Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Two days of meetings on Myanmar’s violent political crisis are being held in the Thai capital Bangkok. The talks are the latest in a long series of regional discussions that have made no headway in restoring peace to the war-torn Southeast Asian nation. Thursday’s discussions were attended by foreign ministers
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Writers SEATAC, Washington (AP) — Background music is no longer an afterthought at many airports, which are hiring local musicians and carefully curating playlists to help lighten travelers’ moods. London’s Heathrow Airport built a stage to showcase emerging British performers for the first time this summer. The program was so successful the airport
Continue ReadingLONDON (AP) — The future of the Northern Ireland-based Harland and Wolff shipbuilder, which famously built the Titanic, appears to have been safeguarded after the Spanish state-owned business Navantia stepped in to buy it. The purchase of the company is subject to regulatory approval. The company was placed into a type of bankruptcy in September
Continue ReadingAP Technology Writer CLONDALKIN, Ireland (AP) — Dozens of massive data centers humming at the outskirts of Dublin are consuming more electricity than all of the urban homes in Ireland and starting to wear out the warm welcome that brought them here. Now, a country that made itself a computing factory for Amazon, Google, Meta,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced $200 million in humanitarian aid for conflict-torn Sudan during his likely final trip to the United Nations while in office. Blinken is capping his engagements with the U.N. after a tumultuous four years that saw war return to Europe and multiple crises
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of causing the deaths of thousands of Palestinians by systematically restricting and targeting Gaza’s water supply in a campaign that amounted to “acts of genocide.” The group alleged that countless infants, children and adults have died from malnutrition, dehydration and illness as a
Continue ReadingOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Four French nationals detained for more than a year in Burkina Faso were released this week after negotiations between the two countries and Morocco. France’s Elysee Palace said in a statement on Thursday that President Emmanuel Macron had thanked Morocco’s King Mohamed VI for mediating discussions that led to their
Continue ReadingAP National Writer ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jenson Brooksby tugged at the right shoulder of his red T-shirt and fiddled with some strands of his dirty blond hair as he spoke to The Associated Press about what he’d like the world — the tennis world, yes, but also everyone else — to know about him.
Continue ReadingSARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Flights have been grounded and people told to stay indoors as a thick layer of smog has engulfed Bosnia’s capital of Sarajevo. Thursday’s fog had residents virtually choking on toxic air. The Swiss air quality technology company IQAir put Sarajevo’s air quality index, or AQI, at a “very unhealthy” 225, ranking
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K.’s central bank has warned about “heightened uncertainty” as it kept interest rates on hold after inflation moved further above target even at a time when the British economy is flatlining at best. The Bank of England’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee kept its main interest rate unchanged at 4.75%
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035. Biden is seeking to ensure his legacy on slowing global warming, even as President-elect Donald Trump vows to undo much of Biden’s climate work when he takes office next month. Biden said the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Vietnam says U.S. arms manufacturers could help the southeast Asian country build up its armed forces. Ambassador Marc Knapper said at a press briefing during an international arms expo in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Thursday that U.S. and Vietnamese companies could work together to
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s third interest rate cut of the year will likely have consequences for debt, savings, auto loans, mortgages and other forms of borrowing by consumers and businesses. But with inflation pressures still elevated and with concern that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies could fuel inflation, the Fed indicated
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin boasted that his military operation in Ukraine has strengthened Russia and denied that the ouster of key ally Bashar Assad in Syria had hurt Moscow’s prestige, as he took questions at his annual news conference and call-in show Thursday. He used the tightly choreographed event, which lasted
Continue ReadingPERTH, Australia (AP) — A British YouTuber and rapper known as Yung Filly has admitted in an Australian court to reckless driving while he was awaiting trial on charges of raping a woman three months ago. The 29-year-old’s real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos. He appeared briefly in the Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Thursday in the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte to survey Cyclone Chido’s destruction and was immediately confronted with a first-hand account of devastation across the French territory. “Mayotte is demolished,” Assane Haloi, a security agent, told Macron after he stepped off the plane. Macron
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has denounced U.S. sanctions on its ballistic missile program as biased and putting regional peace at risk. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the “discriminatory” sanctions not only undermine the credibility of non-proliferation regimes but also endanger regional and international peace and security. The sanctions freeze
Continue ReadingIsraeli airstrikes slammed into two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, a Health Ministry official said, killing at least 17 people including five children in one of the schools. Rescue workers said at 30 people were also wounded across both locations. Israel said Hamas operated command centers inside the shelters, without providing
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer Workers at seven Amazon facilities are on strike. The Teamsters union says the workers joined picket lines on Thursday after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline the union set for contract negotiations. The union called it the largest strike yet against the company in the U.S. Amazon says it doesn’t expect the labor
Continue ReadingAssociated Press KERAVA, Finland (AP) — People in Finland have been left unsettled by expansionist neighbor Russia and inspired by its recent accession to NATO, are increasingly taking national self-defense into their own hands. The popularity of military training has soared in recent months in the Nordic country, where few places reflect the growing fad
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