Month: December 2022

By AAMER MADHANI and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told dozens of African leaders gathered in Washington that the United States is “all in on Africa’s future,” laying out billions in promised government funding and private investment Wednesday to help the growing continent in health, infrastructure, business and technology. “The

By JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has banned the popular social media app TikTok from devices owned by the state government’s executive branch, joining several other Republican governors who have done so citing the platform’s Chinese ownership and growing national security worries. Burgum announced the executive order

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Dressed as Elvis and nonchalantly walking a pig on a leash, Stephanie Hsu made a memorable big screen impression this year. Hsu actually had two roles in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” playing both a sullen teen and an intergalactic supervillain. Her performance — combining

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press The Scripps National Spelling Bee has its third executive director in the past two years. Scripps announced Wednesday that longtime bee staffer Corrie Loeffler will lead the competition. Loeffler is a 40-year-old former speller who has worked for Scripps since 2006. She says the executive director position is her dream

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer More than half of U.S. adults say it’s harder to afford holiday gifts this year. According to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 69% of them say they have seen higher prices for holiday gifts in recent months, up from 58% last year.

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer A new Netflix docuseries about professional tennis called “Break Point” is scheduled to debut on Jan. 13. That is three days before the start of the 2023 Grand Slam season at the Australian Open. Netflix revealed the title and launch date on Wednesday. It also released a 30-second teaser

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press British banking giant HSBC announced Wednesday it will no longer finance new oil and gas fields as part of its updated climate strategy. But the bank added it would still give finance to current projects “in line with current demand.” It would also continue to provide finance and advisory services

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s foreign secretary says China’s government has removed a Chinese consul general and five of his staff from the U.K. following the assault on a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester at the Chinese consulate in Manchester. James Cleverly said British police wanted to question the six officials over the assault on Bob Chan,

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure in a Swedish zoo and roamed freely before being captured and euthanized on Wednesday, according to Swedish media. Annika Troselius, press spokeswoman for the group that operates the Furuvik zoo, told the Expressen daily that the animals had to be euthanized because there was not enough

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A security guard died after suffering a fall at a World Cup stadium in Qatar, tournament organizers said on Wednesday. The Supreme Committee said that John Njau Kibue fell at Lusail Stadium on Saturday. He was taken to the hospital and put in intensive care but died on Tuesday, the organizers

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Whitebark pine trees can live more than 1,000 years, but in just two decades more than a quarter of the trees that are a key food source for some grizzly bears have been killed by disease, climate change, wildfires and voracious beetles, government officials said as

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Crowds in Paris and other French cities erupted in shouts of joy as France advanced to the World Cup final Wednesday, while disappointed Morocco fans mingled with the exuberant supporters of the winning team, paying tribute to the African country’s unprecedented achievement. Football fans streamed to the

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s military chief of staff has suggested that Israel was behind a strike on a truck convoy in Syria last month. The remarks provided a rare glimpse of Israel’s shadow war against Iran and its proxies across the region. Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Wednesday

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco’s national carrier says seven flights that were meant to take soccer fans to Qatar for Morocco’s World Cup semifinal against France have been canceled because of restrictions by Qatari authorities. Royal Air Maroc, or RAM, earlier this week announced it would organize 30 flights between Casablanca and Doha on Tuesday

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The people of Ukraine and their representatives have been handed the European Union’s top human rights prize for their resistance to Russia’s invasion and defiance during the ongoing war. The 27-nation bloc awarded the “brave people of Ukraine” the prize in October. Yulia Pajevska, founder of the medical evacuation unit Angels

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union and southeast Asian countries are commemorating 45 years of diplomatic ties with a summit overshadowed by political distractions such as the war in Ukraine and an EU Parliament bribery scandal. EU leaders hosted counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday. The meeting is a nod to Asia’s

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Acting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has outlined her agreement for a new centrist coalition government, the country’s first in 44 years, saying it was the answer for uncertain times. The three-party majority coalition means the end of two blocs that have opposed each other

LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara (AP) — The Moroccan soccer team’s history-making successes at the World Cup are stirring mixed emotions in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Its largely Moroccan population is celebrating, but native Sahrawis have a more complex reaction. The Sahrawi people have sought independence for the territory since Morocco annexed it in 1975.

By The Associated Press Two men and a pet dog were rescued from a sailboat without power or fuel more than 200 miles off Delaware, 10 days after friends and relatives had last heard from them, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday. Kevin Hyde, 65, and Joe Ditomasso, 76, were sailing from Cape May, New

By ALEXANDRA OLSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Say goodbye to virtual wine tastings, and bust out the karaoke. Love them or hate them, company holiday parties are back — in a toned-down kind of way. After more than two years of working in pajama bottoms and clinking glasses over Zoom, many office

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet “Buy now, pay later” services like Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna can sometimes provide a cheaper, more accessible version of credit. These services essentially provide customers an alternative way to pay for purchases over time without going into credit card debt or taking out a traditional personal loan. Travel purchases, such

By ERION XHABAFTI and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s leaders on Wednesday signed a formal application seeking the status of candidate for membership in the European Union. The signing Wednesday comes amid a long-lasting dispute with neighboring Serbia, which immediately called on the bloc to cancel its process. Kosovo’s president, speaker

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s parliament has failed to elect a government proposed by the center-right GERB party to resolve a political impasse that has gripped the European Union’s poorest member country. Prime Minister-designate and neurosurgeon Nikolay Gabrovski had proposed a technocratic Cabinet. But he failed on Wednesday to secure a majority in the 240-seat

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two Ethiopians have filed a lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, over hate speech they say was allowed and even promoted on the social media platform amid heated rhetoric over their country’s deadly Tigray conflict. Former Amnesty International human rights researcher Fisseha Tekle is one petitioner

RAHIM FAIEZ ISLAMABAD (AP) — An Afghan official says 20 people have been lashed in public in the Taliban-ruled country as punishment for alleged adultery, theft, and other crimes. Afghanistan’s new authorities have established hardline policies since they took over the country in August 2021 that reflect their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. A