Month: January 2024

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in more than a year, underscoring the resilience of the labor market amid elevated interest rates. Jobless claim applications fell to 187,000 for the week ending Jan. 13, a decrease of 16,000 from the

By The Associated Press A Russian city near the Ukrainian border canceled its traditional Orthodox Epiphany festivities on Friday due to the threat of attacks as Kyiv’s forces pursue a new strategy with the war approaching its two-year milestone. The city of Belgorod has scrapped events in which the faithful plunge into ponds and pools

By RIAZAT BUTT Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — This week’s airstrikes between Iran and Pakistan that killed at least 11 people marks a significant escalation in fraught relations between the neighbors. Long-running, low-level insurgencies on either side of the border have frustrated both countries, and the apparent targets of the strikes — Iran’s on Tuesday

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Parliament has voted to amend the country’s constitution for the third time, removing the term “handicapped” and replacing it with “persons with a disability.” The change has long been a demanded by Spain’s community of peole with disabilities. Spain’s ruling Socialist Party and the conservative opposition Popular Party agreed to make

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — India’s newest airline says it will buy 150 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, in the first major announced sale for the manufacturer since a panel blew out of another Max model in midflight earlier this month. Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube announced the order of the Boeing 737 Max 10 and 737

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Six people are wounded after gunfire broke out inside a popular shopping mall in Kansas City, Missouri. The shooting happened Wednesday evening at Crown Center. All six victims are expected to survive. Two were found in a food court area on the lower level. Police later learned that four other

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Swift leads the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards nominations with nine, followed closely by Jelly Roll, SZA, and 21 Savage with eight. Behind them is Olivia Rodrigo, who boasts six. There are also seven new categories this year, including pop song of the year, pop

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Country music star Reba McEntire will grace next month’s Super Bowl stage to sing the national anthem while Post Malone will perform “America the Beautiful.” The performances will take place Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas before the championship matchup and halftime

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s government says Iran arrested a Swedish citizen in his 60s in late November. The authorities did not identify the man but said on Thursday that he holds both Swedish and Iranian citizenship and was detained “without a clear reason.” The Foreign Ministry in Stockholm on Wednesday summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has laid out a challenge to members of Parliament’s unelected upper chamber to swiftly pass his controversial plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda. Sunak said Thursday that any attempt by the House of Lords to soften or delay

LONDON (AP) — Prince William visited his wife Kate Thursday in a London hospital, where she is recovering after abdominal surgery. British media reported that the 42-year-old Princess of Wales was “doing well” after the operation, details of which have not been disclosed. Royal officials announced Wednesday that Kate had had surgery and was expected

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer A year ago, anti-abortion activists from across the U.S. gathered for their annual March for Life with reason to celebrate: It was their first march since the Supreme Court, seven months earlier, had overturned the nationwide right to abortion. At this year’s march, on Friday, the mood will be

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A new edition of “The Hunger Games,” the first novel in Suzanne Collins’ dystopian series set in the North American land of Panem, will include words and pictures. “The Hunger Games Illustrated Edition” will be published Oct. 1, Scholastic announced Thursday. The book will feature

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri activists are throwing support behind a constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights while also allowing the procedure to be restricted in later stages of pregnancy. The group Missourians for Constitutional Freedom committed Thursday to an amendment that would let lawmakers restrict or ban abortions

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — “Oppenheimer” leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards, with nominations in 13 categories including best film. “Poor Things” received 11 nominations on the list announced Thursday. “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “The Zone of Interest” have nine each. Other leading contenders include “Anatomy of

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Sheryl Sandberg, who helped to transform Facebook from a tech startup into a digital advertising empire, will step down from the board of Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Sandberg left Google to join Facebook in 2008, four years before the company went public. As the No. 2 executive at Meta

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s lawmakers have approved the key 2024 state budget but it still needs approval from President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with the right-wing opposition. The budget adopted on Thursday also needs endorsement from the Senate before the Jan. 29 deadline, when it has to land on Duda’s desk. A delay

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in Haiti say they’re investigating allegations of sexual abuse and abuse of authority and public property at a state university in the southern coastal city of Jacmel. A commission has been deployed to the University of the South-East to investigate accusations that officials say first surfaced in September.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has signed a deal with the United States to purchase up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of its ongoing military buildup in response to increased regional threats. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel attended a signing event at Japan’s Defense Ministry on Thursday. Emanuel,

WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — A Wolverhampton fan was unable to celebrate his team’s late winner in an FA Cup replay because he’d been plucked from the crowd to stand in as a match official. Ross Bennett attended the Wolves-Brentford game on Tuesday with his 11-year-old son. He volunteered to fill in as the fourth official

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition activists say an airstrike that was likely carried out by Jordan’s air force on southern Syria has killed at least nine people in the latest of strikes in recent months. There was no immediate confirmation from Jordan on Thursday’s strike that hit the province of

PARIS (AP) — French soccer club Bastia has been handed a one-point deduction after its second-tier game was disrupted when a fan racially abused an assistant referee. The French league says its disciplinary panel judged the case based on racial abuse of the match official, plus fans lighting fireworks and throwing one on the field.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat has dismissed a proposal by the United States to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control. Speaking at Thursday’s annual news conference, Sergey Lavrov said it’s impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine. He accused the West of fueling global security risks by

By KELVIN CHAN and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Artificial intelligence is easily the biggest buzzword for world leaders and corporate bosses diving into big ideas at the World Economic Forum’s glitzy annual meeting in Davos. Advances in generative AI stunned the world last year, and the elite crowd is angling to

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — China and the Philippines said they have agreed to work on lowering tensions after a year of tense confrontations in the South China Sea between their ships that have raised concerns of armed engagement in the region. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday in a

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s government will not change policies the European Union believes infringe on LGBTQ+ rights and those of asylum seekers, even if doing so would unfreeze billions in funding the bloc has withheld from Budapest. The EU has frozen funds to Hungary over concerns that its right-wing

PARIS (AP) — France’s defense minister says French manufacturers have reduced manufacturing times for some of the weapons systems they supply to Ukraine by half or more. The minister, Sébastien Lecornu, also confirmed in an interview published Thursday that France is increasingly switching away from its previous policy of dipping into its own military stocks

By NAJIB JOBAIN and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on a home killed 16 people, half of them children, in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, medics said early Thursday. The military continued to strike targets in areas of the besieged territory where it has told civilians to

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is going to North Carolina to highlight $82 million in new investments that would connect 16,000 households to high-speed internet. Biden’s reelection campaign is making winning North Carolina and its 16 electoral votes one of its top priorities in this year’s presidential election. The

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — In recent weeks, lawmakers in the United States and the United Kingdom have sent letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission cautioning against the listing of JBS, the world’s largest meatpacking company, on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading on the world’s largest exchange would give JBS, which

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican legislators in Kansas have renewed a fight with the Democratic governor over income tax cuts with no sign of a break in an impasse that thwarted tax relief last year. The dispute is over moving Kansas to a single rate for personal income

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singaporean Transport Minister S. Iswaran was charged Thursday in the first ministerial corruption case ever seen in the Asian financial hub known for squeaky clean government. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said in a statement Thursday that Iswaran, 61, faced a total of 27 charges.

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares traded mixed Thursday as pessimism spread among investors about any imminent interest rate cut in the United States. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to finish at 35,466.17. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 7,346.50. South Korea’s Kospi gained

by JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press MUEANG SUPHAN BURI, Thailand (AP) — Rescue workers are carrying out the grim task of recovering the remains of the 23 apparent victims of a fireworks factory explosion in central Thailand. Only part of the building frame stood at the site of the devastated factory in an otherwise-empty rice field

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — As artificial intelligence’s impact on society receives more scrutiny, a Franciscan friar who preaches a message of ethics in technology has gained some powerful listeners. The Italian priest, Paolo Benanti, who has a background in engineering, is a consultant for the Vatican, where Pope Francis has voiced

By MUNIR AHMED and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s air force has launched retaliatory airstrikes on Iran allegedly targeting militant positions. The attack early Thursday killed at least seven people and further raised tensions between the neighboring nations. The strikes in Sistan and Baluchestan province follow Iran’s attack Tuesday on Pakistani soil

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Funeral services for former first lady Melania Trump’s mother are scheduled for a Florida church not far from the family’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Private services for Amalija Knavs are scheduled for Thursday at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. That’s the congregation former President Donald Trump sometimes attends and where he and

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — States are seeing increased demand for their cash amid high interest rates. State treasurers say they have seen a significant increase in applications for little-known programs that use state funds to spur private investment with bargain-priced loans. Under the programs, states deposit money in

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Israel’s president and the head of ChatGPT company OpenAI will take part at the World Economic Forum. Thursday is the third day of the annual gathering of elites that takes up everything from conflict to computers to climate in the Swiss snows. Israeli President Isaac Herzog

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Five Republican candidates in Indiana are trying to stand out before an unusually crowded gubernatorial primary in May. Campaign finance reports filed Wednesday show the race could be the most expensive in the office’s history, with millions raised and spent over in the past year. The candidates

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s been nearly two years since the United States and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign holdings in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. That roughly $300 billion in Russian Central Bank money has been sitting untapped as the war grinds on,

By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A second transgender candidate running for the majority Republican Ohio House could be disqualified from the ballot after omitting her former name on circulating petitions. The Mercer County Board of Elections will vote Thursday on whether Arienne Childrey, a Democrat from Auglaize County, is

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Inflammatory comments about fighting human animals, making Gaza a slaughterhouse, and erasing the Gaza Strip completely are a key component of South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the U.N. world court. Israel vehemently denies the charge and that it makes or encourages genocidal

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Illinois is adding tens of thousands of people to its population total, and California is getting misplaced sailors on an aircraft carrier put in the right location. That’s because the states successfully asked for a review of their 2020 census figures. New York City also appears to have gotten an

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The author of “Little Women” may have been even more productive than previously thought. A Northeastern University postdoctoral teaching associate believes he found work that Louisa May Alcott wrote under several pseudonyms for local newspapers in Massachusetts. Some of the 20 or so stories and poems

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Palestinians are dying every day in Gaza’s overwhelmed remaining hospitals which can’t deal with the estimated 60,000 injured people and daily arrival of hundreds more hurt in Israeli’s military offensive, a U.N. health emergency expert said Wednesday, while a doctor with the International Rescue Committee