Month: May 2023

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Opponents of a law that would raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 are making last-ditch plans to prevent the change. The country’s main labor unions on Tuesday called for another round of nationwide demonstrations and strikes on June 6. France’s top constitutional body

By DAVID RISING Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s defense chief is urging a state company to double its missile output, as a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive looms and both sides in the 14-month war reportedly feel an ammunition crunch. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, speaking at a meeting with top military brass, said Tuesday

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Before the glory of his coronation weekend, King Charles III visited Parliament Tuesday, to get a reminder that the monarch’s power has limits. Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, attended a reception for lawmakers, most of whom haven’t been able to snag a ticket to Saturday’s coronation

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings fell in March to the lowest level in nearly two years, a sign that the American labor market is cooling in the face of higher interest rates. Employers posted 9.6 million vacancies in March, down from nearly 10 million in February. Layoffs rose

WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Wrexham’s celebrations aren’t over yet. The Welsh soccer team owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will mark its promotion to the fourth division of English soccer with an open top bus parade through the city on Tuesday. The celebrity owners will reportedly jet the team off to Las

By LUJAIN JO Associated Press DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A closed-door summit on Afghanistan has ended in Qatar without any formal acknowledgment of the Taliban-controlled government there. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres attended the summit, which the world body described as nations and organizations trying to reach unified stances on human rights, governance, counterterrorism and anti-drug

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer who held back bystanders while his colleagues restrained a dying George Floyd has been convicted of aiding and abetting manslaughter. Tou Thao, who already had been convicted in federal court of violating Floyd’s civil rights, was last of the four former officers

By MIKE CORDER and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Authorities in the U.S. and Europe have arrested nearly 300 people and seized over $53 million in the latest major takedown of a dark web marketplace. Most of the arrests in the operation targeting the “Monopoly Market” were made in the U.S.,

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The president of long-haul carrier Emirates is suggesting that it could reach deals with more firms to share routes after the start of a similar arrangement with U.S.-based United Airlines. Tim Clark, who joined the airline in 1985 when it was first launched, also

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin has died at age 59. Russian news outlets on Tuesday cited Yudashkin’s wife, Marina, as confirming his death but didn’t state a cause. Yudashkin was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2016 and reportedly was hospitalized last week. Yudashkin attracted attention with highly dramatic fashions and began showing

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer The average historically Black college and university received 178 times less funding from foundations than the average Ivy League school in 2019, according to a new report on the underfunding of HBCUs released Tuesday. The study — conducted by the philanthropic research group Candid and ABFE, a nonprofit that

By JOHN O’CONNOR Associated Press DIVERNON, Ill. (AP) — Winds stirred up a wall of dust from farm fields that engulfed a stretch of busy interstate highway in a matter of minutes. The brown cloud’s intensity caked even the insides of vehicles in dirt. As darkness enveloped them, some cars and trucks hurtling down the

By JESSICA GRESKO and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A wide-ranging selection of papers that belonged to liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is opening to researchers at the Library of Congress. The papers provide a behind-the-scenes look at the justices’ deliberations in important cases including the election-deciding Bush v. Gore. The

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, “The Covenant of Water,” is Oprah Winfrey’s latest book club pick. “The Covenant of Water,” published Tuesday, is Verghese’s first work of fiction since his million-selling “Cutting for Stone” came out in 2009. Verghese’s current book is a

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan lawmakers have passed a new version of an anti-gay bill that removes a clause which appeared to criminalize identifying as LGBTQ. Last month, President Yoweri Museveni returned the bill to the national assembly, asking for changes that differentiate between identifying as LGBTQ and actually engaging

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch government plans to drastically cut emissions of nitrogen pollution have cleared a key hurdle. The European Union’s executive arm gave the green light Tuesday to farm buyout schemes worth nearly 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion). The Dutch plans to reduce nitrogen deposits — mainly

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have started a three-day state visit to Estonia. It is their first official visit to the Baltic nation in more than 30 years. The royal couple was welcomed warmly in the country’s medieval capital, Tallinn, by the Estonian president and his wife. The

By ELIZABETH AYOOLA of NerdWallet Millions of Americans struggle with mental illnesses. While some can function on their own, others rely on family members, guardians or loved ones for daily living. Caretakers for individuals with a mental illness may be curious about how to provide them with financial stability. One way to do so is

MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — California authorities are investigating the shooting deaths of four people in a small Mojave Desert community in yet another act of deadly violence that keeps the U.S. on a record pace for mass killings in 2023. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responding late Sunday found a man and three