AP-National

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A minibus exploded in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others, a Taliban official said Saturday. It was the first attack in the country in 2024. Police spokesman Khalid Zadran said the explosion happened in the western part of the

By STEVE LeBLANC and SCOTT SONNER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Winter weather is battering parts of both U.S. coasts. In the West, a Sierra Nevada storm packing heavy snow shut down a stretch of interstate Saturday and briefly knocked out power to tens of thousands in Reno, Nevada. New Englanders are bracing for a

By SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will give his annual State of the Union address on March 7.  The invitation came Saturday from House Speaker Mike Johnson for the president to speak to a joint session of Congress. Johnson said he was inviting Biden “in this moment of great

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — U.K. police have opened a fraud investigation into Britain’s Post Office over a miscarriage of justice that saw hundreds of postmasters wrongfully accused of stealing money when a faulty computer system was to blame. The Metropolitan Police force said late Friday that it is investigating “potential fraud

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press It has only taken 18 minutes to evacuate the 379 passengers of Japan Airlines Flight 516 after their plane burst into flames just after touchdown at Tokyo’s Haneda airport Tuesday evening. A smaller coast guard Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft, preparing to take off to deliver urgent aid to quake-hit central Japan,

BERLIN (AP) — The death toll from a fire in a hospital in Germany this week has risen to five. All of the victims were patients. Investigators are seeking to understand the cause of the blaze that broke out late Thursday at the hospital in Uelzen, southeast of Hamburg. Emergency workers arrived to flames and

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Thousands of mourners have attended a funeral for a Pakistani Sunni Muslim cleric gunned down in broad daylight on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad. The funeral of Masoodur Rehman Usmani was held on Saturday, a day after unidentified gunmen shot and killed him and wounded his driver in the neighborhood of Ghauri

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea conducted a new round of artillery drills near the disputed sea boundary with South Korea on Saturday, officials in Seoul said, a day after the North’s similar exercises prompted South Korea to respond with its own firing drills in the same area. The

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — In a solemn ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis has presided over Epiphany Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday. In his homily on Saturday, Francis warned against “mere outward appearance” in practicing one’s faith. He also cautioned against what he called “basking in some

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer CHANIA, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Turkey is committed to playing “a positive, productive” role for postwar Gaza and prepared to use its influence in the region to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from broadening even more. The latest Mideast mission by America’s

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian officials say the death toll from an Islamic State group-claimed suicide bombing has risen to at least 91. State TV on Saturday quoted a spokesman for the country’s emergency services as saying an 8-year boy and a 67-year-old man who were wounded in Wednesday’s attack have now died. He said

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers have plunged into the wintry waters of rivers and lakes across Bulgaria to retrieve crucifixes cast by priests in Epiphany ceremonies commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ. The legend goes that the person who retrieves the wooden cross will be freed from evil spirits and will

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s main opposition party has started a 48-hour general strike on the eve on a general election, calling on people to boycott the vote because it says the government of incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina can’t guarantee its fairness. Hasina is seeking to return to power

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has acknowledged it is conducting a mass trial of 84 inmates previously reported by dissidents as it hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks last month. That trial likely includes a prominent activist lauded by rights group abroad. The state-run

By BASSEM MROUE, SAMY MAGDY and NAJIB JOBAIN Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah traded fire Saturday in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks, a day after the militia’s leader urged retaliation for the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon’s capital.

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has acknowledged that it withdrew its forces from a key city on the northeastern border with China after it was taken over by an alliance of ethnic armed groups it has been battling for months. The fall of Laukkaing late Thursday is the biggest

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans have voted to remove election denier and state GOP Chairwoman Kristina Karamo during a meeting Saturday after many of the party’s leaders called for her resignation following a year of leadership plagued by debt and infighting. Nearly 89% of those

By PETER SMITH Associated Press While much of the world has Christmas in the rearview mirror by now, people in some Eastern Orthodox traditions will celebrate the holy day on Sunday. Certain Eastern Orthodox churches, including those in Russian and other traditions, follow the ancient Julian calendar, which runs 13 days later than the Gregorian

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has accused China of harassment and trying to affect public morale by repeatedly sending balloons over the self-governing island. Taiwan’s official Military News Agency said Saturday that a Defense Ministry analysis had found that the paths of the balloons posed a serious threat to international passenger flights. The