Year: 2021

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell for a third straight time last week, the latest sign that employers are laying off fewer people as they struggle to fill a record number of open jobs and meet a surge in consumer demand. Thursday’s report from

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Thousands are expected to attend the opening Thursday of the 10-day multi-national LGBT+ festival that will include a global pride event in southern Sweden and a 22-sports tournament in nearby Copenhagen. The two-in-one event — Copenhagen 2021 — combines World Pride and EuroGames where some 2,000 athletes from more than 50

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul says she plans to run for governor in her own right after serving out the rest of Andrew Cuomo’s term. Hochul told NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday that she fully expects to run for governor because she is “the most prepared person”

By The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stevie Wonder and Common will perform together for the seventh Stand Up To Cancer telethon. Matthew McConaughey, Chandra Wilson and Jennifer Garner are among the celebrities helping to raise money for research. Brittany Howard also will perform on the hourlong special on Saturday, Aug. 21. Anthony Anderson,

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — Stifling heat is gripping much of Southern Europe, and forecasters say worse is expected to come. Throughout the Mediterranean region, days of hot weather already have driven people indoors at midday, spoiled crops and complicated the challenge of firefighters battling wildfires. Barcelona officials opened museums, and libraries

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Tropical depression Fred is heading for a drenching of Cuba and the Bahamas on a forecast track that would carry it toward South Florida as a tropical storm by Saturday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the main threat to the U.S. appears to be heavy rains

MADRID (AP) — Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar says society must be alert to the power of algorithms deciding what humans are permitted to see. He declared “victory” over Instagram after a controversial poster for his upcoming film was censored then reinstated. The social network has since apologized and backtracked after recognizing the “artistic context” of

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Police in Turkey say they have detained 76 people in connection with attacks on homes and businesses believed to be owned by Syrians after a Turkish teenager was killed in a fight with a group of refugees from Syria. Local media reports said a hundreds-strong mob took to the streets in

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A key medical adviser to Japan’s prime minister says surging infections in the Tokyo area are severely affecting medical systems, and he is urging the government to take stricter measures to drastically reduce people’s activity. The Japanese capital has been reporting record numbers of new infections, with

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Facebook’s ownership of Giphy will hurt competition for animated images, U.K. regulators said Thursday following an investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority said in provisional findings that the acquisition would hurt competition among social media platforms because there’s only one other big provider of GIFs, Google’s

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is facing a more difficult relationship with two of its key allies after lawmakers passed two bills which the government had been warned to drop. One deals with foreign ownership of Polish media companies and would force the U.S. owner of Poland’s largest private TV

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister has inaugurated his country’s diplomatic representation in Morocco, a symbol of the normalization of the relations between the two nations. Yair Lapid’s two-day visit is the first to Morocco by an Israeli minister since 2003. Israel and Morocco last year reached a deal establishing formal ties under the

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Human rights experts working with the United Nations have called on countries to pause the sale and transfer of spyware and other surveillance technology until they set rules governing its use, to ensure it won’t impinge upon human rights. The eight experts spoke out following further Pegasus

By PAUL J. WEBER and ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican officials in Texas say law enforcement has now been enlisted to help bring Democrats back to the state Capitol and end a standoff over a GOP voting bill. The move to bring in law enforcement came a day after officers of