Month: June 2024

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point, moving ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve as central banks around the world lean toward lowering borrowing costs — a shift with far-reaching consequences for home buyers, savers and investors. The ECB cut

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New South Wales has become the last Australian state to apologize for laws criminalizing homosexual acts, 40 years after decriminalization. State Premier Chris Minns said he was sorry on behalf of the New South Wales government “for every life that was damaged or diminished or

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Called “Tokyo Futari Story,” the city hall’s new site is just that: An effort to create couples, “futari,” in a country where it is increasingly common to be “hitori,” or alone. A mobile app is under development, with hopes to offer it later this year, a city

By LEA SKENE and MELINA WALLING Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — A tornado that ripped through suburban Detroit earlier this week downed trees that smashed through the roof of Abby Sata’s family home, sending water gushing below. Though they now have a giant crane taking trees off the house, they were lucky no one was

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s abundant hydroelectric power is helping the Himalayan nation cut its oil imports and clean up its air, thanks to a boom in sales of electric vehicles. Nearly all of the electricity produced in Nepal is clean energy, most of it generated by river-fed hydro-electricity. Nepal’s

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer At what age should kids be on social media? Should they be on it at all? If they aren’t, will they be social pariahs? Should parents monitor their conversations? Do parental controls work? Navigating social media as a parent — not to mention a child — is not easy.

By The Associated Press Starting in 2010, police searching for a missing woman found 10 sets of human remains in the scrub along a barrier island parkway near New York’s Gilgo Beach. Police almost immediately feared some were left by a serial killer. Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify

By SAM MEDNICK and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press SOUTH HEBRON HILLS, West Bank (AP) — More than a dozen Israeli settlers — as well as two affiliated farms and four groups — have been targeted by international sanctions over accusations of attacks and harassment against Palestinians in the West Bank. The measures are meant as

By PHILIP MARCELO and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The New York architect accused of murdering multiple women and leaving their corpses scattered along the Long Island coast kept a “blueprint” of his crimes on his computer, prosecutors revealed Thursday as they brought charges against Rex Heuermann in two more killings. Heuermann,

By VALERIE GONZALEZ and ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press DULZURA, Calif. (AP) — Abigail Castillo was about to cross the U.S. border illegally when she heard President Joe Biden was halting asylum. She continued anyway, walking hours through the mountains east of San Diego with her toddler son, hoping it wasn’t too late. “I heard that

By SAM MEDNICK and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press SOUTH HEBRON HILLS, West Bank (AP) — For weeks after being sanctioned by the United States, Yinon Levi struggled to pay the bills, living at his farming outpost atop a hill in the occupied West Bank. But the Israeli settler’s problems didn’t last. When the banks froze

By EDITH M. LEDERER and MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia have gotten seats on the U.N. Security Council. A secret ballot in the General Assembly elected five countries to two-year terms on the council. There are 10 seats on the 15-member council that aren’t permanent. They