Month: April 2024

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned Tuesday that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any Fed interest rate cuts until later this year, opening the door to a period of higher-for-longer rates. “Recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence” that inflation is coming fully

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police in India say they killed at least 29 suspected Maoist rebels in the central state of Chhattisgarh. The gunfight came three days ahead of the start of a national election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third term. The police said on Tuesday they launched a raid

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The world is not doing enough to protect coral reefs. That’s according to the United Nations’ special envoy for the ocean. In an interview, he defended the marine ecosystems that protect biodiversity, sustain underwater life and produce some of the oxygen we breathe. Coral reefs support

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of his country’s embassy and consulates in Ecuador on Tuesday in solidarity with Mexico in its protest over a raid by Ecuadorian authorities on the Mexican Embassy in Quito. Maduro and other presidents participating in a virtual meeting

By MATTHEW DALY and LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department has issued a new rule intended to protect coal miners from poisonous silica dust that has contributed to the premature deaths of thousands of mine workers from a respiratory ailment known as “black lung” disease. The rule announced Tuesday cuts by

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Prosecutors in New Jersey say Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife disapproved of their teenage daughter’s boyfriend, who secretly recorded an incident of him allegedly assaulting the girl over a video chat. Small and his wife LaQuetta, Atlantic City’s superintendent of schools, were

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland has told lawmakers President Joe Biden has shown no signs of cognitive impairment while defending Biden’s ability to serve as commander in chief. Garland appeared Tuesday before a House committee overseeing funding for the Justice Department and answered questions on the report from special counsel Robert Hur about

By JOHN ANTCZAK and JULIE WATSON Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California canceled a commencement speech by its 2024 valedictorian who has publicly supported Palestinians, citing security concerns, a rare decision that was praised by several pro-Israel groups and lambasted by free speech advocates and the country’s largest Muslim civil

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States has filed a labor complaint panel after Mexico refused to act on alleged union-busting by a Mexican company. The U.S. Trade Representatives Office said Tuesday it has filed a request for a dispute settlement panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, known as the USMCA. The trade pact

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas law enforcement officer who was caught on video kicking and hitting a man during a violent arrest has pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge. Former Crawford County sheriff’s deputy Zackary King pleaded guilty Monday to one misdemeanor count of deprivation

By JEFF AMY Associated Press BARNESVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Students will pay more to attend Georgia’s public universities and colleges in the the 2024-2025 academic year. Officials say schools face rising costs and must charge more to maintain a quality education. Regents voted Tuesday to increase tuition and fees at the system’s 26 schools. The

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer The Biden administration is enlisting the help of officials in 15 states to enforce consumer-protection laws covering airline travelers, a power that by law is limited to the federal government. The U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that the states, which include California, New York and Illinois, will help

LONDON (AP) — A portrait of Winston Churchill by an artist whose work the British leader loathed is going up for auction. The painting by modernist artist Graham Sutherland was made in preparation for a large portrait that Churchill’s family later had destroyed. The episode was recounted in TV series “The Crown.” The surviving oil-on-canvas

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A judge has recommended that the conviction and death sentence of Melissa Lucio, a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter, should be overturned amid findings that evidence in her murder trial was suppressed. Senior State

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s highest court has taken up a case that seeks to throw out a regulation requiring health insurance policies to cover medically necessary abortions. If successful, the case could jeopardize a similar state law. The lawsuit was filed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and other church groups that

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition by MyPillow founder and election denier Mike Lindell to consider his challenge to the legality of the FBI’s seizure of his cellphone at a restaurant drive-through. The high court, without comment Monday, declined to reconsider three lower

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and ED WHITE Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Prosecutors have filed financial crimes against the former leader of the Michigan House and his wife. They’re accused of milking political accounts for travel, housing and other personal benefits while Lee Chatfield, a Republican, held the powerful post. Attorney General Dana Nessel says

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — State media in Mozambique say at least eight people from one family have died after their homemade boat sank in a central province. The sinking on a tributary of the Zambezi River in Sofala province came days after nearly 100 people died in one of the

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Defiant and determined, House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back Tuesday against mounting Republican anger over his proposed U.S. aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, and rejected a call to step aside or risk a vote to oust him from office. “I am not resigning,”

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Authorities in Spain’s drought-stricken Catalonia are considering imposing water restrictions on tourists in the driest parts of the northeastern region if domestic consumption isn’t curtailed. The restriction of 100 liters, or about 26 gallons, per tourist per day for hotels will go into effect if a

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian police have shut down a gathering of far-right politicians and supporters, citing concerns about public order. Attendees protested curbs on free speech and vowed to find another venue for their gathering. The National Conservative conference comes ahead of Europe-wide elections in June. Mainstream parties fear that

By AMY TAXIN Associated Press California officials have voted to take over monitoring groundwater use in part of the fertile San Joaquin Valley under a landmark law aimed at protecting water flow to homes and farms. The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously Tuesday to place the region on so-called probationary status. That means

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft is investing $1.5 billion in a technology firm based in the United Arab Emirates and overseen by the country’s powerful national security adviser. Microsoft and the technology holding company G42 announced the deal Tuesday. As part of the agreement, Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, will join G42’s board of directors. Microsoft

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s transgender sports ban violates the rights of a teen athlete under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the law cannot be applied