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FILE - Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrives to his political block campaign rally before the parliamentary elections in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Al-Maliki is defiant after Trump threatens to withdraw US support for Iraq

Qassim Abdul-zahra, The Associated Press 3 minute read 6:28 AM CST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki expressed defiance Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw Washington’s support for Iraq if he returns to power.

“We reject the blatant American interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and consider it a violation of its sovereignty,” al-Maliki, who is nominated by the country’s dominant political bloc to return to the premiership, said in a statement.

Trump in a social media post Tuesday wrote, “Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos,” adding, “Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq and, if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom.”

Washington has been pushing Iraq to distance itself from Iran and sees al-Maliki as too close to Tehran. His last term, which ended in 2014, also saw the rise of the Islamic State group, which seized large swaths of the country.

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A new report warns that combined war casualties in Russia’s war on Ukraine could soon hit 2 million

Kamila Hrabchuk, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

A new report warns that combined war casualties in Russia’s war on Ukraine could soon hit 2 million

Kamila Hrabchuk, The Associated Press 4 minute read 6:08 AM CST

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A new report warned that the number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides of Russia's war on Ukraine could hit 2 million by the spring, with Russia suffering the largest number of troop deaths recorded for any major power in any war since World War II.

The report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies came less than a month before the fourth anniversary of Moscow's onslaught on Ukraine. Officials said Wednesday that two people were killed on the outskirts of Kyiv after Russian strikes hit an apartment block, and at least nine people were injured in separate attacks in the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Kryvyi Rih and the front-line Zaporizhzhia region.

The CSIS report released Tuesday said Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and December 2025.

“Despite claims of battlefield momentum in Ukraine, the data shows that Russia is paying an extraordinary price for minimal gains and is in decline as a major power,” the report said.

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6:08 AM CST

People pass a crater and damaged cars near an apartment building after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

3 months after rapidly scheduled arguments, the Supreme Court has yet to decide on Trump’s tariffs

Mark Sherman And Lindsay Whitehurst, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

3 months after rapidly scheduled arguments, the Supreme Court has yet to decide on Trump’s tariffs

Mark Sherman And Lindsay Whitehurst, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 5:22 AM CST

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Supreme Court granted an unusually quick hearing over President Donald Trump's tariffs, a similarly rapid resolution seemed possible.

After all, Trump's lawyers told the court that speed was of the essence on an issue central to the Republican president's economic agenda. They pointed to a statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning that the “longer a final ruling is delayed, the greater the risk of economic disruption.”

But nearly three months have elapsed since arguments in the closely watched case, and the court isn't scheduled to meet in public for more than three weeks.

No one knows for sure what's going on among the nine justices, several of whom expressed skepticism about the tariffs' legality at arguments in November. But the timeline for deciding the case now looks more or less typical and could reflect the normal back-and-forth that occurs not just in the biggest cases but in almost all the disputes the justices hear.

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Updated: 5:22 AM CST

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Huge landslide cleaves off the edge of a town in Sicily and forces the evacuation of 1,500 people

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Huge landslide cleaves off the edge of a town in Sicily and forces the evacuation of 1,500 people

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 6:15 AM CST

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday toured a southern town in Sicily where days of heavy rains from a cyclone triggered a massive landslide that cleaved off the town's edge, collapsing houses and forcing the evacuation of over 1,500 people.

The area of the landslide spanned 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) and civil protection crews created a 150-meter-wide (150-yard-wide) “no go zone.” At the edge of Niscemi, some cars and structures had already tumbled 20 meters (yards) off the cliff while other homes remained perched perilously on the edge of the continuously shifting ground.

Authorities warned that residents with homes in the area, facing the city of Gela on Sicily’s southwestern coast, will have to find long-term alternatives to moving back since the water-soaked ground was too unstable.

“The entire hill is collapsing onto the plain of Gela,” civil protection chief Fabio Ciciliano said. “To be honest, there are houses located on the edge of the landslide that obviously can no longer be inhabited, so we need to work with the mayor to find a permanent relocation for these families.”

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Updated: 6:15 AM CST

Aerial view of the village of Niscemi near the Sicilian town of Caltanissetta, southern Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, where severe storms provoked a landslide, and some 1,500 people had to be evacuated from their homes. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)

Amazon cuts about 16,000 corporate jobs in the latest round of layoffs

The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Amazon cuts about 16,000 corporate jobs in the latest round of layoffs

The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 6:46 AM CST

Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass layoffs for the ecommerce company in three months.

The tech giant has said it plans to use generative artificial intelligence to replace corporate workers. It has also been reducing a workforce that swelled during the pandemic.

Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon, said in a blog post Wednesday that the company has been “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.”

The company did not say what business units would be impacted, or where the job cuts would occur.

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Updated: 6:46 AM CST

FILE - People walk out of an Amazon Go store in Seattle, March 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Budapest’s liberal mayor charged for organizing banned Pride event

Justin Spike, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Budapest’s liberal mayor charged for organizing banned Pride event

Justin Spike, The Associated Press 3 minute read 5:33 AM CST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Authorities in Hungary on Wednesday filed charges against Budapest's liberal mayor over his role in organizing a banned LGBTQ+ Pride event in the capital last year.

Gergely Karácsony, who has led Budapest since 2019, had been the subject of a police investigation following the march on June 28 which went ahead despite a ban imposed by Hungary's right-wing nationalist government.

The event was the largest of its kind in the country's history, with organizers saying some 300,000 people participated.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Budapest Chief Prosecutor's Office said Karácsony had been charged for organizing the unlawful assembly despite a prohibition order. It recommended he should face a fine without a trial.

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5:33 AM CST

FILE - Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony speaks to the media in front of the National Investigation Bureau in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (Tamas Purger/MTI via AP, File)

Turkish authorities arrest 6 on suspicion of spying for Iran

The Associated Press 1 minute read 5:25 AM CST

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish authorities have arrested six people, including an Iranian national, on suspicion of spying for Iran, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday.

The arrests followed coordinated operations carried out by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization and counterterrorism police across five provinces.

The suspects are believed to have been in contact with members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and are accused of gathering information on military bases and other sensitive sites in Turkey, Anadolu reported. They allegedly conducted surveillance of NATO's Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.

All six were brought before a judge in Istanbul, who ordered them held in pretrial detention on charges of political and military espionage.

More ‘No Kings’ protests planned for March 28 as outrage spreads over Minneapolis deaths

Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

More ‘No Kings’ protests planned for March 28 as outrage spreads over Minneapolis deaths

Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 6:16 AM CST

A third round of “No Kings” protests is coming this spring, with organizers saying they are planning their largest demonstrations yet across the United States to oppose what they describe as authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.

Previous rallies have drawn millions of people, and organizers said they expect even greater numbers on March 28 in the wake of Trump's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, where violent clashes have led to the death of two people.

“We expect this to be the largest protest in American history,” Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the nonprofit Indivisible, told The Associated Press ahead of Wednesday's announcement. He predicted that as many as 9 million people will turn out.

“No Kings” protests, which are organized by a constellation of groups around the country, have been a focal point for outrage over Trump's attempts to consolidate and expand his power.

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Updated: 6:16 AM CST

Lawmakers in German state elect new governor to counter far-right rise

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Lawmakers in German state elect new governor to counter far-right rise

The Associated Press 2 minute read 4:13 AM CST

BERLIN (AP) — Lawmakers in an eastern German state elected a new governor on Wednesday as mainstream parties try to prevent a victory for the far-right Alternative for Germany in a regional election that is only seven months away.

The state legislature in Saxony-Anhalt elected Sven Schulze, a member of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right Christian Democratic Union, to replace long-serving incumbent Reiner Haseloff.

Haseloff, 71, has led the state of some 2.2 million people since 2011. Schulze, 46, was designated last year as the CDU's candidate for governor to succeed him in a state election on Sept. 6.

Although it's quite common in Germany for governors to hand over the reins in midterm to allow their successors a chance to become better-known to voters, Haseloff originally appeared minded to serve out his term. But with regional support very high for Alternative for Germany, or AfD, he announced this month that he would step down early.

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4:13 AM CST

Sven Schulze, Minister for Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt as well as CDU state chairman and top candidate for the 2026 state election, comes to the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament, Wednesday, Jan.28, 2026. (Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa via AP)

Sarah Mullally confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury, first woman to lead the Church of England

Danica Kirka, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Sarah Mullally confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury, first woman to lead the Church of England

Danica Kirka, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 6:13 AM CST

LONDON (AP) — Sarah Mullally was confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to lead the Church of England.

The worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the U.S., has no formal head, but the archbishop traditionally has been seen as its spiritual leader.

Mullally, 63, a cancer nurse turned cleric, officially took up the responsibilities of her new job as judges presided over a legal ceremony confirming her appointment, which was announced almost four months ago.

The so-called Confirmation of Election service marks a major milestone for the Church of England, which ordained its first female priests in 1994 and its first female bishop in 2015. The church traces its roots to the 16th century when the English church broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the reign of King Henry VIII.

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Updated: 6:13 AM CST

Dame Sarah Mullally ahead of her Confirmation of Election ceremony legally confirming her as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, at St Paul's Cathedral, central London, Wednesday Jan. 28, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/Pool via AP)

A month after Iran protests began, worry pervades Mideast over possible US strike

Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

A month after Iran protests began, worry pervades Mideast over possible US strike

Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 6:46 AM CST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian officials reached out to the wider Middle East on Wednesday over the threat of a possible U.S. military strike on the country, a month since the start of protests in Iran that soon spread nationwide and sparked a bloody crackdown.

Two nations, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have signaled they won't allow their airspace to be used for any attack. But America has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided missile destroyers into the region, which can be used to launch attacks from the sea.

It remains unclear what U.S. President Donald Trump will decide about using force, though he laid down two red lines — the killing of peaceful demonstrators and the possible mass execution of detainees. The protests saw at least 6,221 people killed as Iran launched a bloody crackdown on the demonstrations, with many others feared dead, activists said Wednesday.

“Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS - one that is good for all parties,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. “Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!”

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Updated: 6:46 AM CST

People walk along the sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Not ready for robots in homes? The maker of a friendly new humanoid thinks it might change your mind

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Not ready for robots in homes? The maker of a friendly new humanoid thinks it might change your mind

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:55 AM CST

NEW YORK (AP) — As the new robot called Sprout walks around a Manhattan office, nodding its rectangular head, lifting its windshield wiper-like “eyebrows” and offering to shake your hand with its grippers, it looks nothing like the sleek and intimidating humanoids built by companies like Tesla.

Sprout's charm is the point. A 5-year-old child could comfortably talk at eye level with this humanoid, which stands 3.5 feet (1 meter) tall and wears a soft, padded exterior of sage-green foam.

Forged by stealth startup Fauna Robotics over two years of secret research and development, Sprout's public debut on Tuesday aims to jump-start a whole new industry of building “approachable” robots for homes, schools and social spaces.

The robot is in many ways the first of its kind, at least in the United States, even as rapid advances in artificial intelligence and robot engineering have finally made it possible to start building such machines. If its emotive expressions and blinking lights seem vaguely familiar, it might be from generations of Star Wars droids and other endearingly clunky robotic sidekicks dreamed up in animation studios and children's literature.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:55 AM CST

Fauna Robotics' new robot, called Spout, is seen at their offices in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

India says it has contained Nipah virus outbreak as some Asian countries ramp up health screenings

Sheikh Saaliq, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

India says it has contained Nipah virus outbreak as some Asian countries ramp up health screenings

Sheikh Saaliq, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 2:56 AM CST

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian authorities said they had contained a Nipah virus outbreak after confirming two cases in the eastern state of West Bengal, as several Asian countries tightened health screenings and airport surveillance for travelers arriving from India.

India’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that two Nipah cases had been detected since December and that all identified contacts had been quarantined and tested. The ministry did not release details about the patients but said 196 contacts had been traced and all tested negative.

“The situation is under constant monitoring, and all necessary public health measures are in place,” the ministry said.

Nipah, a zoonotic virus first identified during a 1990s outbreak in Malaysia, spreads through fruit bats, pigs and human-to-human contact. There is no vaccine for the virus, which can cause raging fevers, convulsions and vomiting. The only treatment is supportive care to control complications and keep patients comfortable.

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Updated: 2:56 AM CST

January 28, 2026

Al-Maliki is defiant after Trump threatens to withdraw US support for Iraq

Weather

A new report warns that combined war casualties in Russia’s war on Ukraine could soon hit 2 million

A new report warns that combined war casualties in Russia’s war on Ukraine could soon hit 2 million

3 months after rapidly scheduled arguments, the Supreme Court has yet to decide on Trump’s tariffs

3 months after rapidly scheduled arguments, the Supreme Court has yet to decide on Trump’s tariffs

Huge landslide cleaves off the edge of a town in Sicily and forces the evacuation of 1,500 people

Huge landslide cleaves off the edge of a town in Sicily and forces the evacuation of 1,500 people

Amazon cuts about 16,000 corporate jobs in the latest round of layoffs

Amazon cuts about 16,000 corporate jobs in the latest round of layoffs

Budapest’s liberal mayor charged for organizing banned Pride event

Budapest’s liberal mayor charged for organizing banned Pride event

Turkish authorities arrest 6 on suspicion of spying for Iran

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More ‘No Kings’ protests planned for March 28 as outrage spreads over Minneapolis deaths

More ‘No Kings’ protests planned for March 28 as outrage spreads over Minneapolis deaths

Lawmakers in German state elect new governor to counter far-right rise

Lawmakers in German state elect new governor to counter far-right rise

Sarah Mullally confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury, first woman to lead the Church of England

Sarah Mullally confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury, first woman to lead the Church of England

A month after Iran protests began, worry pervades Mideast over possible US strike

A month after Iran protests began, worry pervades Mideast over possible US strike

Not ready for robots in homes? The maker of a friendly new humanoid thinks it might change your mind

Not ready for robots in homes? The maker of a friendly new humanoid thinks it might change your mind

India says it has contained Nipah virus outbreak as some Asian countries ramp up health screenings

India says it has contained Nipah virus outbreak as some Asian countries ramp up health screenings

January 28, 2026

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