Month: November 2023

AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans cut back on retail spending in October, ending six straight months of gains, though the decline was partly driven by falling prices for both gasoline and cars. Retail sales declined 0.1% last month after jumping a strong 0.9% in September, according to a report released Wednesday by

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices fell sharply last month as inflationary pressure continued to ease in the face of a year and a half of higher interest rates. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — dropped

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese actor-director Takeshi Kitano says he wanted his new film “Kubi” to show the world of samurai in ways that mainstream movies have rarely done before, by portraying the homosexual, love-hate relationship of warlords in one of Japan’s best known historical episodes. He spoke to a news

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, known for his crackdown on illegal drugs that left thousands of suspects dead, has been summoned by a prosecutor to answer a separate allegation that he recently threatened a female lawmaker with death, the complainant said Wednesday. It was the first known subpoena for a criminal

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Prosecutors say a fatal roller coaster accident in Stockholm where some passengers plunged to the ground in June was caused by a newly installed “support arm breaking off so that the wheels on the cart fell off.” A car on the Jetline roller coaster derailed at the Gröna Lund, Sweden’s oldest amusement

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in a Virginia classroom is set to be sentenced and could face prison time for using marijuana while owning a gun. Deja Taylor’s son took his mother’s handgun to school and shot and wounded teacher

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced five nominees to federal judgeships, including the first Muslim-American on any circuit court. The Democratic president wants to add to more than 150 of his judicial selections who’ve already been confirmed. They’re part of the White House’s push to nominate judges from

PARIS (AP) — French judicial authorities have issued international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother Maher, and two army generals alleging their involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity, including in chemical attacks in 2013 on rebel-held Damascus suburbs, lawyers for Syrian victims said. The investigation has been conducted under universal

By MICHAEL CANTU Edmunds Used-car shoppers won’t have it easy this year or next. Although used car prices have declined from their record levels from last year, they are still high and are coupled with the highest interest rates we’ve seen in many years. If that’s not bad enough, used cars also are currently older.

By BABACAR DIONE Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegalese authorities say that opposition leader and presidential hopeful Ousmane Sonko is back in jail after being hospitalized for weeks during a hunger strike. Prison authorities said Sonko’s transfer back to Cap Manuel prison in Dakar on Tuesday took place as “the result of a recommendation

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish road transport authorities are holding talks with their Ukrainian counterparts over competition grievances that have led Polish truckers to block two border crossings, resulting in days of delays. Polish truckers say that unregulated activity by rapidly growing Ukrainian transport companies is ruining their business. After Russia’s invasion in February 2022,

BERLIN (AP) — A German publishing house said it would stop selling books about Russian President Vladimir Putin by an award-winning journalist following media reports that he allegedly received at least $651,000 in offshore payments linked to Russian sources. Publisher Hoffmann und Campe said Wednesday in a statement it would no longer sell two non-fiction

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — More than 200 conservative Muslims marched in Indonesia’s capital, calling for the cancellation of Coldplay’s concert on Wednesday night over the British band’s support for the LGBTQ+ community. The demonstrators marched 1 kilometer (half a mile) from the concert venue in Jakarta. Coldplay is renowned for

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy has launched a bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in next year’s contest. Her candidacy announced Wednesday puts her in the running to become the first woman elected to the Senate from New Jersey. She has taken on

By JACKIE VELING of NerdWallet “Buy now, pay later” payment plans are a popular financing option, especially around the holiday season. But these payment plans, which divide your total purchase into a series of smaller installments that you pay back over weeks or months, aren’t always the best choice for shoppers. If you want to

LONDON (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived at a London court for a hearing over a public order offense after she was arrested last month at a demonstration against a major oil and gas industry conference. The 20-year-old Swedish environmental campaigner was among more than two dozen people charged after protesters sought to

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s two main opposition parties, both of which have vowed to restart talks with China, are announcing a joint presidential ticket for January’s election. It’s a deal that could bring a major political upset in the self-ruled island democracy. The agreement would bring together Hou Yu-ih, the presidential candidate for the

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Venezuela’s vice president has vowed that her country will press ahead with a referendum on the future of a large tract of mineral-rich territory that it claims in a long-running dispute with neighboring Guyana. Delcy Rodríguez spoke Wednesday at hearings into a request by Guyana

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A man who was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of American ice hockey player Adam Johnson, whose neck was cut by a skate during a game, has been released on bail. Johnson, 29, was playing for the Nottingham Panthers against the Sheffield Steelers in

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Cabinet minister from Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has attended a trade meeting in Pakistan despite tensions over the expulsion of Afghans living in the country illegally. Around 300,000 Afghans have returned home since last month, when Pakistan launched a nationwide crackdown on undocumented foreigners. The crackdown mainly affects about 1.7 million Afghans

By FARAI MUTSAKA By Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Police in Zimbabwe say a minibus taxi crashed head on with a truck, killing 22 people. Two others were injured and taken to a hospital after the accident on Tuesday night, a police spokesman said. The accident occurred on a highway linking the country’s second-largest

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press Ahead of the highly anticipated meeting on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Chinese state media have taken a new tone toward the U.S. with less negative coverage, calls for a return to warmer ties and stories of Americans with positive connections to the country.

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — An entire Myanmar army battalion based near the Chinese border has reportedly surrendered to an alliance of ethnic armed groups that launched a surprise offensive last month against the military in the country’s northeast. A spokesperson for the alliance said on Wednesday that 261 people — 127

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union’s executive commission has lowered its growth forecast for this year and next, saying the economy “has lost momentum” in 2023 as inflation weights on consumer spending and higher central bank interest rates deter borrowing for purchases and investment. The outlook for this

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s highest court has annulled a government decision to repurpose 60 billion euros ($65 billion) originally earmarked to cushion the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country. Wednesday’s decision creates a significant new problem for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s quarrelsome coalition. The money at

By JOSEPH WILSON and CIARÁN GILES Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will defend his controversial amnesty deal for Catalonia’s separatists in parliament by midday Wednesday as part of a debate a day before the Socialist leader seeks the endorsement of the chamber to form a new government. Sánchez has

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — At least 30 people have been killed and nearly two dozen injured when a passenger bus slid off a Himalayan highway and rolled down a steep slope onto another road in Indian-controlled Kashmir. A civil administrator says the 42-seater bus was on the way to southern Jammu city from Kishtwar town

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union negotiators have reached a deal to reduce highly polluting methane gas emissions from the energy sector across the 27-nation bloc. According to experts, one of the biggest causes of climate change is methane gas emissions — second only to carbon dioxide. The gas also causes serious health problems. Under the

By AAMER MADHANI, COLLEEN LONG and DIDI TANG Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping head into their big meeting at a country estate on Wednesday hoping to stabilize U.S.-China relations after a period of tumult, but the U.S. president also is prepared to confront his counterpart on difficult issues

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. dropped sharply in October to its lowest level in two years largely because last year’s steep rise in domestic energy bills dropped out of the annual comparison. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that consumer prices in the year to October were 4.6% higher than the year

BEIJING (AP) — China and the U.S. have pledged to accelerate their efforts to address climate change ahead of a major U.N. meeting on the issue. The joint announcement came on the eve of a summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping. Cooperation between the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases is considered

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares surged higher on Wednesday, cheered by a rally on Wall Street that was one of the best days of the year following a surprisingly encouraging report on inflation. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 2.6% to 33,545.14 as investors appeared to shrug off news that

By NINIEK KARMINI and EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Southeast Asian defense ministers called for the fighting in Gaza to cease and for the world to collaborate on setting up humanitarian aid corridors in Gaza, but they struggled on how to address the civil strife in Myanmar. The Myanmar crisis was high

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces raided Gaza’s largest hospital early Wednesday, where hundreds of patients, including newborns, have been stranded with dwindling supplies and no electricity, as the army extended its control across Gaza City and the north. Shifa Hospital has become a symbol

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The United States Agency for International Development will restart food aid deliveries across Ethiopia in December, five months after it halted its nationwide program over a massive corruption scheme by local officials. Last month, USAID resumed food aid to the roughly 1 million refugees in the east African country after

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s highest court is set to rule on whether the government’s plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda is legal. Wednesday’s judgement will be a boost or a blow to a contentious central policy of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration. The government says it has prepared “options for

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A German thinktank has reported that to prevent global warming from surpassing the critical threshold of 1.5 Celsius, major Asian economies must ensure they can get half of their total electricity from renewables by 2030. The report by researchers of Agora Energiewende released Wednesday says that

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s digital spy agency says the nation’s cooperation with the United States and Britain to develop an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology is a likely target of state-sponsored cyberespionage. The Australian Signals Directorate reported on Wednesday a 23% increase in cybercrimes in

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press New York’s highest court will hear arguments in a redistricting lawsuit that will shape congressional lines in the state, setting the stage for races that could decide control of the House. The Court of Appeals hearing is Wednesday in Buffalo. Democrats are seeking to scrap the state’s lines after losing

BEIJING (AP) — China has reported its economic growth showed more signs of rekindling in October as retail sales and factory output picked up even though the property sector remained sluggish. The government said factory output rose 4.6% from a year earlier in October, while retail sales jumped 7.6%. But real estate investment sank 9.3%.

By ANNIE MA Associated Press Nearly nine out of 10 parents believe their child is performing at grade level despite standardized tests showing far fewer students are on track, according to a poll released Wednesday by Gallup and the nonprofit Learning Heroes. Report cards, which many parents rely on for a sense of their children’s

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Until recently, the space was the one-car garage of a private home in Cuba’s capital, Havana. Today, it is a well-stocked, if small, grocery store whose big board at the gate entices shoppers with such offerings as cooking oil, tomato sauce, Hershey’s cocoa powder, Nutella, shampoo, cookies

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With just seven weeks until the end of the year, the Biden administration is running out of time to win the reauthorization of a spy program it says is vital to preventing terrorism, catching spies and disrupting cyberattacks. The tool is called Section 702 of the Foreign

By DANIEL POLITI and RODRIGO ABD Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Batman and the Joker, a man decked out in a full-body lion costume, and another whose head and arms have been replaced by chainsaws. This isn’t Carnival or Comic-Con, but rather the outlandish campaign rally for Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei. In

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to agree Wednesday to restore some military-to-military communications between their armed forces when they meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. The plan is to revive the regular talks under

BY SARAH TETAUD Associated Press ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar’s president is pushing ahead with an election on Thursday that could give him a second term, even as opposition protests roil the island nation and the majority of candidates have announced a boycott. A collective of 10 candidates including two former presidents say they will

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A new report has identified nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels where workers face hazardous, forced conditions sometimes akin to slavery. The research by the Washington, D.C.-based Financial Transparency Coalition is the most comprehensive attempt to date to identify the vessels and companies responsible for abuses at sea.

By JULIE WATSON and AMY TAXIN Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The state of California operates a little-known program to lease land under freeways that is now under scrutiny after this weekend’s arson fire under Interstate 10 in Los Angeles. The land under the freeway was leased by the state of California to businesses