Month: January 2024

By JILL COLVIN and HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — While his rivals contend with snow drifts and frigid temperatures as they make their last-ditch pitch to Iowa voters, former President Donald Trump has spent much of the week before the caucuses in court instead, by choice. Trump was in Washington, D.C.

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — In the greatest rebuke yet to Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops of Africa and Madagascar issued a unified statement Thursday refusing to follow his declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples and asserting that such unions are “contrary to the will of God.” The

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The illegal tunnel discovered under a historic Brooklyn synagogue compromised the stability of several structures surrounding the religious complex, prompting an order to vacate as well as citations against its owners, city officials said. Inspectors with New York City’s building safety agency uncovered a tunnel that

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden says her husband’s age is an “asset,” as President Joe Biden — at 81 already the oldest American leader in history — faces persistent questions from voters about his decision to seek another term. In an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” released Thursday, Jill Biden responded to those

By JULIA FRANKEL and ALON BERNSTEIN Associated Press KIBBUTZ BE’ERI, Israel (AP) — Relatives of civilians killed at a kibbutz in southern Israel during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas are demanding the military immediately investigate signs that some may have been killed by Israeli security forces as they battled militants holding hostages. The military

QUITO (AP) — A fake bomb threat has rattled the capital of Ecuador and sparked the mobilization of an anti-explosives unit to a bustling area. Police said they were forced to evacuate people from Playón de la Marín on Thursday. The event happened a day after explosives placed in five different areas around Quito caused

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Finland says it will extend the closure of its border with Russia for another month because it suspects that Moscow is trying to undermine the Nordic country’s security by sending undocumented migrants across the frontier. Finland closed the border late last year after 1,300 migrants without proper

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up his latest urgent Mideast tour in talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. American officials claim modest success in getting regional leaders on board with general planning for construction and governance in Gaza after Israel’s war with

By ELDAR EMRIC Associated Press VISEGRAD, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Tons of garbage floats down a river at least twice a year and ends up near the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad behind a barrier installed by a local hydroelectric plant. An environmental activist said “new year, new problems or rather old problems with new garbage

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A government agency in Jamaica says it is investigating four fatal shootings by police officers in the span of 24 hours, including that of a 14-year-old boy. The Independent Commission of Investigations says police killed three people on Tuesday and another on Wednesday. Authorities allege all four victims opened

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Some of the Native Americans the National Park Service was supposed to consult with say moving a statue of Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn from a Philadelphia historic site isn’t a priority for them. The park service quickly reversed that plan amid a backlash, but says it

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Police say a grenade explosion in Afghanistan’s capital has killed two people and wounded 12 in a Shiite neighborhood of Kabul. It was the second deadly blast in the Dasht-e-Barchi area in less than a week. The explosion occurred outside a commercial center in mid-afternoon. No one immediately claimed responsibility for

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits inched down to its lowest level in nearly three months last week as the U.S. labor market continues to flex its muscle in spite of elevated interest rates. Jobless claim applications fell to 202,000 for the week ending Jan. 6, down

By DEEPTI HAJELA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The hundreds of television series on U.S. broadcast, cable and streaming platforms are the subject of a new list — one that scores them for their diversity and inclusion. The Inclusion List for episodic programming is being released by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. for the first time has given the greenlight to almost a dozen exchange traded funds for bitcoins. ETFs give every day investors a way to get in on trading in oil, gold, corporate bonds and now bitcoin without actually having to own a

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A memoir that Lisa Marie Presley had been working on at the time of her death will be published this fall. The book, currently untitled, was completed with the help of actor Riley Keough, the eldest of Presley’s four children. “Few people had the opportunity

LONDON (AP) — Microsoft says it is upgrading its cloud computing service to let customers store all personal data within the European Union instead of having it flow to the U.S. where national privacy laws don’t exist. The Seattle-based company said Thursday that the changes apply to services including Azure, Microsoft 365, Power Platform and

By ABDOULIE JOHN Associated Press SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — A plane carrying Gambia’s national soccer team made an emergency landing after a sudden loss of oxygen during their flight to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Gambia’s Football Federation says a chartered flight Wednesday carrying the team returned to Gambia’s capital Banjul after

By PETER SMITH Associated Press Post-pandemic burnout is at worrying levels among Christian clergy in the U.S., prompting many to think about abandoning their jobs, according to a new nationwide survey. More than 4 in 10 of clergy surveyed in fall 2023 had seriously considered leaving their congregations at least once since 2020, when the

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations mission in Afghanistan says it’s deeply concerned by recent “arbitrary arrests and detentions” by the Taliban of women and girls for allegedly violating dress codes regarding the Islamic headscarf, or hijab. The mission said on Thursday it was looking into claims of ill-treatment of women and extortion in

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Six-time NFL champion Bill Belichick has agreed to part ways as the coach of the New England Patriots on Thursday, bringing an end to his 24-year tenure as the architect of the most decorated dynasty of the league’s Super Bowl era, a person with knowledge

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police have detained 70 suspects with ties to the militant Islamic State group in raids this week across the country. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Thursday on social media that large amounts of money, digital material and receipts for hawala banking transactions were also discovered in the raids. Hawala

BY JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Germany’s top diplomat says China’s actions in the South China Sea violate the rights of Asian coastal states like the Philippines and threaten freedom of navigation, but adds that the territorial disputes have to be resolved peacefully because “the world doesn’t need another crisis.” Annalena Baerbock,

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has unveiled plans for a yearlong restoration of the monumental baldacchino, or canopy, over the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, pledging to complete the work on Bernini’s masterpiece before Pope Francis’ big 2025 Jubilee. The 700,000 euros, or $770,000, restoration and conservation project, funded

By The Associated Press The lawyer of Sergei Udaltsov, a Russian left-wing activist, says her client is being questioned over terrorism offences. Udaltsov heads the Left Front, a group of left-wing political parties who oppose President Vladimir Putin and are affiliated with Russia’s Communist Party. He was a prominent during the 2011-2012 protests, which saw

LONDON (AP) — A legal adviser to the European Union’s top court says Google should pay a whopping fine in a long-running antitrust case. EU regulators had found the company gave its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage over rivals in search results. The European Court of Justice’s advocate general on Thursday recommended rejecting the

By ANNIE MA Associated Press The United Negro College Fund announced a donation of $100 million from the Lilly Endowment, the single largest unrestricted gift to the organization since its founding 80 years ago. The gift announced Thursday will go toward a pooled endowment for the 37 historically Black colleges and universities that form UNCF’s

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Officials say a magnitude 6.4 earthquake has rattled much of Pakistan and parts of neighboring Afghanistan. Thursday’s tremors sent panicked residents fleeing from homes and offices and frightening people in remote villages. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the earthquake was in the Hindu Kuch mountain range

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply condemned alleged plans by members of far-right groups who supposedly met recently at a mansion outside Berlin to devise a plot to deport millions of immigrants, even those with German citizenship, if the groups take power. Scholz said Thursday that Germany will not allow anyone living

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania have signed an agreement to jointly tackle rogue sea mines that have threatened Black Sea shipping since the start of the Ukraine war. Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said Thursday the memorandum established a Mine Countermeasures Task Group between the three NATO allies to deal with drifting mines.

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding $623 million in grants to help build an electric vehicle charging network across the nation. Grants being announced Thursday will fund 47 EV charging stations and related projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, including 7,500 EV charging ports. Congress approved $7.5

By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s intelligence ministry has identified a top suspect, described as ringleader and bomb-maker, in the twin suicide bombings last week claimed by the Islamic State group. Thursday’s announcement came as state media said the death toll from the Jan. 3 attack rose to at least 94.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s right-wing opposition is urging supporters to protest against moves by the new pro-European Union government to take control of state broadcasters and the state news agency. The Law and Justice party governed for eight years before losing October’s parliamentary elections. It has called for a protest by “Free Poles” outside

By ZEN SOO AP Technology Writer Google says it has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures. The company said the moves were made as Google aims at “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.”  Google earlier said

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares advanced Thursday on the back of Wall Street’s climb to a near-record high, as Tokyo’s benchmark hovered near its highest level since 1990. The yen has weakened against the U.S. dollar, boosting export-related shares in a New Year rally that took the benchmark Nikkei