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Tag: World News

  • Day of disruption in UK as hundreds of thousands join strike

    Day of disruption in UK as hundreds of thousands join strike

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    LONDON (AP) — Thousands of schools in the U.K. closed some or all of their classrooms, train services were paralyzed and delays were expected at airports on the biggest day of industrial action Britain has seen in more than a decade, as unions stepped up pressure on the government Wednesday to provide better pay amid a cost-of-living crisis.

    The Trades Union Congress, a federation of unions, estimated that up to a half-million workers, including teachers, university staff, civil servants, border officials and train drivers, went on strike across the country.

    More walkouts, including by nurses and ambulance workers, are planned for the coming days and weeks.

    Months of strikes have disrupted the daily routines of Britons as a bitter dispute between unions and the government over pay and working conditions drags on. The simultaneous strikes across multiple industries on Wednesday marked an escalation of the unions’ protest actions.

    The last time the country saw mass walkouts on this scale was in 2011, when well over 1 million public sector workers staged a one-day strike in a dispute over pensions. Others on strike Wednesday ranged from museum workers and London bus drivers to coast guard personnel and officers who staff passport booths at airports. The British Museum was closed Wednesday because of the strikes.

    Union bosses argue that despite some pay increases, such as a 5% offer the government proposed to teachers, the U.K.’s soaring inflation has plunged scores of public sector workers into financial difficulty because their wages have failed to keep pace. Teachers, health workers and many others say their wages have fallen in real terms over the last decade, and the surge in living costs that began last year exacerbated the problem.

    The Trades Union Congress, or TUC, said Wednesday that the average public sector worker is 203 pounds ($250) a month worse off compared with 2010, once inflation is taken into account.

    Inflation in the U.K. stands at 10.5%, the highest in 40 years, driven by skyrocketing food and energy costs. While some expect price increases to slow this year, Britain’s economic outlook remains grim. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund said the country will be the only major economy to contract this year, performing even worse than sanctions-hit Russia.

    The National Education Union said some 23,000 schools would be affected Wednesday, with an estimated 85% fully or partially closed.

    “The government have been running down our education (system), underfunding our schools and underpaying the people who work in them,” Kevin Courtney, the NEU’s joint general secretary, said. “Primary schools where you can’t find special needs assistants, because they’re taking jobs in supermarkets where they are paid better. That’s what’s making people take action.”

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told lawmakers that teacher strikes were “wrong,” and claimed his government had already given teachers their biggest pay raise in 30 years.

    “Our children’s education is precious, and they deserve to be in school today,” he said.

    His office argued that pay increases for public sector workers would not be affordable for taxpayers and could lead to tax hikes, more government borrowing or spending cuts elsewhere.

    Union leaders blame the government for refusing to negotiate and offer enough to halt the strikes.

    Workers were also angered by the government’s plan to introduce a new law aiming to curb strike disruptions by enforcing minimum service levels in key sectors, including health and transportation. Unions have criticized the legislation as an attack on the right to strike

    Lawmakers backed the bill on Monday. Thousands of people turned out in London, Manchester and other cities Wednesday to protest the proposal.

    TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said industrial unrest would continue until the government puts an acceptable pay offer on the table.

    “The message to the government is that this is not going to go away. These problems won’t magically disappear,” he said.

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  • Pope consoles Congolese victims: ‘Your pain is my pain’

    Pope consoles Congolese victims: ‘Your pain is my pain’

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    KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Congo’s people to forgive those who committed “inhuman violence” against them, celebrating a Mass for 1 million people and then hearing firsthand of the atrocities some of them have endured: a teenage girl “raped like an animal” for months; a young man who watched as his father was decapitated; a former sex slave who was forced into cannibalism.

    Congolese from the country’s violence-wracked east traveled to the capital of Kinshasa to tell the pope of the horrific violence they suffered for years as rebel groups sought to gain territory in the mineral-rich region through attacks that have forced more than 5 million people to flee their homes.

    Francis sat in silence as victim after victim came forward to tell their stories. He watched as they offered up at the foot of a crucifix a symbol of their pain: the machete used to maim and kill, or the straw bed mat on which they had been raped. When they knelt in front of him for a blessing, Francis placed his hand on their heads, or on the stumps of the arms that remained.

    “Your tears are my tears; your pain is my pain,” Francis told them. “To every family that grieves or is displaced by the burning of villages and other war crimes, to the survivors of sexual violence and to every injured child and adult, I say: I am with you; I want to bring you God’s caress.”

    The intimate encounter at the Vatican Embassy in Kinshasa was an extraordinary moment of a pastor seeking to console his flock, and of a pope seeking to shine a spotlight on what Francis has called a “forgotten genocide” that barely makes the news. Despite being home to one of the largest U.N. peacekeeping operation in the world, eastern Congo has been mired in violence since the early 1990s as rebels and miliitas vie for control of mineral-rich territory.

    “What a scandal and what hypocrisy, as people are being raped and killed, while the commerce that causes this violence and death continues to flourish!” Francis said of the foreign powers and extraction industries that are exploiting Congo’s east. “Enough!”

    Francis had originally planned to visit the eastern province of North Kivu, where rebel groups have intensified attacks in the past year, when his trip was initially scheduled for July.

    But after the trip was rescheduled, the Vatican had to cancel the visit to Goma due to the fighting that has forced some 5.7 million people to flee their homes, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Congo, where already some 26.4 million people face hunger, according to the World Food Program.

    Instead, residents of the east came to Francis, and their testimony was gut-wrenching.

    Ladislas Kambale Kombi, from the Beni area of eastern North Kivu province, told Francis of watching as men in military uniforms decapitated his father, placed his head in a basket and then took off with his mother, whom he never saw again.

    “At night, I cannot sleep,” he said. “It is hard to understand such wickedness, such near-animal-like brutality.”

    Bijoux Makumbi Kamala, 17, told of being kidnapped in 2020 by rebels in Walikale, in North Kivu province as she went to fetch water. Speaking through a translator, she said she was raped daily by the commander “like an animal,” until she escaped after 19 months.

    “It was useless to scream, because no one could hear me or come to my rescue,” she said, adding that she gave birth to twin girls “who will never know their father” and found consolation through services offered by the Catholic Church.

    The Associated Press usually does not identify victims of sexual violence, but those who told their stories to Francis gave their names in public at the start of their testimony.

    Emelda M’karhungulu, from a village near Bukavu in Congo’s South Kivu province, spoke through a translator of having been kept as a sexual slave for three months at age 16 by armed men who invaded her village in 2005. She said she was raped daily by five to 10 men who then forced their captives to eat the flesh of the men they had killed, mixed with animal meat and maize paste.

    “That was our food each day; whoever refused they would behead and would feed them to us,” she said. M’karhungulu said she eventually escaped one day when fetching water.

    While forced cannibalism is not known to be widespread, the United Nations and human rights groups documented how it was used as a weapon of war in the early 2000s in parts of eastern Congo.

    A statement prepared months ago by Désiré Dhetsina was read aloud on his behalf; Dhetsina disappeared after surviving an attack Feb. 1, 2022, on a camp for internally displaced people in Ituri province, on Congo’s northeastern border with Uganda.

    “I saw savagery: People carved up like meat in a butcher shop; women disemboweled, men decapitated,” Dhetsina reported. As his story was read to Francis, two woman stood up in front of the pope and raised into the air the stumps that remained of their mutilated arms.

    Francis condemned the violence and urged the Congolese victims to use their pain for good, to sow peace and reconciliation. It was a message he also delivered earlier in the day at a Mass to the throngs at Kinshasa’s Ndolo airport, where he cited the example of Christ who forgave those who betrayed him.

    “He showed them his wounds because forgiveness is born from wounds,” Francis said. “It is born when our wounds do not leave scars of hatred, but become the means by which we make room for others and accept their weaknesses. Our weakness becomes an opportunity, and forgiveness becomes the path to peace.”

    Roughly half of Congo’s 105 million people are Catholic, according to the Vatican, which also estimated that 1 million people were on hand for Francis’ Mass, citing local organizers.

    Among the faithful was Clément Konde, who traveled from Kisantu, a town in the province of Central Kongo, more than 150 kilometers (95 miles) from Kinshasa. He planned to participate in all of Francis’ events this week before the pontiff heads to South Sudan, the second leg of his African journey.

    “To my children and to the children who stayed in my city, I will bring them the message of the Holy Father, the message of peace and reconciliation,” Konde said.

    ___

    This story has been updated to correct the last name of one person quoted. It is Konde, not L’onde. ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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  • War’s longest battle exacts high price in ‘heart of Ukraine’

    War’s longest battle exacts high price in ‘heart of Ukraine’

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    KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Visitors used to browse through Bakhmut’s late 19th century buildings, enjoy walks in its rose-lined lakeside park and revel in the sparkling wines produced in historic underground caves. That was when the city in eastern Ukraine was a popular tourist destination.

    No more. The longest battle of Russia’s war has turned this city of salt and gypsum mines into a ghost town. Despite bombing, shelling and attempts to encircle Bakhmut for six months, Russia’s forces have not conquered it.

    But their scorched-earth tactics have made it impossible for civilians to have any semblance of a life there.

    “It’s hell on earth right now; I can’t find enough words to describe it,” said Ukrainian soldier Petro Voloschenko, who is known on the battlefield as Stone, his voice rising with emotion and resentment.

    Voloschenko, who is originally from Kyiv, arrived in the area in August when the Russian assault started and has since celebrated his birthday, Christmas and New Year’s there.

    The 44-year-old saw the city, located around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Russia’s border, gradually turned into a wasteland of ruins. Most of the houses are crushed, without roofs, ceilings, windows or doors, making them uninhabitable, he said.

    Out of a prewar population of 80,000, a few thousand residents remain. They rarely see daylight because they spend most of their time in basements sheltering from the ferocious fighting around and above them. The city constantly shudders with the muffled sound of explosions, the whizzing of mortars and a constant soundtrack of artillery. Anywhere is a potential target.

    Bakhmut lies in Donetsk province, one of four that Russia illegally annexed in the fall — but Moscow only controls about half of it. To take the remaining half, Russian forces have no choice but to go through Bakhmut, which offers the only approach to bigger Ukrainian-held cities since Ukrainian troops took back Izium in Kharkiv province in September, according to Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies.

    “Without seizure of these cities, the Russian army won’t be able to accomplish the political task it was given,” Bielieskov said.

    The deterioration in Bakhmut started during the summer after Russia took the last major city in neighboring Luhansk province. It then poured troops and equipment into capturing Bakhmut, and Ukraine did the same to defend it. For Russia, the city was one stepping stone toward its goal of seizing the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donetsk.

    From trenches outside the city, the two sides dug in for what turned into an exhausting standoff as Ukraine clawed back territory to the north and south and Russian airstrikes across the country targeted power plants and other infrastructure.

    The months of battle exhausted both armies. In the fall, Russia changed tactics and sent in foot soldiers instead of probing the front line mainly with artillery, according to Voloschenko.

    Bielieskov, the research fellow, said the least-trained Russians go first to force the Ukrainians to open fire and expose the strengths and weaknesses of their defense.

    More trained units or mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company led by a rogue millionaire and known for its brutality, make up the rear guard, Bielieskov said.

    Bielieskov said that Ukraine compensates for its lack of heavy equipment with people who are ready to stand to the last.

    “Lightly armed, without sufficient artillery support, which they cannot always be provided, they stand and hold off attacks as long as possible,” he said.

    The result is that the battle is believed to have produced horrific troop losses for both Ukraine and Russia. Quite how deadly isn’t known: Neither side is saying.

    “Manpower is less of a Russian problem and, in some ways, more of a Ukrainian problem, not only because the casualties are painful, but they’re often … Ukraine’s best troops,” said Lawrence Freedman, a professor emeritus of war studies at King’s College London.

    The Institute for the Study of War recently reported that Wagner forces have seen more than 4,100 die and 10,000 wounded, including over 1,000 killed between late November and early December near Bakhmut. The numbers are impossible to verify.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a recent address, described the situation in Bakhmut as “very tough.”

    “These are constant Russian assaults. Constant attempts to break through our defenses” he said,

    Like Mariupol — the port city in the same province that Russia eventually captured after an 82-day siege that eventually came down to a mammoth steel mill where determined Ukrainian fighters held out along with civilians — Bakhmut has taken on almost mythic importance to its defenders.

    “Bakhmut has already become a symbol of Ukrainian invincibility,” Voloschenko said. “Bakhmut is the heart of Ukraine, and the future peace of those cities that are no longer under occupation depends on the rhythm with which it beats.”

    For now, Bakhmut remains completely under the control of the Ukrainian army, albeit more as a fortress than a place where people would visit, work or play. In January, the Russians seized the town of Soledar, located less than 20 kilometers (some 12 miles) away, but their advance is very slow, according to military analysts.

    “These are rates of advancement that do not allow us to talk about serious offensive actions. It’s a slow pushing out at a very high price,” Bielieskov said.

    Along the front line on the Ukrainian side, emergency medical units provide urgent care to battlefield casualties. From 50 to 170 wounded Ukrainian soldiers pass daily through just one of the several stabilization points along the Donetsk front line, according to Tetiana Ivanchenko, who has volunteered in eastern Ukraine since a Russia-backed separatist conflict started there in 2014.

    After its setbacks in Kharkiv in the northeast and Kherson province in the south, the Kremlin is hungry for any success, even if it is just seizing a town or two that have been pounded into rubble. Freedman, the King’s College London professor emeritus, said the loss of Bakhmut would be a blow for Ukraine and offer tactical advantages to Russian forces, but wouldn’t prove decisive to the outcome of the war.

    There would have been more value for Russia if it could have captured a populated and intact Bakhmut early on in the war, but now the capture would just give its forces options on how to seize more of Donetsk, said Freedman.

    A 22-year-old Ukrainian soldier who is known as Desiatyi, or Tenth, joined the army on the day that Russia started the full-scale war in Ukraine. After months spent defending the Bakhmut area, losing many comrades, he said he has no regrets.

    “It is not about comparing the price and losses on both sides. It’s about the fact that, yes, Ukrainians are dying, but they are dying because of a specific goal,” said Desiatyi, who did not give his real name for security reasons.

    “Ukraine has no choice but to defend every inch of its land. The country must defend itself, especially now, so zealously, so firmly, and desperately. This is what will help us liberate our occupied territories in the future.”

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • 3 dead, 1 missing as rain pounds New Zealand’s largest city

    3 dead, 1 missing as rain pounds New Zealand’s largest city

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    WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Authorities said Saturday that three people had died and at least one was missing after record levels of rainfall pounded New Zealand’s largest city, causing widespread disruption.

    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins flew to Auckland on a military plane after a state of emergency was declared in the region.

    “Our priority is to ensure that Aucklanders are safe, that they’re housed and that they have access to the essential services that they need,” Hipkins said.

    He said the city was in for a big cleanup and that people should remain indoors if possible. He said a break in the weather could prove temporary, with more heavy rain forecast.

    “This is an unprecedented event in recent memory,” Hipkins said.

    Friday was the wettest day ever recorded in Auckland, according to weather agencies, as the amount of rain that would typically fall over the entire summer hit in a single day. On Friday evening, more than 15 centimeters (6 inches) of rain fell in just three hours in some places.

    The rain closed highways and poured into homes. Hundreds of people were stranded at Auckland Airport overnight after the airport stopped all flights and parts of the terminal were flooded.

    Police said they found one man’s body in a flooded culvert and another in a flooded carpark. They said fire and emergency crews found a third body after a landslide brought down a house in the suburb of Remuera. One person remained missing after being swept away by floodwaters, police said.

    Hipkins said power had been restored to most places, although about 3,500 homes remained without electricity.

    Video posted online showed chest-deep water in some places.

    Lawmaker Ricardo Menéndez posted a video of water surging into houses. “We’ve just had to evacuate our home as the water was already rising rapidly and coming in aggressively,” he tweeted.

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand said crews had responded to more than 700 incidents across the region and staff had taken more than 2,000 emergency calls.

    “We had every available career and volunteer crew on the road responding to the most serious events,” said district manager Brad Mosby.

    Mosby said crews had rescued 126 people who were trapped in houses or cars, or who had been involved in vehicle crashes.

    Air New Zealand said it resumed domestic flights in and out of Auckland on Saturday afternoon, but wasn’t yet sure when international flights would resume.

    “The flooding has had a huge impact our Auckland operations,” said David Morgan, the airline’s chief operational integrity and safety officer. “We’re working on getting customers to their final destinations and getting our crew and aircraft back in the right place. It might take a few days to get everything back on track.”

    In a series of updates on Twitter, Auckland Airport said people were able to leave the airport early Saturday for their homes or accommodation after hundreds spent the night in the terminal.

    “It’s been a long and challenging night at Auckland Airport, we thank everyone for ongoing patience,” the airport wrote.

    “Unfortunately, due to earlier flooding in the baggage hall, we are currently unable to return checked luggage to you,” the airport wrote. “Your airline will make arrangements for its return at a later time.”

    The storm also caused an Elton John concert to be canceled just before it was due to start Friday night. A second concert by John that was planned at the stadium on Saturday night was also canceled.

    About 40,000 people were expected to attend each concert at Mt Smart Stadium. Thousands were already at the venue Friday night when organizers decided to cancel not long before John was due to take the stage at 7:30 p.m.

    Many concertgoers who had braved the conditions were frustrated the decision hadn’t been made hours earlier.

    Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown defended criticism that his office did not communicate the seriousness of the situation well and held off on declaring an emergency until about 9:30 p.m. Friday.

    He said the timing of the emergency declaration was guided by experts.

    “We will review everything that took place,” Brown said. “We’ve got to make sure we had the coordination, and the consultation with the public, correct.”

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  • Brazil police: Businessman ordered killings of men in Amazon

    Brazil police: Businessman ordered killings of men in Amazon

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    SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian police said Monday they planned to indict a Colombian fish trader as the mastermind of last year’s slayings of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips.

    Ruben Dario da Silva Villar provided the ammunition to kill the pair, made phone calls to the confessed killer before and after the crime, and paid his lawyer, federal police officials said during a press conference held in Manaus.

    Fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, nicknamed Pelado, confessed that he shot Phillips and Pereira and has been under arrest since soon after the killings in early June. He and three other relatives are accused of participating in the crime. They all live in an impoverished riverine community inside a federal agrarian reform settlement between the city of Atalaia do Norte and Javari Valley Indigenous Territory.

    Villar has denied any wrongdoing in the case. Before Monday’s announcement, he was already being held on charges of using false Brazilian and Peruvian documents and leading an illegal fishing scheme. According to the investigation, he financed local fishermen to fish inside Javari Valley Indigenous Territory.

    In a statement, UNIVAJA, the local Indigenous association that employed Pereira, said it believed there were other significant planners behind the killings who have not been arrested.

    Pereira and Phillips were traveling in the remote area of the Amazon when they disappeared, and their bodies were recovered after the confessions. Phillips was researching for a book about how to save the world’s largest rainforest.

    ___

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Ukraine, climate, economy: Takeaways from glitzy Davos event

    Ukraine, climate, economy: Takeaways from glitzy Davos event

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    DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Elites from politics, business, academia and the arts on Friday wrapped up the World Economic Forum ’s annual conclave in the Swiss town of Davos — where worries about the war in Ukraine, a warming planet and a cooling global economy dominated discussions about the world’s ills.

    The 53rd edition of the weeklong gathering in the Alps drew notables like Ukraine’s first lady, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and actor Idris Elba, plus hundreds of presidents, prime ministers, CEOs and other decision-makers who hashed out deals and voiced demands on everything from trade to tanks for Ukraine.

    The meeting perennially draws criticism as a hub of power-mongers and money-grubbers seeking to rule the world, and this year was no exception. Longtime attendee and Kremlin critic Bill Browder launched a tirade about sitting out this year because the forum sought to triple the cost of his participation to $250,000.

    Some deep-pocketed execs shell out upward of $1 million a year to be members of the WEF club.

    It’s anybody’s guess whether an event that churns up pledges, promises and partnerships to help realize the forum’s ambition of improving the world will bring any concrete progress.

    Here’s a look at some of the main Davos takeaways this year:

    AID PUSH FROM UKRAINE

    A Ukrainian delegation headed to the Swiss mountains to push for funding, weapons and other aid — capped with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy beaming in by video — for the war-torn country as the anniversary of Russia’s invasion draws closer.

    First lady Olena Zelenska urged the power brokers in Davos ramp up support, saying in a speech Tuesday that “there is something that separates you, namely that not all of you use this influence, or sometimes use it in a way that separates you even more.”

    Zelenskyy urged his allies to speed up the delivery of more advanced weapons in a keynote speech and later gave a veiled critique of major supporters such as Germany and the U.S. that have hesitated about sending tanks.

    “There are times where we shouldn’t hesitate or we shouldn’t compare when someone says, ‘I will give tanks if someone else will also share his tanks,’” said Zelenskyy, who reiterated his plea Friday as Western allies met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — the only leader from the Group of Seven leading economies at Davos — has faced growing pressure to provide Ukraine with tanks but avoided directly answering the question Wednesday.

    Germany will remain one of Ukraine’s top weapons suppliers, he said, and “we are never doing something just by ourselves, but together with others — especially the United States.”

    CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES CENTER STAGE

    While panel sessions spanned topics from green investment to greenwashing, Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate and other young climate activists brought the fire to the corporate VIPs and political leaders tuning into the talks.

    The activists slammed the heavy-hitters at Davos for prioritizing short-term profits from fossil fuels over people affected by the climate crisis. Ugandan activist Nakate choked up during a roundtable with the head of the International Energy Agency, saying “leaders are playing games” with people’s futures.

    She and Thunberg capped the week with a small climate protest Friday where activists hoisted signs saying, “There is no planet B” and chanting that “fossil fuels have got to go.” It added a bookend: Dozens of climate activists — some with clown makeup — braved snowfall to demonstrate Sunday.

    Even global financial leaders got heated about the climate.

    International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, when asked for one thing she would change to accelerate the net zero transition, said she would lock the U.S., China, India and European Union in a room.

    “Let them out after they sign in blood a commitment to work together to save the planet,” she said to applause.

    GREEN INVESTMENT RACE

    A U.S. clean energy law that benefits American-made products such as electric vehicles got major airtime. Some worry about European companies getting shut out of the U.S. market and being denied green tech investment.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a major clean tech industrial plan to ease the way for green industry subsidies and pool EU-wide projects that are boosted with major funding.

    Some leaders called the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act a catalyst. U.K. opposition leader Keir Starmer says the law is “the single biggest opportunity we’ve been given for a very long time to transition, to take the jobs and opportunities of the future.”

    Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in the same session Thursday that the world should be happy after years of telling the U.S. “to step up on climate change.’ Now, they are doing it.”

    EU Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis says an EU-U.S. task force has a solution on EV tax credits but “many other areas” must be addressed.

    The law doesn’t intend to hurt U.S. allies but get clean technology to scale quickly, Sen. Joe Manchin said.

    To calm geopolitical unrest and help the environment, “you better be able to do it quicker, faster and better than any place in the world and then share it with your friends. That’s what we’re going to do,” the West Virginia Democrat said.

    GLOBAL ECONOMY AVOIDS DISASTER?

    Many bigwigs said economic expectations are improving from the train wreck they feared amid high inflation and slowing growth.

    The IMF’s Georgieva said inflation is heading down and the outlook for the global economy is “less bad than we feared a couple of months ago.” Likewise, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said, “It’s not a brilliant year, but it is a lot better than what we had feared.”

    In a panel Friday, both pointed to an expected rebound in China, which Lagarde said “most likely will be a positive for the rest of the world” but may boost inflation as the world’s second-largest economy consumes more energy.

    After easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Chinese Vice Premier Liu said the country expects to see a major rise in imports, more investment by companies and return to regular consumption habits over the coming months.

    “If we work hard enough, we are confident that in 2023, China’s growth will most likely return to its normal trend,” he said Tuesday in an address in Davos.

    Many economists had forecast recession in major economies like the U.S. and Europe at the beginning of 2023 as painfully high inflation fueled by the war in Ukraine led central banks to jack up interest rates that slow the economy. That may not materialize, with some forecasts signaling 0.5% growth this year in the U.S. and Europe, but those facing high prices may not notice.

    Speaking to The Associated Press at Davos, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon offered some advice: “The important thing is what is going on in geopolitics around the world, not whether you have a mild recession or harder recession, etc.”

    ___

    Bonnell reported from London. Associated Press journalists Masha Macpherson and David Keyton in Davos contributed.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the World Economic Forum meeting at https://apnews.com/hub/world-economic-forum

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  • EXPLAINER: Tensions high over isolated Azerbaijan region

    EXPLAINER: Tensions high over isolated Azerbaijan region

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    MOSCOW (AP) — Two years after Azerbaijan and Armenia ended a war that killed about 6,800 soldiers and displaced around 90,000 civilians, tensions between the countries are again high in a dispute over a six-kilometer (nearly four-mile) road known as the Lachin Corridor.

    The winding road, which is the only land connection between Armenia and the ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, has been blocked by protesters claiming to be environmental activists since mid-December, threatening food supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh’s 120,000 people.

    The dispute raises fears that new fighting could break out. It also could destabilize Armenia’s chronically excitable politics. As well, it casts doubts on the competence and intentions of Russia, whose peacekeeping troops are charged with keeping the road secure.

    ROOTS OF THE DISPUTE

    Mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh, smaller than the U.S. state of Delaware, has significant cultural importance to both Armenians and Azeris. It had a substantial degree of autonomy within Azerbaijan when it was part of the Soviet Union. As the USSR deteriorated, Armenian separatist unrest broke out, later turning into a full-scale war after the Soviet Union collapsed.

    Most of the Azeri population was driven out by the end of the fighting in 1994. Ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia took control not only of Nagorno-Karabakh itself but of sizable surrounding Azerbaijani areas.

    For the next quarter-century, Nagorno-Karabakh was a “frozen conflict,” with Armenian and Azerbaijani forces facing off across a no man’s land and occasional clashes. In September 2020, Azerbaijan launched a full-scale assault to take the region. The fierce fighting lasted six weeks.

    The war ended with a Russia-brokered armistice under which Azerbaijan regained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and all the surrounding territory previously occupied by Armenians. Russia sent a peacekeeping force of 2,000 troops to maintain order, including ensuring that the Lachin Corridor remained open.

    CURRENT TROUBLE

    In mid-December, Azeris claiming to be environmental activists began blocking the road, saying they were protesting illegitimate mining by Armenians. Armenia contends the protests are orchestrated by Azerbaijan. In turn, Azerbaijan alleges that Armenians have used the corridor to transport land mines into Nagorno-Karabakh in violation of the armistice terms.

    After more than a month of blockages, food shortages in Nagorno-Karabakh have become severe as reserves run low. The local government on Friday implemented a coupon system allowing only limited purchases of rice, pasta, buckwheat, sugar and sunflower oil. Local authorities have called for a humanitarian airlift for critical supplies, but Azerbaijan hasn’t given authorization for the region’s airport to operate.

    Azerbaijan also has sporadically cut gas supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh — most recently on Saturday evening — and electricity supplies are reduced.

    Although Russia is tasked with ensuring the Lachin Corridor’s operation, it has taken no overt action to end the blockade.

    The European Parliament has called for Russian peacekeepers to be replaced by a mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — even though it criticized the OSCE for failing to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh’s status during the decades that preceded the 2020 war.

    CONSEQUENCES

    With its attention focused on the fighting in Ukraine, Russia has taken a wait-and-see approach to the Lachin Corridor blockade, angering Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan this month refused to allow Armenia to host military exercises of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization alliance, saying that “Russia’s military presence in Armenia not only fails to guarantee its security, but it raises security threats for Armenia.” Armenia hosts a Russian military base.

    Russia’s involvement in ending the 2020 war was seen as a significant accomplishment that boosted its influence in the region. The esteem it gained could be lost if it doesn’t take stronger measures to open up the road.

    Pashinyan’s assenting to the Russia-brokered agreement to end the fighting was widely unpopular in Armenia, with opponents accusing him of being a traitor and large protests demanding his resignation. Failure to resolve the current dispute, leaving Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians suffering and isolated, could provoke new unrest — and Pashinyan is aware of the potential power of such protests, having become prime minister himself on the heels of large demonstrations in 2018.

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  • Israel’s Netanyahu fires Cabinet ally, heeding court ruling

    Israel’s Netanyahu fires Cabinet ally, heeding court ruling

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    TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired a key Cabinet ally on Sunday, heeding a Supreme Court ruling commanding him to do so and deepening a rift over the power of the courts.

    Netanyahu announced he was firing Aryeh Deri, who serves as Interior and Health Minister, at a meeting of his Cabinet. Israel’s Supreme Court decided last week Deri could not serve as a Cabinet minister because of a conviction last year over tax offenses.

    The court ruling came as Israel is mired in a dispute over the power of the judiciary. Netanyahu’s far-right government wants to weaken the Supreme Court, limit judicial oversight and grant more power to politicians. Critics say the move upends the country’s system of checks and balances and imperils Israel’s democratic fundamentals.

    According to his office, Netanyahu told Deri he was removing him from his post with “a heavy heart and great sorrow.”

    “This unfortunate decision ignores the people’s will,” Netanyahu told Deri. “I intend to find any legal way for you to continue to contribute to the state of Israel.”

    Deri said he would continue to lead his party and assist the government in advancing its agenda, including the legal overhaul.

    Deri’s firing is also expected to shake Netanyahu’s governing coalition, a union buoyed by ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties, including Deri’s Shas, which is the third largest party in the government. While some Shas lawmakers threatened to bolt the fledgling coalition in the aftermath of the court ruling, it is expected to survive Deri’s absence and to attempt to craft legislation that would pave the way for his swift return.

    Netanyahu is now expected to appoint other Shas members to replace Deri, at least temporarily.

    Deri has long been a kingmaker in Israeli politics and has become a key ally of Netanyahu’s who has relied on him repeatedly to join his governments and back his agenda.

    Netanyahu’s government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, has made overhauling the country’s judiciary a centerpiece of its agenda. It says a power imbalance has given judges and government legal advisers too much sway over lawmaking and governance. Critics say the overhaul could help Netanyahu, himself on trial for corruption charges, evade conviction or see his trial disappear entirely.

    The plan has drawn fierce criticism from top legal officials, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, former lawmakers and tens of thousands of Israelis who have come out repeatedly to protest the overhaul.

    In a move that was seen as crucial to bringing the governing coalition together, Israeli legislators last month changed a law that prohibited a convict on probation from being a Cabinet minister. That cleared the way for Deri to join the government but prompted the Supreme Court challenge.

    Deri has faced legal problems in the past. He was sentenced to three years in prison for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in 2000 during a stint as interior minister in the 1990s. He served 22 months in prison but made a political comeback and retook the reins of Shas in 2013.

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  • China rings in Year of Rabbit with most COVID rules lifted

    China rings in Year of Rabbit with most COVID rules lifted

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    BEIJING (AP) — People across China rang in the Lunar New Year on Sunday with large family gatherings and crowds visiting temples after the government lifted its strict “zero-COVID” policy, marking the biggest festive celebration since the pandemic began three years ago.

    The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China. Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle, with this year being the Year of the Rabbit. For the past three years, celebrations were muted in the shadow of the pandemic.

    With the easing of most COVID-19 restrictions that had confined millions to their homes, people could finally make their first trip back to their hometowns to reunite with their families without worrying about the hassles of quarantine, potential lockdowns and suspension of travel. Larger public celebrations also returned for what is known as the Spring Festival in China, with the capital hosting thousands of cultural events — on a larger scale than a year ago.

    “He has never experienced what a traditional new year is like because he was too young three years ago and he had no memory of that,” said Si Jia, who brought her 7-year-old son to the Qianmen area near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to experience the festive vibe and learn about traditional Chinese culture.

    Nearly 53,000 offered prayers at Beijing’s Lama Temple but the crowds appeared to be smaller compared to pre-pandemic days. The Tibetan Buddhist site allows up to 60,000 visitors a day, citing safety reasons, and requires an advance reservation.

    Throngs of residents and tourists swarmed pedestrian streets in Qianmen, enjoying snacks from barbecue and New Year rice cake stands, and some children wore traditional Chinese rabbit hats. Others held blown sugar or marshmallows shaped like rabbits.

    At Taoranting Park, there was no sign of the usual bustling new year food stalls despite its walkways being decorated with traditional Chinese lanterns. A popular temple fair at Badachu Park that was suspended for three years will be back this week, but similar events at Ditan Park and Longtan Lake Park have yet to return.

    The mass movement of people may cause the virus to spread in certain areas, said Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at China’s Center for Disease Control. But a large-scale COVID-19 surge will be unlikely in the next two or three months because about 80% of the country’s 1.4 billion people have been infected during the recent wave, he wrote on the social media platform Weibo on Saturday.

    The center reported 12,660 COVID-19-related deaths between Jan. 13 and 19, including 680 cases of respiratory failure caused by the virus and 11,980 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19. These are on top of 60,000 fatalities reported last week since early December. The statement on Saturday said the deaths occurred in hospitals, which means anyone who died at home would not be included in the tally.

    China has counted only deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 death toll, a narrow definition that excludes many deaths that would be attributed to COVID-19 in much of the world.

    In Hong Kong, revelers flocked to the city’s largest Taoist temple, Wong Tai Sin, to burn the first incense sticks of the year. The popular ritual was suspended the last two years due to the pandemic.

    Traditionally, big crowds gather before 11 p.m. on Lunar New Year’s Eve, with everyone trying to be the first, or among the first, to put their incense sticks into the stands in front of the temple’s main hall. Worshippers believe those who are among the first to place their incense sticks will stand the best chance of having their prayers answered.

    Resident Freddie Ho, who visited the temple on Saturday night, was happy that he could join the event in person.

    “I hope to place the first incense stick and pray that the New Year brings world peace, that Hong Kong’s economy will prosper, and that the pandemic will go away from us and we can all live a normal life,” Ho said. “I believe this is what everyone wishes.”

    Meanwhile, the crowds praying for good fortune at the historic Longshan Temple in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, were smaller than a year ago even as the pandemic has eased. That is partly because many had ventured to other parts of Taiwan or overseas on long-awaited trips.

    As communities across Asia welcomed the Year of the Rabbit, the Vietnamese were celebrating the Year of the Cat instead. There’s no official answer to explain the difference. But one theory suggests cats are popular because they often help Vietnamese rice farmers to chase away rats.

    ___

    Leung reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press journalists Henry Hou, Olivia Zhang in Beijing, Alice Fung in Hong Kong and Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.

    ___

    Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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  • Ukraine’s tragic week shows there’s no safe place in war

    Ukraine’s tragic week shows there’s no safe place in war

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    BROVARY, Ukraine (AP) — A small broom and dustpan in hand, Olga Prenzilevich cleans up the debris along the road in a sleepy Kyiv suburb next to a cordoned-off mound of charred vehicles and misshapen wreckage.

    But she can’t sweep away the terrible memory of seeing the government helicopter that carried Ukraine’s interior minister tumbling through the fog and crashing into the kindergarten building. Or the frantic dash afterward to save the children, their tiny bodies in flames.

    “I am still in shock,” the 62-year-old custodian says, the acrid stench of burning still in the air.

    Nearby, Oksana Yuriy, 33, watches investigators photograph the scene to try to piece together how Wednesday’s crash happened.

    “I thought this was a safe place,” she said. “Now I understand there is no such thing.”

    This is the hard lesson Ukrainians have had to learn in a week of mourning at least 59 dead in places that many considered safe from the violence of the war against Russia, now in its 11th month.

    Since February, they have seen lives lost from missile strikes and battlefield combat, and civilians dying in schools, theaters, hospitals and apartment buildings. They have suffered irretrievable losses: a loved one, a place to call home, and for some, any hope for the future.

    But this past week seemed to have a special cruelty to it.

    It started on the weekend, when a barrage of Russian missiles slammed into an apartment complex that housed about 1,700 people in the southeastern city of Dnipro. The Jan. 14 barrage killed 45 civilians, including six children — the deadliest strike on civilians since spring — in an area once considered safe for many who fled front-line areas farther east.

    Then came Wednesday’s helicopter crash at the kindergarten in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary that killed 14, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, other members of his ministry and the aircraft’s crew. One child on the ground was killed and 25 people were injured, including 11 children.

    Monastyrskyi, 42, had been traveling to the front line when the Super Puma helicopter went down in the fog, although no official cause has been determined.

    Flowers piled up Friday at the fence outside the kindergarten. A 73-year-old woman hung a plastic bag full of aloe vera plants after reading that they might help heal burn victims.

    But not all the mourning was in Brovary or Dnipro.

    At a cemetery in the town of Bucha, near the capital, Oleksy Zavadskyi was laid to rest after falling in battle in Bakhmut, where fighting has been intense for months. His fiancee, Anya Korostenstka, tossed dirt on his casket after it was lowered into the grave. Then she collapsed in tears.

    “The courage of our military and the motivations of the Ukrainian people is not enough,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a news conference Thursday at the Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv.

    He had appeared a day earlier in a video link to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he asked his high-powered audience to stand silently to honor those killed in the helicopter crash. His wife, Olena Zelenska, who had traveled to the conference to muster support for Ukraine in person, dabbed tears from her eyes as she learned of the crash.

    At an event Thursday at Kyiv’s lavish Fairmont Hotel, U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink told attendees that some of the embassy’s staff had died in fighting on the front.

    “I know a lot of Ukrainians inside and outside the government are hurting right now,” she said, urging her audience of diplomats, businessmen and journalists to not lose faith.

    “If you’re looking at it day to day, it’s almost too hard,” she added. “In the bigger sweep of things, it’s a different story.”

    Inside a hospital ward in Dnipro, where she was recovering from last weekend’s missile attack Olha Botvinova, 40, celebrated with birthday balloons and cards. It wasn’t her actual birthday, she said, but she believes she was born a second time by merely surviving.

    “We plan to keep living,” she said.

    She had fled war-ravaged Donetsk in 2014 when Moscow-backed separatists seized the city. In the spring of 2022, they had to flee again, this time from the city of Kherson after it fell to the Russians.

    She thought she would be safe in Dnipro.

    The missile attack blew out kitchen and bedroom walls of dozens of apartments. Inside, life as it was moments before the blast is preserved: In an eighth floor kitchen with bright yellow walls, a bowl of apples was untouched.

    Many residents are still without windows. Oleksii Kornieiev returned from the eastern front to help his wife clean up.

    “Our family’s mood is low,” he said, saying they must cope with power outages amid frigid temperatures. “But we’re glad to be alive.”

    Clothes, pillows, blankets and mattresses were being handed out at distribution points in the city.

    “Yesterday they had everything, and today they have nothing,” volunteer Uliana Borzova, said of the residents.

    “I am trying to hold on,” she added. “Because otherwise, we will all just drown in sorrow.”

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Ex-Fox Executives Go On Trial In Soccer TV Rights Bribery Case

    Ex-Fox Executives Go On Trial In Soccer TV Rights Bribery Case

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Two former Fox executives went on trial Tuesday, accused of bribing South American soccer officials for TV rights to one of the continent’s biggest annual tournaments and using information gathered in the process to help the network’s winning World Cup broadcast bid. It’s the latest case to go to court in the sprawling FIFA corruption scandal.

    Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez are charged with paying bribes and kickbacks to South American Football Confederation officials to broadcast the Copa Libertadores, an annual club tournament akin to the Champions League in Europe, through a partnership with Torneos y Competencias, an Argentine production and marketing company.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Zapana told jurors in an opening statement that the alleged bribes — totaling millions of dollars — fueled a system of secret, no-bid, below-market contracts and “allowed disloyal soccer executives to live a life of luxury, to buy Chanel, to buy Hermes,” referencing two popular luxury brands.

    “Everyone won except for the game of soccer,” Zapana said at the trial in Brooklyn federal court, which is expected to last at least a month.

    Prosecutors allege the payoffs enabled Lopez and Martinez to further Fox’s other soccer interests, including gaining confidential information from a high-ranking FIFA and confederation official about bidding for U.S. broadcast rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

    The bribes, Zapana said, helped “expand Fox’s reach.”

    Assistant US Attorney Victor Zapana gives his opening statement while pointing to Hernan Lopez far left in red tie, in Brooklyn federal court, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

    Lopez, a native of Argentina, is the former chief executive of Fox International Channels. He left the company in 2016 to start the podcasting company Wondery. Martinez, a native of Mexico, is the former president of Fox International’s Latin America affiliate.

    Fox has denied any involvement in bribery. The company sold the entity involved in the South American soccer broadcasts in 2019 as part of a larger restructuring in which it offloaded its movie studio, cable networks and international assets.

    Another sports media and marketing company, Full Play Group SA, is on trial with Lopez and Martinez, but the bribery allegations against that firm involve different TV rights. Full Play, incorporated in Uruguay and owned by the father-son duo Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, is accused of paying bribes for the rights to the Copa America, a quadrennial national team competition, as well as World Cup qualifying matches and one-off matches, known as friendlies.

    Lopez and Martinez’s lawyers contend the former executives are being framed and retaliated against by their one-time business partner on the Copa Libertadores deals. Alejandro Burzaco, the former head of Torneos, agreed to cooperate and testify as a star prosecution witness at multiple soccer corruption trials after his own bribery arrest. He is expected to testify Wednesday.

    Lopez’s lawyer, John Gleeson, argued in his opening statement that it was Burzaco who was secretly bribing officials at the South American confederation, known as CONMEBOL, without Lopez and Martinez’s knowledge. Gleeson said Burzaco was now falsely accusing them to enhance his worth to prosecutors and stay out of jail.

    Former 21st Century Fox executive Hernan Lopez arrives to Federal court in Brooklyn, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
    Former 21st Century Fox executive Hernan Lopez arrives to Federal court in Brooklyn, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

    Lopez and Martinez started working with Burzaco in 2011, when Fox International Channels took over the South American sports network that had been partnering with Torneos on the Copa Libertadores broadcasts. Gleeson said Burzaco shut the executives out of negotiations with CONMEBOL and refused to provide them with copies of contracts.

    Gleeson said Lopez was unaware of Burzaco’s conduct — allegedly bribing CONMEBOL officials and snagging some TV rights for himself, instead of the Fox partnership — until 2014, when Burzaco’s Uruguayan rival gave him a copy of a renewal contract and an audio recording of the negotiations.

    Lopez immediately alerted Fox’s internal audit and legal departments, which dispatched a team of accountants and investigators to Argentina, Gleeson said. Burzaco was arrested nine months later.

    Gleeson described Burzaco as a “walking, talking criminal enterprise” and a “professional criminal and con man.” He implored jurors to decide “if you believe a single word he says” and said that his testifying against Lopez and Martinez was a “chance to get back at his enemy, whom he blames for his demise.”

    “You’re going to witness his attempt at payback,” Gleeson said.

    Burzaco has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other charges. He testified in 2017 that all three South Americans on the FIFA executive committee took million-dollar bribes to support Qatar’s bid for the recently completed 2022 World Cup.

    So far, more than two dozen people have pleaded guilty and two people have been convicted at trial in cases stemming from a U.S.-led investigation into tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks at soccer’s highest levels. Four corporate entities also pleaded guilty and four companies have entered into deferred prosecution or non-prosecution agreements.

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  • Dolce&Gabbana, Fendi ready to party in Milan

    Dolce&Gabbana, Fendi ready to party in Milan

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    MILAN (AP) — Milan is ready to party, with menswear shows for next spring and winter focused on nighttime tailoring with playful accents. Think sparkles and glitter, fun silhouettes that invite shadow dancing, and sexy peeks at skin with tailoring tricks once reserved for the female wardrobe.

    Some highlights from Saturday’s shows on the second day of Milan Fashion Week.

    DOLCE & GABBANA BACK TO BLACK

    If you just looked at color, it was back to basics at Dolce&Gabbana: The entire collection for next winter was in mostly black monochromes, all the better for nighttime play. Gray and white monochromes played a supporting role.

    While light on bling, the looks were anything but basic. Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana created a collection built around tailoring, with the late-night synchronic club beats in mind.

    Long overcoats or dramatic capes will get you to the club door. Inside, men’s corsetry, obi belts and cummerbunds cinch the waist, a silhouette that is mimicked in the dramatic hourglass tailoring of coats and jackets with curved waistlines and broad shoulders. A strobe light picks up the sparkles and glitter on garments, and sheer tops and muscle knitwear show off physiques.

    Machine Gun Kelly and Italian singer Blanco were among the designing duo’s front-row guests.

    FLY AWAY WITH EMPORIO ARMANI

    Giorgio Armani has been on the global fashion map for more than four decades. His latest collection for Emporio Armani traced a literal map of his adopted Milan, with models walking the perimeter of a circular runway giving a bird’s-eye view of a map of the fashion capital’s historic center.

    The collection was inspired by aviation, and there were tailoring traces from the golden era of flight when dandies like Charles Lindbergh made history with solo crossings of the Atlantic.

    A belted gray jumpsuit with a furry collar, aviator’s cap and thick boots set the tone. Once he lands, there are muted plaid suits with trousers cropped just above the boot — the invention of the season. Gear is stowed in satchels and nautical bags.

    Cozy knitwear paired with leather trousers and jacket, some with antique finishes, cut an adventurous silhouette. But the real dandy comes out in colorful daywear, including a beautiful wrap coat in elegant camel, velvet jackets in deep hues and silken shirts worn with foulards in bright accent colors like magenta, purple and mauve.

    Leather harnesses and utility belts added an edge. Pouches are belted on top of boots. Mirrored aviator glasses complete the look.

    Armani, 88, good-humoredly picked up a pouch that had dropped from a model as he greeted the crowd at the end of the show.

    FENDI FLASHES SOME SKIN

    The Fendi collection for next winter flashes skin in ways once reserved for women.

    One shoulder tops — both knit and button down – bare skin to give sexy drama to the looks. Knitwear was super sheer, barely there. A little layering restored some modesty, for the office, but could easily be undone for an evening transition.

    Long coats incorporated a wrap-around asymmetrical cape, a tailoring trick mimicked in trousers with a wraparound one-sided skirt. The effect was cozy and enveloping, offering a cocoon as we venture back out into the world.

    Fendi whimsy was on full display in the knit caps: one shaped like a cartoon-cool wig featuring a perky flip, or another beanie with fringe on the back. Capes and sweeping coats and scarves likewise finished with fringe. Bombers had an antique, worn feel. The color palate was mostly low-key tones of gray, oatmeal and burnt umber set off mauve and lavender. Graphite beading caught the light on evening looks.

    K-WAY CELEBRATES PARISIAN HERITAGE

    The Franco-Italian active wear brand K-Way imported a bit of its Parisian birthplace as the backdrop to showcase a new collection as it charts a transition to a lifestyle brand.

    K-Way’s trademark packable raincoats were inspired when brand founder Leon-Claude Duhamel spied two children wearing red Nylon raincoats while sitting at the Cafe de la Paix on a rainy day in 1965. To honor that heritage, the Italian owners borrowed original cafe tables and wicker seating from the Parisian landmark. Duhamel himself, now in his 80s, joined the fashion crowd sipping champagne and nibbling cream pastries in the recreated cafe.

    Sales vice president Lorenzo Boglione, whose family controls the BasicNet parent company, is helping the company navigate the brand’s transition, with plans to produce technical gear for sailing and skiing.

    “We really want to remember where we come from and celebrate that moment. We have to remember where we come from to know where to go,” Boglione said. “We want to be colorful, we want to be functional, we want to be modern.”

    That means not just focusing on outwear. The new collection included cropped puffer jackets in tight accordion pleats, Yeti-style short coats with matching boots that layer over slim body suits or quilted short-shorts and tops. Long puffer coats, including as enveloping as a sleeping bag, paired with detachable hoods or furry collars. The brand’s distinctive zipper acts as a logo, providing accents along with function. The color palate hewed toward K-Way’s traditional orange and blue, with some white and green.

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  • In India, deity decorating a calling for Hindu temple artist

    In India, deity decorating a calling for Hindu temple artist

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    CHENNAI, India (AP) — The former computer professional — now a very specialized type of artist — locked his gaze on the deity before him.

    On a recent afternoon, 33-year-old S. Goutham was perched on a ladder at the altar of the goddess Durga at the Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Chennai, India. Goutham — his hand moving steadily — was pleating a green silk sari to adorn the deity.

    “You cannot get tense when you are doing this work,” he says. “You can’t do this if you are not patient. You need to become one with her.”

    A computer science graduate, Goutham quit his job nearly a decade ago to pursue his calling. He has since followed in the footsteps of his ancestors as a fifth-generation decorator of temple deities.

    In Hindu temples, idols are mostly made of materials such as black granite, white marble or five-metal alloys that have sacred significance. These deities are worshipped as physical, tangible representations of god (Brahman) who is believed to be infinite, omnipresent and beyond comprehension. Worship in a Hindu temple includes bathing these deities in milk, decorating them with colorful clothes, flowers, perfumes such as sandalwood, jewelry, and even weapons such as swords, clubs and tridents. Oil lamps are lit at the altar, and sacred chants and foods are offered to the gods.

    Decorating the deities is a millennia-old practice that is described in the Hindu epic Ramayana, and Goutham has been learning the art since he was a toddler. He crafted his first formal decoration when he was 13 — at the very altar where he stood 20 years later on a day in November.

    He has done thousands of decorations, ranging from relatively simple ones that take an hour or two to complete, to others that are more complex and take several days.

    Goutham said he became interested in decorating deities as a child because of his father.

    “When you are little, your father is your hero,” he said. “I wanted to be just like him.”

    The first lesson Goutham got from his dad was about the weapons each god would hold. He heard stories about the power of each weapon and how gods would wield them.

    “The personality of the deity and the story of the god or goddess could change depending on their weapons, the clothes they wear, the expression on their face or the position in which they are sitting or standing,” he said.

    When he sets out to decorate a deity, Goutham says he has a concept of what to do, but doesn’t start out with a sketch. He goes step by step — placing the deity’s hands, feet and weapons. Then, he moves on to the clothes and jewelry. Gradually, the god’s form manifests.

    There are rules about the types of materials that can be used on deities.

    “The human body is made up of earth, water, fire, air and space, and everything you see naturally occurring on Earth is made of these elements,” Goutham said. “To show this, we decorate deities using things that occur in nature and are a representation of these elements, like copper, cloth, coconut fibers and so on.”

    He says decorating a deity combines elements from art, dance and yoga, in terms of the hand gestures and postures the deities assume. Man-made materials such as plastic are prohibited. Goutham says he uses little pins to hold fabric together, but makes sure the pins don’t directly touch the idol.

    He sources the deities’ arms and legs, mostly made from copper or brass, as well as the weapons and jewelry, from artisans.

    He has also created an app and website for those who wish to learn more about this art and dreams of establishing an institution to train artists who can maintain the sacred tradition. While most deity decorators are men, he sees no reason why women cannot learn and practice it.

    “Everyone is equal under god,” he said.

    Storytelling is an important part of what he does. One of his favorite installations depicts the friendship between Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, and Kuchela.

    “It shows Krishna washing the feet of Kuchela, a poor man, conveying the message that humility is a virtue — whether you are a human being or god,” Goutham said.

    The term “idol worship” may have negative connotations in some faiths. But for Hindus, deities — which are kept in temples, homes, shops and offices — serve as focal points “for to us channel our devotions, our actions and serve as a reminder of all the positive values that are associated with those deities,” said Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation.

    Shukla says this form of worship is a way for her to connect with her ancestors.

    “As a second-generation Hindu American, I didn’t grow up with all these things around me where I could absorb through osmosis,” she said. “But just knowing that I’m part of a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation is personally powerful for me.”

    In U.S. Hindu temples, community members come together to help create the costumes for the deities, and it is an act of devotion, Shukla said.

    “No one has to sit there and embroider a skirt or sari for a goddess, but they do it as a display of love,” she said. “It’s humbling and empowering.”

    Goutham says he doesn’t view his job as a vocation.

    “You can call it service because it brings pure joy to so many and plays a role in our spiritual awakening,” he said. “But in my view, it’s much more than that. It has the power to transform people.”

    Goutham has decorated deities in temples abroad as he has in tiny Indian villages and little-known temples. He remembers stopping once at a village tea shop and hearing the locals praise his decoration of their temple deity.

    “It really warmed my heart,” he said.

    As Goutham placed a crown and garland on the deity at the temple in Chennai, neighbor Sucharithra Surendrababu watched awestruck, snapping images of the decorated goddess on her cell phone.

    “I love seeing mother Durga whether or not she is decorated,” she said. “But, when I do see her all decked up and looking gorgeous, it makes me so happy. It’s uplifting and empowering.”

    There are some decorations which bring tears even to the artist’s eyes.

    “It’s not just something that is pretty to look at,” Goutham said. “It’s about love and faith. When you touch the deities, clothe them and decorate them, you think of them as your friends or parents. You need skill and vision to do this. But above all, it takes heart.”

    ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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  • Norway archaeologists find ‘world’s oldest runestone’

    Norway archaeologists find ‘world’s oldest runestone’

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    COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Archaeologists in Norway said Tuesday that have found a runestone which they claim is the world’s oldest, saying the inscriptions are up to 2,000 years old and date back to the earliest days of the enigmatic history of runic writing.

    The flat, square block of brownish sandstone has carved scribbles, which may be the earliest example of words recorded in writing in Scandinavia, the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo said. It said it was “among the oldest runic inscriptions ever found” and “the oldest datable runestone in the world.”

    “This find will give us a lot of knowledge about the use of runes in the early Iron Age. This may be one of the first attempts to use runes in Norway and Scandinavia on stone,” Kristel Zilmer, a professor at University of Oslo, of which the museum is part, told The Associated Press.

    Older runes have been found on other items, but not on stone. The earliest runic find is on a bone comb found in Denmark. Zilmer said that maybe the tip of knife or a needle was used to carve the runes.

    The runestone was discovered in the fall of 2021 during an excavation of a grave near Tyrifjord, west of Oslo, in a region known for several monumental archaeological finds. Items in the cremation pit — burnt bones and charcoal — indicate that the runes likely were inscribed between A.D. 1 and 250.

    “We needed time to analyze and date the runestone,” she said to explain why the finding was first announced on Tuesday.

    Measuring 31 centimeters by 32 centimeters (12.2 inches by 12.6 inches), the stone has several types of inscriptions and not all make linguistic sense. Eight runes on the front of the stone read “idiberug” — which could be the name of a woman, a man or a family.

    Zilmer called the discovery “the most sensational thing that I, as an academic, have had.”

    There is still a lot of research to be done on the rock, dubbed the Svingerud stone after the site where it was found.

    “Without doubt, we will obtain valuable knowledge about the early history of runic writing,” Zilmer said.

    The runestone will be exhibited for a month, starting on Jan. 21, at the Museum of Cultural History, which has Norway’s largest collection of historical artifacts, from the Stone Age to modern times.

    Runes are the characters in several Germanic alphabets that were used in northern Europe from ancient times until the adoption of the Latin alphabet. They have been found on stones and different household objects.

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  • Germany to scrap mask mandate in long-distance transport

    Germany to scrap mask mandate in long-distance transport

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    BERLIN (AP) — Germany will soon drop a mask mandate on long-distance trains and buses, one of the country’s last remaining COVID-19 restrictions, the health minister said Friday.

    The mandate will be dropped on Feb. 2, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced in Berlin.

    Other European countries already have scrapped mask mandates in public transport, and Lauterbach faced increasing pressure to follow suit in recent weeks. Masks remain mandatory in doctors’ practices, while masks and negative tests are still required to enter hospitals and nursing homes.

    Rules for local transportation are a matter for Germany’s 16 state governments, and an increasing number have dropped or are dropping their mask mandates. Some also have scrapped rules requiring infected people to isolate at home.

    The long-distance transportation rules were scheduled to end on April 7, though legislation allows for them to be suspended earlier if the situation is better than expected.

    After one of Germany’s top virologists said shortly after Christmas that the pandemic is over, Lauterbach — who has long taken a cautious stance — faced mounting calls from inside and outside the governing coalition to do away with them.

    “The pandemic situation has stabilized,” the minister said Friday, with the number of known or suspected infections stagnating or falling, and the number of people hospitalized continuing to decline.

    “The population has built up high immunity, and the experts who advise us no longer believe there will be another big, serious winter wave,” he added. “At this point, we also don’t foresee particularly dangerous variants reaching us in the coming weeks and months.”

    Lauterbach appealed to people who want to continue protecting themselves and others to continue wearing masks voluntarily when indoors and on trains.

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  • 68 dead, 4 missing after plane crashes in Nepal resort town

    68 dead, 4 missing after plane crashes in Nepal resort town

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    POKHARA, Nepal (AP) — A plane making a 27-minute flight to a Nepal tourist town crashed into a gorge Sunday while attempting to land at a newly opened airport, killing at least 68 of the 72 people aboard. At least one witness reported hearing cries for help from within the fiery wreck, the country’s deadliest airplane accident in three decades.

    Hours after dark, scores of onlookers crowded around the crash site near the airport in the resort town of Pokhara as rescue workers combed the wreckage on the edge of the cliff and in the ravine below. Officials suspended the search for the four missing people overnight and planned to resume looking Monday.

    Local resident Bishnu Tiwari, who rushed to the crash site near the Seti River to help search for bodies, said the rescue efforts were hampered by thick smoke and a raging fire.

    “The flames were so hot that we couldn’t go near the wreckage. I heard a man crying for help, but because of the flames and smoke we couldn’t help him,” Tiwari said.

    It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said.

    A witness said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began descending to land, watching from the terrace of his house. Finally, Gaurav Gurung said, the plane fell nose-first towards its left and crashed into the gorge.

    The aviation authority said the aircraft last made contact with the airport from near Seti Gorge at 10:50 a.m. before crashing.

    The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, located 200 kilometers (125 miles) west. It was carrying 68 passengers including 15 foreign nationals, as well as four crew members, Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The foreigners included five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.

    Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site, about 1.6 kilometers (nearly a mile) away from Pokhara International Airport. The aircraft’s fuselage was split into multiple parts that were scattered down the gorge.

    Firefighters carried bodies, some burned beyond recognition, to hospitals where grief-stricken relatives had assembled. At Kathmandu airport, family members appeared distraught as they were escorted in and at times exchanged heated words with officials as they waited for information.

    Tek Bahadur K. C., a senior administrative officer in the Kaski district, said he expected rescue workers to find more bodies at the bottom of the gorge.

    Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who rushed to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu after the crash, set up a panel to investigate the accident.

    ”The incident was tragic. The full force of the Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue,” he said.

    South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it’s still trying to confirm the fate of two South Korean passengers and has sent staff to the scene. The Russian Ambassador to Nepal, Alexei Novikov, confirmed the death of four Russian citizens who were on board the plane.

    Omar Gutiérrez, governor of Argentina’s Neuquen province, reported on his official Twitter account that an Argentine passanger on the flight was Jannet Palavecino from his province.

    The Facebook page of Palavecino says she was manager of the Hotel Suizo in Neuquen city.

    On the page, she described herself as a lover of travel, and of adventure tourism. “I am passionate about the mountains! Riding my bike in cycling. I love my garden and the countryside. I like to paint!” she wrote.

    Her account has many photos of her in the mountains.

    Pokhara is the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular hiking trail in the Himalayas. The city’s new international airport began operations only two weeks ago.

    The type of plane involved, the ATR 72, has been used by airlines around the world for short regional flights. Introduced in the late 1980s by a French and Italian partnership, the aircraft model has been involved in several deadly accidents over the years.

    In Taiwan two earlier accidents involving ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircrafts happened just months apart.

    In July 2014, a TransAsia ATR 72-500 flight crashed while trying to land on the scenic Penghu archipelago between Taiwan and China, killing 48 people onboard. An ATR 72-600 operated by the same Taiwanese airline crashed shortly after takeoff in Taipei in February 2015 after one of its engines failed and the second was shut down, apparently by mistake.

    The 2015 crash, captured in dramatic footage that showed the plane striking a taxi as it hurtled out of control, killed 43, and prompted authorities to ground all Taiwanese-registered ATR 72s for some time. TransAsia ceased all flights in 2016 and later went out of business.

    ATR identified the plane involved in Sunday’s crash as an ATR 72-500 in a tweet. According to plane tracking data from flightradar24.com, the aircraft was 15 years old and “equipped with an old transponder with unreliable data.” It was previously flown by India’s Kingfisher Airlines and Thailand’s Nok Air before Yeti took it over in 2019, according to records on Airfleets.net.

    Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, company spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula said.

    Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest, has a history of air crashes. According to the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety database, there have been 42 fatal plane crashes in Nepal since 1946.

    Sunday’s crash is Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it plowed into a hill as it tried to land in Kathmandu.

    The European Union has banned airlines from Nepal from flying into the 27-nation bloc since 2013, citing weak safety standards. In 2017, the International Civil Aviation Organization cited improvements in Nepal’s aviation sector, but the EU continues to demand administrative reforms.

    ___

    This story corrects the surname of Omar Gutiérrez, governor of Argentina’s Neuquen province.

    ___

    Saaliq reported from New Delhi. Elise Morton in London, Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed reporting.

    ___

    Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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  • South Africa: Search on after tiger escapes, attacks man

    South Africa: Search on after tiger escapes, attacks man

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    JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Authorities in South Africa are searching for a tiger that escaped from its enclosure at a private farm near Johannesburg over the weekend, injured a man and killed a dog.

    Local media said the man survived the attack but was taken to the hospital.

    Residents have been warned to be on high alert in the Walkerville region south of Johannesburg and avoid confronting the animal, as a group of about 30 people search the area where its latest tracks were identified.

    Officials directing the search suspected that the female tiger, named Sheba, was hiding in a bushy area for shade and were hoping it would start moving around again once the summer heat subsided or when it needed to drink water.

    Members of a special police task force were expected to start leading the search on Monday and take over from a local community police group and the SPCA animal protection group.

    Gresham Mandy, who leads the community police group, said the first priority was to tranquilize the animal with a dart and bring it back safely. He said that the tiger escaped after a fence at the smallholding where it was kept was cut by burglars.

    “It seems like the thieves cut the fence to enter and exit the property. The tiger saw that and used the cut fence to escape,” Mandy said.

    The big cat, which is believed to be eight years old, was kept on the farm as a pet.

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  • Ukraine Building Suffers Deadliest Civilian Attack In Months

    Ukraine Building Suffers Deadliest Civilian Attack In Months

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    DNIPRO, Ukraine (AP) — The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 30 Sunday, the national emergencies service reported as rescue workers scrambled to reach survivors in the rubble.

    Emergency crews worked through the frigid night and all day at the multi-story residential building, where officials said about 1,700 people lived before Saturday’s strike. The reported death toll made it the deadliest attack in one place since a Sept. 30 strike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to The Associated Press-Frontline War Crimes Watch project.

    Russia also targeted the capital, Kyiv, and the northeastern city of Kharkiv during a widespread barrage the same day, ending a two-week lull in the airstrikes it has launched against Ukraine’s power infrastructure and urban centers almost weekly since October.

    Russia on Sunday acknowledged the missile strikes but did not mention the Dnipro apartment building. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in the war.

    Russia fired 33 cruise missiles on Saturday, of which 21 were shot down, according to Gen. Valerii Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces. The missile that hit the apartment building was a Kh-22 launched from Russia’s Kursk region, according to the military’s air force command, adding that Ukraine does not have a system capable of intercepting that type of weapon.

    Emergency workers clear the rubble after a Russian rocket hit a multistory building leaving many people under debris in the southeastern city of Dnipro, Ukraine, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

    In Dnipro, workers used a crane as they tried to rescue people trapped on upper floors of the apartment tower. Some residents signaled for help with lights on their mobile phones.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that at least 73 people were wounded and 39 people had been rescued as of Sunday afternoon. The city government in Dnipro said 43 people were reported missing.

    “Search and rescue operations and the dismantling of dangerous structural elements continues. Around the clock. We continue to fight for every life,” Zelenskyy said.

    Ivan Garnuk was in his apartment when the building was hit and said he felt lucky to have survived. He described his shock that the Russians would strike a residential building with no strategic value.

    “There are no military facilities here. There is nothing here,” he said. “There is no air defense, there are no military bases here. It just hit civilians, innocent people.”

    Dnipro residents joined rescue workers at the scene to help clear the rubble. Others brought food and warm clothes for those who had lost their homes.

    “This is clearly terrorism and all this is simply not human,” one local, Artem Myzychenko, said as he cleared rubble.

    Rescue workers clear the rubble from an apartment building that was destroyed in a Russian rocket attack at a residential neighbourhood in the southeastern city of Dnipro, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
    Rescue workers clear the rubble from an apartment building that was destroyed in a Russian rocket attack at a residential neighbourhood in the southeastern city of Dnipro, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

    Claiming responsibility for the missile strikes across Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it achieved its goal.

    “All designated targets have been hit. The goal of the attack has been achieved,” a ministry statement posted on Telegram said. It said missiles were fired “on the military command and control system of Ukraine and related energy facilities,” and did not mention the attack on the Dnipro residential building.

    On Sunday, Russian forces attacked a residential area in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional Gov. Yaroslav Yanushevych said in a Telegram post. According to preliminary information, two people were wounded.

    Russia’s renewed air attacks came as fierce fighting raged in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, where the Russian military has claimed it has control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar but Ukraine asserts that its troops are still fighting.

    If the Russian forces win full control of Soledar it would allow them to inch closer to the bigger city of Bakhmut. The battle for Bakhmut has raged for months, causing substantial casualties on both sides.

    Emergency workers carry a wounded woman after a Russian rocket hit a multistory building on Saturday in Dnipro, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Yevhenii Zavhorodnii)
    Emergency workers carry a wounded woman after a Russian rocket hit a multistory building on Saturday in Dnipro, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Yevhenii Zavhorodnii)

    With the grinding war nearing the 11-month mark, Britain announced it would deliver tanks to Ukraine, its first donation of such heavy-duty weaponry. Although the pledge of 14 Challenger 2 tanks appeared modest, Ukrainian officials expect it will encourage other Western nations to supply more tanks.

    “Sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is the start of a gear change in the U.K.’s support,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office said in a statement late Saturday. “A squadron of 14 tanks will go into the country in the coming weeks after the prime minister told President Zelenskyy that the U.K. would provide additional support to aid Ukraine’s land war. Around 30 AS90s, which are large, self-propelled guns, operated by five gunners, are expected to follow.”

    Sunak is hoping other Western allies follow suit as part of a coordinated international effort to boost support for Ukraine in the lead-up to the 1-year anniversary of the invasion next month, according to officials.

    The U.K. defense secretary plans to travel to Estonia and Germany this week to work with NATO allies, and the foreign secretary is scheduled to visit the U.S. and Canada to discuss closer coordination.

    Meldrum reported from Kyiv. Sylvia Hui in London contributed reporting.

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  • Amazon Removes Some Nazi-Linked Products After Complaints From Jewish Center

    Amazon Removes Some Nazi-Linked Products After Complaints From Jewish Center

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    Amazon has dropped some Nazi and neo-Nazi sales items after angry complaints from a prominent international Jewish organization.

    The Los-Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center sharply criticized Amazon in a statement on its website Thursday for “monetizing Nazi and neo-Nazi paraphernalia” — and said it demanded in an email to the company that it “remove these items immediately.”

    “In an era when 63% of all religious-based hate crimes in America target America’s Jews — 2.4% of the US population — at a time when Blacks are again the number one target of race-based hate crimes, Amazon should not be using its business model to market hateful symbols and neo-Nazi paraphernalia,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the center, said in a statement.

    The center provided screenshots of some of the products for sale, including a swastika necklace and bracelets, other jewelry, badges and pins featuring Nazi symbols or evocative of them.

    Amazon said in a statement to The New York Post that it utilizes “proactive mechanisms” to “catch offensive listings before a customer ever sees them. Our technology continuously scans all products listed for sale looking for text and images that we have determined violate our policies, and immediately removes them.”

    Company officials also noted that the “realm of potentially offensive products is nuanced and diverse” and the number of products offered on the site massive.

    Though Amazon has removed a number of the items, similar products were still being offered for sale, Gizmodo reported Friday. Cooper told Gizmodo then that Amazon had to respond to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He said he’s angry the company can’t be proactive in keeping hate off the site.

    “It’s simply not acceptable for the biggest economic giant on the block to play games of Wack-a-mole rather than fix things,” Cooper told Gizmodo.

    Amazon has a policy on offensive and controversial materials. It prohibits products that promote intolerance toward race, religion, or sexual orientation.

    In a similar controversy, Walmart just last week stopped selling “KKK” marked boots online. Walmart deleted an online listing for hiking boots with a red “KKK” on the tongue, telling Business Insider it would review how the “inappropriate merchandise” got on its platform in the first place.

    It’s not the first time Amazon has been in trouble for antisemitic products.

    A year ago the Simon Wiesenthal Center sent a letter to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos demanding Amazon removed more than 20 Nazi propaganda films that were either on sale in Amazon’s online portal or available for streaming on its Amazon Prime video network.

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  • Migrant entry numbers into Europe hit six-year high

    Migrant entry numbers into Europe hit six-year high

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    BRUSSELS (AP) — The number of attempts by migrants to enter the European Union without authorization reached around 330,000 last year, the highest number since 2016, the EU’s border and coast guard agency said Friday.

    Almost half of the 2022 attempts were made over land through the Western Balkans region, EU agency Frontex said, according to its “preliminary calculations.” Regardless of entry route, Syrians, Afghans and Tunisians together accounted for roughly 47% of the attempted border crossings.

    Men accounted for more than 80% of the attempts to get in, Frontex said. The agency calculates entry attempts rather than the number of people trying to get into Europe, because it’s often difficult to identify migrants, who routinely travel without passports, and some may try to enter multiple times.

    People arriving at Europe’s borders to apply for asylum have a reasonable chance of being allowed in, while those who come without a visa in search of jobs and better lives are mostly turned away.

    Well over 1 million people, most of them Syrians fleeing conflict, entered the EU in 2015, overwhelming reception facilities and sparking one of the 27-nation bloc’s biggest political crises.

    Member countries still argue over who should take responsibility for people arriving without authorization and whether their neighbors and partners should be obliged to help. Attempts to reform the bloc’s asylum system have made little progress.

    Frontex’s latest figures didn’t include almost 13 million Ukrainian refugees who were counted at the EU’s external borders between February and December. Special emergency measures were introduced to ease their entry and help find them accommodation, training and short-term jobs.

    The number of people making potentially perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in poorly equipped and often overloaded boats and rubber dinghies continued to rise last year. Frontex said that well over 100,000 crossing attempts were recorded, around 50% more than in 2021.

    Egyptians, Tunisians and Bangladeshis tried in the greatest number. The agency said that 2022 saw the most people in five years arrive from Libya, the main departure point in northern Africa. The number of people leaving Tunisia hit the highest level in recent history.

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    Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

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