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International News

Japan’s Nissan slashing EV costs, cuts rare materials use

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Nissan is revving up its electrification shift and slashing costs by using the same components across models and reducing use of expensive rare materials. Nissan Motor Co. presented its "X-in-1" development strategy Thursday, in which the X stands for various ...

Japan revises GDP to nearly flat, showing fragile recovery

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's economy grew at an annual pace of 0.1% in October-December, in a downgrade from an earlier 0.6% increase, showing how the world's third-largest economy was barely eking out growth. The Cabinet Office's revised figure for seasonally adjusted gross domestic product, or ...

Cuba tobacco farmers recuperate after ruinous Hurricane Ian

SAN LUIS, Cuba (AP) — A neighbor lent him a house to dry leaves, and he had a little fertilizer saved, so he plucked up the courage to plant. Now, Hirochi Robaina can hardly believe the resulting miracle. Robaina, one of the most recognized tobacco producers in Cuba, marvels as he walks ...

Will China’s next premier be a moderating influence on Xi?

HONG KONG (AP) — The pro-business track record of the man poised to become China's top economic official will make his term a test of whether he might moderate President Xi Jinping 's tendency to intervene. Li Qiang, 63, who is expected to be chosen China's premier on Saturday, will have to ...

Harry & Meghan’s daughter christened, will use royal title

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan announced Wednesday that their daughter had been christened in a private ceremony in California, publicly calling her a princess and revealing for the first time that they will use royal titles for their children. Princess Lilibet Diana, who ...

Women’s Day events highlight major gaps in gender equality

MADRID (AP) — From demands for constitutional rights in Islamabad to calls for economic parity in Manila, Paris and Madrid, International Women's Day demonstrations in cities around the world Wednesday highlighted the unfinished work of providing equity for half of the planet's ...

Xi accuses US of trying to hold back China’s development

BEIJING (AP) — Is the United States out to sabotage China? Chinese leaders think so. President Xi Jinping accused Washington this week of trying to isolate his country and hold back its development. That reflects the ruling Communist Party's growing frustration that its pursuit of prosperity ...

‘Oh my daughter’: Volunteer medic, 29, buried in Ukraine

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) — As the mother's cries of anguish pierced the cold morning air, mourners who had fought back tears could hold them no longer. "Oh Yana, oh my daughter," Olena Rikhlitska howled. "My baby, my little one." Her only child, 29-year-old Yana Rikhlitska, lay in a coffin ...

Ukraine military identifies soldier seen in grisly war video

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A man who appeared to be shot dead by Russian-speakers in a short video was tentatively identified Tuesday as a missing Ukrainian soldier while the footage circulated widely on Ukrainian social media and caused an uproar. The country's chief prosecutor announced a ...

Argentina boosts security forces in violence-plagued Rosario

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's president said Tuesday he will send hundreds more federal security forces to the central city of Rosario where drug violence has drawn international attention due to a recent threat against soccer star Lionel Messi. The death of an 11-year-old boy ...

At least 6 Palestinians killed during Israeli West Bank raid

JENIN, West Bank (AP) — The Israeli army raided a home in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, triggering a battle that killed at least six Palestinians and wounded more than two dozen others, Palestinian health officials said. The military said it had killed the suspected ...

Battle for Bakhmut takes center stage in war in Ukraine

The six-month battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been the longest and bloodiest fight of the war so far. Little known outside Ukraine before the Russian invasion, Bakhmut has become a symbol of the country's fortitude and perseverance in the face of the Kremlin's onslaught. The ...

Sudan general says military leaders clinging to power

CAIRO (AP) — A powerful paramilitary commander slammed Sudan's ruling generalsTuesday, saying they oppose stepping down to allow for a democratic transition under a civilian administration. Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, said his conflict with other ...

Spain gov’t split over sexual consent law before Women’s Day

MADRID (AP) — The unity of Spain's first-ever coalition government faced its toughest test in three years in power Tuesday, with the two ruling left-wing parties at loggerheads over reforming a pioneering sexual violence law that has inadvertently led to the reduction of sentences for over ...

Survivors of deadly Mexico abduction returned to US

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — A road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery veered violently off course when four Americans were caught in a drug cartel shootout, leaving two dead and two held captive for days in a remote region of the Gulf coast before they were rescued from a wood shack, ...

Qatar’s top diplomat is sworn in as new prime minister

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar's top diplomat was sworn in as the country's prime minister on Tuesday, replacing another member of the ruling family who had held the post since 2020, state news reported. The Qatar News Agency says Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was sworn ...

Slovakia’s prime minister forms new party before early vote

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Prime Minister Eduard Heger said Tuesday that he was creating a new centrist political party before Slovakia's early election in September. The name of the new party is the Democrats. The move means that Heger is leaving the Ordinary People political movement led ...

Sri Lanka leader says IMF deal imminent after China’s pledge

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's president said Tuesday that China has given crucial debt restructuring assurances that mean the bankrupt Indian Ocean nation could get its $2.9 billion bailout package approved soon. President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that a letter from ...

Roman shrine uncovered beneath graveyard in central England

LONDON (AP) — Archaeologists have uncovered what they believe to be a Roman shrine beneath a former graveyard in the grounds of a cathedral in central England. Experts from the University of Leicester said Tuesday that they found what appears to be the cellar of a Roman building and a ...

Vatican ‘donating’ its own 3 Parthenon sculptures to Greece

ROME (AP) — The Vatican and Greece finalized a deal Tuesday for the return of three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon that have been in the collection of the Vatican Museums for two centuries, the latest case of a Western museum bowing to demands for restitution. The Vatican has termed ...