AP National

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s pro-European parties agreed to form a majority government made up of groupings that were traditionally on opposite sides and shutting out far-right nationalists who made significant gains in the election on Dec. 1. The leftist Social Democratic Party will now form a government with parties representing the center-right, the Hungarian

Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Criminal gangs are operating in over a third of municipalities in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest driving a boom in violence. That’s according to a report published Wednesday by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security, a prominent nonprofit organization. In 2024, gangs were present in 260 of 772 municipalities in

AP Sports Writer ZURICH (AP) — Saudi Arabia has been officially confirmed by FIFA as host of the 2034 World Cup in men’s soccer. The Saudi bid was the only candidate and was acclaimed by the applause of more than 200 FIFA member federations. They took part remotely in an online meeting hosted in Zurich

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has approved a new national security memorandum ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House that could serve as a road map for the incoming administration as it looks to counter growing cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, the White House said Wednesday. Biden

Associated Pres KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Rescue crews have pulled two women from rubble several hours after a Russian missile struck a medical clinic in the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia. Authorities said Wednesday the strike killed nine people and wounded 22 others. The deadly Russian strikes on civilian areas continue in the almost three-year

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’s Spanish-language world title. Nigel Richards is a professional player and won the Spanish world Scrabble championships in November, losing one game out of 24. He started

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine vice president has skipped the first hearing into threats she made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying she did not believe the investigation will be fair. Vice President Sara Duterte was subpoenaed to appear before the National Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday. Instead her lawyer denied she made any

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian federal police have launched a special operation to investigate an increase in antisemitic threats and violence since the war between Israel and Hamas began last year. Jewish leaders say prejudice against their community has reached unprecedented levels, with most incidents reported in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s largest cities

Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Sanjay Malhotra, a career civil servant, has become India’s new central bank governor at a time when the country’s economic growth is slowing and inflation is surging. Malhotra, a former revenue secretary, has been appointed Wednesday to a three-year term as head of the Reserve Bank of India. He

Associated Press The Onion’s rejected purchase of Infowars in an auction bid supported by families of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting dealt them a new setback Wednesday and clouded the future of Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory platform, which will remain in his control for at least the near future. What’s next for Infowars and the

Assocaited Press CAMP ASAKA, Japan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has expressed confidence about enhanced military capabilities among the United States, Australia and Japan as he observed joint exercises showcasing their closer cooperation as tension in the region grow. Austin is in Japan to reaffirm the importance of their alliance and Washington’s

Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday, with one attack ripping through a home where displaced people were sheltering in the isolated north. The strikes killed at least 33 people including children, Palestinian health officials said. Violence also flared in outside Jerusalem, where an

Associated Press CHEKKA, Lebanon (AP) — Suheil Hamwi spent 32 years in a Syrian prison, and now, after an offensive by insurgents that toppled the government of Bashar Assad, he’s finally returned to his home to Lebanon. Hamwi was one of hundreds of Lebanese citizens detained during Syria’s occupation of Lebanon from 1976 to 2005

Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan has demanded that China end its ongoing military activity in nearby waters, which it said is unilaterally undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and disrupting international shipping and trade. The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it was responding in part to the activities of a “large

Associated Press FOURNA, Greece (AP) — Fourna, home to 180 people and hidden in the fir-tree covered mountains of central Greece, is a vanishing village that is determined to keep its place on the map. A winding four-hour drive from Athens, it enjoys near total silence, periodically broken by church bells and howling dogs. Elderly

Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The next United Nations climate conference will be held in Belem, the capital of an Amazon region where widespread deforestation has turned the surrounding rainforest from a vital carbon sink into a significant carbon source. Cattle farming remains the main driver of this destruction. Now a new report ahead

Associated Press MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — As weather improved in Southern California, firefighters found some success Wednesday battling a wind-driven blaze burning in steep, nearly inaccessible areas that forced thousands, including celebrities, from their homes in Malibu, fire officials said. With much of the coastal city under evacuation orders and warnings, residents waited anxiously to

Associated Press Sexual abuse and harassment by coaches and others who held positions of power over women on the U.S. Biathlon team have been dismissed, ignored or excused over decades by officials more concerned with winning medals than holding offenders accountable, according to a half-dozen former Olympians and other biathletes. And while the men involved

Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. East Coast began a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather Wednesday with a deluge of rain, rapid snowmelt and powerful gusts, creating dangerous conditions, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Ski resort operators in the Northeast watched their snow turn to mush with a