South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached after a corruption scandal, rejected on Sunday the accusations that she conspired with a longtime friend to extort money and favours from companies. Park denied that her jailed friend, Choi Soon-sil, influenced government decisions. She also vehemently refuted allegations that her administration blacklisted thousands of artists for their political beliefs. It ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Members of the 115th Congress were expected to be sworn in at noon Tuesday, setting off an aggressive campaign by Republicans who control the House and Senate to dismantle eight years of President Barack Obama’s Democratic policies. The first and biggest target is Obama’s health care law, which Republicans have long sought to gut and blamed ...

  WARSAW / AP Poland’s key opposition party is facing questions about its credibility after its leader took a vacation with a female party member during a crucial protest in parliament. The issue threatens to tarnish the image of the pro-business Modern party and its leader, Ryszard Petru, at a time when Modern is the most popular party opposing the ...

  TIRANA / AP Albania is suspending the reopening of schools after the New Year’s break because of frigid weather and concern about the spread of flu. A Health Ministry statement on Tuesday warned that subfreezing temperatures will cover the whole country for several days, “creating favorable conditions for the further spread of the (flu) virus.” It ordered nurseries, kindergartens, ...

  LONDON / AP An investigation has been launched after British police fatally shot a man during an operation in which five people were arrested. Details aren’t immediately clear because no one has yet been charged with a crime. Police said Tuesday that the arrests weren’t related to terrorism. West Yorkshire police said that the Independent Police Complaints Commission was ...

  YANGON / AP Newly revealed video of Myanmar police beating Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine state has weakened months of government claims that its forces have not committed abuses in the tense and isolated region it has largely closed off to foreigners since a deadly insurgent attack in October. The footage has made it more difficult for the government ...

  BEIJING / AFP China confirmed that its aircraft carrier has for the first time conducted drills in the South China Sea with a formation of other warships and fighter jets, a move that could raise concerns among its neighbors. The Defense Ministry said several J-15 fighter jets took off and landed from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning ...

  MADRID / AFP Guards on the border of Ceuta, Spain’s enclave in North Africa, say they have recently detained one Moroccan suspected of attempting to smuggle migrants concealed in a suitcase and another suspected of hiding migrants in a car. Custom agents found a 19-year-old migrant from Gabon hidden in a suitcase pushed on a trolley by a woman who ...

  BEIRUT / ap Syrian government forces pressed ahead with their offensive in the water-rich Barada Valley northwest of Damascus on Tuesday as 10 rebel groups said they were suspending talks about planned peace negotiations because of what they describe as ongoing government violations of a cease-fire deal. The cease-fire, brokered by Russia and Turkey, is meant to be followed ...

  BERLIN / AP German prosecutors are accusing a man already convicted of membership in a terrorist organization of participating in the killing of six captives by the IS group. Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday they obtained a new warrant against the 28-year-old German, identified only as Harry S. in line with privacy laws, on suspicion of murder and committing ...