Assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100 and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media. A US intelligence official told The Associated Press that US intell

World News March 23, 2024

The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon. President Joe Biden plans to talk up the investment on Wednesday as he visits Intel's campus in Chandler, Arizona, which could be a decisive swing state in November’s election. He has often said that not enough voters know about his economic policies and suggested that more would suppor

World Business March 20, 2024

LONDON (AP) -- Unilever, the company that makes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soaps and Vaseline, said Tuesday that it is cutting 7,500 jobs and spinning off its ice cream business to reduce costs and boost profits. London-based Unilever said its ice cream business, which also includes Magnum bars, has “distinct characteristics” from its other brands and would benefit from separate ownership to increase growth. It said the split is expected to be completed by the end of n

World Business March 19, 2024

Shohei Ohtani has received the most attention as his Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres prepare to launch the Major League Baseball season with the first regular season games in South Korea. But the two-game “Seoul Series" starting on Wednesday is also a triumphant homecoming for Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim , who is coming off a dominant season and returning to a stadium he previously called home. Kim played for the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kiwoom Heroes for sev

Baseball March 19, 2024

President Joe Biden is coming out in opposition to the planned sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying in a statement to be released Thursday that the US needs to "maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.” In a statement obtained in advance by The Associated Press, Biden adds: “US Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically own

World News March 14, 2024

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark wants to increase the number of young people doing military service by extending conscription to women and increasing the time of service from 4 months to 11 months for both genders, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday. “We do not rearm because we want war. We are rearming because we want to avoid it,” Frederiksen told a press conference. She said the government wants ”full equality between the sexes.” Denmark curre

World News March 13, 2024

HONG KONG — China stocks were lower Wednesday after the overnight United States inflation report that signaled a diminished possibility of the Fed's rate cut made investors cautious. Hong Kong stocks edged less than 0.1 percent lower at 17,082.11, ending its three consecutive days of gain. Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 0.4 percent, with JD.com gaining 0.3 percent after the company announced a share buyback of as much as $3 billion over the next three years. The Shanghai Composite Inde

World Business March 13, 2024

A South Korean citizen arrested in Russia earlier this year on suspicion of spying is to remain in custody until mid-June, Russia's state news agency Tass said Monday. The news agency said it is the first time that a South Korean has been arrested for espionage in Russia. Tass said the man, identified by the agency as Baek Won-soon, was detained “at the start of the year” in the far eastern city of Vladivostok and was taken to Moscow at the end of February. He is being held in L

Foreign Affairs March 12, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Oppenheimer,” a solemn three-hour biopic that became an unlikely billion-dollar box-office sensation, was crowned best picture at a 96th Academy Awards that doubled as a coronation for Christopher Nolan. After passing over arguably Hollywood’s foremost big-screen auteur for years, the Oscars made up for lost time by heaping seven awards on Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, including best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Down

Film March 11, 2024

ATLANTA -- President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump warned of dire consequences for the country if the other wins another term in the White House as the pair held dueling rallies in Georgia Saturday fresh off strong wins in Super Tuesday contests that positioned them for an all-but-certain rematch this November. The state was a pivotal 2020 battleground — so close four years ago that Trump finds himself indicted here for his push to “find 11,780 votes” and overtu

Foreign Affairs March 10, 2024

WILMINGTON, Del. -- President Joe Biden said Saturday that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza. The US leader expressed support for Israel’s right to pursue Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack, but said of Netanyahu that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.” Biden has for months warned that I

Foreign Affairs March 10, 2024

POGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — A Montenegrin court on Thursday ruled that cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon should be handed over to his native South Korea, the latest twist in the months-long legal procedure that followed the arrest of the Terraform Labs founder in the Balkan nation last year. The High Court handed down the ruling just days after an appeals court overturned its previous decision to extradite Kwon to the United States. Kwon, 32, was apprehended on an international arrest warrant

Market March 9, 2024

BEIJING (AP) — In Beijing and Kyiv, the divide between China and Europe over the war in Ukraine was on display this week. As a Chinese envoy crisscrossed Europe for talks on ending the war, his boss, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, trumpeted a sharp rise in China-Russia trade — which the West sees as providing an economic lifeline to Moscow that undermines the sanctions it has imposed to try to pressure Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. “Russian natural gas has entered thousands o

Foreign Affairs March 9, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Osprey, a workhorse aircraft vital to US military missions, has been approved to return to flight after an “unprecedented” part failure led to the deaths of eight service members in a crash in Japan in November, Naval Air Systems Command announced Friday. The crash was the second fatal accident in months and the fourth in two years. It quickly led to a rare fleet-wide grounding of hundreds of Ospreys across the Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy. Befor

Foreign Affairs March 9, 2024

France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, a powerful message of support for women’s rights on International Women’s Day. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France’s constitution at a special public ceremony. Applause filled the cobblestoned Place Vendome as France became the first country to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in its national charter. The measure was overwhelmingl

World News March 8, 2024