By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The German government is watering down cost-saving plans that have infuriated farmers. It announced on Thursday that it will give up a proposal to scrap an exemption from car tax for farming vehicles and will stagger cuts to tax breaks for diesel used in agriculture. The cuts
Continue ReadingBy ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The race for the White House officially begins in less than two weeks. And despite some prolonged jockeying over the election calendar, the long primary season will once again begin in Iowa with a caucus process that has served as the lead-off presidential voting since the 1970s.
Continue ReadingBy Oren Liebermann, Natasha Bertrand and Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The US targeted a member of an Iranian proxy group with “US blood on his hands” in a strike in Iraq, a US official told CNN. The target was a member of Harakat al-Nujaba, the official said, an Iranian proxy operating in Iraq and
Continue ReadingBy JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The politician favored to become Britain’s next prime minister has kicked off an election year by accusing the governing Conservatives of leading the country into decline and despair. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said Thursday that a Labour government would deliver “Project Hope” after 14 years of
Continue ReadingBy GIADA ZAMPANO and PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has told her European Union partners that curbing migration flows from African countries has less to do with offers of charity than strong partnerships coupled with strategic investments in those nations. Meloni told reporters at a year-end news conference that
Continue ReadingBy DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — The new year on the PGA Tour feels a lot like the old one. There are questions about a fractured landscape and more money than ever. LIV Golf is gearing up for another season while fans wonder who will be the next player to get
Continue ReadingBy HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — With the cooperation of the Anne Frank House, a novel based on Frank’s life immediately before she began keeping a diary will be released in September by the children’s publisher Scholastic. “When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank, Before the Diary” is written
Continue ReadingBy FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — After pushback by some bishops in Africa, Poland and elsewhere, the Vatican on Thursday defended the recent move by Pope Francis to allow blessings for same-sex couples, insisting there is nothing “heretical” involved. In a five-page statement, the Holy See’s office to safeguard doctrinal orthodoxy expressed understanding
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Christians around the world will mark the Epiphany on Jan. 6 with a series of celebrations that go from parades and gift-giving for children to the blessing of water. The holiday is also called the Feast of Epiphany, Three Kings Day and Theophany. Why is it known with different names? Some Western Christian
Continue ReadingBy MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week as the labor market continues to show resilience despite elevated interest rates. Jobless claims fell to 202,000 for the week ending Dec. 30, down by 18,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average
Continue ReadingBy KRYSTA FAURIA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Jessica Chastain first read the script for “Memory,” she was struck by the unanswered questions left swirling around her head about issues pertaining to love, sex and consent. That might be antithetical to what some audiences expect from a movie. But it was writer and
Continue ReadingBy Abbas AlLawati and Tara John, CNN (CNN) — ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, which has shaken the Islamic Republic and led to angry calls for vengeance. On Wednesday, at least 84 people were killed and 284 others injured in the Iranian city of Kerman
Continue ReadingANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A hotel owner and 10 other people are standing trial accused of negligence over the deaths of 72 people, including players from a school volleyball team in breakaway northern Cyprus, who perished when their hotel crumbled during a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey last year. The trial is the first relating
Continue ReadingBy HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — With the cooperation of the Anne Frank House, a novel based on Frank’s life immediately before she began keeping a diary will be released in September by the children’s publisher Scholastic. “When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank, Before the Diary” is written
Continue ReadingBERLIN (AP) — A German man who served prison time for a high-profile 1996 kidnapping has been convicted of robbery and attempted murder on Thursday for his alleged role in a string of armed robberies in Germany in 2018 and 2019. The Cologne state court on Thursday sentenced Thomas Drach to 15 years in prison.
Continue ReadingBy TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Walgreens is chopping its dividend nearly in half as the drugstore chain looks to strengthen its balance sheet. The health care giant said Thursday that reducing its quarterly payout to shareholders to 25 cents per share will help free up capital to spend growing its pharmacy and health care
Continue ReadingBy JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Extremely cold temperatures compounded by strong winds and snow are wreaking havoc across the Nordic region, leaving thousands without power while others braved the cold for hours stuck in their cars along clogged highways. Serious problems with rail services have been reported as a result
Continue ReadingBy YURI KAGEYAMA and MATT OTT AP Business Writers Markets on Wall Street drifted higher early Thursday in search of their first gains of the new year. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.1% before the bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved 0.3% higher. With earnings season still weeks away from kicking off,
Continue ReadingBy PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The longest planned strike in the history of Britain’s state-funded National Health Service has entered its second day of six with doctors in England at loggerheads with hospitals over requests for some to return to work to cover urgent needs during one of busiest times of the
Continue ReadingBy Laura Paddison and Robert Shackelford, CNN (CNN) — Parts of Europe are experiencing an extreme start to the new year’s weather. As some countries struggle with devastating floods, others have been plunged into extreme cold, causing chaos. Hundreds of flood warnings are in place in the UK after heavy rainfall battered swaths of the
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