Month: December 2024

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court on Friday annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after allegations emerged that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round. The Constitutional Court’s unprecedented decision — which is final — came after President

Associated Press MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — The European Union has reached a blockbuster free trade agreement with Brazil, Argentina and the three other South American nations in the Mercosur trade alliance. That caps a quarter-century of on-off negotiations even as France vows to derail the contentious accord. Provided it is ratified, the accord would create

BALTIMORE (AP) — Firefighters are battling a massive, wind-driven brushfire at a Baltimore wood recycling yard that closed a section of the expressway into the city’s downtown, the neighboring light rail line and nearby roads and schools. Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace says crews were called to a brushfire at the Camp Small yard,

AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — The European Union has sent TikTok an urgent request for more information about Romanian intelligence files suggesting that Moscow coordinated influencers on its platform to promote an election candidate who became the surprise front-runner in the nation’s presidential election. The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch is using its sweeping digital

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s new panda twins now have names — or rather, two names apiece. The two female cubs, born at the Berlin Zoo on Aug. 22, were introduced Friday as Meng Hao and Meng Tian. Alternatively, they also answer to the very Berlin names of Leni and Lotti. The pair, who lay on

Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African government says the convicted killer of South Africa’s anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani will be deported to his home country of Poland after his parole came to an end this week. Hani, who was the leader of the African National Congress’ military wing and the general secretary of

Associated Press ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Millions of Ghanaians will on Saturday head to the polls to elect their next president, with issues such as the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and illegal gold mining dominating the campaign. The election follows the second and final term of President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo. But while many

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — China is fine tuning its policies aimed at revving up its economy as it braces for an uncertain future in relations with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump. To shore up local manufacturers that may face steep tariff hikes under a Trump administration, Beijing has announced plans to

Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia and the Philippines signed a deal on Friday to repatriate a Filipino death-row drug convict, as the new administration of President Prabowo Subianto seeks to shore up diplomatic ties with neighboring countries. The agreement will allow Mary Jane Veloso to return home by the end of the month.

AP Business Writer KASHIMA, Japan (AP) — The signs at Nippon Steel read: “The world through steel,” underlining why Japan’s top steelmaker is pursuing its $15 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel. Japan’s domestic market isn’t growing, so Nippon Steel has its eyes on India, Southeast Asia and the United States, where populations are still

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In the groundswell of fury and defiance that erupted among South Koreans after their president declared martial law, it was perhaps the iconic moment. As parliamentarians scrambled to get inside the National Assembly building to reverse the emergency measure, a woman in a leather coat confronted one of

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesting farmers who tried to break barricades blocking their way to New Delhi to demand guaranteed crop prices. Friday’s clashes took place near Shambhu, a border crossing between northern Punjab and Haryana states, where multiple entry points into the capital have been sealed

BERLIN (AP) — An annual festival on a German North Sea island that had drawn criticism because of a practice of men hitting women with cow’s horns has passed without reports of assaults this year. The Klaasohm festival on Borkum, the westernmost of a string of German islands, takes place on Dec. 5 ahead of

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen is set to become a father for the first time with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet, he said Friday. There’s racing heritage on both sides of the family. Verstappen secured his fourth F1 title in Las Vegas last month, and Kelly’s father Nelson Piquet

PRAGUE (AP) — Oil delivery to the Czech Republic from Russia through the Druhzba pipeline has resumed after it was interrupted two days ago, official said. It is still not clear why the delivery was halted on Wednesday morning. The Orlen Unipetrol refiner said its operations have not been affected. The Czech Republic, Slovakia and

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs, the country’s third largest, as insurgents seized two towns on the outskirts Friday, positioning themselves for an assault on a potentially major prize in their march against President Bashar Assad. The move, reported by pro-government media and an opposition war

Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — A jailed Hong Kong activist has lost his landmark legal challenge against the prison authorities’ refusal to grant him early release under the new national security law. Ma Chun-man was serving a five-year term for inciting secession under a separate, Beijing-imposed national security law. He was convicted in 2021

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has called on China to “open its arms rather than raise its fists” as he wraps up his first overseas tour since taking office in May. His remarks at a news conference Friday in Palau came in response to widespread speculation that China will hold military drills

Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States has deployed a reconnaissance aircraft while Japan and the Philippines sent navy ships in a joint patrol in the disputed South China Sea two days after the allied forces condemned actions by Chinese coast guard vessels against Philippine patrol ships. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the

Associated Press MILAN (AP) — American tenor Brian Jagde was just wrapping up Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” in Barcelona last month when he got a very much last-minute offer to sing the same role in La Scala’s gala season premiere this Saturday, arguably the opera world’s most prestigious gig. Jagde’s appearance as Don Alvaro

Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The 12-year-old Palestinian boy was lying in a hospital bed in central Gaza, wracked with leukemia, malnourished and whimpering in pain despite the morphine doctors were giving him, when Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF official, said she saw him in late October. Islam al-Rayahen’s family had asked Israeli

Associated Press TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgian authorities are responding to ongoing protests fueled by the governing party’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union with increasing force. Examples of police brutality are everywhere. An opposition leader was dragged into a police car and arrested. Georgian journalist Guram Rogava was doing a live

Associated Press MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Iran is poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium as it has started cascades of advanced centrifuges, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Friday. The comments from Rafael Mariano Grossi came just hours after Iran said it conducted a successful space launch

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer likely left New York City on a bus soon after the brazen ambush that has shaken corporate America, police officials said Friday. But he left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Three days

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records Friday after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed

Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Valerie Starkey was driving through Northern California to visit relatives when she suddenly felt shaking and feared her car had broken down, only to realize later that it was an earthquake so powerful that it triggered a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles of the U.S. West Coast. The

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The reopening this weekend of Notre Dame is a succession of ceremonies to breathe life back into the iconic cathedral and celebrate the recovery from its devastating fire in 2019. High points will be the ceremonial reopening of the cathedral’s massive doors, the reawakening of its thunderous organ and the

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — He’s one of the most famous corporate leaders in the world, delivering products embraced by billions. But it’s the haters that companies like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta worry about. In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year

Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The LGBTQ+ community in Russia has been under pressure for years, but the situation has worsened since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin argues that the war is a proxy battle with the West, which he says aims to destroy Russia and its “traditional family values”