Month: March 2024

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Making instant videos is the next wave of generative artificial intelligence, much like chatbots and image-generators before it. And the pop star Madonna is among the early adopters. Madonna’s team used an AI text-to-video tool to make moving images of swirling clouds featured in her ongoing Celebration Tour. The

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Senior U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who is visiting Beirut, says if a truce is reached in the Gaza Strip, it will not automatically translate to calm along the volatile Lebanon-Israel border which has witnessed a rise in tensions. Since the Israel-Hamas war started, Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. atomic watchdog agency’s director said that he’s due to depart for a trip to Moscow on Tuesday for high-level talks with Russian officials to discuss the issue of nuclear safety in Ukraine. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi made the announcement on Monday

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of flights and trains are expected to be canceled again this week in Germany after two unions called for more strikes over wages and working conditions. Negotiations continue for ground staff of German airline Lufthansa and German rail operator’s Deutsche Bahn train drivers. German train drivers’ union GDL and Ver.di called

MURPHY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina woman has been charged with killing her twin 4-year-old sons. Authorities say the bodies of the boys were found by the father. The father called 911 after he arrived at the home of his wife, Genevieve Ellen Springer, on Saturday morning in Murphy, North Carolina. The couple was

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An incident in the Red Sea has cut three underwater sea cables providing internet and telecommunications around the world as the waterway remains a target of Yemen’s Houthi rebels. A statement Monday by Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications acknowledged the cuts but did not

NEW YORK (AP) — Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney Monday morning for arraignment on a new criminal charge, the prosecutor’s office said. The district attorney didn’t immediately disclose the nature of the charge, but people familiar with the investigation had previously told The

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Stella McCartney presented a sustainability-minded showcase at Paris Fashion Week. With the support of luxury conglomerate LVMH and a front row featuring Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, she highlighted the fashion industry’s environmental impact. Her fall-winter 2024 collection emphasized that glamour can coexist with environmental responsibility.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has sharply criticized the Hungarian and Slovak foreign ministers for meeting with their Russian counterpart during a regional forum in Turkey. Tusk said that meeting Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the same day that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was buried in Moscow was “not

JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are ending their proposed $3.8 billion combination after a court ruling blocked their merger. JetBlue said Monday that even though both companies still believe in the benefits of a combination, they felt they were unlikely to meet the required closing conditions before the July 24 deadline and mutually agreed that terminating

By The Associated Press Mikaela Shiffrin’s return from her downhill crash is still on schedule for this weekend in Sweden but the American standout might only enter one of the two World Cup races. Shiffrin’s team says “Mikaela is improving in slalom and feels that the slalom race is still realistic but the GS is

By The Associated Press Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld a ruling barring liberal politician Boris Nadezhdin from running in the upcoming presidential election. Nadezhdin, a city council member, was nominated by the Civic Initiative party to run in an election President Vladimir Putin is all but set to win. He has been vocal against the

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s two largest communist parties joined forces to form a new coalition government that would include smaller parties as partners. Maoist party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal will remain the prime minister a year after he was elected to the office. Dahal has ended his partnership with the Nepali Congress party which

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press KUCOVE, Albania (AP) — NATO member Albania has inaugurated a refurbished Soviet-era air base, the alliance’s first in the Western Balkan region. The air base is named after the small town of Kucove, 52 miles south of the capital Tirana. Officials said the new air base will serve as a

LONDON (AP) — British police have recovered a Ferrari stolen from Formula One driver Gerhard Berger in Italy almost three decades ago. The red Ferrari F512M was one of two sports cars taken while their drivers were in Imola for the San Marino Grand Prix in April 1995. Neither was ever found, until London’s Metropolitan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Shehbaz Sharif has been sworn in as Pakistan’s new prime minister. It’s the second time he’s had the job. Monday’s swearing-in ceremony saw Sharif pledging to perform his duties and functions with honesty and loyalty and always for the country’s independence. But he has a tough task of bringing lawmakers together to

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — An online protest campaign exposing corruption has rattled government officials and others in Uganda, where street protests are practically outlawed. The campaign, which relies on leaks of official documents, has been presented on the social media platform X as an “exhibition” — in a sequence of

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — The European Union has fined Apple nearly $2 billion for breaking competition laws by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals. The move Tuesday is the 27-nation bloc’s first-ever antitrust penalty against the U.S. tech giant. The EU’s executive commission says Apple banned app

By KATE ASHFORD of NerdWallet New numbers from the Employee Benefit Research Institute suggest that some couples at age 65 may need as much as $413,000 in savings to cover health care costs in retirement. That’s an extreme case, representing two people with high prescription drug costs — but health issues in retirement can be

by BARBARA SURK Associated Press A bill to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French constitution goes to a historic vote on Monday, as lawmakers gather for a joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles. The measure was promised by President Emmanuel Macron following a rollback of abortion rights in court

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — An independent commission investigating the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history is about to hear from more family members of the victims of the tragedy. The commission was established by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and is reviewing the facts surrounding the Oct. 25 shootings that killed

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief has called for a quick end to the “repression of independent voices” in Russia and expressed concerns about the “persecution” of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last month. Volker Türk lamented dozens of conflicts around the world, widespread violations

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Cambodia is rejecting allegations it violated international law by evicting people living around its famous Angkor Wat temple complex, saying in a report to UNESCO that it was only relocating squatters and not residents of more than 100 traditional villages. The U.N. cultural agency had demanded a

By JIWON SONG and HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government is pressing ahead with its vow to suspend the licenses of thousands of junior doctors who ignore its repeated demands to end their collective walkouts. Nearly 9,000 out of the country’s medical interns and residents have been refusing to

By The Associated Press Moscow has summoned Germany’s ambassador to Russia’s foreign ministry, days after Russian state media released an audio recording purporting to show German officers discussing support for Ukraine. The state RIA Novosti outlet broadcast video of German Ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff entering the Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow on Monday, surrounded

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A group of Indigenous women in Greenland has sued Denmark for forcing them to be fitted with intrauterine contraceptive devices in the 1960s and 70s, and demanded total compensation of nearly 43 million kroner ($6.3 million). Danish media reported Monday that the group of 143 Inuit women said Danish health authorities

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — John Kerry feels he’s going out on a high note as he retires from leading U.S. efforts in international negotiations to confront ever-worsening climate change. Kerry tells The Associated Press during an interview that a climate agreement reached in December in Dubai is the highest point

KING CITY, Calif. (AP) — Police say a group of men in masks opened fire at an outdoor party in central California, killing four people and injuring three others. The King City Police Department says officers responded to a reported shooting around 6 p.m. Sunday and found three men with gunshot wounds who were pronounced

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Malaysia’s prime minister has spoken up in defense of his administration’s ties with China and complained over alleged pressure by the United States and its allies on regional nations to take sides in the West’s strategic rivalries with Beijing. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s remarks came during

By The Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian hard-line politicians dominated the country’s vote for parliament, according to results released Monday. Authorities still have not released turnout figures for Friday’s vote, nor gave any reason for the delay, but turnout is suspected to be low after some polling stations in the capital,

BERLIN (AP) — Four people have died and at least 21 were injured in a fire at a retirement home in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. German news agency dpa reported that a firefighter and a police officer were also injured and taken to a hospital. In addition to those who were confirmed

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mostly higher Monday ahead of China’s top annual political gathering, while Japan’s benchmark surpassed the 40,000 level for the first time. U.S. futures fell and oil prices were little changed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index rose to 40,314.64 but fell back slightly. It

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — NATO will kick off an exercise on Monday to defend its newly expanded Nordic territory when more than 20,000 soldiers from 13 nations take part in drills lasting nearly two weeks in the northern regions of Finland, Norway and Sweden. With over 4,000 Finnish soldiers taking part

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese coast guard helicopter has rescued 24 fishermen from the deck of a half-submerged ship being pounded by high waves. One crewmember who had been thrown from the rocking ship into the rough seas earlier was found dead. The ship stalled after an engine failure Sunday

VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Strong winds spread flames on Sunday and prompted at least one evacuation while airplanes dropped fire retardant over the northern Texas Panhandle as firefighters worked to stop the largest wildfire in state history. As of Sunday afternoon, the Smokehouse Creek fire, which has burned more than 1

By DAKE KANG and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s efforts to restore confidence and rev up the economy will top the agenda during this month’s meeting of the ceremonial national legislature. The strong, consumer-led recovery hoped for after leaders gave up on severe anti-virus controls in late 2022 never materialized. In his

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Monday dropped a charge against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, now living in exile, for mishandling government project expenditure in 2013. It is the latest favorable ruling in criminal cases hanging over the former leader. The court cleared Yingluck of abuse of power in December last year. The

NEW DELHI (AP) — India announced plans for a new naval base off the country’s south-west coast and close to Maldives, as tensions are running high over between Delhi and the island nation. The Indian Navy said Saturday it plans to build a base called INS Jatayu on Minicoy, the southernmost island in the Lakshadweep

By DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The flow of millions of small parcels into the U.S. from China thanks to the explosive growth of online shopping has caught the attention of Congress. It casts a spotlight on a trade rule that allows parcels valued under $800 to enter the country duty-free. Lawmakers from

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government says it is eliminating an annual news conference by the premier that was one of the only times a top Chinese leader took questions from the news media. Lou Qinlan, the spokesperson for the National People’s Congress, said Monday that Premier Li Qiang would not hold a news conference

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The proposed move of the Capitals and Wizards sports teams to nearby Virginia has stoked concern in a pair of fragile Washington neighborhoods. Residents and business owners in Chinatown fear that the departure of the teams would devastate the neighborhood around the Capital One Arena — which

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s Republican presidential caucuses are Monday, when voters will gather at 12 sites around the state. Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and two other candidates are on the ballot. A candidate must win at least 20% of the vote to receive any delegates. If someone wins

By JILL COLVIN and BILL BARROW Associated Press GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — He’s argued his four criminal indictments and mug shot bolstered his support among Black voters who see him as a victim of discrimination just like them. He’s compared himself to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison imprisoned by

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other national security secrets, is expected to plead guilty on Monday in federal court. The 22-year-old is due to appear in Boston’s federal courthouse for

By BROOKE HESS and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — A powerful blizzard that closed highways and ski resorts had mostly moved through the Sierra Nevada by early Monday but forecasters warned that more snow was on the way for Northern California mountains. Sections of Interstate 80 to the west and north of

By DREW CALLISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Omar Abu Kuwaik is far from his home in Gaza. The 4-year-old’s parents and sister were killed by an Israeli airstrike, when he lost part of his arm. He’s one of the lucky ones. Through the efforts of family and strangers, Omar was brought out of