BEIJING (AP) — With no one at the wheel, a self-driving taxi developed by tech giant Baidu Inc. is rolling down a Beijing street when its sensors spot the corner of a delivery cart jutting into its lane. The taxi stops a half-car-length away. “So sorry,” a recorded voice tells passengers. The steering wheel turns…
PARIS (AP) — A Paris court ruled on Tuesday that the French government failed to sufficiently stock up on surgical masks at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and prevent the virus from spreading. The ruling came as the number of registered infections with coronavirus variants rises sharply. It wasn’t immediately clear if…
PARIS (AP) — The new speaker of France’s lower house of parliament — the first woman to hold the post — vigorously defended the right to abortion Tuesday and called on the chamber to be “vigilant” about protecting it from reversal. The National Assembly elected Yael Braun-Pivet as speaker on Tuesday, in its first session…
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The European Union’s delay in allowing visa-free travel for the people of Kosovo has spread dismay and resentment in the continent’s newest state, and one Pristina businessman has retaliated by hitting EU officials where it hurts — the stomach. Mama’s restaurant owner Shpetim Pevqeli, 50, who has catered for more than…
LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s leader told lawmakers in Edinburgh Tuesday that she plans to hold a fresh referendum on Scotland’s independence on Oct. 19, 2023 — even though U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson maintains it wasn’t the right time for such a vote. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the question to be asked will be…
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin says Russia is trying to build relations with the Taliban and that Russia wants to see all the ethnic groups in Afghanistan take part in running the country. Putin’s statement Tuesday came in a meeting with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan during the Russian leader’s first trip abroad since…
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence slipped to its lowest level in 16 months as persistent inflation and rising interest rates have Americans as pessimistic as they’ve been about the future in almost a decade. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slipped to 98.7 in June from 103.2 in May, the…
NEW YORK (AP) — The American Folk Art Museum, unlike many other arts institutions, managed to avoid layoffs and other cutbacks in the two years after the pandemic through a mix of fundraisers and increased donor contributions. On Tuesday, the museum plans to announce its largest and most unusual recent gift — a $5 million…
LONDON (AP) — The European Medicines Agency says it will begin reviewing data to decide if a smallpox vaccine made by the pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic might also be authorized for monkeypox, amid a growing outbreak of the disease across the continent. In a statement on Tuesday, the EU drug regulator noted that the vaccine,…
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Farmers protested around the Netherlands as lawmakers voted Tuesday on proposals to slash emissions of damaging pollutants, a plan that will likely force farmers to cut their livestock herds or stop work altogether. The government says emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, which livestock produce, must be drastically reduced close…
