Month: May 2023

By SUSAN HAIGH and PAT EATON-ROBB Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Tennessee organizers booked more than 50 drag entertainers for next month’s Midsouth Pride festival in Memphis now that the state’s new law placing strict limits on cabaret shows is temporarily on hold. But they are being cautious, making adjustments to performances should the

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. (AP) — The pharmaceutical plant where a powerful blast killed a Massachusetts worker is set to move into the cleanup phase. Firefighters paused work overnight at the Newburyport plant, where a hazardous materials call went to seven alarms Thursday. The search for the man who died was initially hampered by concern about the

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street sank on worries about the health of U.S. banks under pressure from interest rate hikes. Shanghai declined while Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays. Oil prices advanced. Wall

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has celebrated the athleticism of wounded service members with Prince Harry, discussed the value of early childhood education with Princess Kate and sipped tea poured by Queen Elizabeth II. Now the first lady is back in London for another royal engagement. President Joe Biden has

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — That big infusion of cash that Congress approved last year to shape up the beleaguered IRS is having an unexpected side benefit. The funding increase has helped the agency to catch up on processing new and backlogged tax returns. And that, in turn, has allowed federal bean-counters

By JOVANA GEC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian state television says at least eight people have been killed and 13 wounded in a drive-by shooting in a town close to Belgrade. Thursday’s shooting was the second mass killing in Serbia in two days. The report says the shooter in the

By ED KOMENDA Associated Press Republicans blocking votes on bills about abortion, gun control and gender-affirming health care in Oregon this week have based their boycott on an obscure, 44-year-old state law that requires bill summaries to be written at the reading level of an eighth- or ninth-grader. GOP leadership says their walkout — now

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed frustration at the United States’ continuing efforts to extradite WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange, saying: “There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration.” Albanese’s comments Friday in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview appeared to escalate diplomatic

By JEFF McMURRAY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — After a retinal disease left him legally blind, architect John Gleichman was struck by a taxicab while walking home near Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo — at the same intersection where a 4-year-old girl was killed by a hit-and-run driver years earlier. Although Maya Hirsch’s death in 2006

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Month after month, the nation’s job market has stood its ground against howling headwinds — rising interest rates, chronic inflation, major bank failures and economic uncertainties across the world. Hiring has gradually slowed, along with pay growth and job openings. Yet by historical standards, the labor