By MUNIR AHMED and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday, a day after Iran launched airstrikes on Pakistan that it claimed targeted bases for a militant Sunni separatist group. Islamabad angrily denounced the attack as a “blatant violation” of its airspace and said it killed two
Continue ReadingBy KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted combined naval exercises involving an American aircraft carrier in their latest show of strength against nuclear-armed North Korea. The three allies’ senior diplomats were to meet in Seoul to discuss the deepening standoff with Pyongyang. North Korean
Continue ReadingBy JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the need for a “pathway to a Palestinian state” Wednesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos, saying that Israel would not “get genuine security absent that.” If Israel can be brought into
Continue ReadingBy ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Officials say Russia fired two missiles at Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine during the night, hitting apartment buildings and a medical center and injuring 17 people. It was among Moscow’s latest strikes on civilian areas in the almost two-year war. Regional officials say the S-300 missiles landed
Continue ReadingBy SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Customs seized 116 tons of cocaine in the port of Antwerp in 2023, setting a record for the second year in a row, Belgian authorities said on Wednesday. Demand for cocaine is growing rapidly across the EU, and governments blame the drug trade for outbreaks of violence
Continue ReadingBy JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — An explosion at a fireworks factory in central Thailand killed at least 20 people on Wednesday, the government’s disaster relief agency said. People were also injured in the incident, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said, but but it did not say how many. Officials were
Continue ReadingBANGKOK (AP) — A rescue worker says an explosion at a firework factory in central Thailand has killed at least 15 people. Workers were still trying to confirm the number of deaths, said a worker with the Samerkun Suphan Buri Rescue Foundation. He estimated around 15 to 17 people were killed in the incident, which
Continue ReadingBy KEN SWEET and CORA LEWIS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest effort by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those
Continue ReadingBy KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s population fell by 2 million people in 2023 in the second straight annual decrease as births dropped and deaths jumped. The government’s statistics bureau said Wednesday that the total population was 1.4 billion last year. The number of deaths rose by 690,000 to 11.1 million, more than
Continue ReadingBy Joan Biskupic, CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — Anne Gorsuch, a former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, cut a flamboyant, defiant figure in early 1980s Washington as she slashed air and water quality regulations. She fought with environmentalists, was held in contempt by Congress and eventually resigned under pressure from the Ronald Reagan White House that had championed her. Her memoir was,
Continue ReadingBERLIN (AP) — Heavy snowfall and freezing rain across Germany have caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights and trains, crashes on icy roads and school closures. At Frankfurt and Munich airports, hundreds of flights were canceled Wednesday, while Saarbruecken airport in western Germany closed for the day. Duesseldorf and Cologne/Bonn airports were also affected
Continue ReadingBy LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — A top NATO military officer says the war in Ukraine could “determine the fate of the world.” NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Rob Bauer says Western armies and political leaders must drastically change the way they help Kyiv fend off invading Russian forces. He told NATO top
Continue ReadingKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Two Malaysian filmmakers have been charged with offending the religious feelings of others in a rare criminal prosecution that has been slammed by critics as an attack on freedom of expression. Mohamad Khairianwar Jailani, the director and co-scriptwriter of “Mentega Terbang,” and producer Tan Meng Kheng pleaded not guilty on
Continue ReadingBy JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is trying to subdue a Conservative Party rebellion over his stalled plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda, Lawmakers are due to vote Wednesday on a bill that aims to overcome a U.K. Supreme Court block on the Rwanda plan.
Continue ReadingBy CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian authorities say two people have died and 77 others were injured after a massive blast rocked more than a dozen buildings in one of the country’s largest cities. Oyo state’s governor said Wednesday that preliminary investigations showed the blast Tuesday night in the densely populated
Continue ReadingBy Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, CNN (CNN) — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the state’s second highest-ranking elected official and its leading Republican candidate for governor in 2024, once hailed banning abortion as his top priority, advocating for its complete ban without exceptions. “For me, there is no compromise on abortion. It makes
Continue ReadingMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz will feature in the day session on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday as the second round comes to a close at the Australian Open. Swiatek faces Danielle Collins, the American who reached the final here in 2022. Having played his opener at night,
Continue ReadingBy Sara Smart and Dave Alsup, CNN (CNN) — Police in Elyria, Ohio, deployed exploding flash-bangs while raiding a home last week while a toddler on a ventilator was inside, newly released body-worn camera footage shows, and the mother says her child was harmed during the incident. Footage from eight officers’ body-worn cameras was released
Continue ReadingBy PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Inflation across the United Kingdom increased unexpectedly last month as a result of a hike in tobacco and alcohol prices. The Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday that inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, was 4% in the year to December, up from 3.9%
Continue ReadingBy Elizabeth Wolfe, Robert Shackelford and Mary Gilbert, CNN (CNN) — An unrelenting series of winter storms and an outbreak of cold air have killed multiple people across several states since Friday. Now, another round of extreme cold and snow will march across the central and eastern US, setting up more hazardous travel and a
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