AP-National

By 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 nearly 2-year-old war. Regional officials say the S-300 missiles landed

By 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

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — An explosion at a fireworks factory in central Thailand has killed about 20 people, though the devastation at the scene has made the death toll uncertain. Rescue workers say no survivors have been found. The cause of the explosion is being investigated. The Lunar New Year falls

By 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

By 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

KUALA 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

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has quelled a Conservative Party rebellion and got his stalled plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda through the House of Commons. Lawmakers voted by 320 to 276 Wednesday to back a bill that aims to overcome a U.K. Supreme

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian authorities say two people have died and 77 others have been injured in a massive blast that rocked more than a dozen buildings in one of the country’s largest cities. The governor of Oyo state said Wednesday that preliminary investigations showed the blast Tuesday night

By 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%

BERLIN (AP) — Heavy snow and freezing rain have hit parts of northern and central Europe, bringing transport to a halt in some Scandinavian regions and causing major disruption at airports in Frankfurt and Oslo. At Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s busiest, freezing rain forced a temporary halt to takeoffs. Hundreds of flights already had been canceled.

By JANIE HAR Associated Press RIO VISTA, Calif. (AP) — After years of secretly snapping up property for plans to build a new California city, a company backed by Silicon Valley billionaires is taking the pitch to voters. The California Forever company submitted paperwork Wednesday to ask voters on the November ballot to allow them

By KIM TONG-HYUNG and JIWON SONG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Even for a nation that has perfected the provocative, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s declaration that he would abandon the existential goal of reconciling with rival South Korea was a shock. But a closer look shows it’s the almost inevitable culmination

By NAJIB JOBAIN, JACK JEFFERY and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A shipment of medicine for dozens of hostages held by Hamas arrived in Gaza on Wednesday, part of a France- and Qatar- mediated deal that marked the first agreement between Israel and the militant group since a weeklong cease-fire in

By MUNIR AHMED and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday, a day after Iran conducted airstrikes inside Pakistan that it claimed targeted bases for a militant Sunni separatist group. Islamabad denounced the attack as a “blatant violation” of its airspace and said it killed two children.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China’s ambassador sought to reassure Australia that China’s increased involvement in the Pacific, particularly in policing efforts, should not be a cause of alarm. Xiao Qian, speaking in Canberra on Wednesday, said China and Australia can contribute together rather than asking Pacific nations to chose between them. He also said China’s

By CLAIRE RUSH and HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A power line fell on a parked car in northeast Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, killing three people and injuring a baby during an ice storm that turned roads and mountain highways treacherous in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly before noon, dispatchers started receiving frantic

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — China published youth unemployment data Wednesday for the first time since the jobless rate hit a record high in June last year, using a new method that showed an apparent improvement. China announced a 14.9% jobless rate for people between 16 and 24 in December,

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares traded mixed Thursday as pessimism spread among investors about any imminent interest rate cut in the United States. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei added 0.5% in morning trading to 35,637.01. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5% to 7,357.40. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6% to 2,450.00. Hong Kong’s

By PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press BARI, Italy (AP) — The year has gotten off to a slow start for a rescue ship that typically plies the Mediterranean Sea looking for migrants and refugees in distress. The Ocean Viking has been impounded, its crew accused of having deviated from a designated course, as Italy targets charity