By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s leader has presented a $34.8 billion spending plan for 2024 to federal lawmakers with a focus on stabilizing Africa’s largest but ailing economy and tackling a deadly security crisis. President Bola Tinubu projects that the economy will grow by at least 3.76% next year. He
Continue ReadingBy FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed a new round of sanctions against a group of 20 people and firms who are allegedly involved in a financial facilitation network for the benefit of the Iranian military. Wednesday’s sanctions impact firms and people spanning from Hong Kong to the
Continue ReadingBy MARI YAMAGUCHI and TARA COPP Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed during a training mission Wednesday off of the country’s southern coast, killing at least one of the eight crew members, the Japanese coast guard said. The cause of the crash and the status of the
Continue ReadingBy MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered a rare in-sync solar system with six planets moving like a grand cosmic orchestra, untouched by outside forces since their birth billions of years ago. The find, announced Wednesday, can help explain how solar systems across the Milky Way galaxy came
Continue ReadingBy LARRY NEUMEISTER and ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. authorities have announced murder-for-hire charges against an Indian man who they say plotted to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City. The charges were unsealed Wednesday in an indictment in Manhattan federal court. India had set up a high-level inquiry after
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed threatened species protections under a Biden administration proposal released Wednesday in response to scientists’ warnings that climate change will likely melt away the rare species’ snowy mountain refuges and push them toward extinction. Across most of the U.S., wolverines
Continue ReadingBy JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — NATO member Finland has closed its last remaining border crossing with Russia. The move Wednesday comes after the government decided to seal the entire border with its eastern neighbor amid rising political tensions between Helsinki and Moscow. The decision to close the entire 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border was
Continue ReadingBy AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A group of people, organizations and businesses opposed to a law that restricts drag performances and bans drag reading events at public schools and libraries is asking a federal judge to declare Montana’s law unconstitutional without requiring a trial. The motion for summary judgment filed
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed threatened species protections under a Biden administration proposal released Wednesday in response to scientists’ warnings that climate change will likely melt away the rare species’ snowy mountain refuges and push them toward extinction. Across most of the U.S., wolverines
Continue ReadingBy DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks are rising on Wall Street in afternoon trading Wednesday following some encouraging updates from U.S. companies, including General Motors. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 125 points, or 0.4%, to 35,543 as of 2:03 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite
Continue ReadingHILLSBORO, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say an explosion at an auto repair shop in Ohio has left three people dead and another person hospitalized. The Tuesday afternoon blast at Jimbo’s Auto Repair in Hillsboro sparked a massive fire that engulfed the building and spewed thick black smoke that was visible for miles. The blast was
Continue ReadingBy LORNE COOK and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba insisted on Wednesday that NATO allies are showing no sign of war fatigue and remain committed to helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia and take back occupied territory. Speaking to The Associated Press, Kuleba also said that President Vladimir
Continue ReadingWARSAW, Poland (AP) — Officials in northeastern Poland say three teenage students were injured when a classmate attacked them with a knife at a high school. The attack took place Wednesday during lessons at the high school in the town of Kadzidlo. Two of those injured have been hospitalized in serious condition. One victim was
Continue ReadingBy MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated PRess TOKYO (AP) — A crew member who was recovered from the ocean after a U.S. military Osprey aircraft carrying eight people crashed Wednesday off southern Japan has been pronounced dead, coast guard officials said. The cause of the crash and the status of the seven others on board were not
Continue ReadingBy JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s main adoption agency says it’s halting adoptions from South Korea, following claims of falsified papers on the origins of children adopted from the Asian country. The head of Adoptionscentrum said on Wednesday “that we are ending international adoptions in South Korea” and referred to
Continue ReadingPRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Opposition protesters in Kosovo have used flares and tear gas to protest against a senior war crimes court official in the capital. Opposition leftist Social Democratic Party members tried to enter a hotel in Pristina where Kosovo Specialist Chambers court President Ekaterina Trendafilova was holding a meeting with members of civil
Continue ReadingBy MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Members of South African political parties, civil society organisations and other supporters have marched through the streets of Johannesburg demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as they marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Several other protests were planned around South Africa, where many
Continue ReadingBy SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A special court has cleared France’s justice minister of conflict of interest, ruling he was not guilty of having used his office to settle personal scores. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said after the ruling that Eric Dupond-Moretti will therefore remain a government member. Once a high-profile lawyer,
Continue ReadingStocks are opening higher on Wall Street following some encouraging updates from U.S. companies including General Motors. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% in the early going Wednesday, the Nasdaq composite was up 0.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 80 points. GM jumped more than 10% after the automaker raised its dividend and
Continue ReadingBy JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tighter water restrictions for drought-stricken northeast Spain have gone in effect as authorities in Catalonia say that Barcelona may need to have fresh water shipped in by boat in the coming months. Catalonia is suffering its worst drought on record with reservoirs that provide water for
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