AP-National

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A judge has ruled that a new law that gives immunity from prosecution for most offenses committed during Northern Ireland’s decades of sectarian violence is not compliant with human rights. The British government’s Legacy and Reconciliation Bill stops most prosecutions for alleged killings by militant groups and

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Norwegian Nobel Committee has registered 285 candidates for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize by the Feb. 1 deadline, down from 2023 when it received 351 valid nominations. The names were not released, in accordance with committee practice. A vast group of people can submit a nomination for the prize and

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press The Philadelphia Orchestra’s home is being renamed Marian Anderson Hall in honor of the pioneering Black American contralto, a rare case of an artist’s name replacing a corporation. The orchestra’s auditorium in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts was known as Verizon Hall from 1999 through 2023, as part

PARIS (AP) — Paris City Hall says no policing plans for the Olympic Games were stolen from one of its workers who reported a theft of their computer equipment. City Hall said in a statement Wednesday that “initial checks established that the worker didn’t possess any information relating to the organization and deployment of law

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says the number of people seeking asylum in Europe reached a seven-year high last year. The EU’s asylum agency said on Wednesday that more than 1.1 million people have filed asylum applications in 2023, most of them Syrian nationals. The rise in the number

By TAIWO ADEBAYO Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Local activists and international environmental groups want Nigeria’s government to delay approving the $2.4 billion sale of oil company Shell’s onshore assets. They claim the London-based Shell is trying to shirk its environmental and social responsibilities in the highly polluted Niger Delta. The company is trying

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Thousands of artists, curators and critics have signed an open letter calling on the Venice Biennale to exclude the Israeli national pavilion from this year’s contemporary art fair due to the war in Gaza. But Italy’s culture minister has firmly backed Israel’s participation.  The online letter was

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Amsterdam police say that a suspect in the fatal shooting of a Dutch rapper has been arrested on a European warrant at an airport in Paris. Police said that the 20-year-old man was detained at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to board a flight Wednesday from Paris

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden “continues to be fit for duty,” his doctor wrote Wednesday after conducting an annual physical that is being closely watched as the 81-year-old seeks reelection in November. Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, wrote that the president is adjusting well to

CHICAGO (AP) — The sisters of a man fatally shot by suburban Chicago police in his home this month have filed a federal lawsuit against the officers and their department. The sisters of 30-year-old Isaac Goodlow III filed the wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago against the Carol Stream Police Department

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a robust 3.2% annual pace from October through December, propelled by healthy consumer spending, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday in a slight downgrade from its initial estimate. The expansion in the nation’s gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press The number of abortions performed each month is about the same as before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion more than a year and a half ago, a new report finds. The latest edition of the #WeCount report conducted for the Society

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi will be featured at the first two IndyCar races of the season and take a ride in the “Fastest Seat in Sports” with four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves as his chauffer. SiriusXM’s Bon Jovi Radio channel will be featured on

Chrysler is recalling more than 330,00 Jeep Grand Cherokees because of a steering wheel issue that may cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles. The recall is for 338,238 of Chrysler’s 2021-2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee L and 2022-2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles. The automaker says in documents posted Tuesday by the U.S. National Highway

By VINCENT THIAN and JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press LANGKAWI, Malaysia (AP) — King Harald V of Norway remained hospitalized with an infection on Malaysia’s northern resort island of Langkawi on Wednesday as officials said that his condition was improving. Harald, Europe’s oldest monarch at age 87, became ill while he was on vacation. His

By DARREN SANDS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stood together at the annual National Prayer Breakfast — an opportunity, in the words of one introductory speaker, to “put our political differences aside.” Such differences are vast between Johnson, a staunchly conservative Republican, and Jeffries, a

In a story published February 28, 2024, about a tornado outbreak across parts of the Midwest, The Associated Press erroneously described data about tornadoes recorded in Michigan. Tornadoes have been reported rarely in the first week of March, occurring only in 1956, 1961, 1976 and 1983. They are more common in the entire month of

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ned Blackhawk’s “The Rediscovery of America,” winner last fall of a National Book Award, is a finalist for a history honor presented by the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project. Blackhawk’s account of Native American history is among five nominees for the Mark Lynton History Prize,

By ELOGE WILLY KANEZA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Dozens of Burundian troops have been detained for refusing to be deployed to eastern Congo in the fight against the M23 rebel group. That’s according to army officers, prisons officials and other witnesses. They told The Associated Press that dissenting soldiers are being held in

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s own watchdog wants changes to Europe’s search and rescue rules following an inquiry into the sinking of a boat carrying hundreds of migrants last year. Up to 750 people were thought to be aboard the Adriana, and just 104 were rescued. The watchdog says