Month: March 2023

By KIMBERLY PALMER of NerdWallet Women often pay more for goods and services, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Shopping experts say that by opting for gender-neutral personal care products, consumers can sometimes avoid what’s been dubbed the “pink tax.” At the hair salon, dry cleaners and car dealership, being a more informed

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s newly elected president has taken took the oath of office in Kathmandu. Ram Chandra Poudel, senior opposition leader, is the Himalayan country’s third president since it abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008 and became a republic. Poudel was elected Thursday by members of the national parliament and provincial assemblies. Outgoing

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The BBC says sports commentator Gary Lineker will return to the airwaves. Britain’s national broadcaster has reversed the former soccer great’s suspension for a post on Twitter that had criticized the British government’s new asylum policy. BBC Director-General Tim Davie said Monday that “I look forward to

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of Iran’s judiciary says more than 22,000 people arrested in the recent protests that swept the Islamic Republic have been pardoned. The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi on Monday as giving that figure. The Associated Press could not independently

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to increase U.K. military funding by 5 billion pounds ($6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the challenge posed by China. The increase is part of a major update to U.K. foreign

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations has called for scientists to serve up “cold, hard facts” to push governments into making policies that curb climate change before a key global warming threshold is passed. His comments came as experts and officials from around the world gathered for a week-long meeting in the

BEIJING (AP) — An agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to re-establish diplomatic relations has cast China in a leading role in Middle Eastern politics — a part previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the U.S. and Russia. It’s another sign that China’s diplomatic clout is growing to match its economic footprint. Under strongman

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Nyhiem Way is weary of people conflating African American and Black. Shalini Parekh wants a way for South Asian people to identify themselves differently than East Asians with roots in places like China or Japan. And Byron Haskins wants the U.S. to toss racial and ethnic labels altogether. “When you

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s during the commercial breaks that the audience inside the Dolby Theatre really comes to life on Oscar night. The stars will gladly play for the cameras posted in their face during the global broadcast – they are actors after all – but a lot

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis marks the 10th anniversary of his election as pope on Monday. During that decade, several historic occasions, as well as several unplanned events, helped define the contours and priorities of history’s first Latin American pontiff. Visits with refugees in Italy and Greece, trips to

HOUSTON (AP) — Police in Texas say a 3-year-old girl found a loaded gun in a home and accidentally shot her sister, killing the 4-year-old on Sunday around 8 p.m. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the girls were in the bedroom of an apartment in Houston, where they lived with their parents. Five adults,

BERLIN (AP) — Flights at several German airports have been severely disrupted by the latest in a string of one-day strikes related to various pay disputes. The ver.di union called workers out on “warning strikes” at Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover and Bremen airports on Monday. Some 200 departures were canceled in Berlin on Monday, and about

By OMER FAROOQ Associated Press HYDERABAD, India (AP) — India celebrated its two historic Academy Awards with enthusiasm befitting the high-energy best original song “Naatu Naatu.” The dance anthem from the blockbuster Telugu-language action epic “RRR” is the first from an Indian film to earn a nomination and win and has dazzled audiences everywhere with

By KEN SWEET, CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, CHRIS MEGERIAN and CATHY BUSSEWITZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Depositors withdrew savings, and investors broadly sold off bank shares as the federal government raced to reassure Americans that the banking system is secure following two bank failures. President Joe Biden insisted Monday that the system is safe after

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. Economic life for everyday Russians hasn’t changed that much, with familiar imported goods either still available or replaced by local knockoffs. There’s no mass unemployment, shuttered banks or other signs of crisis. But President Vladimir Putin’s fortress economy

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe, whose darkly poetic novels were built from his memories during Japan’s postwar occupation and from being the parent of a disabled son, has died. He was 88. His publisher said Oe died March 3. Oe in 1994 became the second Japanese author

By SYAWALLUDIN ZAIN Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Michelle Yeoh’s mother cried for joy for her “little princess” when the Malaysian became the first Asian to win the best actress Oscar. Yeoh’s family and two Cabinet ministers were among the supporters at a special Academy Awards viewing party Monday morning in Kuala Lumpur.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Law enforcement agencies continue to investigate after they say a threat was made on a United Airlines flight Sunday night bound for Burlington, Vermont. Police say the threat was made on United Airlines flight 3613, which took off from Newark, New Jersey, at 3:14 p.m. MyNBC5 reported officials say that about

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Fire has damaged part of the provincial residence of Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni while he was abroad. The blaze broke out Sunday night in the northwestern city of Siem Reap, damaging the roof of one of the smaller buildings in the royal complex. The 69-year-old king is currently in Beijing

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ke Huy Quan says his fellow “Goonies” readily congratulated him on his Oscar win for best supporting actor. The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star, who played Data in the iconic 1985 adventure film, told reporters Sunday that he heard from every single co-star including Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman and Martha

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Micronesia’s president has accused China of “political warfare” in a letter to other national leaders. The Pacific island country has discussed switching diplomatic allegiance from China to Taiwan in exchange for $50 million. President David Panuelo says China has been using nefarious tactics, including spying

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — To outsiders, they looked like simple stacks of paper. But for Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign, they represented a missed opportunity. A month before Iowa’s 2016 presidential caucuses, mountains of so-called pledge cards sat in the corner of Trump’s suburban Des Moines state

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has testified before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf. Cohen arrived at the courthouse accompanied by his lawyer shortly in advance of his closed-door testimony. He

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has begun an aggressive new push to inflict pain on Russia’s economy and specifically its oligarchs with the intent of thwarting the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. From the Treasury Department to the Justice Department, U.S. officials will focus on efforts to legally liquidate the property

By ZEKE MILLER and DARLENE SUPERVILLE AP White House Correspondent SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and the United Kingdom have announced that Australia will buy nuclear-powered attack submarines from the U.S. to modernize its fleet. The agreement comes as concerns grow about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

By TERRY TANG Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michelle Yeoh has won the Academy Award for best actress and made history all at once. The Malaysian-born actor became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress on Sunday for her multifaceted performance in the multiversal “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

By JOE McDONALD Associated Press BEJIING (AP) — President Xi Jinping is calling for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs after Beijing scored a diplomatic coup by hosting talks that produced an agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen diplomatic relations. Xi spoke Monday following a legislative session that installed

By BETH HARRIS Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brendan Fraser has won the Oscar for best actor, completing the kind of career comeback that Hollywood has always loved. He accepted the trophy for “The Whale,” in which Fraser plays a 600-pound reclusive gay English teacher desperate to restore his relationship with his daughter. Fraser

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The dual directing team known as the Daniels have won the Oscar for best director. The team of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert took the elite filmmaking prize along with best original screenplay Sunday night for their movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” beating out

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Hardly anything changed when Japan dropped its request for people to wear masks after three years. Most commuters exiting Tokyo’s main train station Monday morning were wearing masks as they headed to work. Some lawmakers wore masks during a televised parliament session, though Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell Monday, shaken by a Wall Street tumble that set off worries the biggest United States bank failure in nearly 15 years might have ripple effects around the world. But the falls were relatively subdued because of reassurances from U.S. officials that financial