By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s top government spokesperson said Monday that the number of babies born this year is below last year’s record low. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the low birthrate is a “critical situation.” He pledged comprehensive measures to encourage more marriages and births. The total of 599,636
Continue ReadingCNN By Sandee LaMotte, CNN We all eat them — ultraprocessed foods such as frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals make our busy lives much easier. Besides, they are just darn tasty — who isn’t susceptible to hot dogs, sausages, burgers, french fries, sodas, cookies, cakes, candy, doughnuts and ice cream, to name just a few?
Continue ReadingBy Sandee LaMotte, CNN Eating more flavonols, antioxidants found in many vegetables, fruits, tea and wine, may slow your rate of memory loss, a new study finds. The cognitive score of people in the study who ate the most flavonols declined 0.4 units per decade more slowly than those who ate the fewest flavonols. The
Continue ReadingWLS By Emma Tucker, Rashard Rose, Pete Muntean and Nicky Robertson, CNN Moments before a small private airplane crashed into power lines in Maryland on Sunday evening, air traffic controllers urgently warned the pilot that the aircraft was flying too low, according to archived recordings. “N201RF, if you hear this transmission, low altitude alert,” said
Continue ReadingBy Kristen Rogers When you think of money, do you feel like living in the moment and being responsible are mutually exclusive? Does guilt eat at you when you go out for lunch or have a $7 oat milk latte? You don’t have to think or feel this way, thanks to a flexible personal finance
Continue ReadingBy RISKA MUNAWARAH and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press PIDIE, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has begun vaccinating children for the polio virus in the country’s conservative province after four were infected with the highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated less than a decade ago. The virus was first detected in October in a 7-year-old boy
Continue ReadingDOHA, Qatar (AP) — Former Germany forward Sandro Wagner is under fire for a disparaging remark he made about Qatari men’s traditional attire while commentating on Germany and Spain’s World Cup game. Wagner said he thought one end of the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor was full of German fans. He told German broadcaster
Continue ReadingBy GERALD IMRAY AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Enner Valencia has scored Ecuador’s last six World Cup goals so there’s no understating how worried his country is after he was stretchered off in his last game. Ecuador hopes that the 33-year-old striker’s troublesome knees are OK for a decisive final group match against
Continue ReadingDOHA, Qatar (AP) — Germany has been charged in a disciplinary case by FIFA. It is not for the players’ “hands covering mouths” protest before playing a World Cup game last week. FIFA says it opened a case against the German soccer federation citing rules that oblige teams to bring a player to mandatory press
Continue ReadingBy RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The task is clear for the United States: beat Iran in a politically charged match or go home. U.S. players have been praised as the best generation of American soccer yet finished third behind Canada and Mexico in World Cup qualifying. A draw or a
Continue ReadingBy Allison Chinchar and Haley Brink, CNN Meteorologists A new robust storm system moving into the Pacific Northwest Sunday is expected to spawn severe storms in the South this week. The Storm Prediction Center has issued an early forecast warning, calling for “a significant severe-weather event” across parts of the lower Mississippi River Valley Tuesday.
Continue ReadingCNN By Allison Chinchar and Haley Brink, CNN Meteorologists A new robust storm system moving into the Pacific Northwest Sunday is expected to spawn severe storms in the South this week. The Storm Prediction Center has issued an early forecast warning, calling for “a significant severe-weather event” across parts of the lower Mississippi River Valley
Continue ReadingBy STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The Netherlands is on the verge of reaching the knockout stage at the World Cup and an overwhelming favorite in its final Group A match against host nation Qatar. If the Dutch advance it will put more focus on 71-year-old coach Louis van Gaal, who
Continue ReadingBy SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Law enforcement authorities in six different countries have joined forces to take down a “super cartel” of drugs traffickers controlling about one third of the cocaine trade in Europe, the European Union crime agency said on Monday. Europol said 49 suspects have been arrested during the investigation,
Continue ReadingBy KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s top court has upheld a ruling to let a veteran British lawyer defend pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai at his national security trial this week despite fierce opposition from the pro-Beijing camp. Lai, the 74-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, was arrested after
Continue ReadingBy BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s main ruling party is leading in last week’s parliamentary elections with most of the votes counted. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s Nepali Congress party however is short of securing a majority in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament. Deuba’s party has won
Continue ReadingBy OMAR FARUK Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Officials say Somali forces have stormed a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, where Islamic extremists had been holed up for more than 18 hours after killing eight civilians and trapping dozens in the building, officials said. Police spokesperson Sadik Dodishe said Monday that all six extremists
Continue ReadingBy YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Toru Kubota, a Japanese journalist who was arrested while covering a protest in military-ruled Myanmar and detained for more than three months, says his experience has made him more determined to tell the story of people there. Kubota was arrested in July and released on Nov. 17
Continue ReadingBy DAKE KANG Associated Press SHANGHAI (AP) — Barely a month after granting himself new powers as China’s potential leader for life, Xi Jinping is facing a wave of public anger of the kind not seen for decades, sparked by his “zero COVID” strategy that will soon enter its fourth year. Demonstrators poured into the
Continue ReadingBy ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Britain’s top envoy for the Indo-Pacific says Australia’s shift to nuclear-powered submarines will assure its South Pacific neighbors of the UK’s commitment to regional security. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the minister of state for the Indo-Pacific, told Australia’s National Press Club the submarines would provide to its Pacific
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