Month: June 2022

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The test couldn’t have been much easier — and Facebook still failed. Facebook and its parent company Meta flopped once again in a test of how well they could detect obviously violent hate speech in advertisements submitted to the platform by the nonprofit groups Global

FRIENDSHIP, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Department of Transportation says all lanes of Interstate 30 have reopened in southwestern Arkansas more than 24 hours after a fatal crash there killed at least three people. The department said Thursday that the last westbound lane near Friendship reopened about 6 p.m. Thursday after repairs to damaged pavement.

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for jobless aid last week, but the total number of Americans collecting unemployment remains at a five-decade low. Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 27,000 to 229,000 for the week ending June 4, the most since mid-January, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Raphael G. Warnock will have a children’s book out this fall, a picture story based on his being one of 12 siblings. Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, announced Thursday that Warnock’s “Put On Your Shoes and Get Ready!” will be published Nov. 15. TeMika Grooms will

By TOMMY TINDALL of NerdWallet It’s a hot job market right now, and that extends to the youngest workers. The unemployment rate for teenagers ages 16-19 was just over 10% in April. Given the strife and isolation of the past couple of years, it’s teens who may have the most to gain by going to

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE and DIANE JEANTET Associated Press ATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil (AP) — Authorities are narrowing their search area in the disappearance of a British journalist and Brazilian indigenous official. Meanwhile, top news editors, US lawmakers, soccer superstars and Hollywood celebrities are urging Brazilian authorities to intensify their search for British journalist Dom Phillips

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Greece to demilitarize islands in the Aegean Sea and says he is “not joking.” Turkey says Greece has been building a military presence in violation of treaties that guarantee the unarmed status of the Aegean islands. Speaking on the final day of military exercises

MADRID (AP) — Ellen MacArthur, a British sailor who set world solo yachting records before creating a charity that advocates a sustainable way of life, has won this year’s Princess of Asturias Award for international cooperation. The Princess of Asturias Award jury said in its citation published Thursday that the 45-year-old is “a reference in

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian man during clashes in the West Bank. The ministry identified the man as Mohammed Abu Ayhour, 27, from the village of Halhul in the southern West Bank. The military did not immediately respond to a request for

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union will allow Spain and Portugal to spend billions of euros in state aid to help ease the burden of spiraling electricity prices on consumers in the Iberian Peninsula. The state aid amounts to a total of 8.4 billion euros ($6.8 billion) and is aimed at helping to pay fuel

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A court in central Greece has overturned a ruling that authorized the confiscation of crude oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker at the center of a volatile dispute over international sanctions. Greek and Iranian officials confirmed on Thursday that an appeals court in the port city of Halkida reversed a lower court’s

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer The Paris police chief apologized on Thursday for the pepper spraying of genuine fans and families amid the chaos that engulfed the Champions League final last month outside the Stade de France. He also justified the tactic. Paris police prefect Didier Lallement admitted that the evening in the suburb

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The average cost of filling up a typical family car has exceeded 100 pounds, or $125, for the first time in Britain as Russia’s war in Ukraine drives gasoline prices higher. The average price of a liter of gas at U.K. pumps hit a record 182.3 pence

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s weather service says that almost the whole of Portugal was in severe drought at the end of May. The weather service said in its monthly climate report Thursday that the month of May was the hottest in the southern European country for the last 92 years. It said the average

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s prime minister is on a surprise visit to the United Arab Emirates. The snap trip Thursday comes as efforts to salvage a deal over Iran’s nuclear program are stalled amid a deepening standoff with Tehran. The visit is Bennett’s second public trip to Abu

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called off a series of in-person meetings in Germany and Romania because he has contracted shingles. It comes after the NATO chief caught the coronavirus last month. A NATO official says Stoltenberg “has been diagnosed with shingles, which can occur after COVID-19, and is working from home.”

MADRID (AP) — As Spain braces for soaring temperatures this weekend, officials say a wildfire in the south that forced the evacuation of 2,000 people is stabilized and closer to being brought under control. The fire west of the coastal resort town of Marbella has burned 2,150 hectares (5,000 acres) of mountain terrain since Wednesday.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The European Central Bank will raise interest rates next month for the first time in 11 years, followed by another hike in September. The bank made the surprise announcement Thursday, saying inflation had become a “major challenge” and that those forces had “broadened and intensified.” The ECB is catching up with other

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top court says British citizens living in the 27 EU member countries have no right to vote or stand for office in the bloc unless they have obtained a European nationality. The ruling was seen as a possible test for the rights of U.K citizens who move to the

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Thousands of coronavirus testing sites have popped up on sidewalks across Beijing and other Chinese cities in the latest development in the country’s “zero-COVID” strategy. Lines form every day, rain or shine, even where the spread of the virus has largely stopped. Some people need to go

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors say a man accused of driving into a school group in Berlin appears to have a history of mental illness. Prosecutor Sebastian Buechner said Thursday there was no sign of a terrorist motive for what appeared to have been a deliberate act. A court ordered

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A top State Department official has met with Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila, part of an ongoing diplomatic outreach in the Asia-Pacific region by Washington to try and blunt growing Chinese influence. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman tweeted after meeting Marcos on Thursday that

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday, with only Shanghai rising, after stocks tumbled on Wall Street on expectations central banks will double down on battling inflation with interest rate hikes. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1.3% to 27,881.78 while the Kospi in Seoul shed