News

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March as businesses wary of an economic slowdown trimmed their inventories, the government said in a slight upgrade from its initial estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy grew at a

CAIRO (AP) — Officials say that a Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly blocked Egypt’s vital Suez Canal, the latest such incident in the busy waterway. According to Leth Agencies, a canal services company that oversees the waterway, the Xin Hai Tong 23 ran aground before dawn on Thursday at the southern entrance to the canal, blocking

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Three people including two police officers have been killed in central Japan and a suspect with a rifle and knife is holed up inside a building. A witness told NHK public television that a woman fell while being chased by the suspect, who then stabbed her with

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer U.S. applications for jobless claims rose slightly last week but remain at healthy levels as companies seem reticent to let go of employees in a tight labor market. The number of Americans filing for jobless claims for the week ending May 20 rose by 4,000 to 229,000 from 225,000

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he hopes that training for Ukrainian pilots on American-made F-16 fighter jets will begin in the coming weeks. That’ll bolster Ukraine in the long run but not necessarily as part of an anticipated spring counteroffensive against Russia. Austin

BEIJING (AP) — China’s commerce minister will hold talks with officials in the U.S. this week amid sharpening disputes over tariffs and technology. Wang Wentao will meet with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai while in the U.S. to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum trade minister meetings in Detroit. In

By KATE ASHFORD of NerdWallet The COVID-19 public health emergency that started in January 2020 ended on May 11, 2023. When that happened, several Medicare rules and waivers that went into effect during the pandemic came to an end — and it may catch Medicare patients by surprise. Many of the changes were made to

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russia and Belarus have signed a deal formalizing the procedure for deploying Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus. Control of the weapons will remain with Moscow. Officials framed Thursday’s step as driven by hostility from the West. No detail was announced regarding when the weapons would be

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has launched a commercial-grade satellite for the first time as part of its growing space development program, as rival North Korea is pushing to place its first military spy satellite into orbit. The domestically built three-stage Nuri rocket lifted off from a launch

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A masked man carrying a rifle and a knife is holed up in a building in central Japan after four people were injured, one of whom later died. Police said the injured included two police officers but could not confirm if they were shot by the suspect. Officers had rushed

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus authorities say they’re taking extra efforts to ensure flight safety isn’t compromised from Turkish warplanes and military drones flying inside Cypriot-monitored airspace without filing either flight plans or communicating with air traffic control. The issue over unregulated Turkish military flights again came to the fore earlier this month when Cypriot

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s energy regulator says the typical household energy bill will come down by around $495 a year starting in July as global wholesale energy prices decline. The drop announced Thursday brings some relief to millions of people and businesses that have struggled to cope with sharply higher