The Wednesday crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan has killed 38 of 67 people on board. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus when it was diverted and crashed while attempting to land near Aktau in Kazakhstan. Experts and
Continue ReadingMADRID (AP) — A Spanish migration rights group says more than 10,000 migrants died in 2024 trying to reach Spain by sea. Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that has increasingly been used as a stepping stone to continental
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jason LaCroix felt privileged to work from home, especially as a father to two young children. He needed flexibility when his son, then 6, suffered a brain injury and spent 35 days in intensive care. LaCroix, a senior systems engineer based in Atlanta, took time off and then worked
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — China says its economy grew a bit more in 2023 than earlier thought, according to an economic census conducted every five years. The government said the revision would not affect its expectations for “about 5%” growth this year. It raised the estimate for total economic activity, or GDP, in
Continue ReadingMOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top security agency says that it has arrested several suspects accused of involvement in an alleged Ukrainian plot to assassinate senior military officers. The annoucnement on Thursday follows the killing of a top Russian general more than a week ago. The Federal Security Service or FSB said Thursday that it has
Continue ReadingBy LJ Spaet and Hanna Park, CNN (CNN) — Two people including a teenager were shot and another was cut with a knife at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport during a family dispute on Christmas night, police said. The incident happened at a Terminal 4 restaurant outside the security perimeter, where responding officers found two
Continue ReadingBy Ray Sanchez, CNN (CNN) — Fear and uncertainty are spreading across many US college campuses ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration, with some schools advising international students to return early from winter break amid promises of another travel ban like the one that stranded students abroad at the start of Trump’s last
Continue ReadingAviation experts said Thursday that Russian air defense fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when
Continue ReadingBy Kareem El Damanhoury, Irene Nasser and Eyad Kourdi, CNN (CNN) — At least 14 law enforcement personnel were killed in western Syria overnight in an “ambush” by the former forces of deposed leader Bashar al-Assad, the interior ministry said on Thursday, in an indication of challenges for the country’s new government. The attack in
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis inaugurated his Holy Year at Rome’s main prison on Thursday, bringing a message of hope to inmates and involving them in the Catholic Church’s once every quarter-century celebration that is expected to bring about 32 million pilgrims to Rome. Francis stood up from his wheelchair, knocked on the
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — A spokesperson for Chinese automaker BYD has objected to reports about poor conditions at a construction site in Brazil where it is building a factory, saying the allegations were aimed at “smearing” China and Chinese brands. Earlier in the week, a task force led by Brazilian prosecutors said it
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s main opposition party has submitted a motion to impeach the country’s acting leader over his reluctance to fill three Constitutional Court vacancies ahead of the court’s review of rebellion charges against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol stemming from his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports, while the World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment occurred nearby as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, with a crew member injured. “The air traffic control tower, the departure
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan Airlines has been hit by a cyberattack that caused delays to more than 20 domestic flights, but it managed to restore its systems within hours. The carrier said there was no impact on flight safety. JAL said the problem started Thursday morning when the company’s network connecting internal and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — Jerry and Sibrina Barrett never spent a day apart over 35 years. They worked long hours, never took vacations, and liked to relax with their son at home. They had no idea that a hurricane could reach them in the mountains of East Tennessee. Living in Johnson City, they
Continue ReadingAssociated Press For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.” The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was stupid,” she recalled
Continue ReadingAssociated Press EIN ZIVAN, Golan Heights (AP) — A dry mountain wind whipped through a cluster of Israeli flags at the entrance of a kibbutz in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, where the tranquility belies the tumultuous events unfolding nearby. Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted after nearly 25 years in power. Within
Continue ReadingAnalysis by Mick Krever, CNN (CNN) — This time last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the doldrums. “He started very low,” said Nadav Shtrauchler, a political strategist who has worked closely with Netanyahu. “The lowest point that he had.” Many Israelis accused him of being asleep at the wheel on October 7,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ZAMALKA, Syria (AP) — A Syrian family that survived a 2013 chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people near the country’s capital, Damascus, says the ordeal they experienced haunts them to this day. The family members locked themselves inside a windowless room in their home for hours, escaping the fate of dozens
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A survivor of the worst gang attack on Haitian journalists in recent memory describes seeing colleagues cut down by bullets and reporters with head and chest wounds going without help. Photographer Jean Fregens Regala said Wednesday there had been no apparent security preparations _ indeed, little preparation of any
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