Month: May 2022

By RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan has expressed concern over the deterioration of rights in the country and called on the ruling Taliban to reverse new restrictions on women. Richard Bennet spoke to journalists on Thursday, at the end of an 11-day visit

BEIRUT (AP) — Dozens of doctors, nurses and medical personnel have rallied outside the Central Bank in the Lebanese capital of Beirut after declaring a two-day general strike. They are protesting rapidly deteriorating economic conditions and Central Bank policies that have allowed banks to impose random capital controls and other restrictions on depositors. Lebanon’s medical

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan will open its borders to foreign tourists in June for the first time since imposing tight pandemic travel restrictions about two years ago, but only for package tours for now. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Japan will allow the entry of people on tours with fixed

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of the year even though consumers and businesses kept spending at a solid pace, the government reported Thursday in a slight downgrade of its previous estimate for the January-March quarter. Last quarter’s drop in the U.S. gross

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook a remote region of southern Peru on Thursday, sending frightened people running into the streets in nearby Bolivia, though there were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7:02 a.m. (1202 GMT) quake was centered 13. kilometers (8 miles) west-northwest

By JADE LE DELEY Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Rape accusations against a newly named French minister have galvanized a movement aimed at exposing sexual misconduct in French politics and encouraging victims to speak out. Left-wing groups are using the issue to rally opposition to President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party in next month’s legislative election.

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans applied for jobless aid last week as the number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits remains near five-decade lows. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 210,000 for the week ending May 21, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications are generally representative of

By PETER PRENGAMAN, KELVIN CHAN, HELENA ALVES Associated Press DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The World Economic Forum’s annual gathering of CEOs, government leaders and other elites this week in the Swiss town of Davos may seem full of important but impersonal announcements. So what do Davos-goers really think about issues like climate change and what’s

The Associated Press Expedia’s Peter Kern and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav are among the top paid CEOs in the S&P 500 index. Advanced Micro Devices’ Lisa Su was the highest-paid female CEO. Median compensation for CEOs in the index of big U.S. companies climbed to $14.5 million last year, up 17.1%, according to an

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government will tighten judicial control over the country’s intelligence agency. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made the announcement Thursday, weeks after the agency admitted it had spied on several pro-independence supporters in Catalonia with judicial authorization. The country’s National Intelligence Center has been under fire since April, after the digital rights

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged for a fifth month running despite an annual inflation rate of nearly 70%. The bank said Thursday it would keep its policy rate “constant” at 14%. It argued inflation was driven by geopolitical developments and the “temporary effects of pricing formations.” The decision

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Within the eight- and even nine-figure sums trumpeted for CEOs each year, just a small portion is actual cash. Last year, only a little more than a quarter of compensation for the typical CEO came from cash salary or bonus.  Instead, most of a CEO’s

NEW YORK (AP) — In a story published May 26, 2022, about CEO Pay, The Associated Press misspelled the first name of Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Tokyo court has begun hearings in a lawsuit seeking nearly $5 million in damages for six people who were children in Fukushima at the time of its 2011 nuclear power plant disaster and later developed thyroid cancer. The plaintiffs are suing the operator of the nuclear

By The Associated Press UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Many questions remain to be answered about the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But here are the basics. A gunman stormed into Robb Elementary Tuesday and killed 19 children and two teachers. It was the United States’ deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. Law enforcement

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s leader has caused a stir by throwing a wrench in Sweden and Finland’s historic bid to join NATO, lashing out at fellow alliance member Greece and announcing plans for a new incursion into Syria. And that all happened in a two-week span. Turkish President Recep

By JILL LAWLESS and SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government unveiled a 15 billion pound ($19 billion) emergency aid package Thursday to ease a severe cost-of-living squeeze, announcing the plan a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to “move on” from a months-long scandal over government parties during COVID-19 lockdowns.

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police in disputed Kashmir have arrested at least 10 people during overnight raids following an anti-India protest that erupted as an Indian court sentenced a prominent Kashmiri pro-independence leader to life in prison. The protest was followed by a clash between dozens of youths and government

By RICARDO MAZALAN and ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow pressed the West on Thursday to lift sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, seeking to shift the blame for a growing food crisis that has been worsened by Kyiv’s inability to ship millions of tons of grain and other agricultural

PARIS (AP) — The former president of the Louvre museum has received preliminary charges for alleged antiquities trafficking during his tenure as head of the famous Paris museum. Police in the French capital charged Jean-Luc Martinez on Wednesday with “complicity in organized fraud” and money laundering, according to the Paris prosecutors’ office. The prosecutor’s office

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The office of Albania’s prime minister says the country has offered to NATO a naval base in an effort to highlight the tiny country’s value in the alliance “in these difficult times.” Prime Minister Edi Rama said Thursday Pashaliman naval base, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jon Batiste will kick off a series geared toward the Grammy Museum’s public and educational programs in New York City next month. The museum announced Thursday that Batiste will perform during a series titled “A New York Evening with Jon Batiste.” He’ll hit the

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday announced more steps to make the antiviral treatment Paxlovid more accessible across the U.S. as it projects COVID-19 infections will continue to spread over the summer travel season. The nation’s first federally backed test-to-treat site is opening Thursday in Rhode Island, providing