Month: March 2023

By KELVIN CHAN and HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press The battle between the U.S. and China over TikTok comes into full view on Thursday when the social media platform’s CEO testifies before Congressional lawmakers. Shou Zi Chew’s hearing is happening at what he’s called a “pivotal moment” for the hugely popular short video sharing app. TikTok

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish lawmakers have overwhelmingly voted in favor of Sweden joining NATO. The 349-seat Riksdagen, or parliament, authorized Sweden’s accession to NATO on a 269-37 vote, with 43 lawmakers absent. It was the last required domestic hurdle to the country becoming part of the 30-member Western military alliance. Six of the eight

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — An official says a Romanian court has ruled for the fourth time to extend by 30 days the preventative arrest of Andrew Tate, the divisive social media influencer who is held on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking. Tate, 36, a British-U.S. citizen was initially detained in late December in

Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Federal police raided locations in several states to crack down on a crime gang accused of plotting assassinations and kidnappings of public officials including a former judge who presided over Brazil’s biggest corruption case.  Police said about 120 agents carried out 24 search and seizure warrants and 11 arrest

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights official is urging Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to block an anti-LGBTQ bill that prescribes harsh penalties for some homosexual offenses, including death and life imprisonment. Volker Turk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement Wednesday that “the

By MADDIE BURAKOFF AP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him. They weren’t able to crack the case of the German composer’s deafness or severe stomach ailments.

By JEFFREY COLLINS and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Authorities in South Carolina say a former soldier shot and killed three children as they slept in their home while their mother frantically sought help. The ex-soldier then killed himself. Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark says Charles Slacks Jr. also killed an

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have arrested a Syrian man accused of belonging to a unit of the Islamic State group in his homeland that kidnapped and killed opponents. Federal prosecutors said the man was arrested in the western city of Essen on Monday. He is accused of membership in a foreign terrorist group. Prosecutors

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer The fate of President Joe Biden’s pick to run the Federal Aviation Administration is in doubt. On Wednesday, a Senate committee indefinitely postponed a vote on the nomination of Denver airport CEO Phillip Washington. Washington has run transit agencies in Denver and Los Angeles, and he led the incoming

NEW YORK (AP) — Questlove has own book imprint and is launching it with a memoir by one of the world’s most influential and enigmatic musicians, Sly Stone, leader of Sly and the Family Stone. “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” named for the Sly and the Family Stone hit, will be released Oct.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — At this point during the last presidential election in 2020, more than 15 Democrats had jumped into their party’s open presidential race. But this year, the open Republican field for 2024 still officially remains small — and dominated by former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, more

By JESSIE WARDARSKI Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — Scattered in crates, dirty and difficult to read, the gospel music of composer Charles Henry Pace sat packed away, unorganized — and unrealized — for more than 20 years. Frances Pace Barnes, the pioneering music publisher’s daughter who remembers how he could turn a hum into a

By JOCELYN GECKER and COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writers SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bus drivers shuttle America’s children to schools where cafeteria workers feed them and teacher aides assist students who need the most help. And their pay is notoriously low. School support staffers earn, on average, about $25,000 a year in Los Angeles, barely

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s governmental human rights agency says four soldiers opened fire without justification on a pickup truck in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, killing five men. The case of the Feb. 26 shootings has been referred to civilian and military prosecutors. The National Human Rights Commission normally steps back when cases

By VANESSA GERA ASSOCIATED PRESS WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Israeli and Polish foreign ministers have met in a step that they are hailing as a breakthrough in restoring a relationship that has been badly damaged due to bickering over Holocaust memory over the past five years. The ministers signed an agreement on Wednesday that

CAIRO (AP) — The World Bank says it has approved a $7 billion loan to support Egypt’s push to empower the private sector and enhance its efforts to combat the impact of climate change. The World Bank said in a statement Wednesday the funds will be delivered over the next five years. It said the

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A 5,000-mile seaweed belt lurking in the Atlantic Ocean is expected in the next few months to wash onto beaches in the Caribbean Sea, South Florida, and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt — as the biomass stretching from West Africa to the

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese security forces are firing tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who tried to break through a fence leading to the government headquarters in downtown Beirut. The protest Wednesday comes amid widespread anger over the harsh economic conditions in the country. The majority of those in

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The glitzy, fictional Broadway musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe that formed the heart of the TV show “Smash” will make the leap to an actual Broadway stage next season. Producers said Wednesday that “Smash” is slated for Broadway in the 2024-25 season, welcome

BANGKOK (AP) — Police in Thailand have cordoned off a neighborhood in a city south of the capital and trapped a gunman inside his home after he shot dead at least three people and wounded several others. Police evacuated children from nearby schools in Phetchaburi and surrounded the gunman’s house as he sporadically fired at

By KELVIN CHAN, HALELUYA HADERO and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — TikTok is ramping up a public relations campaign to fend off the possibility of a nationwide ban by the Biden administration, and it’s bringing some unconventional advocates to help: online influencers. Dozens of TikTok creators — some with millions of followers on

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s parliament has dismissed an attempt by the far-right Vox party to topple the governing leftist coalition by voting overwhelmingly. Lawmakers on Wednesday voted against a no-confidence motion brought against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government. The motion earned the support of 53 votes. The government received the backing of 201 votes. The

By JOHN ANTCZAK and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A rare tornado touched down in a Los Angeles suburb on Wednesday, ripping roofs off a line of commercial buildings and sending the debris twisting into the sky and across a city block, injuring one person. The National Weather Service sent teams to

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s pro-Kurdish political party and its allies say they won’t field a candidate to run in the country’s May 14 presidential election. The move could boost an opposition bloc’s chances of unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. An opposition coalition has united behind the candidacy of Kemal