KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have decided against reopening schools to girls above the sixth grade, reneging on a promise and opting to appease their hard-line base, at the expense of further alienating the international community. The surprise decision is bound to disrupt Taliban efforts to win recognition from potential donors abroad at…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee has kicked off Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated for the nation’s highest court. At Monday’s hearing, Democrats sought to preemptively rebut Republican criticism of her record on criminal matters as a judge and before that, as a federal public…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping spoke Friday for nearly two hours via a video call as the White House looks to deter Beijing from providing military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China’s Foreign Ministry was the first to issue a readout of the conversation, deploring “conflict and…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has cited Pearl Harbor and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in appealing to the U.S. Congress to do more to help Ukraine’s fight against Russia. We need you right now,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday in remarks livestreamed at the U.S. Capitol. He added, “I call on you…
MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) — A wounded pregnant woman who was seen being carried on a stretcher from a bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, last week has died, along with her baby. Photos and video of the woman taken by The Associated Press on Wednesday showed her being rushed to an ambulance, and doctors said…
Russian regulators said internet users will be blocked from accessing Instagram because it’s being used to call for violence against Russian soldiers. It’s Moscow’s latest move to restrict the reach of foreign social platforms. The regulator said Friday it’s tightening access to Instagram because the platform is spreading “calls to commit violent acts against Russian…
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian attack has severely damaged a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials say. Citizens are also trying to escape shelling on the outskirts of Kyiv, streaming toward the capital amid warnings from the West that Moscow’s invasion is about to take a more brutal and…
Gasoline prices are pushing even farther above $4 a gallon, the highest price that American motorists have faced since July 2008, as calls grow to ban imports of Russian oil. Prices at the pump were rising long before Russia invaded Ukraine and have spiraled faster since the start of the war. Auto club AAA says…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican missteps that include intense infighting are threatening the GOP’s path to the Senate majority. Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey dealt his party its latest setback by announcing he would not challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly this fall. But the GOP’s shortcomings extend well beyond Arizona. Republican candidates in virtually every major…
LONDON — The BBC says it is temporarily suspending the work of all its journalists in Russia after the country’s lawmakers approved legislation criminalizing reporting of the war in Ukraine that differs from the government line. Tim Davie, director-general of the British broadcaster, said the legislation “appears to criminalize the process of independent journalism.” He…