Associated Press LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities have declared a health emergency in the country’s east due to smog. Smog has choked Punjab for weeks, sickening nearly 2 million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze. On Friday a government minister announced measures to combat the growing crisis. They
Continue ReadingBy Kylie Atwood and Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is seen as being pivotal to the incoming administration’s Middle East efforts, even though he is not likely to take a formal job within it, regional diplomats and Trump allies told CNN. Trump’s Middle East team has been taking shape
Continue ReadingKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia has protested new maritime laws in the Philippines that it says encroach on its territory. Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Alamin said Friday that Malaysia sent a protest note over the Philippine laws. He said experts found reference documents related to the laws restated Manila’s long-standing claim over the oil-rich
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cypriot authorities are in talks with major energy companies from Persian Gulf states over potential natural gas reserves off the Mediterranean country’s southern coastline, President Nikos Christodoulides told an energy conference Friday. He said the discussion with the unidentified companies are in connection with some of Cyprus’ 13 areas,
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer Jake Paul and Mike Tyson aren’t the only ones who have high stakes when they meet in the boxing ring on Friday night. For Netflix, it is their biggest live sports event to date, and an opportunity to make sure it can handle audience demand with the NFL and WWE on the
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer Jake Paul and Mike Tyson aren’t the only ones who have high stakes when they meet in the boxing ring on Friday night. For Netflix, it is their biggest live sports event to date, and an opportunity to make sure it can handle audience demand with the NFL and WWE on the
Continue ReadingMALAGA, Spain (AP) — Rafael Nadal is getting set to retire from professional tennis after one last event. He will be part of Spain’s team at the Davis Cup finals that start Tuesday in front of a home crowd in Malaga. The 38-year-old Nadal has been on tour for more than 20 years and is
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Politicians in Senegal are wrapping up a tense electoral campaign ahead of a key legislative election this weekend that’s set to determine if the country’s newly-elected president can carry out ambitious reforms. Voters in Senegal will on Sunday choose 165 lawmakers in Senegal’s assembly, where the party of President
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Friday asked Iran to help secure a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah and appeared to urge it to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border. As a top adviser
Continue ReadingBy Rebekah Riess, Devon M. Sayers, Holly Yan, Nick Valencia, Amanda Musa and Emma Tucker, CNN Athens, Georgia (CNN) — Loud sobs echoed about the courtroom Friday where an undocumented migrant is on trial accused of murdering college student Laken Riley earlier this year. Members of the gallery passed tissues between rows and covered their
Continue ReadingCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Some 80 firearms, 140 kilograms (309 pounds) of ammunition and a hand grenade likely dating to World War II that a man found when he was clearing a house have been handed over to Danish police. The weapons were handed to police as part of a nationwide amnesty called by authorities
Continue ReadingAP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Volcanoes were erupting on the mysterious far side of the moon billions of years ago just like on the side that we can see, new research confirms. Researchers analyzed lunar soil brought back by China’s Chang’e-6, the first spacecraft to return with a haul of rocks and dirt
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LONDON (AP) — Musicians, collectors and fans have a chance to own a guitar god’s tools of the trade — instruments owned by the late Jeff Beck are going up for auction. Christie’s announced Friday it will sell more than 130 items, including 90 guitars, from the collection of the Yardbirds and Jeff
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden administration officials are working against the clock doling out billions in grants and taking other steps to try to preserve at least some of the outgoing president’s legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. “Let’s make every day count,” President Joe Biden said in an address to
Continue ReadingBy Evan Perez, Zachary Cohen, Holmes Lybrand and Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs, people close to the transition planning say. Trump and his allies
Continue ReadingPARIS (AP) — Paris police made two arrests after a brief fan-fight at a Nations League soccer game between France and Israel. Police chief Laurent Nunez said Friday that stadium stewards “immediately contained” the scuffle inside the Stade de France national arena on Thursday night. Speaking to broadcaster France 2, Nunez said: “We were extremely
Continue ReadingBy Sebastian Shukla, CNN (CNN) — As US President-elect Donald Trump continues to make heads turn with nominations for key roles in his incoming administration, Russians are trying to understand the appointments and what impacts they might have for Moscow. Russian state TV has spent the last few days using their slickly produced talk shows
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — At the United Nations climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, wars are top of mind for some leaders and activists who have converged to discuss ways to limit global warming. They say the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere can be a distraction for some countries in confronting the climate
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s health minister and several others were detained on Friday on suspicion of corruption as part of an investigation launched by the European prosecutor’s office. Minister Vili Beroš, the directors of two hospitals in the capital Zagreb and two companies are suspected of “accepting and giving bribes, abuse of
Continue ReadingBy Casey Tolan, Scott Glover and Kyung Lah, CNN Monterey, California (CNN) — Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, was involved in a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault in 2017, local officials in California confirmed Thursday night. In a statement, a spokesperson for the city government of Monterey, California, said
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