Новости за 29.12.2016

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s Central Election Commission has canceled the mandates of two members of Parliament and a mayor because of their criminal records. The actions taken Thursday were the first under a law passed last year that bars people with criminal records from holding public office and most civil service jobs. The commission […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term US mortgage rates ticked up again this week, staying at their highest levels since early 2014. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac on Thursday reported the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans rose to an average 4.32 percent from 4.30 percent last week. That average is at its highest since April 2014. It’s a […]

How well do you know our world? Take our annual year-end geography quiz to find out.

Saturday's loss to the Cardinals dropped the Seahawks in many of the national media's NFL power rankings, including one that called the Seahawks "a flawed team ... with no obvious fixes."

Watch The Seattle Times' pictures of the year, in slideshow format.

Catching up: Danny Newcomb has enjoyed playing live and soon will release the Sugarmakers’ second record.

Catching up: Here’s what’s new in the 1938 Red Scare case on the Western Washington University campus.

Catching up: Two Seattle entrepreneurs — including one who relocated to London — have found different results.

Catching up: Being a Seattle police officer is an increasingly tough job for Melisande Manning.

Catching up: Almost 2 years after a fatal shooting in Pasco, the county coroner has launched an inquest.

From connection to conflict, the defining images of our times.

A controlling little girl is causing trouble for her friend, and columnist Carolyn Hax has several parental suggestions. But another situation is an outright emergency — a man who confides that he is being abused by his wife — and he needs help fast.

Many area museums will be open during the day on Dec. 31.

MINNIE, Ky. (AP) — Donna Dye saw the coal truck come barreling over the horizon. Her head started spinning with that familiar, desperate urge to end it all. She thought of the disconnect notices, the engagement ring she pawned to keep the lights on, the house she loved and would probably lose. Life insurance was […]

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian police say two Afghan migrants have been killed and 10 have been injured in a car crash on a highway in central Serbia. Police say the crash occurred early Thursday near the town of Nis when the car crammed with the migrants hit a protective barrier on the highway. A […]

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey says Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group should withdraw from Syria and a nationwide cease-fire should come into effect before the end of the year. The Iran-backed Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to back President Bashar Assad’s forces. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with the […]

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained a prominent investigative journalist for questioning over a series of social media postings. Anadolu Agency said Thursday Ahmet Sik was detained on suspicion that he insulted the state, its military and police and engaged in terrorist propaganda on Twitter. Arrests and prosecutions of […]

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, just back from Pearl Harbor, on Thursday visited a Tokyo shrine that honors Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals. The visit, and one by another Cabinet minister the day before, drew rebukes from neighboring South Korea and China. Inada accompanied Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his […]

BEIJING (AP) — Three knife-wielding assailants attacked staff at a Communist Party office in China’s far western region of Xinjiang and set off an explosive device, killing two and injuring three others, an official news agency reported Thursday. The attackers were then shot dead by police. The incident Wednesday afternoon was the first such publicly […]

HONOLULU (AP) — It took eight years of backbiting and pretending they got along for relations between President Barack Obama’s administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to finally hit rock bottom. Though they’ve clashed bitterly before, mostly notably over Iran, the two governments seemed farther apart than ever after a speech Wednesday by Secretary […]

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump applauded the return of 8,000 jobs to the U.S. and hailed his transition discussions with President Barack Obama in a series of comments that amounted to the most detailed interaction he’s had with journalists since before the election. In one of his cameos Wednesday on the front […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. senators visiting eastern European allies to discuss security issues called for sanctions against Russia for interfering in the presidential election by hacking American political sites and email accounts. Their demands came amid ongoing discussions among U.S. officials on an imminent response to alleged Russian meddling that would ensure the U.S. takes […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to name China a currency manipulator on his first day in the White House. There’s only one problem – it’s not true anymore. China, the world’s second-biggest economy behind the United States, hasn’t been pushing down its currency to benefit Chinese exporters in years. And even if […]

Seattle Times book editor Mary Ann Gwinn shares a list of “exquisite, moving, challenging novels that never quite achieved liftoff in terms of reader attention and critical acclaim” but perch firmly on her “best” list.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — An innocent teenage victim of a 2012 gang shootout in Tennessee has died after years of constant medical care. The Times Free Press reports (http://bit.ly/2irCnPk ) that 17-year-old Keoshia Ford died on Tuesday. In 2012, Ford was playing outdoors when she was shot in the head during a shootout between two […]