Month: January 2024

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has defended his controversial decision to let priests bless same-sex couples but admitted that “solitude is a price” for difficult decisions. Francis doubled down and insisted “God blesses everyone” during a Sunday interview with an Italian talk show. But he acknowledged the remarkable opposition that his decision has sparked. Africa’s

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — When the dust settles from Monday’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, the returns will reveal who had Republican caucusgoers’ vote, but they won’t shed much light on the types of people who voted or what was on their minds as they cast their ballots. That’s where AP VoteCast comes

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A court in Cambodia has convicted four land rights activists of plotting to provoke a peasant revolution by teaching farmers about class divisions and has given them five-year suspended prison terms.  The four, who worked for the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, were arrested and

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Members of a group of men who say they were sexually abused as boys by a Japanese entertainment mogul are accusing the company behind the scandal of not being sincere in dealing with the victims and say many have not received compensation. Hundreds of men have come

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee said they raised more than $97 million in the final three months of last year, boosted by a star-studded December fundraising blitz that came even as the political world’s attention shifted to the start of the 2024 Republican presidential

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A court in Iran has slapped imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi with an additional sentence of 15 months for allegedly spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic. A post on Instagram by Mohammadi’s family says the new sentence was handed down on Dec. 19. It said Mohammadi had

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany’s economy shrank 0.3% last year as Europe’s former powerhouse struggled with more expensive energy, higher interest rates, a lack of skilled labor and a homegrown budget crisis. Europe’s largest economy has been mired in stagnation since the last months of 2022 amid those multiple challenges. The International Monetary Fund expected

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s new King Frederik X has visited the Danish parliament on his first formal day on the job. His mother, Queen Margrethe, abdicated on Sunday after 52 years on the throne, the first Danish monarch to do so in nearly 900 years. Monday’s formal meeting

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Some schools have reopened and limited garbage collection has resumed in Japan’s northcentral region of Noto that was hit by the deadly New Year’s Day earthquake. Monday’s developments were signs of slight improvement in the devastation that thousands of people still face in the area. The magnitude

By EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s incoming president is promising continuity. The question is what that will bring, not only for Taiwan but also for China, the United States and others with an interest in the island of 23 million people that supplies many of the world’s advanced semiconductors. Lai

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian air force shot down a Russian early warning and control plane that can spot targets up to 650 kilometers (400 miles) away and a key command center aircraft that relays information to troops on the ground in a significant blow for the Kremlin’s forces,

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Africa’s biggest oil refinery has begun production in Nigeria after a yearslong wait. The $19 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery facility has a capacity to produce 650,000 barrels a day and has started to produce diesel and aviation fuel, the company reported Saturday. Nigeria is one of

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A woman’s body was found in the water near where a small plane crashed into the ocean off the California coast. The crew of a fishing boat found the body Monday shortly after the search for survivors was called off after nearly six hours. Authorities say the crash was

MOSCOW (AP) — North Korea’s foreign minister is visiting Russia for three days of talks as international concern grows over an alleged arms cooperation deal between the two countries. North Korea’s state news agency says a delegation led by Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui arrived in Moscow on Sunday. Russia’s Foreign Ministry says she is

By RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — UNICEF says almost 100,000 children in Afghanistan direly need support, three months after earthquakes devastated the west of the country. A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Herat province on Oct. 7 and a second strong quake struck the same province days later, leaving more than 1,000 dead. UNICEF says

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese prosecutors say the former chairman of state-owned Chinese bank China Everbright Group has been arrested on suspicion of corruption and bribery. The announcement of Tang Shuangning’s arrest came after he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party earlier this month over violations of disciplines

By PAN PYLAS and MASHA MACPHERSON Associated Press DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam, which for years

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Farmers have clogged Berlin streets with their tractors, honking their horns in protest at a plan to scrap tax breaks on the diesel they use. It’s the climax of a week of protests that has tapped into wider discontent with Germany’s government. Columns of tractors rolled into

By KEIRAN SMITH Associated Press SYDNEY (AP) — A day after an Australian became queen of Denmark. her native land on Monday celebrated the unlikely fairy tale with cocktails, picnics and a “Danish Fiesta.” Mary Donaldson’s journey from Tasmania to the world’s first Australian-born queen has captivated both Danes and Australians. People gathered to mark

BERLIN (AP) — The United Nations is appealing for $4.2 billion to help people in Ukraine and displaced outside the country this year. It said on Monday in Geneva that people on the front lines have “exhausted their meager resources” and many refugees also are vulnerable. About three-quarters of the total, $3.1 billion, is meant

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — The government in China’s gambling hub of Macao says there will be no more horse racing in the city, after over 40 years of history. Authorities say they will terminate their concession contract with the city’s jockey club in April. The gaming hub on China’s south

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press BANDAR LAMPUNG, Indonesia (AP) — A former Jakarta governor seeking Indonesia’s presidency said democracy is declining in the country and pledged to make changes to get it back on track. Anies Baswedan said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that concerns about neutrality in the current government

By TAIJING WU and KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Pacific Island nation of Nauru says it is switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. The move on Monday leaves Taiwan with 12 diplomatic allies around the world. Taiwan now has official ties with 11 countries and the Vatican. Seven are in

By CAROLYN THOMPSON, MATTHEW BROWN and VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Brutally cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills stayed put across much of the U.S. Monday, promising the coldest temperatures ever for Iowa’s presidential nominating contest, holding up travelers, and testing the mettle of NFL fans in Buffalo for a playoff game

By HANDRIANUS BELUTOWE Associated Press FLORES TIMUR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has evacuated about 6,500 people on the island of Flores after Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano spewed thick clouds of brownish ash for the past days. Authorities said on Monday that no casualties or major damage have been reported so far. The eruptions in East