Month: October 2023

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s central bank lowered its key interest rate Wednesday, pointing to a drop in inflation despite a still-high rate of 8.2% last month. The National Bank of Poland on Wednesday cut its benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75%. Analysts were expecting it after annual inflation dropped last

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Philippe is drenching the U.S. and British Virgin Islands as it spins away from the northeast Caribbean on a path that would take it toward Bermuda and later New England and Atlantic Canada. The storm was located 150 miles (240 kilometers) north-northwest of St. Thomas on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — The final stages of jury selection have resumed at the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in New York City. Opening statements will likely begin by early afternoon on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. They will precede the presentation of evidence by prosecutors, who say the California man defrauded thousands

NEW YORK (AP) — “Star Trek” actor and political activist George Takei has a picture book scheduled for next spring that draws upon his early childhood years spent in internment camps for Japanese Americans. Crown Books for Young Readers announced Wednesday that Takei’s “My Lost Freedom,” illustrated by Michelle Lee, will be published April 30,

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump returned to his New York civil fraud trial for a third day Wednesday after running afoul of the judge by denigrating a key court staffer in a social media post. Trump, the Republican front-runner in

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A British army investigation has concluded that a 19-year-old soldier is believed to have taken her own life after relentless sexual harassment by her immediate superior. The investigation’s findings, published Wednesday, concluded that Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck killed herself at a major army facility in the

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister says Kurdish militants behind a suicide bombing in the Turkish capital face robust retaliation against their group’s positions in Syria and Iraq. Hakan Fidan says the rebel group will “regret” having carried out the bombing. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for the attack outside

By KATHERINE ROTH Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — You may not know her name. But Dorothy Liebes was a celebrity in her day — a weaver and designer who worked with top architects, designers and brands to help define the look and feel of 20th century luxury. Her handiwork decorated first-class airline seats, movie

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday proposed raising the legal age that people in England can buy cigarettes by one year, every year until it applies to the whole population. The planned change will mean that “a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette,” Sunak said. The proposed law

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — The Canadian province of Manitoba has elected the first First Nations premier of a province in Canada. Manitobans elected an NDP government led by Wab Kinew. Kinew is a former rapper, broadcaster and university administrator. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said that Kinew’s win signifies a huge accomplishment. The 41-year-old Kinew

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries have overcame a new obstacle in their yearslong quest to overhaul the bloc’s asylum rules. EU envoys clinched a deal on Wednesday on a “crisis regulation” of extraordinary measures that a country could take in the event of a massive, unforeseen movement of migrants

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s foreign minister says that his government wants guarantees from Kyiv that a Hungarian bank that was removed from a Ukrainian list of sponsors of Russia’s war will not be placed back on that list in the future. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday that

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police say they have arrested several people suspected of spitting in the direction of Christian pilgrims and churches in Jerusalem. The incident comes as religious tensions have flared in the contested capital that the three Abrahamic faiths consider holy. The police said they arrested four people

LONDON (AP) — British police have opened an investigation into corporate manslaughter at a northern England hospital after a neonatal nurse was convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others when she worked there. The Cheshire Constabulary said Wednesday that the investigation would consider “areas including senior leadership and decision making to

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Judy Blume, James Patterson and Michael Connelly are among 24 prominent writers who have raised more than $3 million to help PEN America open a center in Miami and expand it efforts to counter Florida’s surge in book bannings in recent years. Other authors contributing

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden is urging women to talk to their doctors about getting mammograms or other cancer screenings during October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The first lady is appearing in a new public service announcement that will begin airing this week on the Lifetime cable network.

MOSCOW (AP) — Sirens have wailed across Russia and television stations interrupted regular programming to broadcast warning signals as part of sweeping drills intended to test the readiness of the emergency services amid the fighting in Ukraine. The exercise that began Tuesday follows a slew of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian cities. As it occurred,

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Picketing has begun at Kaiser Permanente hospitals as some 75,000 workers who say understaffing is hurting patient care go on strike in five states and the District of Columbia. Wednesday’s labor action kicks off a major health care worker strike. It marks the latest major labor

BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Police say a man has been accused of stalking a woman in New York via his small airplane, flying out of an airport in nearby Vermont. Sixty-five-year-old Michael Arnold is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday in Bennington, Vermont. He was arrested Tuesday as he was driving into the William H.

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up a case that could make it harder to sue hotels when their websites aren’t clear enough about their accommodations for people with disabilities. The justices are being asked Wednesday to limit the ability of so-called testers to file lawsuits against hotels

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece is urging other European Union member states to adopt a proposed plan to sanction countries that refuse to accept migrants deported by the bloc. The Greek minister for asylum and migration says existing bilateral agreements for returning migrants between individual EU member states and non-member countries had proved to be

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A court in Serbia has released from a brief detention a Kosovo Serb leader who has been linked to a clash with Kosovo security forces in which four people died, sending tensions soaring in the volatile region. Milan Radoicic, a politician and wealthy businessman with close ties to Serbia’s ruling populist

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Shares in Scandinavian Airlines have dropped more than 90% after the ailing carrier announced new shareholders in a restructuring scheme that will see the company delisted and existing ownership stakes erased. The rescue deal involving airline alliance Air France-KLM and private equity firms Castlelake and Lind Invest, which became investors alongside

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet For Disney fans, Halloween is among the most desirable (and expensive) times to visit its theme parks. That’s largely due to the after-hours parties: the Oogie Boogie Bash in California and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Florida. Disney Halloween parties are held on select nights starting as early as August

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Uber is adding a new task to its list of services: mailing consumers’ return packages. The ride-hailing and delivery company said Wednesday that its drivers will collect up to five prepaid and sealed packages and drop them off at a local post office or at UPS or FedEx stores.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Firefighters are battling a huge fire in a plastics factory in eastern Croatia and authorities have asked residents to remain indoors and keep their widows shut. The fire erupted early Wednesday in the Drava International factory complex in the town of Osijek, sending thick dark smoke high in the air. Emergency

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Japanese Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita says Tokyo hopes to resolve the issue of Chinese ban on its seafood within the World Trade Organization’s scope. Despite repeated assurances, China banned seafood from Japan immediately after the discharge of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant last month. China was the

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — FIFA is set to approve the reintegration of Russian youth teams into under-17 competitions and ease a total international ban on the country amid the war in Ukraine. The FIFA Council will hold an online meeting on Wednesday. The council is chaired by FIFA president Gianni

By CHASE BIERENKOVEN Edmunds A little outdoors goes a long way, and America’s national parks and outdoor spaces are some of the most stunning on the planet. However, getting outdoors can be an expensive proposition. Thankfully, there are plenty of relatively inexpensive SUVs and trucks that can do double duty as your ticket to the

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia says it will resume checks at the border with Hungary to reduce growing numbers of migrants entering the country. The measure, which will become effective on Thursday, comes the day that the country’s neighbours, including Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland, reintroduced controls at their borders with Slovakia for at

By The Associated Press A court in Moscow has handed a former state TV journalist a 8 1/2-year prison term in absentia for protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine, the latest in a months-long crackdown against dissent that has intensified since Moscow’s invasion 20 months ago. Marina Ovsyannikova was charged with spreading false information about the

By NICOLE WINFIELD and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is shaming and challenging world leaders to take concrete action to slow climate change before it’s too late. In an update to his landmark 2015 encycyclical, he’s warning that God’s increasingly warming creation is fast reaching a “point of no return.”

By KEN RITTER and SCOTT SONNER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A United States appeals court planned to hear Wednesday from lawyers trying to revive a woman’s bid to force international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to pay millions more than the $375,000 in hush money he paid her after she accused him of raping