Month: January 2023

By CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL and TIAN McLEOD JI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Three Cabinet ministers welcomed Chinese tourists with flowers and gifts as they arrived Monday at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport after China relaxed travel restrictions. The high-profile event reflected the importance Thailand places on wooing back Chinese travelers to help restore its pandemic-battered tourism industry

By BRITTANY PETERSON Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — The mottled bright green leaves of a pothos plant stood out against the flashy expanse of electric vehicles and smart products at the CES tech show in Las Vegas this year. This particular version of the familiar houseplant was bioengineered to remove 30 times the amount

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British government ministers are meeting trade union leaders in a bid to end a wave of strikes that has hobbled the U.K.’s rail network and overburdened health system. Health Secretary Steve Barclay is holding talks with health care unions. Other ministers are meeting with railway unions who

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has broken his silence on the nationwide protests convulsing Iran. He has denounced the recourse to the death penalty there and elsewhere. And he seemingly legitimized the protests as demonstrations “demanding greater respect for the dignity of women.”Francis made the comments Monday in an annual

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Palestinian prime minister has accused Israel’s new ultra-nationalist government of blocking “even the most non-violent ways of fighting the occupation” and warned they will inflame the conflict. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told his Cabinet at its weekly meeting on Monday that Israel’s financial and

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China will not include Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment drug in a national reimbursement list that would have allowed patients to get it at a cheaper price, saying it was too expensive. The oral medicine Paxlovid developed by New York-based drugmaker Pfizer has been widely sought after in

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates will begin teaching about the Holocaust in history classes in primary and secondary schools across the country, the country’s embassy in the United States said. The embassy provided no details on the curriculum and education authorities in the Emirates, a

BERLIN (AP) — German investigators are searching two garages used by an Iranian man arrested on suspicion that he could be planning an attack with deadly chemicals. The search happened on Monday. The 32-year-old and his 25-year-old brother were detained on Saturday night in Castrop-Rauxel in western Germany following a tip from U.S. security officials.

By PANAGIOTIS BALASKAS and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press LESBOS, Greece (AP) — A Somali migrant is to be freed in Greece after winning an appeal against a life sentence for people smuggling. The decision was announced by a court on the Greek island of Lesbos which reduced the sentence of Mohammad Hanad Abdi from 142

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — A Prague court has acquitted former Prime Minister Andrej Babis of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving European Union subsidies. A prosecutor requested a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 10 million Czech koruna ($440,000) for the populist billionaire. Babis pleaded not guilty and

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer If Vegas oddsmakers are correct — and there’s a reason those casinos are huge and luxurious — then football fans are in for a treat this weekend. The NFL’s conference championship weekend is here: The Philadelphia Eagles will host the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC title while the

By ACHMAD IBRAHIM and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says his country would invest in the development of Indonesia’s new capital on Borneo island, which both nations share. Anwar made his first overseas trip to Jakarta since taking office in November, saying at least 10 Malaysian companies

By JAMEY KEATEN and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Dozens of countries and international institutions have pledged more than $9 billion to help Pakistan recover and rebuild from this summer’s devastating floods. That’s to help the country through what the U.N. chief called “a climate disaster of monumental scale.” The flooding killed more

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses went on strike Monday at two of New York City’s major hospitals after contract negotiations stalled over staffing and salaries nearly three years into the coronavirus pandemic. The privately owned, nonprofit hospitals were postponing nonemergency surgeries, diverting ambulances to other medical centers, pulling

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A cargo ship carrying corn that went aground early on Monday in the Suez Canal was refloated and traffic through the crucial waterway was restored, Egyptian authorities said. Adm. Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said the Marshall Islands-flagged MV Glory suffered a sudden technical

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Stock markets were mixed Tuesday ahead of a U.S. inflation update that traders hope will encourage the Federal Reserve to ease off plans for more interest rate hikes. Shanghai and Tokyo rose. Hong Kong and Sydney retreated. Oil prices declined. Traders worry repeated rate hikes by

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Laura Kelly is calling for leaders in Republican-leaning Kansas to emulate the state’s residents and make politics more civil. Kelly was sworn in Monday for a second term as governor. She is facing a skeptical, Republican-led Legislature and a new, hard-right state attorney general.

By JEFF AMY and BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is done being underestimated. Having vanquished both a Donald Trump-backed Republican challenger and Democratic star Stacey Abrams to win reelection, Kemp is looking to expand his influence in his second term, free from the caricature of the gun-toting, pickup-driving, migrant-catching

By DAVID BILLER Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian authorities said Monday that they were looking into who may have been behind the shocking uprising that sent protesters storming into the nation’s halls of power in a riot that had striking similarities to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In

BY JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer New guidelines suggest children struggling with obesity should be evaluated and treated early and aggressively. The American Academy of Pediatrics says treatments can include medication for kids as young as 12 and surgery for those as young as 13. The group said Monday delaying treatment to see whether children

NORTH BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — A longtime foreign affairs journalist in both print and television, Bernard Kalb, has died. He was 100 years old. His younger brother, journalist Marvin Kalb, says Bernard Kalb died Sunday at his Washington-area home after suffering a fall. Bernard Kalb worked for The New York Times, CBS, NBC and CNN

PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) — Scientists are examining the corpse of an endangered whale that washed up on a Mississippi Gulf Coast beach. The rare discovery Saturday marks the first time a fin whale stranding has been reported in Mississippi and just the fourth time since 2002 a fin whale stranding has been reported in

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two people are dead and several others are injured after a 15-vehicle pileup in icy conditions on Interstate 80 near Iowa City Sunday. The Iowa State Patrol said the crash happened after several drivers lost control on the icy highway and collided around 5:45 a.m. Nine of the vehicles involved

By JOHN O’CONNOR AP Political Writer SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The pay raise plan that gives Illinois lawmakers an 18% annual salary hike started in the governor’s office. But Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he didn’t suggest increases for lawmakers. He sought raises for cabinet members to entice talented people to leave the private sector.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is selling shirts to benefit first responders and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center amid his recovery from cardiac arrest. He tweeted about the shirts after the Bills beat the New England Patriots 35-23 Sunday in their first game since Hamlin’s health scare. His tweet included an

By GAVIN GOOD Associated Press EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Mackenzie Holmes scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead No. 6 Indiana to a 72-50 win over Northwestern. Holmes had 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting in the first half as fellow senior Grace Berger returned to the lineup after missing eight games with a

By HOPE YEN and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — After an epic 15-ballot election to become House speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy faces his next big test in governing a fractious, slim majority: passing a rules package to govern the House. The drafting and approval of a set of rules is normally a fairly

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi environmental regulator has denied claims that the state agency he leads discriminated against the capital city of Jackson in allocating federal funds. The regulator says he believes an ongoing civil rights investigation into the matter is politically motivated. Mississippi Department of Environmental