Month: March 2023

By ERIC TUCKER and FRANK BAJAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An ambitious new White House cybersecurity strategy calls for bolstering protections of critical sectors and making software companies legally liable when their products don’t meet basic standards. The 35-page document released Thursday promises to use “all instruments of national power” to pre-empt cyberattacks. It

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press President Joe Biden’s administration is asking Congress to agree to pay more than $1.6 billion to help clean up the mess of fraud against the massive government coronavirus pandemic relief programs. In a strategy announced Thursday, the administration called for money and more time to prosecute cases, to put into

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani defense lawyer says a court has released an anti-government retired army general who is a vocal supporter of the country’s popular former prime minister. Thursday’s ruling comes days after retired general Amjad Shoab was arrested on charges of inciting the public and government employees against national institutions. His lawyer, Mian

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies say protesters are “anarchists” after they gathered outside a Tel Aviv salon where his wife was getting her hair done. The demonstration marked a chaotic end to a day of nationwide demonstrations against the government’s contentious plans to overhaul

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is urging India to play a central role in facilitating negotiations to end the Russian war against Ukraine. India, with the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing countries, could represent the needs of less-developed nations, Meloni said

By MAE ANDERSON and TED SHAFFREY The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Shoeshines are losing some luster. Once a common practice, the tradition of getting a quick polish from a rag-toting shoeshiner has become more of a rarity, and many stands have disappeared across the country. The decline has been exacerbated by the pandemic,

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, whose half-century reign makes her Europe’s longest-serving monarch, has been discharged from a Copenhagen hospital. The palace said Thursday that she had undergone a successful back operation last week. The 82-year-old monarch is now facing “a lengthy physical rehabilitation process” which may last several months. On Feb.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The famed statue of Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid, one of Copenhagen’s biggest tourist draws, has been vandalized, with the colors of the Russian flag painted on the rock on which she sits, a newspaper reported Thursday. The oft-attacked 1.65-meter (5.4-foot) -high bronze sits at the entrance of the Copenhagen harbor.

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to speak up and hold Myanmar’s military leaders accountable for blatant human rights violations, but says the country should remain in the regional bloc. Anwar, who took office in November, has become one

By SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Kremlin on Thursday accused Ukrainian saboteurs of crossing into western Russia and firing on villagers. Ukraine denied the claim and warned that Moscow could use the allegations to justify stepping up its own attacks in the ongoing war. The exact circumstances of the alleged attack

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australian police have charged Indian national Rajwinder Singh in the 2018 killing of Toyah Cordingley as she walked her dog along a Queensland beach. Singh has denied killing Cordingley. He arrived Wednesday in Melbourne, Australia, under police escort from New Delhi. On Thursday he flew to Cairns, Queensland, where he has been

By SOPHENG CHEANG and GRANT PECK Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s beleaguered pro-democracy forces face another day of reckoning, as the country’s most prominent opposition politician not in exile is scheduled to hear the verdict in his trial for treason. Kem Sokha was head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party when he

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — When European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Britain last week, some joked on social media: Can you please bring us some tomatoes? People in the U.K. have had to ration salad staples like tomatoes and cucumbers for the past two weeks amid a shortage of

ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court has ordered an investigation into any regulatory failures related to the Adani Group after the conglomerate’s shares plunged due to allegations of wrongdoing by a U.S. short-selling firm. Hindenburg Research’s report accused the Adani Group of companies of market manipulation and other fraudulent practices.

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian diver Stanislav Oliferchyk proudly bears the name of his late grandfather, who died in brutalized Mariupol. Russia’s troops turned the Ukrainian port city into a killing zone in the process of capturing it. The elder Stanislav could no longer get the cancer treatment he needed

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — With the foreign ministers of the Group of 20 leading economies meeting Thursday in New Delhi, host India is promoting itself as a rising superpower while leveraging its position on the global stage to bridge the gap between the West and Russia. Experts

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The British navy seized anti-tank missiles and fins for ballistic missile assemblies during a raid on a small boat heading from Iran likely to Yemen. That’s according to British and American officials, who issued statements Thursday about the seizure. The raid took place Feb.

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — Leading up to Alex Murdaugh’s guilt conviction Thursday of two counts of murder, the public attention on the case had intensified. Investigations stemming from the June 7, 2021, shooting deaths of Murdaugh’s wife and son revealed that the prominent South Carolina lawyer stole millions

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Seven months after a decisive statewide vote affirmed abortion rights in Kansas, the Republican-controlled Legislature’s annual session in some ways looks a lot like previous ones, with multiple anti-abortion proposals. But key players are focusing on incremental changes, instead of a ban. Their biggest goal

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Two Native Hawaiian men wouldn’t have brutally beaten a man if he weren’t white, a U.S. judge said Thursday in sentencing them to yearslong prison terms for a hate crime in a case that reflects Hawaii’s nuanced and complicated relationship with race. A jury convicted Kaulana

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ AP Energy Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Communities around the world emitted more carbon dioxide in 2022 than in any other year on records dating to 1900, a result of air travel rebounding from the pandemic and more cities turning to coal as a low-cost source of power. Emissions of the climate-warming

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay. The Falcon rocket bolted from Kennedy Space Center shortly after midnight, illuminating the night sky as

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer NEW DELHI (AP) — Top diplomats from the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations have ended a contentious meeting in New Delhi with no consensus on the Ukraine war, as discussions of the war and China’s widening global influence dominated much of the talks. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.N. chief has praised Iraq for repatriating citizens detained in neighboring Syria on suspicion of ties to the Islamic State group during a rare visit to Baghdad. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also on Wednesday pledged international support for the country’s efforts to regain stability and security. The visit comes ahead of

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin has been found not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of failing to register a political group and provide financial disclosures at a trial in southern New Mexico. The verdict Wednesday from a 12-member jury capped a two-day trial in

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Friday after a Federal Reserve official raised hopes the U.S. central bank might not step up its anti-inflation fight as much as feared. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices retreated. Wall Street rose Wednesday for the

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama, marking the retirement of the woman credited with popularizing the chant “Fired up, ready to go!” that epitomized his campaigns, says her energy played a key role in lifting his spirits and his candidacy. “It was early in my campaign, and I

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer A federal labor judge has ordered Starbucks to reinstate seven fired workers after finding that the company violated labor laws “hundreds of times” during a unionization campaign in Buffalo, New York. The decision was issued late Wednesday by Administrative Law Judge Michael Rosas of the National Labor Relations Board.

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from the sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month has announced he is reclaiming his position. Wednesday’s announcement by Yves Jean-Bart could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s agenda for this month’s meeting of the ceremonial national legislature: Revive the economy by encouraging consumers to spend more now that severe anti-virus controls have ended. Install a government of Xi loyalists to strengthen the ruling Communist Party’s control over the economy

CANAVERAL GROVES, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida man was arrested Wednesday after fatally shooting his teenage daughter and three other people, authorities said. Domenico Gigante, 36, faces four counts of first-degree murder, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said during a news conference. Deputies responded to a Canaveral Groves home early Wednesday morning after one

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man who spent more than 38 years behind bars for a 1983 murder he did not commit was declared innocent by a judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Maurice Hastings was released from prison last year after long-untested DNA evidence pointed to a different suspect. The judge in October vacated

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Tesla says it will cut the cost of its next generation of vehicles in half, largely by using innovative manufacturing techniques and smaller factories. CEO Elon Musk and other executives outlined the goals during a 3 1/2-hour investor day presentation at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, headquarters Wednesday

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have introduced a bill to give parents more of a say in school curriculum. They’re calling it the “parents’ bill of rights.” It’s the first bill that Kevin McCarthy has formally announced as speaker, and it fulfills a major part of the GOP’s election campaign