Month: September 2023

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s conservative opposition leader has drawn strong government criticism for suggesting that migrants are getting expensive dental treatment at the expense of established residents.  Christian Democratic Union party leader Friedrich Merz assailed the government’s approach to migration in an appearance on Welt television. He said people “go crazy” when they see large

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Russians will be allowed to compete as neutral athletes at next year’s Paralympics in Paris after avoiding a full ban from the event following the invasion of Ukraine. The International Paralympic Committee voted 74-65 at an assembly in Bahrain against suspending Russia’s membership entirely. That would have meant a full ban

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Europe has taken a big step toward a small measure of revenge in the Ryder Cup. They matched the largest lead after the opening day with a five-point lead after just eight matches at Marco Simone. Rory McIlroy won both his matches. Jon Rahm

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered one of the top commanders of the Wagner military contractor to take charge of “volunteer units” fighting in Ukraine, signaling the Kremlin’s effort to keep using the mercenaries after the death of their chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin. In remarks released Friday by the Kremlin, Putin

By BARRY HATTON and BERNAT ARMANGUE Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spain’s acting center-left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez lost July’s national election but now has a shot at returning to power. That’s because the leader of the country’s conservatives failed for a second time on Friday to get parliament’s support for a new government. Popular

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Police in Hong Kong and Macao say they arrested four more people linked to the cryptocurrency platform JPEX, which is suspected to have defrauded more than 2,400 people of almost $200 million. The arrests bring the total number of people detained so far in the case

By DALATOU MAMANE and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s military junta says an attack by Islamic extremists in western Niger killed at least a dozen soldiers and wounded seven others. The West African nation’s defense minister says the soldiers were on a mission in the Tillaberi region town of Kandadji when

MADRID (AP) — A new animal welfare law in Spain outlaws the use of animals for recreational activities that cause them pain and suffering but allows bullfights and hunting with dogs. Spain’s first specific animal rights legislation took effect on Friday. The law particularly targets the mistreatment of domestic animals,. It bans the buying of

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has hosted a ghost story reading event in Tokyo amid growing attention before the announcement of this year’s Nobel Prize in literature. Murakami said at Thursday’s reading that he enjoys scary stories and wants to write more of them. The event featured one

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation has sharply dropped in Europe. The official figure released Friday by the European Union’s statistics agency was 4.3% in September for the 20 countries that use the euro, down from 5.2% in August. That raises hopes consumers will eventually get relief from costlier groceries,

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Swiss federal prosecutors say they have indicted the daughter of a former president of Uzbekistan on charges including money laundering, bribery and participation in a criminal network that used “violence and intimidation.” Authorities have already frozen or confiscated hundreds of millions of Swiss francs (dollars) in the

By DAVID RISING Associated Press HANGZHOU, China (AP) — China’s League of Legends team hung on to take bronze in the Asian Games esports event by overcoming a strong challenge from Vietnam. China’s team was blanked Thursday by South Korea. The South Korean team was powered by 27-year-old Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. He is known to

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has cast doubt on the prospect of the European Union beginning negotiations any time soon for Ukraine to join the bloc. Speaking to state radio on Friday, Orbán said the EU will have to answer “very long and difficult questions until