AP National News

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s federal prosecutor has charged an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture and war crimes, alleging they kept two young Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them. The man and the woman were arrested in Bavaria in April. According to the prosecutor, they were members of the Islamic State group

AP Business Writers Value was in vogue in 2024. Shoppers and restaurant patrons in the U.S. were choosy about where and how to spend their money as they wrestled with high housing and food prices. Well-heeled customers traded down to Walmart and Aldi. Diners opted for fast food or home cooking instead of sit-down restaurants.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities say 18 passengers have been killed in two separate road accidents in Pakistan. Police say the first accident happened on a highway Monday in eastern Punjab province when a speeding passenger bus overturned. Local media reported eight other people died when a passenger van collided with a truck on a highway

Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s public prosecutor has indicted 13 people including a former minister over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 last month and triggered weeks of massive anti-government protests. The suspects were charged Monday in the northern city of Novi Sad, where the Nov. 1 collapse happened. The

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A lawyer for the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot says he won’t appeal his 20-year sentence for drugging and raping her and allowing dozens of other men to rape her while she was unconscious. The case revolted France and triggered calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture. Lawyer Béatrice

The Taliban say they will close all national and foreign nongovernmental groups employing Afghan women, the latest crackdown on women’s rights since they took power in August 2021. It comes two years after they told NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they didn’t wear the Islamic headscarf correctly. In a letter

AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actor who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom “Alice,” has died. She was 87. Lavin died in Los Angeles on Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Bill Veloric, told The

LULING, La. (AP) — The crew of a tugboat was quickly rescued when their vessel sank into the Mississippi River following a collision with a tanker ship in Louisiana. The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that the river is still open. St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne says his office received a report of the

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials said Monday they will conduct safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines, as they struggle to determine what caused a plane crash that killed 179 people a day earlier. Sunday’s crash, the country’s worst aviation disaster in decades, triggered an

Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s long-ruling Baath party has frozen its activities after insurgents overthrew President Bashar Assad weeks ago. Many members of the party’s leadership have gone into hiding or fled the country. The party that for decades ruled as part of the Assad dynasty is now being blamed for damaging relations

Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A fire broke out at a hotel near Bangkok’s Khao San Road, a popular tourist destination, killing three foreigners and injuring several other people, Thai police said Monday. The three who died in the fire on Sunday night were all foreign tourists, Police Colonel Sanong Saengmanee told The Associated Press.

Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza City (AP) — For Gaza’s women, the hardships of life in the territory’s sprawling tent camps are compounded by the daily humiliation of never having privacy. Women struggle to dress modestly while crowded into tents with extended family members, including men, and with strangers only steps away in neighboring tents.

Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — What began as a childhood hobby more than six decades ago has led to what might be Africa’s largest butterfly collection in a suburb of Kenya’s capital. Steve Collins, 74, was born and raised in western Kenya. By the age of 5, he was fascinated by butterflies and started

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — When voters around the globe had their say in 2024, their message was often: “You’re fired.” Some 70 countries that are home to half the world’s population held elections this year, and in many incumbents were punished. From India and the United States to Japan, France and Britain, voters tired

AP Business Writers U.S. stocks closed broadly lower Monday as a banner year on Wall Street looked set to finish on a sour note. The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, its third straight decline. Roughly 90% of stocks within the index lost ground. On the second-to-last day of 2024, the benchmark index was still on track

Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian-made dramas rarely last long in local cinemas. But, nearly two months after its release, “I’m Still Here,” a film about a family torn apart by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for more than two decades, has drawn millions of moviegoers across the South American country. The film’s

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean law enforcement officials requested a court warrant on Monday to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol as they investigate whether his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3 amounted to rebellion. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which leads a joint investigation with police and

AP Sports Writer LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — A moment of silence was held for former President Jimmy Carter before the Atlanta Falcons’ game at the Washington Commanders. The Georgia native served as the 39th president of the United States at the White House less than 10 miles away from 1977-81. Falcons owner Arthur Blank in

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — It’s been 10-11 years since six South Koreans have been detained in North Korea, but there are still no words on whether they are still alive. Three of them are Christian missionaries and the rest North Korean defectors, who had resettled in the South. The missionaries, who had

AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A machinists strike. Another safety problem involving its troubled top-selling airliner. A plunging stock price. 2024 was already a dispiriting year for Boeing, the American aviation giant. But when one of the company’s jets crash-landed in South Korea on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people on