising seas and huge waves are taking their toll on California’s iconic piers that have dotted the Pacific coast since the Gold Rush, posing the biggest threat yet to the beach landmarks that have become a quintessential part of the landscape.

By MEGAN JANETSKY and FERNANDA PESCE Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Guillermo Barraza buzzes with a nervous energy as he watches himself transform. Hands delicately paint stripes of bright pink eyeshadow onto Barraza’s angular face as newscasters and makeup crews bustle around him. Tonight, in a small studio set in the heart of Mexico

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Fire officials say a small plane has crashed into a home at a Florida mobile home park, killing several people aboard the plane and in the home. There’s no immediate word on the exact number of people killed.  Authorities say the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 reportedly went down at about 7

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Punxsutawney Phil’s winter weather forecast is being announced in Gobbler’s Knob, the scene of the country’s largest and most well-known Groundhog Day celebration. The annual event, being held shortly after sunrise on Friday, is a tongue-in-cheek ritual in which Phil’s handlers reveal whether the groundhog has seen his shadow. If he

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is expected to report that employers added a solid 177,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate is forecast to come in at 3.8%, which would mark two straight years of joblessness below 4% despite the high interest rates the Federal Reserve engineered to

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australian police came to the aid of a three-year-old boy after he became trapped inside a claw machine at a surbuban shopping mall. Queensland Police shared a video of the unusual rescue on social media on Thursday, which shows the toddler sitting inside the glass-walled box filled with plush toys, blissfully

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday. Don’t worry: There’s no chance of it hitting us since it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon. NASA’s Center for Near Earth