Month: May 2023

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Opponents of a law that would raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 are making last-ditch plans to prevent the change. The country’s main labor unions on Tuesday called for another round of nationwide demonstrations and strikes on June 6. France’s top constitutional body

By ALBERT AJI Associated Press DAMASCUS (AP) — Iran’s president has landed in Damascus on the first visit by an Iranian head of state to war-wracked Syria since Tehran helped tip the balance of power there to the government. Ebrahim Raisi is heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation. Syria’s Economy Minister Samer al-Khalil received

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Great Britain’s royal family turns the page on a new chapter Saturday with the coronation of King Charles III. The pomp, pageantry and symbolism dates back more than 1,000 years, but the crowning of this king will feature new twists on the tradition and changes from the

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Retired and with time to kill, Bernard Gauvain wants to be a volunteer at the 2024 Olympics — but a bad one. His intention is not to help out, but to gum up the Olympic machine by refusing to turn up for work. If others do likewise

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer In an about-face, Twitter says it has restored free access to a key tool for verified government and “publicly owned” services so they can tweet weather, transit and other alerts. The move comes after New York City’s transit agency said earlier this week it would no longer use the

By NICK EL HAJJ Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Economies across the Middle East and Central Asia will likely slow this year as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates bite into their post-pandemic gains, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook blamed in part rising energy costs,

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s ruling military council says it is releasing more than 2,100 political prisoners as a humanitarian gesture. Thousands more remain imprisoned on charges generally involving nonviolent protests or criticism of military rule, which began when the army seized power in 2021. State-run MRTV television reported that the

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer The Brock Purdy impact was in full effect in this year’s NFL draft. A year after the San Francisco 49ers found their starting quarterback with the final pick of the draft, teams were far more aggressive when it came to drafting quarterbacks in the later rounds. Three quarterbacks

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Mexican officials have agreed on new immigration policies meant to deter illegal border crossings while also opening up other pathways ahead of an expected increase in migrants following the end of pandemic restrictions next week. Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall spent Tuesday meeting with Mexico

By HUIZHONG WU and JOHNSON LAI Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A delegation of United States defense contractors and a former senior leader of the U.S. Marine Corps are pledging the beginning of deeper cooperation with Taiwan. Speaking at a public forum Wednesday in Taipei, retired Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder said the U.S. wants

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is calling lawmakers back to work after they rejected a bill setting out a new statewide drug policy — a development that has put the state on the brink of decriminalizing possession of fentanyl and other drugs while also depriving it of much-needed

By KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two decades after New Hampshire’s famed Old Man of the Mountain crumbled to pieces, the state is paying tribute to the granite profile that symbolizes its independence with new geological research, poetry, a song, and a scavenger hunt. The 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) natural rock formation — a

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Florida is scheduled to execute a man for breaking into a woman’s home and stabbing her to death in 1986. Darryl B. Barwick is set to be executed Wednesday at Florida State Prison. The 56-year-old Barwick confessed to killing 24-year-old Rebecca Wendt in her Panama City apartment complex on March 31,

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Poised to raise interest rates Wednesday for a 10th time, Federal Reserve officials are facing two competing economic trends that could make their future rate decisions more difficult and treacherous. On the one hand, turmoil in the banking sector and political battles over the government’s borrowing

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares declined Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street as shares of beleaguered banks tumbled again and worries about the U.S. economy deepened. U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices were little changed. Investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates. Wrapping up a two-day

By GARY D. ROBERTSON and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican legislative leaders say there is agreement within their chambers on backing a measure that would prohibit abortion in nearly all cases after roughly the first trimester of pregnancy. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger announced the

By JUAN A. LOZANO and NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press CLEVELAND, Texas (AP) — A four-day manhunt in Texas for a gunman accused of killing five neighbors ended Tuesday when authorities, acting on a tip, said they found the suspect hiding underneath a pile of laundry in the closet of a house. Francisco Oropeza, 38, was