Uncategorized

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish parliament on Thursday approved legislation expanding abortion and transgender rights for teenagers, while making Spain the first country in Europe that will entitle workers to paid menstrual leave. The driving force behind the two laws was Equality Minister Irene Montero, who belongs to the junior member in Spain’s left-wing coalition government, the “United We Can” Party. The changes to sexual and reproductive rights mean that […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a routine medical checkup, an event that is being keenly watched as the oldest president in history makes plans for an expected reelection campaign. Biden, 80, last received a standard medical exam in November 2021. During that five-hour-plus visit, he went through a combination of blood, physical, gastrointestinal, dental, vision and neurological tests. Afterward, […]

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo is celebrating 15 years of independence with a month of celebrations starting Friday while still facing serious challenges with Serbia, which refuses to recognize the autonomy of its former province. A military parade, ceremonies at monuments to national heroes and a special session of parliament are some of the anniversary events planned in the capital, Pristina. Europe’s youngest country unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States rose 6% in January from a year earlier, decelerating for a seventh straight month. But on a month-to-month basis, prices reaccelerated in January, indicating that inflation pressures continue to underlie the U.S. economy. The latest year-over-year wholesale inflation figure was down from 6.5% in December and from a recent peak of 11.7% in March. From December to January, though, the government’s […]

CHICAGO (AP) — At age 103, Sister Jean awakes daily at 5 a.m. She sits up quickly to avoid going to sleep again — “I’ve got too much to do,” she says. After prayers for the day ahead, she reads the Gospel on her tablet. “I guess there aren’t too many 103-year-old nuns using iPads these days – there aren’t too many 103-year-olds, period,” she writes in her memoir that […]

MERIBEL, France (AP) — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin wins gold medal in giant slalom for her 7th career world championships title. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

BEIJING (AP) — China says more than 200 million of its citizens have been diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 since it lifted strict containment measures beginning in November. With 800,000 of the most critically ill patients having recovered, China has “decisively beaten” the pandemic, according to notes from a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee presided over by President and party leader Xi Jinping. China enforced […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The price of natural gas used to heat homes and generate electricity is plunging this year, thanks to a mild winter in the U.S. and Europe — bringing some relief to consumers and helping drive down inflation. The fuel, which in the U.S. is extracted mainly from shale deposits in Texas and around Pennsylvania, accounts for nearly 25% of residential energy needs, making it a big […]

BERLIN (AP) — The Hannover State Opera said Thursday that it is ending its contract with ballet director Marco Goecke after he smeared dog feces on the face of a newspaper critic whose reviews he had taken exception to. Goecke was suspended from his post as ballet chief this week after the Saturday attack on dance critic Wiebke Huester of German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The confrontation took place […]