Month: April 2023

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that a decision to delay provincial elections was unconstitutional. Ali Zafar, the attorney for former prime minister Imran Khan’s Tahreek-e-Insaf party, said the three-member panel of judges ordered the elections held by May 14. The election body in March postponed the polls in Punjab until October 8,

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer The Cinderellas certainly had their moments in this March Madness. More than a few, actually. In the end, it was a familiar face that won the NCAA Tournament. No. 4 seed UConn beat No. 5 seed San Diego State 76-59 in Houston for its fifth title in the past

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s main opposition party says it will seek a parliamentary inquiry into Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s handling of a tax evasion scam involving a private bank before he became the country’s leader. The center-right Union bloc said Tuesday that it will call for the national parliament to set up a commission of inquiry

By RAF CASERT and SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief has lashed out at China for its support of Russia amid the invasion of Ukraine and called it “a blatant violation” of Beijing’s United Nations commitments. Josep Borrell said that “there cannot be siding with the aggressor.” He

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — It has been 25 years since the striking of the Good Friday Agreement, the landmark peace accord that ended three decades of violence in Northern Ireland, a period known as “the Troubles.” The agreement gave formal recognition to Northern Ireland’s multiple identities, allowing residents to

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday it remains to be seen if artificial intelligence is dangerous, but that he believes technology companies must ensure their products are safe before releasing them to the public. Biden met with his council of advisers on science and technology about

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Human rights groups have applauded Malaysia’s move to scrap the mandatory death penalty as a major step forward in the push for the abolition of capital punishment in Southeast Asia. Instead of the death penalty, lawmakers on Monday approved bills to give courts the option of imposing prison sentences of

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Nigel Lawson, the tax-cutting U.K. Treasury chief under the late Margaret Thatcher and a lion of Conservative politics in the late 20th century has died. He was 91. Lawson, who led the Treasury from 1983 to 1989, spearheaded the drive to place the public sector into private

By MAHMOUD ILLEAN and FARES AKRAM Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, firing stun grenades and beating Palestinian youths who hurled firecrackers in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday seasons. Gaza militants responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, drawing an Israeli airstrike

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan defied threats of retaliation by China ahead of an expected meeting between the island’s president and the U.S. House speaker Wednesday that will underscore her government’s claim to sovereignty. President Tsai Ing-wen is finishing a tour of Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies in Latin America, Belize

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — After stepping down as New Zealand’s prime minister in January, Jacinda Ardern is starting an unpaid role combating online extremism. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who took over as leader from Ardern, announced Tuesday he’d appointed Ardern as Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call.

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press ZURICH (AP) — Credit Suisse shareholders on Tuesday upbraided the Swiss bank’s leaders for years of mismanagement, scandal and obfuscation that sent its stock price into the gutter, while executives apologized and insisted that the only way forward for the once-venerable lender was a government-engineered takeover by rival UBS. A

GENEVA (AP) — Police say a German climber has died after falling some 500 meters (1,640 feet) in the Alps in southern Switzerland. The accident happened near the resort of Zermatt on Sunday. Authorities were alerted Monday that the 26-year-old man, who lived in Germany, was missing, and rescuers who set out in a helicopter

By SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron will have to muster all his diplomatic adeptness and political acumen on a three-day state visit to China where the war in Ukraine will be front and center. Macron is expected to warn China against sending weapons to Russia and instead ask

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban says their forces in Afghanistan have killed six members of the extremist Islamic State group during a raid in the country’s north. A Taliban spokesman said Tuesday that the raid in Balkh province of killed members of the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — known as the Islamic

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Wednesday following a decline on Wall Street after reports on the U.S. economy came in weaker than expected. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.3% in morning trading to 27,931.00. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to

By PETER SMITH Associated Press BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Teenagers from Catholic and Protestant youth groups lit candles on a Belfast street in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, then listened solemnly to a warning about the dangers of Northern Ireland’s own infamous religious bigotries. “We all know what prejudice is,” said

By PETER SMITH Associated Press BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Teenagers from Catholic and Protestant youth groups lit candles on a Belfast street in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, then listened solemnly to a warning about the dangers of Northern Ireland’s own infamous religious bigotries. “We all know what prejudice is,” said

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s central bank has left its benchmark interest rate on hold at 3.6% at its latest monthly meeting following evidence that inflation is falling.The meeting on Tuesday was the first at which the Reserve Bank of Australia board did not hike the cash rate since April

By PETER DEJONG and MIKE CORDER Associated Press VOORSCHOTEN, Netherlands (AP) — A passenger train has slammed into a construction crane and derailed near The Hague, sending two carriages into a field next to the tracks. Dutch emergency services say one person died and 19 were hospitalized in the crash in the early hours of

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE and SEAN MURPHY Associated Press Writer DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — People still sorting through the wreckage of their homes after a weekend of deadly weather braced for another wave of strong storms that began rolling into parts of the Midwest and South on Tuesday evening. At least one tornado was confirmed

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A drone strike carried out by the American-led coalition in northwestern Syria has killed a senior member of the Islamic State group who was in charge of planning attacks in Europe, the United States military said Tuesday. The man killed Monday in the strike was identified by

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic-backed Milwaukee judge won the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race Tuesday, ensuring liberals will take over majority control of the court for the first time in 15 years with the fate of the state’s abortion ban on the line. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Brandon Johnson, a union organizer and former teacher, was elected as Chicago’s next mayor Tuesday in a major victory for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing as the heavily blue city grapples with high crime and financial challenges. Johnson, a Cook County commissioner endorsed by the Chicago Teachers

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A plan announced last week to return Lolita, a killer whale held captive for more than a half-century, to her home waters in Washington’s Puget Sound thrilled those who have long advocated for her to be freed from her tank at the Miami Seaquarium. But it also

By COLLEEN LONG and MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press Former President Donald Trump is set to appear in a New York City courtroom on charges related to falsifying business records in a hush money investigation, the first president ever to be charged with a crime. The Republican former president has denied any wrongdoing, has repeatedly assailed

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has become the last of the “Five Eyes” security partners to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from its federal government’s devices. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement Tuesday that based on intelligence and security agencies’ advice, that ban would come into effect “as

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer HOUSTON (AP) — After six games and 240 minutes of pure dominance that ran through March, then part of April, it finally became clear there was only one thing that could stop the UConn Huskies. The final buzzer. The team from Storrs, Connecticut, topped off one of the most

By SARAH BRUMFIELD and LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — A former Maryland political aide wanted on corruption charges died Monday after he was wounded while being confronted by law enforcement agents, his lawyer said, following a manhunt that was launched when the man failed to appear for trial. Attorney Joseph Murtha said the

SURREY, British Columbia (AP) — A suspect accused of slashing a person’s throat on a bus in the Canadian province of British Columbia has been charged on four terrorism-related counts in the attack that left a man with life-threatening injuries. Provincial court documents show that Abdul Aziz Kawam, born in 1995, is accused of four

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police have arrested two men in connection with two killings that investigators believe were part of a series of druggings and robbings of Manhattan bar and nightclub patrons by criminal groups. The assaults last year left the city’s nightlife scene on edge. Police say they have charged Jacob

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Washington state man accused of entering the U.S. Capitol with a pro-Trump mob during the Jan. 6 deadly insurrection has pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Jeffrey Grace, 64, entered the plea on Monday and had three other charges dropped as part of a

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A powerful earthquake in Papua New Guinea has killed four people and destroyed more than 300 homes, local media reported Tuesday. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck in a remote region early Monday and disaster relief workers were continuing to assess the extent of the damage.

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia’s U.N. ambassador is dismissing U.S. and European Union descriptions of its presidency of the Security Council this month as an April Fool’s joke. Vassily Nebenzia says Russia will be an “honest broker.” Speaking Monday at a news conference, he announced a meeting to be

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Viewers of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources EagleCam were heartbroken over the weekend as they watched strong winds from a severe weather system whip a nest holding a newly hatched eaglet out of a tree. The nature livestream captured the moment the nest fell

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of breaking into a woman’s Florida Panhandle apartment and fatally stabbing her 37 times in 1986 is set to be executed next month. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant Monday, setting Darryl B. Barwick’s execution for May 3 at 6 p.m. According to court records, Rebecca

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — The Asian Development Bank says China’s recovery from the pandemic and strong demand in India will drive strong economic growth in Asia this year. The ADB’s latest update forecasts an expansion of 4.8% in this year and the next, up from 4.2% in 2022. It said

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press Writer MIAMI (AP) — The new representative of Venezuela’s opposition in the U.S. is urging the Biden administration to start relaxing crippling oil sanctions on Nicolas Maduro’s government or risk seeing the socialist-run country turn into another Cuba with Washington scapegoated for increasing authoritarianism and economic hardships. Fernando Blasi’s comments

NEW YORK (AP) — Novels by Geraldine Brooks and Lan Samantha Chang and poetry by Saeed Jones are among this year’s winners of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, presented for literature “that confronts racism and explores diversity.” The journalist and activist Charlayne Hunter-Gault was honored for lifetime achievement. Besides Brooks’ “Horse,” Chang’s “The Family Chao” and

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A prosecutor says a Colorado woman knew what she was doing when she stabbed her young stepson 18 times, shot him and drove across the country to dump a suitcase with his remains inside. The statement came Monday at the start of the murder trial of Letecia