Month: June 2022

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Russia’s Gazprom has announced a reduction in natural gas flows through a key European pipeline for the second day in a row. The move Wednesday came just hours after Germany’s vice chancellor said Russia’s initial gas reduction appeared to be political rather than a result of technical

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party has sued the vice president of the opposition Candlelight Part for $1 million in compensation for comments he made in an online interview alleging that this month’s local elections were unfair. The Cambodian People’s Party filed the lawsuit

By LINDSEY TANNER and MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writers The first COVID-19 shots for U.S. infants, toddlers and preschoolers moved a step closer Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up to vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids. The outside experts voted unanimously that the benefits of the shots

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced plans to establish an infectious disease crisis management agency to better prepare for future pandemics. Kishida, marking the end of the current parliamentary session with weeks to go until July 10 national elections, says Japan has managed to significantly slow

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Independent booksellers are growing in number and becoming more diverse. Membership in the American Booksellers Association currently stands at just over 2,000. That’s its highest total in years and more than 100 over the previous summer. Dozens of new stores are owned by people of

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — Prosecutors in the fraud trial of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and vice president Michel Platini have asked for both men to get 20-month suspended prison sentences. Blatter and Platini had faced sentences of up to five years for financial wrongdoing and forgery but actual jail

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is joining the White House as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden. Bottoms will become director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. She succeeds Cedric Richmond, who departed in April for a senior role at the Democratic National

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish authorities say the police car crash in Sweden that killed Swedish artist Lars Vilks last year was an accident. That statement means the crash was not a targeted attack by extremists on the cartoonist who lived under police protection since his controversial 2007 sketch of the Prophet Muhammad. Swedish authorities say

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Automakers have reported nearly 400 crashes of vehicles with partially automated driver-assist systems, including 273 involving Teslas. That’s according to new statistics from U.S. safety regulators. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cautioned Wednesday against using the numbers to compare automakers. The agency says it

By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer A leading transgender health association has lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including sex hormones and surgeries. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s previous advice, and some surgeries done at

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet With record-high gas prices, travelers can save money on summer road trips by considering alternatives. They can plan a trip to U.S. regions with lower-cost fuel, like the Midwest or South. If travelers need to rent a car, they might find affordable options by going to a cheaper car rental

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Blas has strengthened from a tropical storm as it moves off the Pacific coast of southwestern Mexico, though forecasters say it isn’t likely to threaten land. Blas had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) Wednesday night, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center says it may strengthen a bit

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans cut their spending unexpectedly in May compared with the month before, underscoring how surging inflation on daily necessities like gas is causing them to be more cautious about buying discretionary items. U.S. retail sales fell 0.3% in last month, down from a revised 0.7%

BERLIN (AP) — A Russian man has gone on trial in Germany on charges that he planned to kill a Chechen dissident. Valid D., whose last name wasn’t released for privacy reasons, is alleged to have accepted an order from a cousin of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov to kill an opposition member living in exile

By EMILY ROSE and JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — An Israeli court on Wednesday found a Gaza aid worker guilty of several terrorism charges in a high-profile case in which his employer, independent auditors and the Australian government say they have found no evidence of wrongdoing. Mohammed el-Halabi, the Gaza director for

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve intensified its fight against high inflation on Wednesday, raising its key interest rate by three-quarters of a point — the largest bump since 1994 — and signaling more rate hikes ahead as it tries to cool off the U.S. economy without causing a

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has unveiled a bill to resolve a long-running dispute between federal authorities and the country’s 16 states over where to build land-based wind power plants. Some German states have bristled at proposals that would require them to set aside at least 1.4% of their surface for wind parks by

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish foundation has recognized four scientists for their pioneering work in artificial intelligence. The four were named recipients on Wednesday of the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. The foundation that gives out the Princess of Asturias Awards honored Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun and Yoshua Bengio for

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City casino workers have authorized their leaders to call a strike against the gambling houses if new contracts are not reached by the beginning of July. Members of Local 54 of the Unite Here union on Wednesday authorized their leaders to call a July

BRUSSELS (AP) — A European Union court has invalidated a decision by the bloc’s executive arm to fine technology company Qualcomm more than $1 billion in an antitrust case. In overruling the European Commission, the Luxembourg-based General Court cited “a number of procedural irregularities” that affected the American company’s defense rights. The court on Wednesday