AP-National

By HUSSEIN MALLA Associated Press GHANDOURIYEH, Lebanon (AP) — Hezbollah said it launched a drone strike at the Israeli army’s northern headquarters Tuesday in retaliation for recent strikes in Lebanon that killed top Hamas and Hezbollah officials. Israel’s military acknowledged that one of its army bases in northern Israel was targeted but said there were

By MARÍA GESTOSO and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press NOIA, Spain (AP) — Countless tiny plastic pellets are washing up on the shores of northern Spain and local authorities have declared an environmental emergency after a shipping container fell off a transport vessel last month. State prosecutors are investigating over fears that the pellets could have

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. citizen has been arrested on drug charges in Russia, a move that comes amid soaring Russia-U.S. tensions over Ukraine. The arrest of Robert Woodland Romanov was reported Tuesday by the press service of the Moscow courts. It said the Ostankino District Court ruled on Saturday to keep him in custody

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s government says face masks will be mandatory in hospitals and healthcare centers starting Wednesday due to a surge in respiratory illnesses. Health Minister Mónica García said late Monday that it was a simple and necessary measure. Spain’s hospitals have come under immense pressure in recent weeks following a spike in cases

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan navy spokesman says the debt-ridden country’s navy is preparing to join a U.S.-led operation to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea against attacks by Houthi rebels. Capt. Gayan Wickramasuriya said Tuesday that no date has been set for sending the ships.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The former president of a top-division soccer team in Turkey has told a court he regretted attacking a referee at the end of a league game but denied threatening to kill him. Faruk Koca resigned as president of MKE Ankaragucu after punching referee Halil Umut Meler. Koca has been charged with

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s national elections commission has registered the Communist Party’s candidate to  compete with President Vladimir Putin in the March election that Putin is all but certain to win. Nikolai Kharitonov joins two other candidates who were approved for the ballot last week. Kharitonov, a member of the lower house of parliament, has

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s transportation ministry says it has introduced improved emergency measures for the country’s airports, a week after a fatal collision between a Japan Airlines jetliner and a coast guard plane at Tokyo’s busy Haneda airport that is seen as a result of human error. The ministry said

By MATTHEW LEE, NAJIB JOBAIN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on Israel to work with moderate Palestinians and neighboring countries on plans for postwar Gaza, saying they were willing to help rebuild and govern the territory but only if there is

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — At least three people were hospitalized after mistakenly eating colorful pods of liquid laundry detergent that were distributed as a campaign freebie in Taiwan’s presidential race, according to Taiwanese media reports. One of the victims said she thought the pods were candy, the Central News Agency reported. The pods came in

By JIM GOMEZ, JOEAL CALUPITAN AND AARON FAVILA Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers is marching in an annual procession in the Philippines’ capital, parading a centuries-old black statue of Jesus. Many worshippers at the event said they were praying for peace in the Middle East, where

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s leading presidential candidate William Lai says he hopes for a reopening of dialogue with China following almost eight years of Beijing’s near-complete refusal to communicate with leaders of the self-governing island it considers its own territory. But Lai told reporters Tuesday he would seek to

By SIMINA MISTREANU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has mistranslated an alert into English, saying China had launched a missile instead of a satellite and urging caution days before the island’s elections. Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday that China has described as a choice between war and peace.

By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Authorities say suspected militants have shot and killed two police officers assigned to escort polio workers in northwest Pakistan during the nationwide campaign against polio. It was the second such attack in the past 24 hours. Police said Tuesday’s attack happened in Bannu, a district in

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has temporarily grounded three Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners, following an incident last week in which an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage. The three aircraft, grounded since Saturday, belong to the Indonesian budget carrier

By DAVID KOENIG, CLAIRE RUSH and TOM KRISHER Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal investigators say a door panel slid up before flying off an Alaska Airlines jetliner last week, and they are looking at whether four bolts that were supposed to help hold the panel in place might have been missing when the

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares retreated Wednesday after a lackluster session on Wall Street, though Tokyo broke ranks, gaining more than 2% after the government said it would double its disaster reserves by nearly $7 billion. U.S. futures declined while oil prices gained. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 is trading near

By ANUPAM NATH and WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press THIMPHU, Bhutan (AP) — The People’s Democratic Party has won the most seats in Bhutan’s parliamentary elections and will form the new government as residents hope politicians make good on promises to fix the economic crisis in the Himalayan nation. It was the country’s fourth general elections

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s parliament on Tuesday passed a landmark ban on production and sales of dog meat, as public calls for a prohibition have grown sharply over concerns about animal rights and the country’s international image. Some angry dog farmers said they plan to challenge the

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada judge set bail Tuesday at $750,000 for a former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with orchestrating the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur in 1996, saying he can serve house arrest with electronic monitoring ahead of trial on a murder charge. Court-appointed attorneys for