Month: March 2024

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A dozen countries across Africa have suffered a major internet outage as multiple undersea telecommunication cables reported failures. Network disruptions caused by cable damage have occurred in Africa in recent years, but “today’s disruption points to something larger (and) this is amongst the most severe,” said

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Lawmakers in the European Parliament have adopted a non-binding resolution saying Russia should return gold and other valuable heritage items to Romania that were sent to Moscow during World War I for safekeeping. During that war, Romania sent by railroad 91.5 metric tons of gold coins and ingots to Moscow, along

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal authorities say a woman has been charged with illegally buying guns used in the killings of three Minnesota first responders in a standoff at a home in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville. A U.S. Attorney says Thursday that 35-year-old Burnsville woman conspired with the shooter between

By YURAS KARMANAU and EMMA BURROWS Associated Press Ukrainians living in regions illegally annexed by Russia are being coerced to vote in the presidential election of their wartime occupier, Vladimir Putin, an exercise denounced by Ukraine as an illegitimate effort by Moscow to tighten control over its neighbor. People in Russia don’t begin voting en

By ERIC OLSON AP College Football Writer Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen says athletic director Trev Alberts’ sudden decision to take the same job at Texas A&M is disappointing and he has implored the university’s board of regents to act quickly to fill vacant leadership positions. Pillen, a former regent who played football for the Cornhuskers

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s president has urged security agencies not to pay ransoms to rescue nearly 300 schoolchildren abducted from their school in the conflict-hit north a week ago. His directive comes as two people with extensive knowledge of the kidnap crisis said those holding the schoolchildren are known,

ISABELLA O’MALLEY Associated Press Intense storms that swept through Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday brought whipping winds, possible tornadoes — and what some described as “gorilla hail.” Hail is a product of thunderstorms and the size of this precipitation depends on the strength of the updraft, which is the upward flow of air in a

By FATIMA HUSSEIN & MATT LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a group of three extremist Israeli West Bank settlers who are accused of harassing and attacking Palestinians in an attempt to pressure them to leave their land. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Thursday that

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A young Belarusian woman who died after being attacked and raped in central Warsaw has been laid to rest. The crime has caused shock and indignation among Poles and the many Belarusians and Ukrainians who have sought refuge in Poland in recent years. For many, the

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has praised the progress made by the 14 countries in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity after the group held a ministerial meeting to discuss proposed guidelines for regional commerce. Raimondo took part in the virtual ministerial meeting hosted in the Thai

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The jury is deliberating in the involuntary manslaughter trial of the Michigan father of a teenage boy who killed four classmates and wounded others. This trial is the latest development in the shooting that happened on Nov. 30, 2021, in Oxford, Michigan, just north of Detroit. Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to

By BARBARA SURK Associated Press NICE, France (AP) — An independent French body in charge of a reparation program for victims of child sexual abuse by priests or church representatives says that nearly 500 people have so far received financial compensations from France’s Catholic Church. The Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation said in

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The estranged wife of Long Island serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann says she believes he is not capable of the crimes he is accused of and she visits him in jail weekly despite pending divorce proceedings. Asa Ellerup, who filed for divorce in the days after Heuermann’s July 13, 2023, arrest

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Composer Hans Zimmer’s film scores have soundtracked magic movie moments in “The Lion King,” “The Dark Knight” and both new “Dune” movies, to name a few. This fall, the “Hans Zimmer Live” tour will hit U.S. and Canada, marking the first time Zimmer has performed

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s high court has ruled that an Australian computer scientist is not, as he claimed, the mysterious creator of the bitcoin cryptocurrency. Craig Wright has for eight years claimed that he was the man behind “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonym that masked the identity of the creator of

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Two men accused of fatally stabbing three Egyptian monks belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church in South Africa have appeared in court. One of the two accused is a 37-year-old Egyptian national, while the other is aged 47 and a citizen of South Africa. They’ll remain in

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister is visiting Baghdad for high-level meetings, ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit next month and a potential Turkish offensive against an outlawed Kurdish militant group that Ankara says maintains bases in Iraq. Turkey has been seeking greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight

By MARK SHERMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Supreme Court’s approval hovering near record lows, two justices have teamed up to promote the art of disagreeing without being nasty about it. In joint appearances less than three weeks apart, ideologically opposite Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Sonia Sotomayor said a

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Linda Zullo would have loved Saturday. Jim Zullo, her husband, will coach in the New York state girls basketball semifinals. Sam Zullo, her son, will coach in the Connecticut state girls basketball final. They’ve spent years working for a day like this. So did Linda, the wife and mother

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press Voters from Ohio to California head to the polls next Tuesday in primary elections where most of the focus will be on downballot races rather than presidential. That’s because President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump just clinched their parties’ nominations in the latest round of primaries. It’ll be

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on Israel to hold new elections. Schumer says he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” amid the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and a growing humanitarian crisis there. Schumer is the first Jewish majority

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is officially open, a long-awaited moment that helps pave the way for a succession of large wind farms. Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource built a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind east of Montauk Point, New York. New York

By LOUIS PATRICK OKAMBA Associated Press BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — The health ministry says the Republic of Congo has recorded its first cases of mpox in several regions. It could be an indication of how the disease may be spreading across Africa since sexual transmission was first confirmed on the continent last year.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jaromir Jagr is missing. Well, the bobbleheads of the former NHL star are anyway. The Pittsburgh Penguins say a shipment carrying bobbleheads of the franchise icon was stolen after arriving in California. The team had intended to give the bobbleheads away to fans during their home game against the San Jose Sharks.

By LUCA BRUNO and ANDREW DAMPF Associated Press ALBA, Italy (AP) — The purple pieces of vulcanized rubber track being produced at a factory in northern Italy will be run on by the world’s fastest athletes at the Paris Olympics. They have been made with one clear goal. Records. After three world records and 12

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The 12 finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame this year represent four decades of play. They range from Atari Asteroids, which was played on coin-fed consoles in arcades beginning in 1979, to Guitar Hero, introduced in 2005. Other nominees include the 1980s launches: Elite, Metroid, SimCity and Ultima.

MILAN (AP) — A humanitarian rescue group says survivors aboard a deflating rubber dinghy rescued in the central Mediterranean Sea have reported that some 50 people who departed Libya with them a week ago perished during the journey. SOS Mediterranee says its rescue ship Ocean Viking spotted the dinghy Wednesday with 25 people on board.

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer SpaceX’s mega rocket has blasted off on another test flight from Texas. This time, Elon Musk is aiming to get his Starship spacecraft halfway around the world. Last year’s two test flights lasted just minutes before blowing up. No people or satellites were on board as the world’s biggest

Associated Press Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he’s going to put together an investor group to buy TikTok, a day after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban the popular video app in the U.S. if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Mnuchin said he

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER Associated Press The Interior Department will be allocating more than $120 million to tribal governments to fight the impacts of climate change. The funding is designed to help tribal nations adapt to climate threats, including relocating infrastructure. Indigenous peoples in the U.S. are among the communities most affected by severe climate-related

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States picked up again in February, the latest sign that inflation pressures remain elevated and might not cool in the coming months as fast as the Federal Reserve or the Biden administration would like. The government’s producer price index — which

By MATT OTT Associated Press The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits last week inched up but largely stayed at historically low levels as the labor market continues to thrive despite elevated interest rates. The Labor Department reported Thursday that filings for unemployment claims for the week ending March 9 ticked down by 1,000

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers picked up their spending in February after a pullback the previous month, reflecting the mixed feelings Americans have in an economy where prices are up, but jobs are plentiful. Retail sales rose 0.6% last month after falling a revised 1.1%, dragged down in part

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s parliament has dissolved to pave the way for a parliamentary election later this year. All 143 of a total of 151 lawmakers present at the session voted in favor of the move. The date for the parliamentary vote is yet to be set. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has suggested it

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he has no plans to resign and isn’t suffering from any health problems that would require doing so. The 87-year-old Francis made the comments in an autobiography, “Life: My Story Through History,” which is being published Tuesday, the 11th anniversary of his installation

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO and DARREN SANDS Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Neglect, abandonment and destruction have been the fate of thousands of segregated cemeteries across the country where African Americans – from former slaves to prominent politicians and business owners — were buried over many decades. In the past few years, growing awareness and the