Month: June 2023

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — There is now one fewer place to access abortion in Utah after Planned Parenthood closed its only clinic outside the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The organization temporarily closed its clinic in the northern Utah city of Logan after its sole provider left in March.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government has rejected as “far-fetched and unprofessional” a report by a U.S. security firm that blamed Chinese-linked hackers for attacks on hundreds of public agencies, schools and other targets around the world. A foreign ministry spokesperson repeated accusations Friday that Washington carries out hacking attacks and complained the cybersecurity industry rarely

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The smell of pineapple bread fills the kitchen of “Vida Libre,” or “free life,” a gang rehabilitation program founded in El Salvador by American pastor Kenton Moody in 2021. The trust that Moody puts in former gang members is not widely shared. Thousands

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The smell of pineapple bread fills the kitchen of “Vida Libre,” or “free life,” a gang rehabilitation program founded in El Salvador by American pastor Kenton Moody in 2021. The trust that Moody puts in former gang members is not widely shared. Thousands

PRAGUE (AP) — Lawmakers in the lower house of the Czech Parliament have agreed to tighten the country’s conflict of interest legislation to ban politicians from owning media, in a direct snub to former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Lawmakers in the 200-seat house voted to amend the current law to prohibit media ownership for

LONDON (AP) — Two-time Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer has proposed to his partner onstage in London, prompting raucous applause from the audience. As his performance at the O2 arena was drawing to a close Thursday night, the 65-year-old German composer asked his partner to join him on stage and then proceeded to declare his

LONDON (AP) — British antitrust regulators cleared Amazon’s purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot on Friday, but the $1.7 billion deal still faces scrutiny in the United States and Europe. The Competition and Markets Authority said it decided not to escalate its initial investigation because it concluded that the deal would not result in a

BERLIN (AP) — An Austrian court says it has ruled in favor of Ukrainian businessman Dymitro Firtash in a years-long legal saga over a U.S. bid to have him extradited to face corruption charges. The decision sends the extradition case back to square one. Firtash faces a U.S. indictment accusing him of a conspiracy to

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry has condemned a resolution passed by the European Parliament concerning Hong Kong’s shrinking rights to free speech. The Foreign Ministry’s office in Hong Kong issued a statement late Thursday alleging the EU was trying to use Hong Kong to contain China’s growth. The

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is poised to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The prince also will participate next week in a global financing summit aimed at fighting poverty and climate change. The French presidency said the talks are to focus on bilateral

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s parliament has commemorated the 70th anniversary of a popular uprising in the Communist east that was brutally crushed by its Soviet-backed dictatorship. Worsening economic conditions and political repression in East Germany had prompted months of protests that culminated in a call on June 16, 1953, for

BERLIN (AP) — A large mass of rock slid down a mountainside above a Swiss village that was evacuated last month, stopping just short of the settlement, authorities said Friday. Brienz, in the southeastern Graubuenden region of Switzerland, was evacuated on May 12 after geology experts warned that the Alpine rock looming over the village

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The EU says new harmful illicit drugs are inundating a flourishing market for traffickers amid violence and corruption hurting local communities across Europe. The grim message delivered Friday was part an annual report by the EU agency monitoring drugs and addiction. It warned that users in Europe

BEIJING (AP) — Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The state broadcaster CCTV showed Xi saying he was happy to see Gates, who he called an “old friend,” after three years without meeting. Gates told Xi he was “very honored” to meet with Xi. Gates’ visit to China follows one

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has dismissed the country’s chief prosecutor amid public anger over his failure to tackle high-level corruption. The presidential press office said Friday that Radev signed a decree to remove Ivan Geshev from his post after the Supreme Judicial Council earlier this week voted to oust him for