Month: December 2023

By The Associated Press Russian state news agencies say President Vladimir Putin has praised Russia’s “united society” in his prerecorded New Year’s address to the nation. Putin addressed Russians in a video that ran under four minutes long, significantly shorter than the New Year’s speech he gave last year, state news agency RIA Novosti said

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Fetterman acknowledges having “dark conversations” about harming himself before he hit “the emergency brake” and sought treatment for depression. He remembers thinking about his three school-age kids. “I can’t be a blueprint for my children. I can’t let them be left alone or not to understand why he would have

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has taken a helicopter flight to check the flooded regions in the northwest of the country, where rivers have swelled and overflowed homes, roads and fields after weeks of heavy rain. In recent days, hundreds of people have been evacuated from affected areas

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press Over the past three years, the world’s oldest democracy has been tested in ways not seen in decades. A sitting president tried to overturn an election and his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the winner from taking power. Supporters of that attack launched a campaign against local election offices,

DETROIT (AP) — Four people died and two others were injured Saturday in a Michigan house explosion that could be heard miles away, police said. The explosion happened before 4 p.m. in Northfield Township, about 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) west of Detroit. The structure was destroyed, leaving only the basement, Northfield Township Police Lt. David

By LUIGI NAVARRA and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Tributes are being paid on the first anniversary of the death of Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Francis has praised Benedict’s love and wisdom in guiding the church, and Benedict’s private secretary expressed hope he might one day be declared a saint. Benedict was

By WAFAA SHURAFA, BASSEM MROUE and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes in central Gaza killed at least 35 people Sunday, hospital officials said, as fighting raged across the tiny enclave a day after Israel’s prime minister said the war will continue for “many more months,” resisting international calls

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Security forces in Afghanistan killed a number of Tajik and Pakistani nationals and arrested scores others involved in attacks against religious clerics, the public, and mosques, a senior Taliban official said Sunday. Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, Taliban’s appointed defense minister, during a press conference in the capital, Kabul, said dozens of Tajiks and

By BINSAR BAKKARA Associated Press MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) — Nearly 150 Rohingya refugees, mostly hungry and weak women and children, have reached a beach in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province after weeks at sea, officials said Sunday. The group of 53 men, 39 women and 55 children arrived on Karang Gadih beach in Langkat district late

Istanbul (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed opposition parties for “exploiting” a dispute between two Turkish football clubs and Saudi officials. The Turkish Super Cup final to be played in Saudi Arabia on Friday was postponed indefinitely after Istanbul rivals, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, refused to take to the pitch and returned home.

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday that its forces opened fire on Houthi rebels after they attacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea, killing several of them in an escalation of the maritime conflict linked to the war in Gaza. “We’re going to act in a self-defense going forward,” a White House

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would “surely be reunified” with Taiwan during his televised New Year’s address, renewing Beijing’s threats to take over the self-ruled island, which it considers its own. Taiwan split from China amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to regard the island of 23 million with

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean capital, Seoul, received the biggest single-day snowfall recorded in December for more than 40 years on Saturday but there have been no reports of any weather-related deaths or injuries. The country’s weather agency said Sunday that 12.2 centimeters (4.8 inches) of snow fell on Seoul the previous

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a fresh drone assault on Ukraine after promising that strikes on the Russian border city of Belgorod that killed 24 people Saturday “would not go unpunished.” The Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday that it had shot down 21 of 49 drones launched by Russian

By The Associated Press New Year’s Day arrived to cheers from thousands in New York’s Times Square where a sparkling crystal ball descended to start 2024 with hope for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe. “It’s beautiful,” Corin Christian of Charlotte, North Carolina, said of

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s Republican leaders are calling for a short 2024 session focused on “fine-tuning” policy. But with the approaching 2024 general election and following landmark conservative legislation in recent years that included a near-total ban on abortion and a law that restricts the use of students’ preferred pronouns

By JOHN O’CONNOR AP Political Writer SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois will usher in 320 new laws on New Year’s Day. The production or purchase of a semi-automatic weapon will be prohibited, and employers will be required to allow paid vacation for any reason. Other laws include a prohibition on libraries banning books, bans on

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has released body camera footage showing a deputy fatally shooting a 27-year-old Black woman in her apartment. The woman called authorities to report a domestic violence incident. Deputies later arrived at her apartment building in Lancaster. Police say that as the woman let deputies

By RICHARD VOGEL and SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Southern California’s Ventura County issued a temporary evacuation warning Saturday for some coastal residents due to high surf that pounded the West Coast this week but has begun to calm down. County officials warned that powerful waves, expected to reach up