AP-National

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a dozen new bitcoin funds began trading in U.S. markets for the first time Thursday, providing increased access to the cryptocurrency for everyday investors. ETFs give investors a way to get in on trading in oil, gold, corporate bonds and now bitcoin without actually

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A memoir that Lisa Marie Presley had been working on at the time of her death will be published this fall. The book, currently untitled, was completed with the help of actor Riley Keough, the eldest of Presley’s four children. “Few people had the opportunity

LONDON (AP) — Microsoft says it is upgrading its cloud computing service to let customers store all personal data within the European Union instead of having it flow to the U.S. where national privacy laws don’t exist. The Seattle-based company said Thursday that the changes apply to services including Azure, Microsoft 365, Power Platform and

By ABDOULIE JOHN Associated Press SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — A plane carrying Gambia’s national soccer team made an emergency landing after a sudden loss of oxygen during their flight to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Gambia’s Football Federation says a chartered flight Wednesday carrying the team returned to Gambia’s capital Banjul after

By PETER SMITH Associated Press Post-pandemic burnout is at worrying levels among Christian clergy in the U.S., prompting many to think about abandoning their jobs, according to a new nationwide survey. More than 4 in 10 of clergy surveyed in fall 2023 had seriously considered leaving their congregations at least once since 2020, when the

By KYLE HIGHTOWER and JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writers FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Bill Belichick had a vision of building the kind of sustained championship football team that had rarely been seen before in the NFL when he was hired by the New England Patriots. He walks away feeling like it was a job well

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police have detained 70 suspects with ties to the militant Islamic State group in raids this week across the country. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Thursday on social media that large amounts of money, digital material and receipts for hawala banking transactions were also discovered in the raids. Hawala

BY JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Germany’s top diplomat says China’s actions in the South China Sea violate the rights of Asian coastal states like the Philippines and threaten freedom of navigation, but adds that the territorial disputes have to be resolved peacefully because “the world doesn’t need another crisis.” Annalena Baerbock,

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Thursday unveiled plans for a yearlong restoration of the monumental baldacchino, or canopy, over the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, pledging to complete the work on Bernini’s masterpiece before Pope Francis’ big 2025 Jubilee. The price tag? About 700,000 euros ($770,000). The

By The Associated Press The lawyer of a Russian pro-war activist and critic of President Vladimir Putin says her client has been remanded into custody over alleged terrorism offenses. Sergei Udaltsov heads the Left Front, a group of political parties who oppose Putin and are affiliated with Russia’s Communist Party. He was a prominent during

LONDON (AP) — A legal adviser to the European Union’s top court says Google should pay a whopping fine in a long-running antitrust case. EU regulators had found the company gave its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage over rivals in search results. The European Court of Justice’s advocate general on Thursday recommended rejecting the

By ANNIE MA Associated Press The United Negro College Fund announced a donation of $100 million from the Lilly Endowment Inc., the single largest unrestricted gift to the organization since its founding 80 years ago. The gift announced Thursday will go toward a pooled endowment for the 37 historically Black colleges and universities that form

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Officials say a magnitude 6.4 earthquake has shaken parts of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. The quake sent panicked residents fleeing from their homes and offices and frightened people in remote villages in Pakistan. The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake was centered in the Hindu Kush mountain range in

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply condemned alleged plans by members of far-right groups who supposedly met recently at a mansion outside Berlin to devise a plot to deport millions of immigrants, even those with German citizenship, if the groups take power. Scholz said Thursday that Germany will not allow anyone living

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania have signed an agreement to jointly tackle drifting sea mines that have threatened Black Sea shipping since the start of the Ukraine war. Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said Thursday the agreement establishes a Mine Countermeasures Task Group among the three NATO allies to deal with the mines.

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding $623 million in grants to help build an electric vehicle charging network across the nation. Grants announced Thursday will fund 47 EV charging stations and related projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, including 7,500 EV charging ports. Congress approved $7.5 billion

By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s intelligence ministry has identified a top suspect, described as ringleader and bomb-maker, in the twin suicide bombings last week claimed by the Islamic State group. Thursday’s announcement came as state media said the death toll from the Jan. 3 attack rose to at least 94.

By ZEN SOO AP Technology Writer Google says it has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures. The company said the moves were made as Google aims at “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.”  Google earlier said

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday after Wall Street drifted to a mixed close. Tokyo’s benchmark extended its New Year’s rally, trading well above 35,000 and at its highest level since 1990. U.S. futures were nearly unchanged and oil prices surged. On Thursday, a U.S.