Year: 2024

Associated Press CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California wildfire has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes, in less than two days, fire officials said Thursday as raging winds were forecast to ease. The fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and has grown to about 32 square miles (83 square kilometers) at 5% containment. Its

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president has denied wrongdoing over a burgeoning influence-peddling scandal involving him and his wife. Already, the rumors are severely hurting his approval ratings and providing political munition to his political rivals. The scandal centers around allegations that President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon

Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — After Germany’s government coalition collapsed in a dramatic fashion when Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats, Scholz said he would lead the country with a minority government, despite calls from opposition leaders on Thursday for early elections. The chancellor said the minority government

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A robot that has spent months inside the ruins of a nuclear reactor at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi plant delivered a tiny sample of melted nuclear fuel, in what plant officials said was a step toward beginning the cleanup of hundreds of tons of melted fuel debris. The sample, the

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point after inflation across the U.K. fell below its target rate of 2%. The bank said Thursday its rate-setting panel lowered the benchmark rate to 4.75%. That is its second cut in three months,

Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand has acquitted a Thai woman who had been charged with involvement in a 2015 bombing at a shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people and injured 120. The court ruled Thursday that there was not enough evidence to link Wanna Suansan to the bombing. Two other

Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament has passed a law that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations. The law passed on Thursday was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies. The law was passed with

Associated Press THITU ISLAND, South China Sea (AP) — Philippine forces have staged drills that included seizing an island in the South China Sea as Chinese navy ships kept watch from a distance. Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the exercise underscored the readiness of Filipino forces to defend the country’s sovereignty at

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police say a roadside bomb has exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in restive northwestern Pakistan, killing four officers and wounding five others. A local police officer said the bombing happened on Wednesday in the South Waziristan district, which is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong typhoon has hit the northern Philippines, prompting a new round of evacuations in a region still recovering from back-to-back storms a few weeks ago. Typhoon Yinxing is the 13th to batter the disaster-prone Southeast Asian nation this season. Tens of thousands of villagers were returning to emergency

Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s fiery, right-wing leader says Donald Trump’s victory will help his own battle against immigration and multiculturalism and restore traditional family values. In Argentina, a president who once bear-hugged Trump at a political conference in Maryland is attacking his critics as rats and parasites, ranting against what he calls

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to quickly surrender cherished assets as part of a $148 million defamation judgment against the former New York City mayor. The order Thursday during a hearing in Manhattan led a defiant Giuliani to tell reporters afterward that he feels he’s the victim

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but history will likely remember Kamala Harris’ resounding defeat as his loss too. As Democrats pick up the pieces after President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory, some of the vice president’s backers are expressing frustration that Biden’s decision to seek reelection until this summer