By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s caretaker economy minister says the country’s rulers, fuel companies and private electricity providers have blocked an offer by gas-rich Qatar to build three renewable energy power plants to ease the crisis-hit nation’s decades-old electricity crisis. Amin Salam told reporters Thursday that Qatar offered last year to
Continue ReadingDETROIT (AP) — Police have begun dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment at Wayne State University in Detroit two days after the school suspended in-person classes and encouraged staff to work remotely. Television footage showed campus police and Detroit police officers in riot gear tearing down fencing early Thursday around the encampment before they removed protesters and
Continue ReadingBy ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia conducted an array of aerial attacks on Ukraine with cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s air force said Thursday, while the chief of the army said Russia is increasing its troop concentration in the Kharkiv region where Moscow’s forces have made significant advances in
Continue ReadingBy DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Lab-grown meat is not currently available in any U.S. grocery stores or restaurants. If some lawmakers have their way, it never will be. Earlier this month, both Florida and Alabama banned the sale of cultivated meat and seafood, which is grown from animal cells. In Iowa, the governor signed
Continue ReadingBy BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you’ve probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy. It’s Meta AI, and it’s here to help, at least according to Meta
Continue ReadingBy HELEN WIEFFERING and JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press The United Nations over the last decade has logged an increasing number of crew members abandoned by shipowners around the world, leaving sailors aboard months and sometimes years without pay. More than 2,000 seafarers on some 150 ships were abandoned last year. And the problem shows no
Continue ReadingBy HELEN WIEFFERING and JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press Abdul Nasser Saleh says he rarely got a good night’s sleep during the near-decade he spent working without pay on a cargo ship abandoned by its owner at ports along the Red Sea. By night, he tossed and turned in his bunk on the aging Al-Maha, he
Continue ReadingBy KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Verdicts have been handed down in Hong Kong’s largest national security case to date. The case involves some of the city’s best-known pro-democracy activists. In 2021, 47 activists were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for their involvement in an unofficial primary election. Fourteen were convicted
Continue ReadingGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. telecommunications agency has kicked off its annual AI for Good conference in hopes of guiding business, consumers and governments on ways to tap the promise of the new technology but avoid its potential perils. OpenAI chief Sam Altman whose company created ChatGPT is among the tech leaders set to join
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators are calling on the Justice Department to prevent and prosecute alleged collusion and price-fixing in the oil industry. Democrats say in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday alleged price-fixing by American oil executives and
Continue ReadingBy GERALD IMRAY and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Very early counts in South Africa’s national election put the long-ruling African National Congress at just over 42% of the vote, raising the possibility that it might lose its majority for the first time since it swept to power under Nelson Mandela at the
Continue ReadingBy Alexandra Banner, CNN (CNN) — Many Hollywood actors are wary of announcing 2024 presidential endorsements amid a hyper-divisive political landscape. Instead, they might align themselves with specific issues rather than a candidate this year, multiple publicists and agents told CNN. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with
Continue ReadingCNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN (CNN) — Many Hollywood actors are wary of announcing 2024 presidential endorsements amid a hyper-divisive political landscape. Instead, they might align themselves with specific issues rather than a candidate this year, multiple publicists and agents told CNN. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On
Continue ReadingBy Christian Edwards and Ibrahim Dahman, CNN (CNN) — The amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza has dropped by 67% since Israel launched a military offensive in the southern city of Rafah earlier this month, the United Nations has warned. “The amount of food and other aid entering Gaza, already insufficient to meet the soaring
Continue ReadingBy KIM CHANDLER Associated Press ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is set to execute a man convicted of killing an elderly couple 20 years ago to steal prescription drugs and $140 from their home. Jamie Ray Mills was scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison. Alabama carried out the
Continue ReadingBy Caitlin Danaher and Rosanne Roobeek-Coppack, CNN (CNN) — A person has died after falling into an airplane jet engine at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Wednesday. “An incident occurred this afternoon on the platform of Schiphol [Airport] where a person fell into a running aircraft engine and died,” the Netherlands Royal Military
Continue ReadingHONG KONG (AP) — Foreign governments expressed concern and activist groups condemned Thursday’s convictions of 14 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. China, which authored the 2020 national security law under which the activists were prosecuted, backed the Hong Kong authorities. The chairs of a U.S congressional panel on China criticized the Hong Kong government for
Continue ReadingBy Kevin Liptak, CNN Philadelphia (CNN) — After dozens of Palestinian civilians were killed following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah this week, the White House made clear: The incident did not cross the red line President Joe Biden has drawn when it comes to providing certain American weapons to Israel. Where, exactly, that line rests
Continue ReadingBy EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer There’s no making up for what Olympic hurdler Lashinda Demus lost on the day she finished .07 seconds behind a Russian opponent who, everyone found out later, was doping. What the American 400-meter hurdles champion will get is a great day under the Eiffel Tower where she’ll be presented
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Jury deliberations in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial are set to enter a second day as jurors navigate the weighty task of evaluating the former president’s guilt and innocence alongside the facts of the case. The panel deliberated for more than four hours Wednesday and asked the judge to rehear
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