Month: June 2023

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Racism, hatred and sometimes violence against Muslims in Germany are widespread and often part of their everyday experience. That’s according to a new report presented in Berlin on Thursday. A group of experts worked for three years on the comprehensive report about racism and hostility toward the

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer France’s highest administrative jurisdiction says the country’s soccer federation is entitled to ban headscarves in matches. The Council of State issued its ruling after a collective of headscarf-wearing soccer players called “Les Hijabeuses” campaigned against the ban and launched legal action. The French soccer federation bans women from wearing headscarves

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer Applications for unemployment benefits fell significantly last week after it appeared claims had reached a modestly elevated level in recent weeks. U.S. applications for jobless claims fell by 26,000 to 239,000 for the week ending June 24, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists were expecting the elevated claims numbers

PLAINFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Officials say an Indiana state trooper was struck and killed by a stolen vehicle in suburban Indianapolis. Other officers were pursuing the vehicle in Plainfield north of Interstate 70 when Trooper Aaron Smith was hit about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday. State police say Smith was trying to place stop sticks on Ronald

By ZANE IRWIN Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A new Human Rights Watch report is accusing Burkina Faso’s military of killing and torturing civilians in the country’s northeast. The report released on Thursday details violence between February and May in the province of Séno. The report identifies at least 27 people who were either

By GRANT PECK and SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A quasi-independent review board is recommending that Facebook temporarily suspend the social media accounts of Cambodia’s prime minister. The Oversight Board, established by Facebook’s parent company, Meta, issued its nonbinding recommendation Thursday, saying Premier Hun Sen used language on his accounts that

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former tech executive is joining the crowded 2024 U.S. Senate race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Google and Facebook veteran Lexi Reese joins a Democratic field that already includes three members of Congress — U.S. Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and

By WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press GUWAHATI, India (AP) — India’s top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is visiting communities hit by weeks of violence and living in relief camps in a remote northeastern state. His visit comes as a shootout there claimed two more lives earlier in the day. The shooting erupted between members of the

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Hungary and Poland have vetoed a statement by European Union leaders laying out their migration priorities in a symbolic gesture of protest. The two anti-migrant governments took the action on Friday because they were angry at being outvoted on a landmark deal to reform EU asylum rules.

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — LGBTQ+ rights activists and couples in Nepal on Thursday were celebrating an interim order issued by the country’s Supreme Court enabling the registration of same-sex marriages for the first time. The Supreme court issued the order on Wednesday allowing for the temporary registration of marriages for

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims are casting stones at pillars representing the devil during the final days of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. This year’s pilgrimage was the first in three years to be held without coronavirus restrictions and drew over 1.8 million Muslims from all corners of the earth. The

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says a request for his country to temporarily host a U.S. immigrant visa processing center for thousands of Afghans faces security and other concerns but is still being considered by his administration. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken first relayed the

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press AMSTERDAM (AP) — An Amsterdam prosecutor says that a 13-year sentence a Canadian court imposed on a Dutch cyberbully should be reduced to four-and-a-half years in the Netherlands. Aydin Coban was convicted last year of extortion, harassment and other crimes in a case involving Canadian teenager Amanda Todd who was

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has adopted a new law that changes how people count their ages. The country’s previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are. A law that went into effect Wednesday formalizes the international age-counting method as standard in

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Critics of the planned redevelopment of a beloved centuries-old Tokyo park and historic sports stadiums have accused the government in court of ignoring the wishes of residents and catering to commercial interests. A total of 59 plaintiffs, many of them longtime residents, filed a lawsuit in February

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s left-wing opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras has announced his decision to step down after a crushing election defeat. Tsipras made the announcement on Thursday. The 48 year-old politician served as Greece’s prime minister from 2015 to 2019, during politically tumultuous years as the country struggled to

By PAUL WISEMAN, MARK STEVENSON and TOM KRISHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — To President Donald Trump, America’s trade relationship with Mexico was intolerable. He seethed over the U.S. trade deficit and shuttered factories in America’s heartland. So Trump pressured Mexico and Canada to replace their mutual pact with one more to his liking: The

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Smaller meat and poultry operators in 17 states will receive $115 million in grants. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the funding Thursday. The grants are the latest in a series of awards the Biden administration has made that are intended to increase meat and

By CHEVEL JOHNSON RODRIGUE Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The 29th annual Essence Festival of Culture is revving up in New Orleans. Most of the free workshops and celebrity meet-and-greets at the festival, which opens Thursday, will be inside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. A few blocks away, the Superdome will host nightly

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A woman’s leg had to be amputated in a Thai airport after it was trapped by a movable walkway Thursday, officials said. The 57-year-old Thai passenger was due to board a morning flight from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport to the southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province when she

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A British court has ruled that a government plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda in an attempt to deter migrants from making risky journeys across the English Channel is unlawful. Court of Appeal judges said Rwanda could not be considered a “safe third country” where migrants could

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A committee of British lawmakers has slammed allies of Boris Johnson in Parliament for trying to interfere with their investigation into whether the former prime minister lied about rule-flouting parties in his office during the coronavirus pandemic. The House of Commons Privileges Committee said Thursday that senior

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Fender, the guitar of choice for some of the world’s biggest stars from Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton, is opening what it calls its “first flagship store” in its 77-year history. The American guitar manufacturer has chosen for its location Tokyo’s Harajuku, a hot spot for Japanese

CAIRO (AP) — The Red Cross says it has facilitated the release of 125 Sudanese army soldiers held captive by the country’s rival paramilitary force. The group said the soldiers walked free on Wednesday. It said the freed men — 44 of whom were wounded — were transported from the capital, Khartoum, to the city

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and South Korea have agreed to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis. The move is the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki announced the agreement after meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Choo Kyungho. Suzuki

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the central bank may have to tighten its oversight of the American financial system after the failure of three large U.S. banks this spring. Powell said Thursday that tougher regulations put in place following the 2007-2008 financial crisis have made

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian authorities said Thursday they they have seized large amounts of drugs, cash and a vast arsenal of firearms in a raid on a far-right biker gang tied to organized crime. Public broadcaster ORF reported that police searched properties in Upper Austria and detained 10 people on suspicion of breaching firearms, narcotics

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI and CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — On the verge of tears, Nathan Nkunzimana recalled watching a video of a child being molested and another of a woman being killed. Eight hours a day, his job as a content moderator for a Facebook contractor required him to look at horrors

PARIS (AP) — UNESCO’s 193 members states are gathering for a two-day meeting in Paris aimed at voting on the United States’ plans to rejoin the U.N. cultural and scientific agency. The U.S. withdrew from the agency five years ago, during Donald Trump’s presidency. U.S. officials say the decision to return was motivated by concern that China

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took center stage at Thursday’s European Union summit, underscoring the importance the 27 EU leaders attach to protecting their eastern flank from Russian aggression and beefing up Ukraine’s defense capabilities. Zelenskyy was set to address the gathering by

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed Friday in Asia after China reported slower factory activity in June due to weaker consumer spending and export demand. Tokyo and Sydney declined while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced. U.S. futures are little changed and oil prices ticked higher. Adding to signs