Month: May 2023

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, “The Covenant of Water,” is Oprah Winfrey’s latest book club pick. “The Covenant of Water,” published Tuesday, is Verghese’s first work of fiction since his million-selling “Cutting for Stone” came out in 2009. Verghese’s current book is a

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan lawmakers have passed a new version of an anti-gay bill that removes a clause which appeared to criminalize identifying as LGBTQ. Last month, President Yoweri Museveni returned the bill to the national assembly, asking for changes that differentiate between identifying as LGBTQ and actually engaging

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch government plans to drastically cut emissions of nitrogen pollution have cleared a key hurdle. The European Union’s executive arm gave the green light Tuesday to farm buyout schemes worth nearly 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion). The Dutch plans to reduce nitrogen deposits — mainly from livestock farms — on

By JIM GOMEZ, AARON FAVILA and JOEAL CALUPITAN Associated Press ABOARD BRP MALABRIGO (AP) — When two Philippine coast guard vessels set out to patrol the volatile South China Sea recently, they had to face more than China’s growing territorial ambitions. The patrols are a constant battle against sun, sea, stress and gnawing isolation. The

By RIO YAMAT Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A soaring blue-glass resort that has sat empty and unfinished for close to two decades on the Las Vegas Strip is now set to open its doors to the public in December. Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Tuesday announced its target grand opening more than a year

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have started a three-day state visit to Estonia. It is their first official visit to the Baltic nation in more than 30 years. The royal couple was welcomed warmly in the country’s medieval capital, Tallinn, by the Estonian president and his wife. The

By ELIZABETH AYOOLA of NerdWallet Millions of Americans struggle with mental illnesses. While some can function on their own, others rely on family members, guardians or loved ones for daily living. Caretakers for individuals with a mental illness may be curious about how to provide them with financial stability. One way to do so is

LONDON (AP) — British energy giant BP has posted strong quarterly profit numbers even as energy prices that soared after Russia’s war in Ukraine last year have eased off. London-based BP said Tuesday that it earned $5 billion in underlying replacement cost profit in the first three months of the year, up from $4.8 billion

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Taiwan’s foreign minister says he doesn’t know what countries might help it in the event of a war with China. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory, to brought under its control by force if necessary, and concerns are rising about a possible armed conflict. In an interview with Sky News

By JIM GOMEZ, AARON FAVILA and JOEAL CALUPITAN Associated Press ABOARD BRP MALABRIGO (AP) — When two Philippine coast guard vessels set out to patrol the volatile South China Sea recently, they had to face more than China’s growing territorial ambitions. The Associated Press and three other news agencies were invited by the Philippine coast

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness,

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s painful inflation inched higher last month, extending the squeeze on households and keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to unleash another large interest rate increase. The European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday that consumer prices jumped 7% in April from a year earlier. That’s just down from the

BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese fleeing the fighting between rival generals in their capital city are flooding an already overwhelmed city on the Red Sea and Sudan’s northern borders with Egypt. The fighting, now in its third week, has turned Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman into a battlefield with