By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand lawmakers rushed to pass legislation and criticize opponents during a rowdy final day of the nation’s 53rd Parliament. With an election looming in six weeks, lawmakers will now switch their focus to the campaign trail. Opinion polls indicate the opposition conservatives hold a
Continue ReadingBy REBECCA BLACKWELL and LAURA BARGFELD Associated Press HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida and Georgia residents living along Hurricane Idalia’s path of destruction on Thursday picked through piles of rubble where homes once stood, threw tarps over ripped-apart roofs and gingerly navigated streets left underwater or clogged with fallen trees and dangerous electric wires.
Continue ReadingBy Hanna Ziady, CNN London (CNN) — UBS expects to shed around 3,000 jobs in Switzerland to help it cut $10 billion in costs as it undertakes a sweeping overhaul following its emergency rescue of Credit Suisse earlier this year. The job cuts amount to around 8% of staff employed by the combined Swiss operations
Continue ReadingBy JOCELYN NOVECK and MATT O’BRIEN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Kelly McKernan’s acrylic and watercolor paintings are bold and vibrant, often featuring feminine figures rendered in bright greens, blues, pinks and purples. The style, in the artist’s words, is “surreal, ethereal … dealing with discomfort in the human journey.” The word “human” has
Continue ReadingBEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media report at least 121 passenger trains are suspending service in anticipation of the arrival of Typhoon Saola, while several cities in coastal areas of southern China have suspended the start of the school year. State broadcaster CCTV reported the suspensions on key lines running from north to south and
Continue ReadingBy DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — By some measures, air travelers have enjoyed a less stressful summer than last year, but canceled flights remain elevated as airlines face their last big test of the prime vacation season: Labor Day weekend. The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that this will be the third busiest
Continue ReadingBy Michelle Toh, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — Chinese tech firms Baidu and SenseTime launched their ChatGPT-style AI bots to the public on Thursday, marking a new milestone in the global AI race. Baidu has opened public access to its ERNIE Bot, allowing users to conduct AI-powered searches or carry out an array of tasks,
Continue ReadingBy GERALD IMRAY and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A nighttime fire ripped through a rundown apartment building mainly occupied by homeless people and squatters in Johannesburg early Thursday, leaving at least 74 dead, officials said. Some people threw babies out of third-story windows to others waiting below in the desperate scramble to
Continue ReadingBy ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence firm Baidu has made its ChatGPT-equivalent language model, Ernie Bot, fully available to the public. The company’s stock price rose by over 3% following the announcement. Beijing has taken steps recently to regulate the AI industry. Baidu’s CEO said Thursday
Continue ReadingPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Santiago Moreno had a goal and an assist to propel the Portland Timbers to a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night. Moreno took a pass from defender Juan Mosquera in the 13th minute and scored his first goal of the season to give Portland (7-11-8) an early lead.
Continue ReadingBy MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense ministry is requesting a nearly 12% budget increase that includes two warships with advanced radar and long-range cruise missiles. The record $52.5 billion request for the next fiscal year comes as Japan further fortifies its military in the face of North Korean threats and Chinese
Continue ReadingBy Jessie Yeung, CNN (CNN) — A military coup thrust the Central African nation of Gabon into turmoil Wednesday, unseating the president – whose family had held power for more than half a century – just minutes after he was named the winner of a contested election. Ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, also known as
Continue ReadingBy David McKenzie, CNN Johannesburg (CNN) — At least 74 people have died and dozens more were injured after a fire tore through a five-story building in central Johannesburg which had been turned into informal housing. Authorities said they have moved through the building floor by floor, searching for survivors and pulling out charred bodies
Continue ReadingMANILA, Philippines (AP) — A fire has killed 15 people in a small apparel factory in a Philippine residential area, where flooding, traffic and a wrong address delayed firefighters. A fire protection official said most of the victims appeared to be workers and carpenters who were sleeping in rooms when the fire broke out Thursday
Continue ReadingBy COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Diego Fonseca looked at the computer and took a breath. It was his final attempt at the math placement test for his first year of college. His first three tries put him in pre-calculus, a blow for a student who aced honors physics and computer
Continue ReadingBy TERRY TANG Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Andrea Nissen is trying to prepare her 65-year-old husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease, for a solo flight from Arizona to Oklahoma to visit family. She worries about travelers and airport officials misinterpreting his forgetfulness or habit of getting in people’s personal space, and feels guilty about not
Continue ReadingBy JAKE BLEIBERG and PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Unexplained Caribbean and European trips that cost taxpayers more than $90,000. A $600 sports coat paid for by an event organizer. A $45 office Christmas cake taken as his own. These are among the perks that Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s
Continue ReadingBy MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel has visited a city in Fukushima, where he ate a seafood lunch with the mayor, talked to fishermen and stocked up on local produce to show they are safe after the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear
Continue ReadingBy CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Last year it was Hurricane Ian that drew a bead on Tampa Bay before abruptly shifting east to strike southwest Florida more than 130 miles (210 kilometers) away. This time it was Hurricane Idalia, which caused some serious flooding as it sideswiped the bay area but packed much more punch
Continue ReadingBy TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is planning to spend $360 million demolishing a sprawling former furniture factory at San Quentin State Prison and replacing it with something reminiscent of a college campus. It’s part of his larger plan to develop California’s own take on the Scandinavian prison
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