AP-National

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Leading British economic think tanks are warning that whoever wins the country’s general election this year will face some very tough choices on tax and spending if they want to make sure the public finances don’t deteriorate further. After number-crunching Wednesday’s budget statement, which reduced a tax

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is stepping up its focus on artificial intelligence. Officials are set to warn that companies and people who deliberately misuse AI technology to advance a white-collar crime like price fixing and market manipulation will be at risk for a harsher sentence. Deputy Attorney General

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s and India’s foreign ministers have agreed to step up security and economic cooperation as the two Asian countries look to boost their ties in the face of China’s growing influence in the region. Japan’s Yoko Kamikawa told a joint news conference after the talks on Thursday,

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — A 19-year-old student from Sri Lanka is accused of stabbing and killing six people he lived with, including a 2 1/2-month-old baby girl and three other kids from a Sri Lankan family, Ottawa police said Thursday. Ottawa police chief Eric Stubbs said an “edged weapon” or “knife-like

By ALEX DANIELS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy As longtime progressive movement organizer Deepak Bhargava takes the reins of the multi-billion-dollar JPB Foundation, he is unveiling an ambitious plan to give big to democracy strengthening efforts. The New York City-based foundation, which says it has assets of about $4.2 billion, announced it will

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has transferred another 8% of shares in the kingdom’s oil giant Saudi Aramco to the country’s prominent sovereign wealth fund. The shares are worth some $160 billion. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s decision was announced on Thursday and comes as

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer U.S. applications for jobless benefits were unchanged last week, settling at a healthy level as the labor market continues to show strength amid elevated interest rates. Unemployment claims for the week ending March 2 were 217,000, matching the previous week’s revised level, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Weekly unemployment

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian state media say a fire at an oil refinery in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas has killed at least one person and injured three. State TV reports that a furnace at the refinery caught fire as it was being repaired at about 11 a.m local time. A

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press CELAYA, Mexico (AP) — Welcome to what might be the most dangerous place to be a police officer in North America. At least 34 officers have been killed in the line of duty in the Mexican city of Celaya in the last three years. In Guanajuato state, more police were

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Christian voters and faith leaders have long been in the frontlines of providing assistance to migrants — but when it comes to support for immigration policies, from border security to legalization options for migrants already in the U.S., priorities diverge broadly. Both President Joe Biden and GOP

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Simon’s latest honor places him among public figures well outside the music industry. He is this year’s winner of PEN America’s PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, which previously has been given to former President Barack Obama, the late Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and Stephen King

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press MAASTRICHT, Netherlands (AP) — Old Masters, Roman statues, modern furniture, tribal masks and vintage watches are vying for the attention of well-heeled collectors at the annual TEFAF art fair that opened in the southern Netherlands. The show, which opened Thursday, is taking place in a cavernous exhibition center transformed in

NEW YORK (AP) — Few swimmers have made a splash as big as Katie Ledecky, the Olympic gold medalist and two-time winner of The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award. Now, she has written her life story. Simon & Schuster announced Thursday that Ledecky’s “Just Add Water” will be published June 11. Ledecky

BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The military juntas ruling Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger say they have agreed to create a joint force to fight extremist violence in their nations. No details of how the force will operate have been released, even though the countries are experiencing financial difficulties with overstretched militaries.

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have carried out raids across Germany against people suspected of posting misogynistic hate speech online. Police raided homes and interrogated 45 suspects in 11 states early Thursday. Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said that none of the suspects were detained. The raids were part of

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech farmers have blocked traffic in Prague, cramming the streets with hundreds of tractors and other vehicles as they rallied against the government and agriculture policies  set by the European Union. Public transport came to a standstill during the morning rush hour in several parts of the Czech capital on Thursday. The

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The United Nations’ refugee chief has raised a new alert over 780,000 displaced people in Mozambique. The vast majority of them have fled their homes because of a seven-year insurgency by a jihadi group that has thrown the north of the country into turmoil.

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a quarter of female Black voters describe abortion as their top issue in this year’s presidential election, a poll out Thursday from health policy research firm KFF reveals. The findings signal a significant shift from previous election years, when white, conservative evangelicals were more likely

By STEPHEN McGRATH and NICOLAE DUMITRACHE Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The European Union’s largest political party has endorsed Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second five-year term at the helm of the bloc’s powerful Commission. Von der Leyen’s nomination at a gathering on Thursday of her center-right European People’s Party in Romania’s

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer A major French union is warning of possible strikes in the public sector, including at hospitals, during the Paris Olympics. The general secretary of the CGT tells France Info media that the union will give notice of a possible strike in public services during the Games, which are held