Month: July 2022

By JOHN HANNA and SEAN MURPHY Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Japan’s Panasonic Corp. and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly say the company selected the state Kansas as the location for a multibillion-dollar mega-factory to produce electric vehicle batteries for Tesla and other carmakers. The company was lured to Kansas by taxpayer-funded incentives worth $829

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has become one of the few nations in the world to recognize the independence of two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine in support of Russia’s war against its neighbor. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry cut off diplomatic ties with North Korea in response and

By ASTRID SUAREZ and MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s next finance minister says the left-leaning government taking office next month will focus on increasing taxes on the rich so it can spend more on poverty programs. But Columbia University econonist Jose Antonio Ocampo says the new administration will respect the autonomy

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In the latest Jan. 6 hearing, already standing out for its notable moments, Rep. Liz Cheney saved the most startling for last. In her closing remarks, the co-chair of the House investigating committee said the panel had learned that former President Donald Trump had recently tried to

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has postponed its vote on extending the U.N. political mission in crisis-wracked Haiti after China called for closed consultations on the resolution. China has no diplomatic relations with Haiti, which is the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country and is being wracked by

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An investigation has been launched after a person believed to be an Anchorage, Alaska, police officer was shown in a photo with a woman in town for a Donald Trump rally flashing a novelty “White Privilege card.” The social media post caused concerns about racial equality

By ACACIA CORONADO, PAUL J. WEBER and JAKE BLEIBERG Associated Press UVALDE, Texas (AP) — As video taken inside Robb Elementary School puts in full view the bewildering inaction by law enforcement during the May slaughter of 19 children and two teachers, some in Uvalde are shouting: Will police face consequences? Only one officer from

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government is giving American Airlines permission to resume flights to five cities in Cuba outside the capital of Havana. The Transportation Department announced the approval on Wednesday. It follows President Joe Biden’s move to restore some links between the U.S. and Cuba that were dropped by the Trump

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A defendant in a Mississippi welfare fraud case says she directed $1.1 million in welfare money to former NFL star Brett Favre at the direction of former Gov. Phil Bryant. Mississippi news outlets report that the accusation, which Bryant denies, is in a filing on behalf of defendant Nancy New. New

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 7-Eleven convenience store chain is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a gunman in a deadly string of Southern California store robberies. The chain on Wednesday asked people to anonymously supply information following Monday’s five-hour wave of holdups at six stores in Brea,

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press/Report for America RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina state employee health plan will resume coverage of gender affirming treatments for transgender people, complying with a June federal court ruling that declared the refusal of coverage unconstitutional. State Treasurer Dale Folwell and the State Health Plan Board of Trustees announced

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced a $2 million plan Wednesday for dealing with what he described as a critical shortage of police officers in the city, including recruitment bonuses, reimbursement of moving costs and possible tuition assistance. Seattle has lost more than 400 officers since 2019 as the department was heavily criticized

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. nuclear regulators say there are no environmental reasons to prevent the construction of a multibillion-dollar facility in southern New Mexico to temporarily store spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants around the nation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its final environmental review of the

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Parson administration’s response to questions from Missouri hospitals, doctors and prosecutors about the state’s new abortion ban is to tell people to read the law and otherwise leave it to prosecutors to interpret. The state health department released a factsheet on the law Wednesday. Medical

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate easily approved Michael Barr to be the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator in a bipartisan vote Wednesday. Barr, a former top Treasury official under President Barack Obama, is the last of President Joe Biden’s three nominees to the Fed’s board of governors to win

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A state senator in Rhode Island who was suspended from TikTok after posting a video in which she twerked while doing a handstand in a bikini says she has no regrets. Sen. Tiara Mack was briefly banned from the app Tuesday, The 28-year-old Providence Democrat is Black

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix has picked Microsoft to help deliver the commercials in a cheaper version of its video streaming service expected to launch later this year with a pledge to minimize the intrusions into personal privacy that often accompany digital ads. The alliance announced Wednesday marks a

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration and Democrats are warning of dire consequences if Congress fails to act on computer chips legislation. They say Congress needs to pass a bill by the end of July that’s designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. Advocates say the plan is

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The University of Central Florida has removed anti-racist statements from departmental websites in the wake of the passage of a Republican-backed law that restricts how race can be taught. Religious studies professor Ann Gleig said in an email Wednesday that the anti-racist statement on the school’s

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin is roiling budget talks with Democratic leaders anew. The West Virginia Democrat says the latest inflation surge makes him more cautious about agreeing to federal spending increases that could drive consumers’ costs even higher. In December, Manchin single-handedly killed Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion, 10-year

ROME (AP) — The stability of Italian Premier Mario Draghi’s coalition government is at risk because 5-Star lawmakers say they will not participate in a confidence vote in Parliament. The head of the populist 5-Star Movement, former Premier Giuseppe Conte, announced the no-vote late Wednesday. The vote on a series of measures to help Italians

WHITEWOOD, Va. (AP) — Authorities say flooding in a remote corner of southwest Virginia has damaged more than 100 homes but there are no confirmed deaths or injuries despite some 40 people being unaccounted for. Officials said at a news conference Wednesday that the flooding occurred in Virginia’s Buchanan County. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared

By DEMETRIS NELLAS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities in Greece say two members of a helicopter crew battling a forest fire on the Greek island of Samos died when it crashed into the sea. A Romanian national and a Greek liaison officer died in the crash, while two Moldovan nationals survived. The Soviet-era

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Attorneys for Sen. Lindsey Graham say he wasn’t trying to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 election when he called state officials to ask them to reexamine certain absentee ballots after President Donald Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The arguments came in a court filing Tuesday