The death toll from the collapse of a Russian apartment building has risen to 37 after more bodies were discovered by crews searching the huge pile of concrete rubble.
State news agency Tass cited an emergencies ministry official on Thursday as saying four people who lived in the collapsed section of the building in Magnitogorsk remain unaccounted for.
The collapse on Monday followed an explosion that officials say likely was caused by a gas leak.
An 11-month-old boy was extracted from the wreckage alive on Tuesday and was flown to Moscow for treatment of injuries including frostbite. Nighttime temperatures in the city 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) southeast of Moscow have fallen to about minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).

Russian apartment collapse death toll rises to 37

PTI Automatic

The Senate has confirmed dozens of President Donald Trump's nominees, a rare moment of bipartisan agreement as Congress prepares to wrap up its session.
Senators late Wednesday approved a new Census director, a drug czar and some 15 ambassadors, including one to war-torn Yemen.
Most of the nominees confirmed were for executive branch positions, including a handful of new US attorneys and members of the Federal Communications Commission. Only a few judicial nominees were part of the deal, as Democrats have opposed many of Trump's picks.
The nominees were approved by voice vote, with most senators still away from Washington during the holiday break. The new Congress convenes on Thursday.

Senate confirms dozens of Trump nominees as Congress wraps

The US Coast Guard says a large fishing boat has run aground on a remote Pacific atoll and it's trying to rescue the 24 crew members who made it to shore in a lifeboat.
The Coast Guard says the 308-foot Chinese-flagged vessel Ou Ya Leng No. 6 reportedly grounded Wednesday on uninhabited Taka Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
The Coast Guard says it's sending the crew of a HC-130 Hercules plane and is working with three nearby fishing boats and the government of the Marshall Islands. The Coast Guard says it doesn't yet know what caused the accident, the crew's nationalities, or the status of the boat's cargo and fuel.
Brendon Ritz, from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Honolulu, says the first concern is the crew's safety.

US trying to rescue 24 fishing crew on remote Pacific atoll

Authorities on Wednesday were investigating the deaths of a man, his son and the son's girlfriend whose bullet-riddled bodies were found concealed on a property known for hosting transients in Washington state.
Police discovered the bodies when they were sent to the home near the waterfront city of Port Angeles for a welfare check, the Peninsula Daily News reported.
Investigators found the door to the home ajar and then found the bodies of Darrell C Iverson, 57, and his son Jordan D Iverson, 27, covered by tarps and debris in front of the house, Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said. The elder Iverson owned the home, county documents say.
The body of the younger man's girlfriend, 26-year-old Tiffany A May, was discovered later in a locked shed close to the home. Investigators believe all three were killed on December 26 by someone they knew, Benedict said.
No arrests have been made and authorities are investigating at least two people of interest who knew the victims. Benedict ...

3 bullet-riddled bodies hidden near Washington state home

Three migrant fishermen received Greek citizenship Wednesday for helping rescue dozens of people who were forced into the sea by flames from a summer wildfire that caused 100 deaths.
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos hosted a ceremony for Gani Xheka, 35, from Albania and Egyptians Emad El Khaimi, 50, and Mahmoud Ibrahim Musa, 46, both to honour them and for "sending a message to Europe" to counter anti-immigrant sentiment.
The three men pulled people from the water who had fled the out-of-control wildfire at the seaside resort of Mati, east of Athens, by swimming out to sea while having difficulty breathing because of heavy smoke. The trio also guided survivors to a nearby port after the July 23 blaze reached the shore and gutted hundreds of homes.
"In a situation like that, when you are talking about people's lives, there's no religion, no black people, no white people. You just have to help people who are in danger," El Khaimi said after the ceremony.
The death toll from Greece's 

Greece makes 3 migrants citizens for their wildfire rescues

A man with stab wounds that were apparently self-inflicted drove into an SUV early Wednesday, killing three people, including two members of a string band that had competed the day before in Philadelphia's New Year parade, police said.
Keith Campbell, 29, of Delaware, appeared to have stabbed himself before the wreck about 1:45 am local time near Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Phillies play.
Witnesses told police Campbell crossed the median into opposing traffic while speeding, then struck an SUV carrying four people, killing three of them and critically injuring the fourth.
As of Wednesday afternoon police had been unable to interview Campbell, who was taken to the hospital and remained in critical condition, to confirm his wounds were self-inflicted. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach relatives for comment were unsuccessful.
The three people killed at the scene were identified Wednesday as Joseph Ferry, 36, of Philadelphia; Kelly Wiseley, 35, of Glenolden; and ...

Crash kills 2 Philly Mummers; driver may have stabbed self

Bob Einstein, the veteran comedy writer and performer known for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," ''Curb Your Enthusiasm" and his spoof daredevil character Super Dave Osborne, has died, according to his brother, filmmaker Albert Brooks. Einstein was 76.
Einstein will be "missed forever," Brooks said in a post Wednesday on his verified Twitter account.
"R.I.P. My dear brother Bob Einstein. A great brother, father and husband. A brilliantly funny man," tweeted Brooks, 71.
Details of Einstein's death were not immediately available.
Representatives for him and Brooks did not immediately respond to calls or emails.
Einstein was scheduled to be part of the 10th season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" but his health barred him from filming, HBO said.
On the comedy, Einstein played annoying pal Marty Funkhouser to Larry David's equally off-putting character. In a statement, David said he'd never seen an actor enjoy a role more than Einstein did playing Marty.
"It was an amazing, unforgettable ...

Bob Einstein of Super Dave and "Curb" fame dies at 76

US authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the early hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried to breach the border fence in Tijuana.
US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that about 45 migrants got through the first layer of fencing but turned back when they saw the border patrol's presence early Tuesday.
CBP said migrants began to throw rocks at agents from the Mexican side while others tried to cross the concertina wire, including passing "toddler-sized children" over the wire.
Border patrol officers responded by firing smoke, pepper spray and tear gas at the rock throwers in Mexico, distinguishing them from those who were trying to cross the fence line, CBP said.
"No agents witnessed any of the migrants at the fence line, including children, experiencing effects of the chemical agents, which were targeted at the rock throwers further away," the statement said.
However, an Associated Press photographer saw at least three volleys of gas ...

US fired tear gas into Mexico early on New Year's Day

Taiwan's leader has rejected the Chinese president's call for unification under a "one country, two systems" approach.
President Tsai Ing-wen said that China must face the fact of the existence of the Republic of Taiwan.
She made the statement to news media hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a policy speech on Taiwan that no one can stop the trend toward unification.
One country, two systems refers to a framework similar to Hong Kong in which the territory became part of China but retained a degree of autonomy.
Taiwan and China split in a civil war that brought the Communist Party to power in China in 1949. The rival Nationalists set up their own government on Taiwan, an island 160 kilometers off the Chinese mainland.

Taiwan's leader rejects Chinese president's call for unification

A 14-year-old boy who authorities say was driving an SUV that caused a fatal car accident has been arrested on a murder charge.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office says the SUV was filled with teens who were throwing eggs at other cars Tuesday afternoon when another driver began chasing them.
The department says the 14-year-old driver then ran a red light and crashed into a pickup truck, killing 45-year-old Silvia Zavala.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says Zavala had just been shopping and was "totally innocent."
Gonzalez said Wednesday the 14-year-old was booked in a juvenile detention centre on a murder charge. He says police will interview the driver of the car that chased the teens.

14-year-old boy arrested on murder charge after fatal crash

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the US hopes to gain access soon to a former Marine who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges and that "if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate return."
Paul Whelan, who is head of global security for a Michigan-based auto parts supplier, was arrested on Friday. In announcing the arrest three days later, the Russian Federal Security Service said he was caught "during an espionage operation," but it gave no details.
Whelan, 48, was in Moscow to attend a wedding when he suddenly disappeared, his brother David Whelan said Tuesday.
Pompeo, speaking in Brazil, said the US is "hopeful within the next hours we'll get consular access to see him and get a chance to learn more." The US has "made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges and come to understand what it is he's been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate return," Pompeo 

US wants access to American held in Moscow on spying charges

Two days of fighting in rebel-held parts of northern Syria killed dozens of people as al-Qaida-linked militants press their offensive against Turkey-backed rebels, a war monitor and activists said Wednesday.
The new wave of fighting comes after President Donald Trump's abrupt announcement in mid-December that he was withdrawing 2,000 US troops from Syria and Turkish threats to carry out a military operation against Kurdish fighters.
With their offensive, the al-Qaida-linked fighters are trying to cut off Turkey-backed fighters in the northern enclave of Afrin from those in the northwestern province of Idlib, amid concerns that Turkey might make a deal with Russia at the expense of the extremists, said Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"They are trying to say we are present and no one should ignore us," he said of the al-Qaida-linked fighters.
The al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee and the Turkey-backed Nour el-Din el-Zinki group 

Fighting among rebels in northern Syria kills dozens

A former Tennessee priest who was forced from the priesthood in 1989 has died in prison while serving time for a 1999 child rape conviction.
The Tennessean reports South Central Correctional Facility officials say 74-year-old Edward McKeown died Sunday of natural causes. He pleaded guilty to repeatedly abusing a 12-year-old boy and was sentenced to 25 years. Prosecutors said then that he had abuse dozens of boys over two decades. McKeown had been ordained in 1970.
Then-Bishop Edward U Kmiec has said he was removed from "direct or unsupervised contact with youth" when accused of molestation in 1986.
But court records unsealed in 2002 say McKeown was allowed to continue working with children. He was forced from the priesthood in 1989 and went to work at the county juvenile court.

Ex-Tennessee priest convicted of rape dies in prison

Search crews have pulled more bodies from a huge pile of rubble at a collapsed Russian apartment building, bringing the known death toll to 21.
The bodies found on Wednesday in the city of Magnitogorsk included a 3-year-old girl, Russian news agencies cited the emergencies ministry as saying.
An 11-month-old boy who was pulled alive from the wreckage on Tuesday, nearly 36 hours after the building collapsed, was in serious but stable condition in a children's hospital in Moscow. He was flown about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) to the capital in a plane dispatched by the Health Ministry.
Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Wednesday that the boy suffered superficial head wounds but no apparent brain damage.
Authorities said 20 people who lived in the building remain unaccounted for, including five children.
But the prospects of finding any of them alive in the rubble appeared dim after two frigid nights in which temperatures fell to about minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees ...

Death toll in Russian apartment collapse rises to 21

Afghan officials say an Italian military adviser escaped unhurt after a rogue border policeman opened fire on his armoured vehicle in western Afghanistan's Herat province, not far from the border with Iran.
Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor, says the adviser was inside his armoured vehicle after finishing a meeting Wednesday with Afghan officials when the gunmen opened fire, wounding a female police officer before being shot dead by nearby police.
A senior police official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to discuss the incident, said the adviser was an Italian national.
No one has taken responsibility for the attack but Taliban insurgents routinely urge serving Afghan security forces to attack NATO personnel in Afghanistan, mostly as advisers.

Afghan officials say Italian adviser survives rogue attack

Six people were killed in a train accident early Wednesday on a Danish bridge linking the central islands of Zealand and Funen, according to the rail operator. Authorities said several others were injured.
Danish Railways told Denmark's TV2 that the six were passengers on a train from the city of Odense, on the central Danish island of Fyn, heading toward the capital Copenhagen.
Police did not confirm the fatalities, only saying several were killed and injured in the accident, which took place about 8 am local time.
Police spokesman Arne Gram said the passenger train "hit an unknown object," but did not further comment.
Danish media reported that a tarpaulin on a freight train hit the passenger train, which was going in the opposite direction, prompting it to brake suddenly.
The Storebaelt bridge is part of a system of bridges and a tunnel linking the Danish islands.
Denmark's TV2 showed images of a freight train with the tarpaulin that covered the train torn in pieces. It reported ...

6 reportedly killed in Danish bridge train accident

Several people were killed in a train accident Wednesday on a Danish bridge linking the central islands of Zealand and Funen, police said.
Police did not provide further details about those killed or the number of people injured in Wednesday's incident, which took place about 8 am local time.
Danish media reported that a tarpaulin on a freight train hit a passenger train going in the opposite direction toward Copenhagen, prompting it to brake suddenly.
The passenger train had departed from the city of Odense, on the central Danish island of Fyn.
The Storebaelt bridge is part of a system of bridges and a tunnel linking the Danish islands.
Denmark's TV2 showed images of a freight train the tarpaulin that covered the train torn in pieces. It reported that eight people were injured.
Police is scheduled to give a news conference later Wednesday.
In a statement, police urged passengers to contact next of kin to inform them of their safety.
The accident took place on a road-and-rail bridge, .

Police: Several killed in Danish bridge train accident

Police say that the sole suspect in the stabbing of three people in the English city of Manchester on New Year's Eve has been detained under the Mental Health Act.
Greater Manchester Police said in a statement late Tuesday night that the 25-year-old man arrested at the scene was assessed by medical staff before the decision was reached.
Police are treating as the attack as a terrorist incident. They say the investigation is ongoing, and do not believe others are involved in the attack.
Officials say that verifying that the suspect acted alone without a support network is a key objective of the investigation, headed by counterterrorism police.
Police are searching the suspect's home in Manchester for evidence.
The suspect has not been identified.
He is accused of stabbing three people including a British Transport police sergeant at a Manchester rail station Monday night while shouting Islamic extremist slogans.
Two of the victims  a man and a woman who were on the rail platform when ..

Manchester stabbing suspect detained under mental health law

With little resistance from a friendly White House, Israel has launched a new settlement push in the West Bank since President Donald Trump took office, laying the groundwork for what could be the largest construction binge in years, according to data obtained by The Associated Press.
The figures, gathered from official government sources by the anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now, show an increase in building in 2018 and a sharp spike in planning for future construction.
This trend, highlighted last week when an Israeli committee advanced plans for thousands more settlement homes on war-won lands, has only deepened Palestinian mistrust of the Trump administration as it says it is preparing to roll out a Mideast peace plan.
Each new settlement expansion further diminishes the chances of setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Both supporters and opponents of settlements confirm a change in atmosphere since early 2017, when Trump took over from Barack Obama, whose ...

Israeli settlement activity appears to surge in Trump era

The US Coast Guard says good Samaritans on nearby merchant vessels rescued 16 members of the crew of a Panamanian car carrier heading from Japan to Hawaii that caught fire in the Pacific Ocean.
The Coast Guard said Sunday three of the remaining five crew members of the Sincerity Ace were found but are still in the water because they are unresponsive. The agency says the other two crew members haven't been found.
The Serenity Ace caught fire early Monday morning 1,800 nautical miles (3,333 kilometres) northwest of Hawaii.
The Coast Guard has not said what caused the fire on the 198-metre ship.
The US Navy is helping with search efforts.

16 of 21 crew members rescued from burning ship near Hawaii

US authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried to breach the border fence in Tijuana.
US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement later Tuesday that the gas was used to target rock throwers apart from the migrants who were trying to cross.
"No agents witnessed any of the migrants at the fence line, including children, experiencing effects of the chemical agents, which were targeted at the rock throwers further away," the statement said.
An Associated Press photographer saw at least three volleys of gas launched onto the Mexican side of the border near Tijuana's beach that affected the migrants, including women and children, as well as journalists.
The AP saw rocks thrown only after U.S. agents fired the tear gas. The agency said agents saw "toddler sized children" being passed over concertina wire with difficulty. It said its agents could not assist the children because of the rocks being thrown. Agents ..

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