Month: February 2023

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. is giving Northern Ireland more time to form a new power-sharing government, eliminating the threat of elections that could derail efforts to renegotiate a post-Brexit trade deal for the region. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris on Thursday introduced legislation extending the deadline for forming a

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a state of disaster with immediate effect to deal with the country’s severe electricity crisis including prolonged daily power blackouts. In his State of the Nation address Thursday night Ramaphosa said that extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. He said

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press If your image of nuclear power is giant, cylindrical concrete cooling towers pouring out steam on a site that takes up hundreds of acres of land, soon there will be an alternative: tiny nuclear reactors that produce only one-hundredth the electricity and can even be delivered on a truck. Small

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Eritrea’s president in rare public comments has dismissed as “a fantasy” allegations that his country’s forces carried out rape, looting and other abuses in the war in neighboring Ethiopia’s Tigray region. President Isaias Afwerki, the only leader Eritrea has known in its 30 years since independence,

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Twitter has failed to provide a full report to the European Union on its efforts to combat online disinformation, drawing a rebuke from top officials of the 27-nation bloc. The company signed up to the EU’s voluntary 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation last year —

BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has discovered plans by Russian secret services to destroy Moldova. Speaking to European Union leaders in Brussels, Zelenskyy said he recently spoke with Maia Sandu. “I have informed her that we have intecepted the plan of the destruction of Moldova by the Russian intelligence,” Zelenskyy said

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, has been unusually talkative following the November collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange and his subsequent indictment on fraud and other charges. He’s given a series of interviews intended to present his version of events and used

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s parliament has banned a far-right political party led by a jailed former lawmaker from participating in an upcoming general election expected in April. Lawmakers backed a legal amendment to disqualify the Greek National Party. It is led by Ilias Kasidiaris, a former member of parliament

By BRIAN WITTE Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and state lawmakers are scheduled to announce support for measures protecting abortion rights. House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson will join the fellow Democratic governor at a news conference Thursday. They want an amendment to enshrine the right to

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A shallow earthquake has shaken Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua, killing four people who were unable to escape when a floating restaurant collapsed into the sea. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit residential areas near Papua’s northern coast and was centered at a depth of 13 miles.

CAPU MIDIA, Romania (AP) — U.S. and French troops who are in Romania as part of a NATO battlegroup held a military exercise to test the 30-nation alliance’s eastern flank defenses, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary. The joint combat drills at the Black Sea training range in Capu Midia,

By MARK SHERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court soon could find itself with easy ways out of two high-profile cases involving immigration and elections, if the justices are looking to avoid potentially messy and divisive decisions. Off-ramps in those cases could prove attractive in a term with no shortage

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s central bank has raised a key interest rate and 0.5 percentage points to 3% to combat inflation, saying it “is far too high and has continued to rise.” Riksbanken said Thursday when announcing the hike that “for inflation to fall and stabilize around the target within a reasonable time. In Sweden,

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s statistics bureau says inflation hit a new high in January. It says the annual inflation stood at 26.5% last month, up from 21.9% the month before. In January 2022, the figure stood at 8%, before spiking after the outbreak of Russia’s war in Ukraine in February last year. During January, the

GENEVA (AP) — Credit Suisse has reported a pre-tax loss of more than 1.3 billion Swiss francs, or about $1.4 billion, in the fourth quarter of last year. The results Thursday come as new managers vie to right the top-drawer Swiss bank that has faced a string of setbacks in recent years and is trying

MOSCOW (AP) — Authorities say a gas explosion in an apartment building in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk has killed at least 12 people, including a 2-year-old child. The Thursday morning explosion caused two entrances of the five-story building to collapse, with 30 apartments destroyed by the ensuing fire. Russian news agencies cited the city’s

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Nissan has reported a 55% jump in its October-December profit, as the Japanese automaker gears up for a less bumpy journey with its French alliance partner Renault. Profit for the quarter at Yokohama-based Nissan totaled 50.6 billion yen, or $386 million. Its quarterly sales surged 29%,

RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Dozens of Afghans have rushed to the Kabul airport following a rumor that an airlift operation was flying people to Turkey to help with the deadly earthquake rescue. Wednesday’s dash, which included women and children, was captured on videos and photos posted on social media. The footage and

By MATTHEW LEE and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says the China balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial spy program that has targeted more than 40 countries. In a statement Thursday, the administration cited imagery of the

By RAF CASERT and SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his Western allies Thursday for more weapons and said “a Ukraine that is winning” its war with Russia should become a member of the European Union, arguing the bloc won’t be complete without it. At the close of a 16-hour

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant’s time in Brooklyn ended Thursday when the Nets traded him to the Phoenix Suns as part of a four-team deal. The Nets acquired Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, first-round picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, and a first-round pick swap in 2028 from

By JACK JEFFERY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister has met with Sudan’s military rulers as the nations seek to deepen economic and political ties. Sudan marked the final leg of the minister’s tour of Africa. Sudan’s state-run SUNA news agency says the minister held discussions with two top Sudanese ruling generals on

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has rejected a coal mining application based on environmental law for the first time. The government is under pressure to block all new coal and gas extraction projects in the interest of curbing climate change. But Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said Thursday she would decide

By MOHANED AWAD and JACK JEFFERY Associated Press EL OBEID, Sudan (AP) — A surge in mosquito-borne diseases in recent months has shown the fragility of Sudan’s health system and bodes ill for coming challenges, especially after the African country’s 2021 military coup. Dengue fever, a potentially dangerous mosquito-borne viral disease that can cause severe

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) — On a September day in 2020, New York City Police Officer Baimadajie Angwang kissed his toddler goodbye and was about to drive to work when he was surrounded by rifle-toting FBI agents. You’re under arrest, the bewildered cop was told. The charge: Being a

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The leaders of Japan and the Philippines have agreed to sharply boost their defense ties, allowing Japanese troops greater access to Philippine territory, as tensions rise in Asia amid China’s growing influence. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is visiting Japan shortly after he and the U.S. secretary

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who had a stroke during his campaign last year, remained hospitalized and undergoing tests after feeling lightheaded, with tests so far negative for another stroke or seizure, his office said Thursday evening. An MRI at George Washington University Hospital, along with other tests run by doctors, rule out