Month: January 2024

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court has scrapped a lifetime ban on politicians with convictions from contesting elections, paving the way for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to run for the fourth time. The lifetime ban on convicted politicians was imposed in 2018. Under a new court order passed on Monday, convicted politicians would be

BERLIN (AP) — A high-profile German opposition politician has formally founded a new party that combines left-wing economic policy with a restrictive approach to migration and other positions that some observers believe could help it take votes away from the far-right Alternative for Germany. Sahra Wagenknecht said Monday her “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance — Reason and

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Bill Belichick is open to letting someone else handle personnel duties if he remains with the New England Patriots. The Patriots coach also confirmed during his season-ending news conference that he remains under contract, though he didn’t specify the length of its current terms. New

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The Washington Commanders have fired coach Ron Rivera. Controlling owner Josh Harris announced the move Monday. The Commanders lost eight in a row to finish 4-13 after opening with back-to-back victories. Washington made one playoff appearance by winning the NFC East at 7-9 in 2020

By RAHIM FAIEZ and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed prime minister has met with one of Pakistan’s most senior politicians in an attempt to reduce lingering tensions between the two countries. Both sides confirmed the meeting with Fazlur Rehman, whose Jamiat Ulema Islam party is known for backing the Afghan Taliban.

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has announced the formation of a federal political action committee. His new PAC will support candidates across the country as he seeks to broaden his influence beyond the Bluegrass State. Beshear has defeated Donald Trump-backed rivals twice in Republican-leaning Kentucky. Beshear announced

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu is leaving his post after two years and is expected to help push publicly for President Joe Biden’s reelection. The Democratic president tasked the former New Orleans mayor with setting up a system to spend more than $1 trillion over the

By MARK LEWIS Associated Press STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in a far-right terror attack in 2011, launches his second attempt at suing the state accusing the Justice Department of breaching his human rights. He claims that prison isolation since he was jailed in 2012 amounts to

BERLIN (AP) — The number of people applying for asylum in Germany rose to 351,915 in 2023, an increase of 51.1% compared with the year before. Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said Monday that the largest number of asylum-seekers came from Syria, with 104,561 applications, followed by 62,624 Turkish citizens and 53,582 Afghans.

By ALI ZERDIN Associated Press LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia’s rescuers have successfully extracted five people who had been trapped in a cave for more than two days because of high water levels. A doctor says no one needed medical help and all have taken the ordeal well. A family of three adults and their

By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — The slaying of a South Korean woman during an initiation process for a group that called itself Soldiers of Christ has shocked the large Korean American community in metro Atlanta. Community leaders say Korean Americans need to be more vigilant to protect against religious cults and

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet Making decisions when you’re grieving isn’t ideal, but some money tasks are time-sensitive. Your income and expenses are likely to change, so drawing up a budget will be helpful. Consider talking to a tax professional since your filing status may change. Deal with the credit cards issued in your spouse’s

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — An outspoken critic of Cambodia’s government who was badly hurt by assailants four months ago has been arrested on a defamation complaint brought by a Cabinet member for comments he posted on Facebook. The complaint filed by Minister of Labor and Vocational Training Heng Sour

By COLLEEN LONG, ZEKE MILLER and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Courting Black voters he needs to win reelection, President Joe Biden on Monday denounced the “poison” of white supremacy in America, declaring at the site of a deadly racist church shooting in South Carolina that such ideology has no place in

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and JIWON SONG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un turned 40 on Monday with no announced public celebrations at home, after he entered the new year with artillery barrages into the sea and vows to expand his nuclear arsenal. Since taking power in late 2011,

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The president of Cyprus has moved ahead with a considerable shake-up of his Cabinet. President Nikos Christodoulides replaced his ministers of defense, health, justice and environment as well as the deputy ministers of digital policy and European affairs in one fell swoop after just 10 months in power. Monday’s move comes

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer AL ULA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says four key Arab nations and Turkey have agreed to begin planning for the reconstruction and governance of Gaza once Israel’s war against Hamas ends. Blinken spoke Monday after meeting with the Saudi crown prince. He is

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis called Monday for a universal ban on what he called the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood, as he included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity. In a foreign policy address to ambassadors accredited to the

BEIJING (AP) — China says it has detained an individual accused of collecting state secrets on behalf of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6. The Ministry of State Security posted on social media Monday that Britain had been cooperating since 2015 with the person, who it said was a citizen of a third nation and had

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese automaker VinFast plans to spend up to $2 billion to build an electric vehicle factory in India, the world’s third-largest auto market by sales. The factory in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state will be the company’s first foray into India. It said it is committing

By BASSEM MROUE, WAFAA SHURAFA and JACK JEFFERY Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike killed an elite Hezbollah commander Monday in southern Lebanon, the latest in an escalating exchange of strikes across the border that have raised fears of another Mideast war even as the fighting in Gaza exacts a mounting toll on