Month: March 2023

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has addressed lawmakers for the last time as Scottish leader. She expressed pride in her government’s achievements to lessen poverty and inequality. But she failed in her quest to make Scotland an independent country. Sturgeon faced strong criticism from opponents in her 286th

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Police in Montenegro say they have arrested Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, who is wanted in South Korea following the $40 billion crash of the firm’s cryptocurrency. South Korea’s Justice Ministry confirmed the arrests of Kwon and another unidentified individual linked to the cryptocurrency crash and said Friday it will seek

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature voted Thursday to advance a contentious bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, despite threats from some lawmakers that they would filibuster the rest of the session. The vote came on the third day of debate, in which lawmakers angrily accused

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilda to the capital Pretoria, lauded the European country for its assistance to Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramaphosa emphasized the role played by Belgium in backing the World Health Organization’s mRNA technology transfer hub

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — The Finnish president has formally sealed the Nordic country’s historic bid to join NATO by signing into laws the required legal amendments needed for membership in the military alliance. The president’s move Thursday means Finland is now just awaiting approval from Turkey and Hungary, the only two

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s  Defense Ministry says the first four of 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that Slovakia decided to give Ukraine have been safely handed over to the Ukrainian air force. The ministry says the warplanes were flown from Slovakia to Ukraine by Ukrainian pilots with help from the Slovak air force, Ukrainian

By SIBI ARASU Associated Press BENGALURU, India (AP) — India will require $900 billion over the next 30 years to move away from coal mines and thermal plants, a New Delhi based think tank said in a report Thursday. One of the biggest global challenges in moving away from dirty fuels is compensating people whose earnings

WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has come out of retirement to sign for Wrexham. The Welsh soccer team is owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The 39-year-old Foster last played for Watford before stepping away from the game last year. He signed a deal until the end

Associated Press WOODLAWN, Md. (AP) — New details are emerging about a crash along the Baltimore beltway Wednesday that left six construction workers dead after a driver lost control of her vehicle, which went careening into a work zone, according to Maryland State Police. Lisa Adrienna Lea, 54, was identified as the driver of a

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Officials say the death toll from a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck much of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan earlier this week has risen to 21, after eight more deaths were reported in remote areas. They said on Thursday that 10 died in Afghanistan and 11 in Pakistan. More than more than 130

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A prominent leader of Uganda’s LGBTQ community says he is worried about becoming “homeless,” describing anguished calls by others like him who are concerned for their safety after the passing of a tough new anti-gay law. Frank Mugisha, head of the banned LGBTQ support group Sexual

BERLIN (AP) — German unions are calling on thousands of workers across the country’s transport system to stage a one-day strike on Monday that is expected to bring widespread disruption to planes, trains and local transit. The ver.di service workers’ union and the EVG union announced the 24-hour walkout in a joint appearance Thursday that

By VANESSA GERA and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Prince William has paid tribute to Poles who lost their lives in past wars, and expressed gratitude to the nation for what it is doing today to provide humanitarian and military support to Ukraine. The heir to the U.K. throne’s visit to Poland

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — Barcelona is facing a new legal threat from UEFA because of its payments of millions of dollars to a company linked to a Spanish refereeing official. It could include a Champions League ban. The European soccer body has asked for an investigation into the matter. The

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The labor market continues to defy the Federal Reserve’s attempts at loosening it, with U.S. applications for unemployment benefits down again last week and remaining at historically low levels. The Labor Department said Thursday that jobless claims in the U.S. for the week ending March 18 fell by 1,000

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A young zebra walked, trotted, and galloped for hours in the busy streets of South Korea’s capital before emergency workers tranquilized the animal and brought it back to a zoo. Choi Ye-ra, an official at the Children’s Grand Park in Seoul, said the 2-year-old male zebra was in stable condition

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court has found opposition leader Rahul Gandhi guilty of defamation over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname. He was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison. Gandhi won’t go to jail immediately as the court granted bail for 30 days to file an appeal against the verdict.

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A senior Nigerian politician and his wife have been found guilty of conspiring to transport a street trader to the U.K. as part of an organ-harvesting plot. Ike Ekweremadu, who was deputy president of the Nigerian Senate and a lawyer, and his wife, Beatrice, were accused of

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A top Russian security official has declared that the risk of a nuclear war has risen and blasted a German minister for threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with arrest. Russian Security Council deputy secretary Dmitry Medvedev warned Thursday that such action would amount to a declaration of

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong department store took down a digital artwork that contained hidden references to jailed dissidents, in an incident the artist says is evidence of erosion of free speech in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. It was unclear whether the government played a role in the

DETROIT (AP) — Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of more than 571,000 SUVs and minivans in the U.S. to park them outdoors because the tow hitch harnesses can catch fire while they are parked or being driven. The affiliated Korean automakers are recalling the vehicles and warning people to park them away from