Month: February 2024

NEW DELHI (AP) — Bangladesh’s foreign minister says 340 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police and soldiers have fled into Bangladesh during fighting with an ethnic minority army. Hasan Mahmud says 340 security personnel had entered Bangladesh by Wednesday. He says Bangladesh is having discussions with Myanmar’s government about the issue and that it is

CAIRO (AP) — A leading human rights group has dismissed the conviction of a prominent Egyptian political activist as an act of retaliation for his decision to challenge President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in last year’s election. On Tuesday a Cairo court sentenced former presidential hopeful Ahmed Altantawy, along with 22 of his aides, to one

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Usher found fitting a successful three decades of music into a super-short Super Bowl halftime show a challenge, but the multiple Grammy winner decided to concentrate on past hits, moments from his popular Las Vegas residency and possibly draw from his new album. “I

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The family of two American brothers trapped in Gaza says Israeli forces have detained the two U.S. citizens in a raid on their home. Eighteen-year-old Borak Alagha and 20-year-old Hashem Alagha were taken away with their Canadian father in a raid early Thursday.

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM and BRITTANY PETERSON Associated Press GREEN RIVER, Utah (AP) — A company’s plan in southeast Utah to extract lithium is adding to an anxiety familiar in this part of the arid American West: how the project could affect water from the Colorado River. An Australian company and its U.S. subsidiaries are analyzing

By MATT ROURKE and TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Associated Press EAST LANSDOWNE, Pa. (AP) — Six members of a family are feared dead at a house in suburban Philadelphia that went up in flames as two police officers who responded to the scene were shot. Among those feared dead are three children. Delaware County District Attorney Jack

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The EU has announced 210 million euros to help the coastal nation of Mauritania combat irregular migration, as the number of migrants making the dangerous Atlantic crossing from West Africa to Europe rises sharply. European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday called for the EU and Mauritania to

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic’s central bank has cut its key interest rate for the second straight time in an effort to help the struggling economy. The cut by a half-percentage point Thursday brought the interest rate down to 6.25%. The bank also trimmed borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, which marked

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Visitors to Boston this summer will get a treat: A stage show that reunites singer-actor Kristin Chenoweth with her “Wicked” songwriter Stephen Schwartz. Chenoweth will star as socialite Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel in the live adaptation of the 2012 documentary film “The Queen of Versailles.” The

BOSTON (AP) — Two JetBlue planes made contact Thursday morning at Boston Logan International Airport, with one wingtip touching another plane’s tail. No one was hurt and both flights were canceled, Jennifer Mehigan of the Massachusetts Port Authority said in an email. The left winglet of JetBlue Flight 777 struck the right horizontal stabilizer of

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans filing for jobless claims fell last week despite more layoff announcements from high-profile companies recently. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 9,000 to 218,000 for the week ending Feb. 3, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Weekly unemployment claims are seen as a proxy for the

By DIANE JEANTET and DAVID BILLER Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police have searched homes and offices of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s top aides in an investigation alleging they plotted a coup and that the ex-president was aware of the plan. Court documents show that the alleged plot involved having Bolsonaro sign

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pressure is mounting on Hungary’s head of state to resign after it was revealed she issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case. Hungary’s opposition parties say President Katalin Novák is no longer fit to hold office

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers have dug out more bodies from a landslide-hit southern Philippine village, bringing the death toll to 11 as the number of missing rose to 110. Officials say at least 31 residents survived with injuries when the landslide hit the gold-mining mountain village of Masara in Davao de Oro province on

By DEEPA BHARATH Associated Press On Feb. 10, Asian American communities around the U.S. will ring in the Year of the Dragon with community carnivals, family gatherings, parades, traditional food, fireworks and other festivities. In many Asian countries, it is a festival that is celebrated for several days. In diaspora communities, particularly in cultural enclaves,

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says that U.S. Republican senators should be “ashamed” for leaving about $60 billion in wartime aid for Ukraine in limbo in a recent vote. Poland borders Ukraine and has been pressing the U.S. and Europe for unwavering support for Kyiv’s struggle against Moscow’s aggression as security

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s cybersecurity agency has launched a program aimed at boosting election security in the states. Officials with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency hope it will shore up support for local offices and provide reassurance to voters that this year’s presidential elections will be

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — More than 15,000 protesters have gathered in central Athens to oppose plans by Greece’s conservative government to allow private universities in the country starting next year. The mostly young demonstrators chanted “hands off education” as they gathered outside the main building of the University of Athens on Thursday. The government wants

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president replaced his top general Thursday in a shake-up aimed at reigniting momentum in the deadlocked war with Russia, which is grinding into its third year as the country grapples with shortages of ammunition and personnel and struggles to maintain support from the West. After

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google on Thursday introduced a free artificial intelligence app that will enable people to rely on technology instead of their own brains to write, interpret what they’re reading and deal with a variety of other task in their lives. With the advent of the Gemini

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Colombian singer-songwriter Karol G has earned the title of Billboard’s 2024 Woman of the Year, landing her in the same company as Taylor Swift, SZA and Lady Gaga. She will be honored as at the Billboard Women in Music Awards on March 6. Previous honorees

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley is launching a bus tour before South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary on Feb. 24. The former governor is hoping the two-week push will show her commitment to her home state heading into the first-in-the-South vote. It’s a tall order in a state where support

BERLIN (AP) — A German Navy frigate has set sail toward the Red Sea, where Berlin plans to have it take part in an EU mission to defend cargo ships against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that are hampering trade. The Hessen set off on Thursday from the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven with about

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers are calling for an independent investigation into allegations of vote-rigging in Serbia. They demanded that EU funds be cut off if the authorities in Belgrade fail to cooperate with the inquiry or are found to be implicated in election irregularities. A monitoring mission by

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — A panel of U.N.-backed experts that focuses on children’s human rights is calling on Russia to prevent efforts to rewrite school curricula and textbooks to reflect the government’s “political and military agenda” including in Ukraine. The Committee on the Rights of the Child held hearings in Geneva