AP-National

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has chosen a longtime aide and close adviser to be a White House deputy chief of staff. Boston native Annie Tomasini has spent the past three years as director of Oval Office Operations. Tomasini is a close adviser who travels regularly with the president,

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confronted some of his country’s deep problems in his annual State of the Nation speech in Parliament on Thursday. But he claimed ahead of elections later this year that his ruling African National Congress party was making progress in

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — More than 15,000 protesters have gathered in central Athens to oppose plans by Greece’s conservative government to allow private universities in the country starting next year. The mostly young demonstrators chanted “hands off education” as they gathered outside the main building of the University of Athens on Thursday. The government wants

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president replaced his top general Thursday in a shake-up aimed at reigniting momentum in the deadlocked war with Russia, which is grinding into its third year as the country grapples with shortages of ammunition and personnel and struggles to maintain support from the West. After

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google on Thursday introduced a free artificial intelligence app that will enable people to rely on technology instead of their own brains to write, interpret what they’re reading and deal with a variety of other task in their lives. With the advent of the Gemini

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Colombian singer-songwriter Karol G has earned the title of Billboard’s 2024 Woman of the Year, landing her in the same company as Taylor Swift, SZA and Lady Gaga. She will be honored as at the Billboard Women in Music Awards on March 6. Previous honorees

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley is launching a bus tour before South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary on Feb. 24. The former governor is hoping the two-week push will show her commitment to her home state heading into the first-in-the-South vote. It’s a tall order in a state where support

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India says it will replace its military personnel in Maldives with civilian technical staff who will operate three aircraft from India that provide humanitarian services. The decision comes after new Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu demanded that the Indian military personnel be withdrawn by March 15. At

PITTSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Ten cars of a cargo train carrying plastic pellets and cooking oil derailed in upstate New York, with two ending up in a river, authorities said. The cars, part of a 94-car train operated by Berkshire & Eastern Railroad, derailed about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday in Rensselaer County, in the village of

BERLIN (AP) — A German Navy frigate has set sail toward the Red Sea, where Berlin plans to have it take part in an EU mission to defend cargo ships against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that are hampering trade. The Hessen set off on Thursday from the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven with about

By ROSALIE MURPHY of NerdWallet People who make money on the side usually declare self-employment income. They’re running businesses, even if they’re very small ones — and by treating them as such, people with side gigs may be able to optimize their time spent working to reach their personal financial goals more efficiently. Those steps

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Warships from the U.S., Australia and Japan have held joint drills in the South China Sea in defiance of Beijing, which claims sovereignty over virtually the entire strategic waterway. The U.S. 7th Fleet says a U.S. guided-missile destroyer and combat ship carried out operations with navy

By AYSE WIETING Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s new central bank chief says the work to tame inflation — namely through interest rate hikes — will continue “with determination.” The comments Thursday by Fatih Karahan offer some certainty about efforts to right the battered economy following his precedessor’s surprise resignation. Speaking for the

By NAJIB JOBAIN, WAFAA SHURAFA and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 13 people in Rafah in the Gaza Strip after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ cease-fire terms and vowed to expand the offensive into the southern Gaza town. President Joe Biden called Israel’s military response

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pushed for further U.S. and European aid for Ukraine as he set off for a visit to Washington. He declared on Thursday it’s time to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a “very clear signal” that the West won’t let up on supporting

By SIBI ARASU and MATT O’BRIEN Associated Press BENGALURU, India (AP) — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has urged more than a thousand Indian computer code developers to use the company’s artificial intelligence tools being deployed across its products. Speaking to the developers in Bengaluru, India’s “Silicon Valley,” Nadella noted that more than 13.2 million Indian

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court hears arguments Thursday over whether former President Donald Trump can be kept off the 2024 ballot because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The justices will wrestle with whether a provision

Even if it’s not the game itself, millions of Americans will find something to be excited about when it comes to Super Bowl Sunday — and that’s before even factoring in the influence of Taylor Swift. Four in 10 U.S. adults are extremely or very excited for at least one part of the Super Bowl

By AIDA SULTANOVA Associated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says Azerbaijan’s presidential election took place in a “restrictive” environment and that critical voices were silenced. Preliminary results released on Thursday indicated Aliyev’s resounding victory in the presidential vote. The head of the Central Election Commission said most

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci has a memoir coming out in June, a look back at his long career as an infectious disease expert and the many outbreaks he contended with, from AIDS/HIV to the COVID-19 pandemic. Viking announced Thursday that Fauci’s “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey