Month: January 2023

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s Parliament is demanding that the country’s government renegotiate the energy part of an EU-funded post-pandemic recovery plan, to save the country’s coal-fired power plants from closure. Lawmakers on Thursday voted 187-2 with nine abstentions to approve a revision of the plan, which is key to receiving 6.3 billion euros in

LONDON (AP) — Virgin Orbit said Thursday its first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the U.K. failed after its rocket’s upper stage prematurely shut down. The U.S.-based company used a modified Boeing 747 plane to carry one of its rockets from Cornwall in southwestern England over the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. The plane

By LEANNE ITALIE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Love her or loathe her, Barbie has been transformed again, this time into a version for children as young as 3. Gone is the contentious hourglass figure for My First Barbie, which launched Thursday ahead of July’s live-action film about the icon starring Margot Robbie and

By DAVID KOENIG and TOM KRISHER AP Business Writers U.S. air travel has returned mostly to normal, a day after a computer system that sends safety information to pilots broke down and grounded traffic from coast to coast. By early afternoon Thursday on the East Coast, only about 100 flights had been canceled and 1,700

BY MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — David Byrne’s “American Utopia” may have gone from Broadway but the Talking Heads leader is plotting a return — with disco. Byrne and Fatboy Slim plan to put their musical “Here Lies Love” on a Broadway stage this summer. The show that charts the rise

By BOBBY ROSS Jr. Associated Press COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — A year ago, Jeff Cohen and three others survived a hostage standoff at their Reform Jewish synagogue in this Fort Worth suburb. Their trauma did not disappear, though, with the FBI’s killing of the pistol-wielding captor, 44-year-old British national Malik Faisal Akram. Healing from the

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has kicked off her reelection campaign. The 56-year-old sent out an email to supporters on Thursday announcing her 2024 bid.  Gillibrand has served as New York’s junior senator since 2009, taking over the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Gillibrand

LONDON (AP) — Members of the royal family appeared in public Thursday for the first time since the publication of Prince Harry’s explosive memoir, touring charities and a hospital as they got on with the task of being working royals. King Charles III travelled to Scotland to meet with local groups that help combat rural

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level in 15 weeks as the job market continues to show resiliency in the face of the Federal Reserve’s attempts to cool the economy. The number of Americans applying for jobless aid for the week

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese prosecutors are expected to formally charge the suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with murder on Friday, his lawyer said. Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested immediately after allegedly shooting Abe with a handmade gun as the former leader was making a campaign speech

WASHINGTON (AP) — A little over a year after being celebrated at the Kennedy Center, Joni Mitchell will return to Washington for another lifetime achievement honor: the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Mitchell, 79, is widely regarded as among the greatest singer-songwriters of her time, with her best known works including “Chelsea

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia says its forces are edging closer to capturing a salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine. Capturing the town of Soledar would mark an elusive victory for the Kremlin but come at the cost of heavy Russian losses and extensive destruction of the territory they claim. A

MACCLESFIELD, England (AP) — A soccer team in England’s eighth tier has granted its main striker a period of leave so he can appear on the new series of reality TV show Love Island. Macclesfield is a club which leads the Northern Premier League West Division by eight points. It says it is disappointed to

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press KIRUNA, Sweden (AP) — The beginning of the end of Europe’s dependency on China for precious rare earth materials may lie buried deep under the rugged reaches of northern Sweden, well above the Arctic Circle. Sweden’s iron-ore miner LKAB said Thursday it has identified “significant deposits” in Lapland of rare

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish judge has dropped sedition charges against former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont for his role in the region’s illegal secession push in 2017 that brought Spain’s most serious political crisis for decades. The court said in a statement Thursday that Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena took the step because changes to

By SHONAL GANGULY Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s army chief says the border situation with China is stable but unpredictable after a nearly two-and-a-half-year standoff between tens of thousands of soldiers from both countries in the eastern Ladakh area. Gen. Manoj Pande told reporters on Thursday the countries were continuing to talk both

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ruled that inaction by the country’s former president and four others led to Easter Sunday bomb attacks in 2019 that killed nearly 270 people and ordered them to pay compensation for violating the basic rights of the victims and their

By NICOLAE DUMITRACHE AND STEPHEN McGRATH Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s anti-organized crime agency has carried out additional house searches as part of its investigation into divisive social media influencer Andrew Tate. The agency that investigates organized crime said in a statement Thursday that it conducted searches of seven homes in the case,

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is set to visit Poland and Germany this month amid rising antisemitism. Emhoff will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and hold meetings aimed at combating antisemitism in the U.S. and worldwide. Emhoff is the first Jewish person to

BERLIN (AP) — The European Union’s highest court says travelers whose package tours were ruined by the imposition of restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic may be entitled to at least a partial refund. The European Court of Justice weighed in on Thursday after being asked for its opinion by a court in Germany. The

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses at two New York City hospitals ended a three-day strike Thursday after reaching a tentative contract agreement that union officials said will relieve chronic short staffing and boost pay by 19% over three years. Nurses began returning to work Thursday morning at Mount

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A Hungarian government minister says the country will take legal action against the European Union’s executive arm if it cannot reach an agreement on EU funding for university study-abroad programs. A recent decision by the European Commission to cut funding for the Erasmus student exchange program

By STEVE PEOPLES, ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press TAVERNIER, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted illegal immigration last fall by sending dozens of immigrants from Texas to an island off the Massachusetts coast. But the ambitious Republican governor has adopted a more cautious approach as thousands of Cubans flock to

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will deliver a final send-off for Cardinal George Pell during a funeral Mass on Saturday, the Vatican said, as revelations emerge of the Australian prelate’s growing concern about what he considered the “disaster” and “catastrophe” of the papacy under Francis. The Vatican on Thursday

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The Malian army says 14 soldiers have been killed and nearly a dozen wounded in coordinated attacks by Islamic extremists. The director of public relations for the army in a statement Wednesday that multiple improvised explosive devices detonated between Dia and Diafarabe villages as well as

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the biggest contract manufacturer of processor chips for smartphones and other products, says its quarterly profit rose 78% over a year earlier but forecast weak demand this year. Revenue for the three months ending in December rose 43% to 625.5 billion New Taiwan dollars ($20.6 billion). Profit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The University of Memphis plans to retire the jersey of former basketball player Lorenzen Wright during a game next month, more than 12 years after he was fatally shot. The program said Wednesday that it will retire Wright’s No. 55 at halftime of the game against Tulane on Feb. 4. Wright

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Former top Israeli legal officials have spoken out against sweeping changes to the country’s justice system planned by the new conservative government. In a letter published Thursday, the officials lend their opposition to a growing outcry against the proposed overhaul. Seven former attorneys general and

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister says that the United Arab Emirates agreed to extend a $2 billion loan to his country and provide a additional $1 billion as his nation struggles to recover from devastating floods this summer. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s office made the announcement

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — Populist billionaire Andrej Babis is leading a field of eight candidates hoping to succeed Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious post of the Czech president. Babis was recently acquitted in a fraud trial. The former prime minister boosted his chances of winning in the first

LUETZERATH, Germany (AP) — Police are pressing ahead with the clearance of a condemned village in western Germany where activists are vowing to hold out against its demolition to make way for the expansion of a coal mine. Officers resumed their effort on Thursday after working into the night to bring down activists from the

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Officials in Republican-controlled Montana want to require authorization before the state’s health department pays for abortions for people covered by Medicaid. Critics say the proposed rule change would reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women. The Department of Public Health

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — An industry group says China’s auto sales rose 9.5% in 2022 as electric vehicle purchases nearly doubled, but demand slumped in December, foreshadowing weaker growth this year. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says sales of SUVs, sedans and minivans in 2022 rose to 23.6 million.