Month: December 2023

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s government says it will take legal action against British authorities over a controversial law that gives some immunity from prosecution for offenses committed during three decades of sectarian violence. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheál Martin said on Wednesday that “after much thought and careful consideration,” his

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that an artificial intelligence system can’t be registered as the inventor of a patent, denying machines the same status as humans. The U.K.’s highest court said Wednesday that “an inventor must be a person” to apply for patents under the current law. The decision was the culmination of

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer American consumers are feeling more confident than they have since summer, good news for businesses with the all-important holiday shopping season peaking. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Wednesday that its consumer confidence index rose for the second straight month, to 110.7 in December from 101 in

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally kicked off her ruling Awami League party’s campaign amid an election boycott by the country’s main opposition party. Addressing a massive rally in the northeastern city of Sylhet, Hasina strongly criticized the Bangladesh Nationalist Party for refusing to participate

By VOLODYMR YURCHUK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A military analysis says Ukraine’s armed forces are taking up a more defensive posture, after their summer counteroffensive failed to achieve a major breakthrough against Russia’s army and as winter weather sets in after almost 22 months of war. The U.K. Ministry of Defense said in

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November, ending a five-month skid, as easing mortgage rates encouraged homebuyers. Existing home sales rose 0.8% last month from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.82 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will finally be held on January 15 after a fourth-month delay. The Hollywood actors and writers strikes meant that the show was delayed until Martin Luther King Day. Fox will air the ceremony live starting at 8 p.m. Eastern from

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The Bosnian capital of Sarajevo has been intermittently engulfed in a toxic haze since the start of December, with air quality so bad it was placed first on a list of the world’s most polluted cities for a second straight day. The Swiss air quality technology company IQAir, which compiles a

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that a surveillance system it used incorrectly identified potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers. The deal announced late Tuesday settles Federal Trade Commission charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Like Christmas trees, Santa and reindeer, the poinsettia has long been a ubiquitous symbol of the holiday season in the U.S. and Europe. But now, nearly 200 years after the plant with the bright crimson leaves was introduced north of the Rio Grande, attention is

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The Biden administration has released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a swap for jailed Americans, The Associated Press has learned. Alex Saab, who was arrested on a U.S. warrant for money laundering in 2020, was released from custody Wednesday. In

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The party of Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan  says he will run in upcoming parliamentary elections from prison. Legal experts say this is possible while Khan’s appeal of his conviction in a corruption case is being considered. The 71-year-old former prime minister is Pakistan’s most well-known opposition

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — The family of an elder in a Chinese church says he has been detained and accused of fraud. A U.S.-based Christian rights group says it’s part of a larger crackdown by Chinese authorities on house churches, or informal churches not registered with the government. Many Chinese who

PARIS (AP) — France’s most famous TV presenter has been handed a preliminary charge of rape by a person abusing his authority. French authorities have investigated complaints by about 20 women who have accused Patrick Poivre d’Arvor of sexual misconduct. He denies wrongdoing, and has sued 16 of his accusers. A revered personality who hosted

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu plans to formally apologize on behalf of the city to Alan Swanson and Willie Bennett for their wrongful arrests following the 1989 murder of Carol Stuart, whose husband Charles Stuart had orchestrated her killing. The killing rattled Boston, coarsened divisions in a city

By TARA COPP Associated Press ABOARD THE USS GERALD R FORD (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has flown out to the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier to meet with the sailors he’s ordered to remain at sea to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spilling over into a deadlier regional conflict. It was

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer Repeatedly in recent years, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has stipulated that “the threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority.” In the face of recent election setbacks for abortion opponents, leading bishops and their lay allies are reassessing how to move forward with that stance. The latest rebuff

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves’ trial for alleged sexual assault will start Feb. 5. A Barcelona-based court announced the date on Wednesday. Alves is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona night club in December 2022. The former Barcelona right back has been in pre-trial jail since January. His

LONDON (AP) — Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka was confronted by a fan who ran onto the field during Tuesday’s English League Cup quarterfinal match at Chelsea. The supporter appeared to collide with Dubravka after Mykhailo Mudryk scored a stoppage-time equalizer for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He then evaded a steward as he ran back into

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Organizers of the Paris Olympics say work will continue on a new tower for judges and TV cameras at the surfing venue in Tahiti. That’s despite the sport’s governing body saying it no longer supports the controversial project. The International Surfing Association said Tuesday that it

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s new pro-European Union government says it has changed the directors of state television, radio and the government-run news agency as it embarked on the path of freeing publicly-owned media from the political control of the previous nationalist conservative administration. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Cabinet took office last week. It has

LONDON (AP) — Three of the world’s biggest porn websites face new requirements in the European Union that include verifying the ages of users. The EU’s executive commission said Thursday that Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat have been classed as very large online platforms under a digital law designed to keep people safe on the internet

By MATT O’BRIEN and HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built. Those same images have made it easier for AI

By JAE BRATTON of NerdWallet Traditional secured credit cards are a credit-building tool for those with bad or limited credit, but some people can’t swing the upfront cash deposit required to open the account. Some financial technology companies think they have the solution in the form of asset-secured cards. Instead of cash, the credit limits

By NICK KURCZEWSKI Edmunds How quickly an EV can charge at a public fast-charging station is nearly as important as how much range it has. After all, the quicker you can charge your EV, the quicker you can get back on the road to drive. One problem, however, is that it can be hard to

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch bank ING says it is accelerating its phasing out of funding for oil and gas exploration and production activities while it increases financing for renewable energy. The ING announcement Wednesday comes a week after nearly 200 countries at the COP28 climate meeting in Dubai agreed to move away from

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia television station says a news helicopter has crashed in New Jersey, killing both the pilot and photographer on board. WPVI-TV says a pilot and photographer from its news team were in the helicopter when it went down about 8 p.m. Tuesday in Burlington County’s Washington Township. The helicopter was returning

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia and Egypt say the latest round of yearslong negotiations to find an agreement over a highly contentious hydroelectric dam Ethiopia has built on the Nile’s main tributary ended with no deal. Both countries blamed each other after three days of talks in Addis Ababa concluded without any deal on

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has lost in his legal attempt to overturn sanctions imposed by the European Union for his role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich had filed a lawsuit at the EU’s general court against the European Union Council, which imposed sanctions on

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use a visit to Milwaukee to highlight a surge in federal support for Black and Latino-owned businesses. Under Biden, the Small Business Administration says it has more than doubled the number of loans to Black-owned small businesses. Biden picked a key 2024 battleground state

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s federal prosecutor has filed a motion for asset forfeiture concerning more than 720 million euros or $789 million of frozen Russian money. The prosecutor’s office said Wednesday that the aim of the motion which was filed on July 7 is to seize the money deposited by a Russian financial institution into

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Doctors in the early stages of their careers in England have started a 72-hour strike in their long-running dispute over pay levels. Patients in Britain’s state-owned National Health Service have been warned that there will be “significant disruption,” with thousands of appointments and procedures postponed or even

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court has ordered the governor of Okinawa to approve the central government’s modified plan for landfill work at the planned relocation site of a key U.S. military base on the southern island despite persistent local opposition. The decision will move forward the suspended construction at

PARIS (AP) — The French parliament has approved a divisive immigration bill intended to strengthen France’s ability to deport foreigners considered undesirable. The vote prompted a heated debate after the far-right decided to back the measure. The bill passed the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, with a 349-186 vote late Tuesday. It had

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas’ top leader arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza, the militant group said in a statement. The visit by Ismail Haniyeh came a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States has flown a long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea and Japan in a show of force against North Korea. The B-1B bomber’s flyover on Wednesday comes days after North Korea performed its first interconnectional ballistic missile test in five months.