BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on several top officials in Myanmar and on a lucrative state-owned oil and gas company that has helped fund the military that overthrew the country’s elected government a year ago. The bloc imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 22 people and slapped restrictive measures…
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s social media app that he hopes will rival Twitter launched Monday as he seeks a new digital stage to rally his supporters and fight Big Tech limits on speech, a year after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. His Truth Social app was offered for…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Monday that she was open to lifting interest rates by more than the traditional quarter-point at the central bank’s next meeting in March. Bowman’s comments came after several officials on Friday pushed back against the idea of a half-point increase in the Fed’s benchmark short-term interest…
BERLIN (AP) — German officials condemned protests Monday by climate activists who blocked roads including near the country’s biggest port. Members of the group Uprising of the Last Generation glued themselves to roads in Stuttgart, Freiburg and near the port of Hamburg to demand an end to food waste. The group argues that throwing away…
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — With all eyes on a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending his top security envoy to the Balkans where Moscow has been trying to maintain influence mainly through its ally Serbia, according to reports. Serbia’s pro-government media said Monday Nikolai Patrushev, the powerful secretary of the…
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s winter drought is getting worse, with the national weather agency reporting Monday that 91% of the country is enduring “severe” or “extreme” drought conditions. Average rainfall for Feb. 1-15 was just 7% of the average over a 30-year period, the IPMA said. It added that no significant rainfall is expected…
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is ready to limit financial assistance and possibly impose sanctions in Bosnia to help prevent the possible breakup up of the ethnically divided Balkan country as the peace agreement brokered over 25 years ago unravels, the EU’s top diplomat vowed Monday. “There is no place in Europe for a…
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares fell sharply in Asia on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, suggesting a long-feared invasion was possibly underway. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.2% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 3.2% in early trading Tuesday. Oil prices jumped, with U.S. crude…
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s largest electricity generator, AGL Energy, has rejected an 8 billion Australian dollar ($5.8 billion) takeover bid from tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian investment firm Brookfield, who want to accelerate the company’s transition away from coal-fired power. The Australian founder of software company Atlassian and Brookfield made the preliminary and…
CHICAGO (AP) — An activist investor is trying to make McDonald’s change the way it buys pork for its bacon cheeseburgers and sausage patties. Investor Carl Icahn has nominated two new candidates for McDonald’s board of directors, the fast food chain confirmed Sunday. The issue Icahn wants to change is that some of McDonald’s pork…
