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Month: January 2024

Catalan separatists reject amnesty bill, highlighting the fragility of Spain’s minority government

By CIARÁN GILES Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Catalan separatist lawmakers have dealt Spain’s government a blow by voting against a hugely divisive amnesty law that was aimed at helping hundreds of their supporters involved in Catalonia’s unsuccessful 2017 independence bid. The most radical separatists, who want to ensure that their fugitive leader Carles Puigdemont

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Order to liquidate property giant China Evergrande is just one step in fixing China’s debt crisis

By ELAINE KURTENBACH and ZEN SOO AP Business Writers BANGKOK (AP) — A Hong Kong court’s order to liquidate the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer is only a tentative step toward resolving a debt crisis that is haunting financial markets and dragging on the Chinese economy. China Evergrande owes about $340 billion to

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UK fines HSBC bank for not going far enough to protect deposits in case it collapsed

LONDON (AP) — UK regulators say HSBC has been fined $72.8 million for failing to adequately protect customer deposits in the event the bank collapsed. The Prudential Regulation Authority said Tuesday that two units of London-based HSBC Holdings Plc violated rules designed to ensure regulators have the information they need to protect depositors when banks

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Nearly 400 Ethiopians have died of starvation recently. Millions more need food aid

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Nearly 400 people have died of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, the country’s ombudsman said Tuesday, a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body. Local officials have previously reported starvation deaths in their districts, but Ethiopia’s federal government has

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A UN envoy says her experience in Colombia deal may help her efforts in restarting Cyprus talks

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A United Nations official says her experience in negotiating an end to decades of conflict in her native Colombia may help her as she seeks to rekindle negotiations over Cyprus’ ethnic division. María Ángela Holguín Cuellar, the U.N. chief’s new personal envoy for Cyprus, said on

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Bumper profits for Norway’s giant wealth fund led by a strong performance by tech companies

By MARK LEWIS Associated Press STAVANGER (AP) — Norway’s oil fund saw the largest annual return in its history in 2023 led by a strong performance by U.S. technology companies and the Danish weight loss drug manufacturer, Novo Nordisk. The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund which owns around 1.5% of all global listed companies reported

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Russian opposition figure Kara-Murza is moved to another prison and back in solitary confinement

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Lawyers for Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., who is serving a 25-year sentence for treason, say he has been transferred to another prison in Siberia and placed in solitary confinement again over an alleged minor infraction. The move comes amid unrelenting pressure on Russian dissidents

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French police asked for extra pay during Paris Olympics. They will get bonuses of up to $2,000

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer Police officers deployed during the Paris Olympics will receive bonuses of up to 1,900 euros. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced the decision. Police unions organized protests this month to highlight concerns about working conditions during Games in July and August. Darmanin wants every Interior Ministry employee mobilized and

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House GOP takes party-line vote toward Mayorkas impeachment as border becomes 2024 campaign issue

By LISA MASCARO and REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans voted along party lines early Wednesday to move toward impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a “willful and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws as border security becomes a top 2024 election issue. The Homeland Security Committee debated all day Tuesday

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UN agency confirms 119.8-degree reading in Sicily two years ago as Europe’s record high temperature

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s weather agency has confirmed a reading of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in Sicily two years ago as the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe. The World Meteorological Organization says the Sicilian scorcher was picked up on Aug. 11, 2021. Temperatures were soaring across much of Europe at the

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