Month: January 2024

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Israel’s men’s soccer team is returning to Hungary for its “home” game in the qualifying playoffs for this year’s men’s European Championship. The March 21 game against Iceland must be played in a neutral country for security reasons during Israel’s war with Hamas. UEFA said the

HELSINKI (AP) — Labour unions in Finland went on strike Wednesday, starting a three-days labor action that will affect up to 300,000 workers and severely disrupt daily life. Trade unions are protesting revisions to labor market legislation and social security cuts proposed by the center-right government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. It will shut down

By JUTARAT SKULPICHETRAT Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the progressive Move Forward party must cease advocating amending the law on royal defamation. The decision Wednesday leaves the party vulnerable to being dissolved. The Move Forward party came in first in the 2023 general election. It campaigned heavily on making

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time ever, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination officially kicks off this Saturday in South Carolina. That’s the state that resurrected then-candidate Joe Biden’s foundering presidential campaign in 2020 and put him on a footing to win both the Democratic nomination and eventually

ROME (AP) — Italy has ramped up its protests over the treatment of an Italian antifascist being held in a Hungarian jail. The protests have become more vocal after images of her appearing chained and shackled at a Budapest court hearing this week sparked outrage in Italy. Ilaria Salis was arrested in Budapest last year

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s central Atlantic coast is battening down as authorities warned that the country could see its most powerful storm in three decades and urged people to stay indoors. Hurricane-force winds are expected to hit the region, as air traffic companies and ferry lines predicted disruptions. Police warned that gusts of 126

BERLIN (AP) — A Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz death camp has told Germany’s parliament that she is appalled by the rising strength of the far right in the country and increasing antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. Eva Szepesi was born in

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says he expects an EU naval mission in the Red Sea to be launched within three weeks. Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have waged a campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the Israel-Hamas war started in October. It has hampered trade

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Myanmar was a rising star in Southeast Asia before its military seized power three years ago in a takeover that has brought civil strife and a tightening vise of international sanctions, undoing years of progress and leaving the economy 10% smaller than it was in

MOSCOW (AP) — The lower house of Russia’s parliament has approved a bill that would allow authorities to confiscate money, valuables and other assets from people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the country’s military. After its swift passage in the State Duma on Wednesday, the bill is now expected to sail through the

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona and its surrounding in northeastern Spain’s Catalonia region are preparing for tighter water restrictions amid a historic drought that has shrunk reservoirs to record lows. Catalan authorities are expected to declare a drought emergency Thursday for an area that is home to 6 million people

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s aging king, Harald V, is on sick leave until Feb. 2 because of a respiratory infection. The Norwegian palace made the announcement Wednesday. The 86-year-old monarch, who has repeatedly said he has no plans to abdicate unlike his second cousin Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, has been hospitalized several times

By MARK LEWIS Associated Press STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — The doors close Wednesday on nominations for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, with peace activists connected to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine among the known entries. The Norwegian Nobel Committee keeps the nominations secret, but those with nomination rights sometimes make their picks public. The

By DIDI TANG, ERIC TUCKER and FRANK BAJAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray has told House lawmakers that Chinese government hackers are busily targeting critical infrastructure inside the United States, including water treatment plants, the electrical grid and transportation systems. Wray appeared Wednesday before a House select committee focused on China.

PARIS (AP) — French Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday that some 300,000 spectators will be able to attend the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympic Games, about half the size of what was originally planned. The giant show on the River Seine on July 26 will mark the first time that an opening ceremony

By YURI KAGEYAMA and STEPHEN WADE Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee member has appeared in a court and asserted he’s not guilty of taking bribes connected to the Tokyo Games. A former executive with the powerful Japanese advertising company Dentsu, Haruyuki Takahashi is charged with accepting around 198 million

By RAF CASERT Associated Press HALLE, Belgium (AP) — Farmers are blocking more traffic arteries across Belgium and France as they seek to disrupt trade at major ports and other economic lifelines. They are also moving toward Brussels on Wednesday on the eve of a major European Union summit in a continued push for better

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court has rejected large parts of a case filed by Ukraine alleging that Russia bankrolled separatist rebels in the country’s east a decade ago and has discriminated against Crimea’s multiethnic community since its annexation of the peninsula. The International Court of

By JON GAMBRELL, AAMER MADHANI and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his options to respond to the strike. Iran

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean opposition leader who was stabbed in an attack earlier this month and underwent surgery has accused the country’s conservative president of promoting divisive politics and worsening an already toxic discourse in the nation. Lee Jae-myung spoke to reporters on Wednesday at his

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street fell to its worst loss since September as the Federal Reserve indicated cuts to interest rates are not imminent. U.S. futures and oil prices rose. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced, but ceded much of its early gains.

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A local official and a civil society group say militants killed at least 12 villagers in a spate of attacks in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province. The killings, which took place on Tuesday, came as Congo’s president ruled out dialogue with neighboring Rwanda over a related

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese warships sail in waters around Taiwan and warplanes fly toward the island almost every day before turning back. What if they suddenly attacked? Taiwan’s military is holding drills at sea and in the air on Wednesday to practice defending against such a surprise attack. Journalists

By EMMA BURROWS Associated Press U.K. lawmakers have expressed frustration that funds from the sale of the Chelsea soccer club have not yet gone to support Ukrainian war victims as was promised nearly two years ago by the former owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Abramovich sold Chelsea in 2022 after being sanctioned by the British

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 14 years. Wednesday’s ruling was yet another blow to the imprisoned populist leader days before his political movement attempts a return to power in parliamentary elections. It was his second conviction in

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — On the first day of Missouri’s new legislative session, Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden tried to cajole colleagues into congeniality with a rhetorical question: “Will we focus on principled progress or political pandemonium?” Progress was intended. But pandemonium ensued. Within days, a newly

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court has convicted a prominent political activist of defaming the country’s monarchy and sentenced her to a two-year suspended jail term under a controversial law that criminalizes any perceived criticism of the royal institution. Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, better known by her nickname “Mind,” had pleaded not guilty to an offense under

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer SINGAPORE (AP) — A survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing contracted in January for a fourth straight month, reflecting weak demand and a faltering recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, rose slightly to 49.2 in January from 49.0 the month