Month: February 2024

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Angry farmers were back in Paris on their tractors in a new protest Friday demanding more government support and simpler regulations, on the eve of a major agricultural fair in the French capital. Dozens of tractors drove peacefully into Paris carrying flags from Rural Coordination, the farmers’

By The Associated Press An ally of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Friday that Russian authorities have given his mother a deadline to agree to forgo a public funeral or else they’ll bury him on prison grounds. Investigators gave Lyudmila Navalnaya three hours to accept a proposal for a private funeral outside the

BERLIN (AP) — A lawyer for a man who is also under investigation in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann says he won’t respond to unrelated charges of sexual offenses at a trial that opened last week in Germany. The 47-year-old German faces three counts of rape and two of sexual abuse of children

By JIWON SONG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s police say Lee Ho-yang, a prominent K-pop composer and producer better known by his professional name of “Shinsadong Tiger,” has been found dead. The Seoul Metropolitan Police say that 40-year-old Lee was discovered dead at his Seoul studio on Friday. Police gave no

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The head of the European Union’s powerful Commission says decisions will be taken soon to release billions of euros to Poland, funds frozen by the bloc over the previous Polish government’s anti-EU policies. Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday the decision to release 137 billion

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and LORNE COOK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and European Union on Friday heaped hundreds of new sanctions on Russia in connection with the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine and in retaliation for the death of noted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last week in an Arctic penal

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A woman who traveled to Syria as a teenager to join the Islamic State group lost her appeal Friday against the British government’s decision to revoke her U.K. citizenship, with judges saying that it wasn’t for them to rule on whether it was “harsh” to do so.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The Russian Olympic Committee has lost an appeal against its suspension by the International Olympic Committee. The Court of Arbitration for Sport says it dismissed the ROC’s appeal against the suspension imposed in October. The IOC objected to the ROC incorporating four sports bodies representing regions of eastern Ukraine. CAS says

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office says at least 118 people have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence in more than 10 months of conflict in Sudan, assaults that may amount to war crimes. A new report by the agency, released on Friday, says

By ALICIA LEÓN and CIARÁN GILES Associated Press VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Spanish officials have raised the death toll to at least 10 in the apartment block fire in the eastern city of Valencia. Authorities said 10 bodies were found in the first police inspection of the gutted residential buildings. Meanwhile, questions abounded as to

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A storm packing strong winds in Sweden tore the roof off the main train station in Goteborg, knocking out power and temporarily halting rail traffic in and out of the country’s second largest city. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The storm Friday blustered

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Ukrainian sculptor Mikhail Reva has transformed the trauma of Russia’s invasion into a profound artistic statement, turning two tons of war debris into sculptures that express the deep suffering of his homeland. Following a Russian strike on his country house, Reva crafted “The Flower of Death” from

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press VIENNA (AP) — Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been convicted of making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his first government. He has been given an eight-month suspended sentence. The verdict Friday at the Vienna criminal court followed a four-month trial. The case marked the

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers have approved a government plan to liberalize rules on cannabis, paving the way for the country to decriminalize limited amounts of marijuana and allow members of “cannabis clubs” to buy it for recreational purposes. Parliament’s lower house voted on Friday to back the legislation, a

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the United States have mobilized advanced stealth fighters as their militaries staged a joint drill over the Korean Peninsula. Friday’s training comes after rival North Korea conducted a spate of missile tests this year. South Korea’s air force says the drill involved

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks clung to modest gains on Wall Street Friday, giving the market another record high and a winning week. The listless day for stocks capped off a mostly solid week of earnings where the technology sector once again powered the market higher. The sector

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press On a surprise visit to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer directly challenged House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up a $95 billion national security package that includes aid for the besieged country. Schumer told reporters in Lviv on Friday that “the weight

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito made his first speech to the nation since a deadly earthquake hit the north-central region of Koto, with a message marking his 64th birthday on Friday. The ceremonial ruler expressed grief for people affected by the Jan. 1 earthquake, praying for their recovery and