Tanker in Gulf of Oman boarded by men in military uniforms in apparent seizure in Mideast water
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s navy captured an oil tanker Thursday in the Gulf of Oman that only months earlier had seen its cargo of Iranian oil seized by the United States over sanctions linked to Tehran’s nuclear program, further escalating the tensions gripping the Mideast’s waterways.
The vessel was previously known as the Suez Rajan when it was involved in a yearlong dispute beginning in 2021 that ultimately saw the U.S. Justice Department take the 1 million barrels of Iranian
Ukraine’s president in Estonia on swing through Russia’s Baltic neighbors
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday ruled out a cease-fire as his country fights off the Russian invasion, saying the Kremlin’s forces would use the pause to rearm and regroup in order to overwhelm Kyiv’s troops.
“A pause on the Ukrainian battlefield will not mean a pause in the war,” Zelenskyy said during a visit to Estonia. “A pause would play into (Russia’s) hands. It might crush us afterward.”
Limited cease-fires have occasionally been proposed since Russia launched
Renewables grew rapidly in 2023, but must grow faster still to meet climate change target, IEA says
BENGALURU, India (AP) — The world’s renewable energy grew at its fastest rate in the past 25 years in 2023, the International Energy Agency reported Thursday in its first assessment since nations agreed in December on ambitious new targets to slow dangerous climate change.
The Paris-based agency said rapid growth of solar in China was the main driver as the world added nearly 510 gigawatts — enough to power nearly 51 million homes for a year — with Europe, the United States and
Speaker Johnson is facing conservative pushback over the spending deal he struck with Democrats
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Speaker gathered House Republicans behind closed doors Wednesday to sell the spending deal he reached with Democrats, one thing quickly became clear: many GOP lawmakers weren’t buying it.
Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio left early, saying he’d had enough.
“I’m not going to sit there and listen to that drivel, because he has no plans to do anything but surrender,” Davidson said.
In the afternoon, 13 Republicans refused to support a routine procedural vote setting
Riots in Papua New Guinea’s 2 biggest cities reportedly leave 15 dead
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — The Papua New Guinea government worked to restore order Thursday after at least 15 people were reportedly killed during rioting and looting that left the country’s two biggest cities in flames.
The unrest began in the capital, Port Moresby, on Wednesday after hundreds of police officers, soldiers, prison staff and public servants walked off their jobs in protest over a pay dispute.
The Papua New Guinea government attributed the pay cut to an administrative glitch.
Similar riots also caused damage
Retired Arizona prisons boss faces sentencing on no-contest plea stemming from armed standoff
PHOENIX (AP) — Sentencing was postponed Thursday for former Arizona prisons chief Charles Ryan on his to a disorderly conduct charge stemming from a 2022 armed standoff at his Tempe home.
The postponement occurred because Ryan’s lawyer requested a separate hearing to present evidence favorable to his client. Ryan is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 9 after a judge holds a mitigation hearing on that same day.
Police say Ryan fired a gun inside his home and pointed a firearm at two officers during the three-hour
$100M will be left for Native Hawaiian causes from the estate of an heiress considered last princess
HONOLULU (AP) — In life, Abigail Kawānanakoa embodied the complexities of Hawaii: Many considered her a princess — a descendant of the royal family that once ruled the islands.
But she was also the great-granddaughter of a sugar baron and inherited vast wealth thanks to Westerners who upended traditional ways of life through the introduction of private property and the diversion of water for industrial plantations.
Now, more than a year after her and the bitter battles over her fortune in the twilight of her life, her estate
Rapper G Herbo could be sentenced to more than a year in jail in fraud plot
The rapper G Herbo was sentenced to three years’ probation Thursday after pleading guilty to his role in a to pay for an opulent lifestyle including private jets and designer puppies.
Under a deal with prosecutors reached last year, the 28-year-old Chicago rapper, whose real name is Herbert Wright III, in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed several counts of aggravated identity theft.
Along with the probation, G Herbo was ordered
Taiwan’s election is shaped by economic realities, not just Beijing’s threats to use force
BANGKOK (AP) — Beijing’s threats to use force to claim self-governed Taiwan aren’t just about missiles and warships. Hard economic realities will be at play as voters head to the polls Saturday, though the relationship is complicated.
The economy has slowed since the pandemic, with growth in 2023 estimated at only 1.4%. That partly reflects inevitable ups and downs in demand for computer chips and other exports, and a . But longer-term challenges such as inequality, housing
Hunter Biden expected to plead not guilty in Los Angeles hearing on federal tax charges
LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden’s son pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have spared him the spectacle of a criminal trial during the 2024 campaign.
Hunter Biden has been accused of . The charges stem from what federal prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to skip out on paying the $1.4 million he owed to the IRS and instead use the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle that by his own admission included