News

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A union representing many of Germany’s train drivers has started a nearly three-day strike in a rancorous dispute with the country’s state-owned main railway operator over working hours and pay. Train travel across the country and in many cities came to a near standstill early Wednesday, with

By MATTHEW LEE, NAJIB JOBAIN AND SAMY MAGDY Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to seek governance reforms as part of U.S. efforts to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a minivan explosion in the Afghan capital that killed at least three people. The militant group said it detonated an explosive on a vehicle belonging to employees of Afghanistan’s main prison in Kabul, killing and wounding about 10 people, according to a statement released

By ALLEN PANCHANA and GONZALO SOLANO Associated Press GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — It was a day like any other at the TC Television studio in Ecuador, with its mid-afternoon newscast underway, when masked gunmen burst in, unleashing at least 15 minutes of threats and fear — all broadcast live. First, a man with a pistol

By KATHY McCORMACK and SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A major storm drenched the Northeast and slammed it with fierce winds, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands following a bout of violent weather that struck most of the U.S. The storm, which started Tuesday night and was moving out Wednesday, washed

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a vote Wednesday on a resolution that would condemn and demand an immediate halt to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea area. The U.S. draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press,

By LEAH WILLINGHAM and JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is bringing a close to one avenue for his quirky speeches with his final State of the State address. He’ll deliver the speech Wednesday night. The popular two-term Republican governor is running for Democrat Joe Manchin’s U.S. Senate

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and JOHNSON LAI Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Using military threats, diplomatic pressure, fake news and financial inducements for politicians, China is being accused of deploying a broad strategy to influence voters in Taiwan’s elections to pick candidates who favor unification. China’s ultimate goal is to take control of the self-governing

BEIJING (AP) — China’s space agency says its latest lunar explorer has arrived at the launch site in preparation for a mission to the moon in the first half of this year. Wednesday’s announcement came a day after a U.S. company abandoned a lunar landing planned for Feb. 23 because of a fuel leak that

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are taking the first step toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after he defied a congressional subpoena, an extraordinary step from a bitterly contested oversight process that seems likely to result in the U.S. House recommending criminal charges against a member of President Joe

By SEUNG MIN KIM and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration pledged from Day One to restore truth and transparency to the federal government — but now it’s facing a maelstrom of criticism and credibility questions after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization was kept secret for days, even from the

By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say militants attacked a police checkpoint on a highway in the country’s northwest, killing three police officers and a civilian. A police official says the pre-dawn attack on Wednesday took place in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. No one immediately claimed responsibility

By HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — Snow was still piling on top of the 8 inches that had already accumulated when Kadee Miller trekked out to see Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley in Waukee. “There were moments on the drive up here, I was like, ‘What are we doing?’” Miller said about

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Just two Republican presidential candidates, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, will meet on the debate stage Wednesday night. The seventh official debate of the 2024 campaign comes just five days before the Iowa caucus. The big front-runner,

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press BEIT RIMA, West Bank (AP) — Security camera video from a West Bank village shows a young man standing in a central square when he is suddenly shot and drops to the ground. Two others rushing to his aid are also hit, leaving a 17-year-old dead, moments before Israeli military

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — After spending much of the Republican presidential primary flanked by lower-polling rivals, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis will be alone on the debate stage Wednesday for the first time as they wage an increasingly contentious push to become the primary alternative to Donald Trump. The stakes