TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Thursday a stimulus package of more than 17 trillion yen ($113 billion) that includes tax breaks and benefits for low-income households, a plan criticized by some observers as populist spending that would worsen Japan’s national debt. Kishida said his priorities are to overcome deflation and to
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian opposition lawmakers on Thursday caused commotion in Parliament, trying to disrupt a session in protest against what they say is increasingly authoritarian rule by the governing Socialists. Democratic lawmakers blocked left-wing Socialists of Prime Minister Edi Rama from taking their seats and stacked chairs on top of each other in
MILAN (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office has expressed “regret” that she fell prey to a prank call that induced her to acknowledge “fatigue” over the war in Ukraine.Meloni, believing she was speaking with officials of the African Union, told a pair of Russian pranksters that “there is a lot of fatigue, I have
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that it will disburse $440 million to install solar panels on low-income homes in Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory struggles with ongoing power outages and a crumbling electric grid.Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who is visiting Puerto Rico for the sixth time
A growing list of Israeli officials have accepted responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli communities during the Oct. 7 incursion that triggered the current Israel-Hamas war. Conspicuously absent from that roll call is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Following the horrific assault, which saw the deadliest day for Israelis since the country was
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Security forces and armed groups are committing war crimes against civilians in Africa’s Sahel region, where extremists and rebels are increasingly fighting to exert dominance and control resources in communities, according to new reports from two rights groups.Civilians are increasingly being killed, abducted or abused, including in Burkina Faso, where jihadi
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Called cover crops, they top the list of tasks U.S. farmers are told will build healthy soil, help the environment and fight climate change.Yet after years of incentives and encouragement, Midwest farmers planted cover crops on only about 7% of their land in 2021. That percentage has increased over the
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on 130 firms and people from Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to choke off Russia’s access to tools and equipment that support its invasion of Ukraine.The sanctions imposed by Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control
SHANGHAI, China (AP) — America’s national ballet company returned to China on Thursday for the first time in a decade in the latest sign that the strained U.S.-China relations are beginning to improve.The American Ballet Theater’s 85 dancers prepared for opening night at the Shanghai Grand Theater, where they were to perform “Classic Old and
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police in Bangladesh’s capital Thursday used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse more than 1,000 garment factory workers who took to the streets for a sixth straight day to demand better wages.In the Gazipur industrial district, just outside Dhaka, thousands of others also protested amid frustration over higher commodity prices
