Month: December 2024

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese leaders met this week to plot economic policy for the coming year and sketched out plans to raise government spending and relax Beijing’s monetary policy. Analysts said the broad-brush plans from the annual Central Economic Work Conference were more of a recap of current policy than ambitious new

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A suspected Chinese spy with business ties to Prince Andrew has been barred from the United Kingdom because of concerns that he posed a threat to national security. A British immigration tribunal upheld the decision on Thursday in a ruling that revealed the Chinese national had developed such a close

AP Sports Writer Luke Littler was virtually unknown a year ago. Now he is making millions, transcending his sport and is searched for more often on Google than King Charles and the British Prime Minister. That Littler is a 17-year-old darts player who still lives at home with his parents in northwest England makes his

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese high court has ruled that the refusal to recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the latest victory for the LGBTQ+ community that adds pressure on the reluctant government. Friday’s decision by the Fukuoka High Court in southern Japan marks the eighth victory out of nine rulings since the first

PARIS (AP) — An ancient relic that many Christians revere as Jesus Christ’s “Crown of Thorns” returned Friday to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, five years after it was saved from the flames of the medieval monument’s devastating 2019 fire. The crown — a circular band of branches encased in a gilded golden tube —

BEIJING (AP) — The former coach of the Chinese men’s national soccer team Li Tie has received a 20-year prison sentence for bribery. Chinese state media reported Friday that Li, who once played in the English Premier League for Everton, was found guilty of “leveraging his positions” as head coach of the national football and

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA has punished Serbia’s soccer federation for racist acts by fans at two Nations League games including trying to burn an Albania flag in Switzerland. On Monday, UEFA’s executive committee is set to confirm Serbia and Albania as co-hosts of the Under-21 European Championship in 2027. At a Switzerland-Serbia game last

BANGKOK (AP) — Police in Thailand say a 14-year-old has been arrested on charges alleging that he stabbed a Thai-Australian schoolmate to death in a fight after having an ongoing feud. A police official in Chonburi province outside Bangkok said the suspect told investigators he and the victim harbored a mutual dislike from school and

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Scientists suspect the first complete specimen ever recorded of the world’s rarest whale died from head injuries, an expert said Friday. The first dissection of a spade-toothed whale, a type of beaked whale, was completed last week after a painstaking examination at a research center near the New Zealand

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine on Friday, firing 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing it as one of the heaviest bombardments of the country’s energy sector since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost three years ago. Ukrainian defenses shot

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — A quarterly survey by Japan’s central bank shows business sentiment among manufacturers has improved slightly, especially in major heavy industries such as automaking, fossil fuels and machinery. The survey by the Bank of Japan, called the tankan, is a factor the central bank takes into account in assessing its