Month: January 2024

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is marking Monday’s 15th anniversary of a landmark federal pay equity law with new action to help close gaps in pay for federal employees and employees of federal contractors. Despite progress since the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law in January

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mixed Monday as investors braced for an eventful week, including a decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve on interest rates. The U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Wednesday, with traders not anticipating a rate cut. The Bank of

GENEVA (AP) — Shares of Holcim Ltd. have jumped Monday after the Swiss-based cement and building materials company announced plans to spin off its North American unit and list its shares in the U.S. Sunday’s announcement of the listing and spinoff comes 15 months after Holcim’s French subsidiary Lafarge pleaded guilty to paying millions of

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni is opening a summit of African leaders aimed at unveiling Italy’s big development plan for Africa. The government is hoping the plan will help stem migration flows and forge a new relationship between Europe and the continent. Two dozen African leaders, top European

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A group of Japanese citizens, including a man of Pakistani descent, is suing the country’s police, accusing authorities of racial profiling and discrimination. The case, launched on Monday, is to be heard in Tokyo District Court. It comes as Japan has seen an influx of workers from

By ROBERT BADENDIECK Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul during a Sunday Mass that killed one person, in a statement issued late Sunday. The extremist group said that it “attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony” inside

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they attacked a U.S. Navy mobile base at sea Monday without offering evidence, something immediately rejected by an American defense official. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the group fired a missile at the USS Lewis B. Puller in the Gulf

By DAVID RISING Associated Press LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) — China’s increasingly assertive posture in the South China Sea and escalating violence in Myanmar have topped the agenda for Southeast Asian diplomats in Laos, with the Laotian foreign minister expressing guarded optimism that progress could be made this year on both acrimonious issues. The foreign

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian markets opened the week on a positive note, with Chinese regulators announcing measures to support the country’s teetering stock markets while heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande was ordered to undergo liquidation. U.S. futures were lower while oil prices gained. China’s securities regulator announced on

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s weekend test of new cruise missiles for submarine launches has added to its provocative start to 2024, as leader Kim Jong Un flaunts his growing nuclear arsenal and threatens nuclear conflict with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. Kim has gained confidence from the advancement

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday was forced to start this year’s parliamentary session with an apology over one of the country’s biggest corruption scandals in decades. Prosecutors recently indicted 10 people, including three lawmakers and a number of political aides. The scandal is the latest

By KANIS LEUNG and ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court ordered China Evergrande, the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer, to undergo liquidation following a failed effort to restructure $300 billion owed to banks and bondholders that fueled fears about China’s rising debt burden. “It would be a

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia charged a former minister on Monday with failing to declare assets. It’s the latest step in a corruption probe that’s targeting people connected to the country’s last prime minister. Former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, who left office more than 20 years ago, is a

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Monthslong tension between three coup-hit countries in West Africa and the regional bloc known as ECOWAS boiled over when the nations announced their immediate withdrawal from the bloc, accusing it of a lack of support and “inhumane” coup-related sanctions. The juntas of Niger, Mali and Burkina

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s diplomats are talking with Somali authorities trying to ascertain the whereabouts of a fishing vessel and its six crewmembers suspected of being abducted by Somali pirates. The abduction Saturday came two weeks after Sri Lanka said it would join a U.S.-led operation to

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian state media say authorities executed four men convicted of planning sabotage and alleged links with Israel’s Mossad secret service. The official IRNA news agency said the men were convicted of planning to target a factory in 2022 belonging to Iran’s defense ministry and involved in missile and defensive equipment in

By BERNARD CONDON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump could potentially have his real estate empire ordered “dissolved” for repeated misrepresentations on financial statements to lenders in violation of New York’s powerful anti-fraud law. But an Associated Press analysis of nearly 70 years of similar cases showed Trump’s case stands apart: It’s the