Month: May 2024

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia has been engulfed by huge protests triggered by a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union. The bill would require media and non-governmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LYPIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — An extraordinary new church is bringing spiritual comfort to war-weary residents of the Ukrainian village of Lypivka this Orthodox Easter season. Two years ago it also provided physical refuge from the horrors outside. Residents sheltered in a basement chapel at the Church of the Intercession of

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press CHENGDU, China (AP) — In 2018, the censors who oversee Chinese media issued a directive to the nation’s entertainment industry. They barred  artists with tattoos and those who represent hip-hop or any other subculture. For months, no rappers appeared on the dozens of variety shows and singing competitions on Chinese

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press CHENGDU, China (AP) — In 2018, the censors who oversee Chinese media issued a directive to the nation’s entertainment industry: Don’t feature artists with tattoos and those who represent hip-hop or any other subculture. Right after that well-known rapper GAI missed a gig on a popular singing competition despite a

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER Associated Press SULPHUR, Okla. (AP) — A weekly newspaper in a rural Oklahoma community was at the center of a path of destruction. But the damage isn’t stopping the Sulphur Times-Democrat from getting out its next issue as Oklahoma recovers from severe weather that killed four people across the state on

By EMMA BURROWS Associated Press From its earliest days, the Soviet Union’s intelligence services — whether known as the Cheka or by the names of any of its successor agencies like the KGB — kept the government in power by pursuing its opponents no matter where they lived. Intelligence experts say that policy is still

By KATHLEEN FOODY, MIKE CATALINI, KAREN MATTHEWS and MICHAEL HILL Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Anti-war demonstrations ceased this week at a small number of U.S. universities after school leaders struck deals with pro-Palestinian protesters, fending off possible disruptions of final exams and graduation ceremonies. The agreements at schools including Brown, Northwestern and Rutgers

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side. It is the latest advance in China’s increasingly sophisticated space exploration

By ASTRID SUÁREZ Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia has become the latest Latin American country to announce that it will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, but the repercussions for the South American nation could be broader than for other countries because of longstanding bilateral agreements over security

By ED WHITE and ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — With student protests over the Israel-Hamas war disrupting campuses nationwide, several major universities are intent on ensuring that commencement ceremonies — joyous milestones for graduates, their families and friends — go off without a hitch this weekend. It won’t be easy. Colleges

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JAKE OFFENHARTZ, PHILIP MARCELO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign was seized with worry about the potential political damage from a tape that showed Trump bragging about grabbing women sexually without their permission, longtime Trump adviser Hope Hicks testified Friday at his hush

By EMMA BURROWS Associated Press Since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, attacks and harassment of Russians abroad have been blamed on Moscow’s intelligence operatives across Europe and elsewhere. Despite attempts by Western governments to dismantle Russian spy networks, experts say the Kremlin apparently is still able to pursue those it deems traitors

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The retirement of Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow has opened a Senate seat in Michigan. The race is expected to be highly competitive with control of the upper chamber on the line in November. Top candidates have emerged for each party ahead of the state’s August primaries.

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Ukraine, trade and investment are expected to dominate Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe in five years, as the Asian giant rebuilds its foreign relations after a prolonged absence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Xi will start the tour in Paris on Monday, meeting with

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — He’s visiting Manhattan construction sites, decrying local crime and holding court in his gilded Fifth Avenue penthouse. After a years-long breakup with his hometown, Donald Trump is back in New York, this time as a criminal defendant. Stuck here most weekdays for

By PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers pulled back on their hiring in April but still added a decent 175,000 jobs in a sign that persistently high interest rates may be starting to slow the robust U.S. job market. Friday’s government report showed that last month’s hiring