Month: January 2024

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Listened to more music last year? You’re not alone. Luminate’s year-end report finds that the global music industry surpassed 4 trillion streams in 2023. That’s a new single-year record. Global streams are also up 34% from last year, reflective of an increasingly international music marketplace.

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press UNION, N.J. (AP) — Federal investigators are looking into a dockside cargo ship fire that killed two New Jersey firefighters at Port Newark. The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board held a hearing Wednesday about the July 5 blaze aboard the Grande Costa d’Avorio. The Italian-owned vessel was

By LEANNE ITALIE AP Lifestyles Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The fight against climate change requires the mass cooperation of industries, companies, governments and communities around the globe. But individuals have a role to play, too. In New Year’s resolution season, there are lots of small, easily achievable ways to lead more climate-friendly lives. Start

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog says the owner of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter has slashed its global trust and safety staff by 30% including an 80% reduction in the number of safety engineers since billionaire Elon Musk took over in 2022. Australia’s eSafety Commission

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A legal battle over whether Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza amounts to genocide opens Thursday at the United Nations’ top court. Two days of preliminary hearings at the International Court of Justice will examine South Africa’s call for judges to order an immediate suspension

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will introduce measures to overturn the convictions of more than 900 post office branch managers who were wrongly accused of theft or fraud because of a faulty computer system. Hundreds of postmasters were wrongly convicted of stealing between 1999 and

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s star cricket player and former captain of the national team has been sentenced to eight years in prison for rape and ordered to pay a fine. The Kathmandu District Court judge issued the sentence for Sandeep Lamichhane. He has the next 100 days to make an appeal. His attorneys were

By ALEXA ST. JOHN Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — U.S. consumers looking to get a tax credit on an electric vehicle purchase have fewer models to choose from under new rules that limit the countries where automakers can buy battery parts and minerals — a potential blow to efforts to reduce planet-warming emissions from autos.

By ALEX ROSENBERG of NerdWallet Medicare Supplement Insurance, or Medigap, can fill some potentially pricey “gaps” in Medicare Part A and Part B. For example, before Part A will pay for your hospital stay, you need to pay a deductible of over $1,600 in 2024. With Part B, you’re responsible for 20% of the cost

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — ESPN’s early season baseball schedule will be the Sho Show. Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers will be featured on two of ESPN’s first three “Sunday Night Baseball” telecasts this season. The Dodgers’ opening two games of the season were assigned to ESPN as an MLB special event, a two-game

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to three months in prison on sedition charges for wearing a T-shirt with a slogan printed on it. The 26-year-old Chu Kai-pong pleaded guilty to two counts of sedition for the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” that was printed on his

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s nuclear safety regulators have told the operator of a nuclear power plant in the area hit by a powerful New Year’s Day quake to study its potential impact. The Nuclear Regulation Authority asked for further investigation even though initial assessments showed its cooling systems and ability

By NICK KURCZEWSKI Edmunds The new 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV is one of the most intriguing electric vehicle debuts this year. With roomy seating and lots of the latest technology features, it could appeal to people looking to go electric with their next SUV purchase. However, it competes against a host of other electric SUVs,

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — The relationship between India and the Maldives is facing challenges after officials in the tiny island nation made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s posts that promoted the pristine beaches of India’s Lakshadweep archipelago. In India, government officials, Bollywood stars and cricketers are urging people

By LISA MASCARO and REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Marching ahead with multiple impeachment plans, House Republicans set their sights Wednesday on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who they intend to prove is “derelict in his duty” over handling the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The chairman of the Homeland Security

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A controversial Nepalese spiritual leader known as “Buddha Boy” was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a minor and involvement in the disappearance of at least four of his followers from his camps, police said Wednesday. Ram Bahadur Bamjan is believed by many Nepalese to be

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister has called for unified efforts to tackle global infectious diseases like COVID-19 and emergencies caused by climate change, nearly 1 1/2-year after devastating floods killed 1,700 people in his nation. Representatives from 70 countries, the World Health Organization, and other international organizations are attending

By LIUDAS DAPKUS Associated Press VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Ukraine has shown the world that Russia’s military can be stopped, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday as he began a visit to the Baltic nations in search of more help for his country against the Kremlin’s larger and better-supplied forces in the 22-month-old invasion. Speaking in

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report says climate-altering pollution from greenhouse gases declined by nearly 2% in the United States in 2023, even as the economy expanded at a faster clip. The report from the Rhodium Group said the decline is a step in the right direction but far below

By KENYA HUNTER AP Health Writer Nearly 21 million children in the U.S. and its territories are expected to receive food benefits this summer through a newly permanent federal program, the United States Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. Thirty-five states, all five U.S. territories and four tribes opted into the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program,

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — The World Economic Forum says false and misleading information supercharged with cutting-edge artificial intelligence is the top immediate risk to the global economy. In its latest Global Risks Report, the organization says misinformation and disinformation as the most severe risk over the next two years. The

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say two migrants have been killed and eight others rescued in Greece after a dinghy crashed into rocks in high winds on the island of Lesbos. The incident occurred near the resort town of Thermi on the east of the island, facing the nearby coast of Turkey. A search

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese authorities have resumed landfill work at the planned new site of the U.S. military base on Okinawa despite protests by island residents that it tramples on their rights. The site for the base on the eastern coast of Okinawa has been at the center of a