BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is broadening its battle with Google, alleging that the technologygiant rigs the global market for mobile apps by making its Android operating system give preferential treatment to its own products. EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday that “Google’s behavior denies consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services … Continue reading
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Russian news agency says its general manager for Turkey has been barred from entering the country, days after Turkish authorities blocked access to its website. State-owned Sputnik quoted Tural Kerimov as saying Wednesday that he was informed after landing at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport that he has been barred from entering … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — President Barack Obama will meet with French, British, Italian and German leaders in Hannover next week for discussions expected to touch on Syria, Libya, the Islamic State group and migration, European officials said Wednesday. Obama, French leader Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Britain’s David Cameron and Italy’s Matteo Renzi will attend … Continue reading
MINAMIASO, Japan (AP) — Japan’s southern quake-hit area was rattled by a strong aftershock Tuesday and searchers found a woman’s body buried under landslide rubble, raising the death toll from the twin earthquakes to 45. More than 100,000 evacuees, some sleeping in their cars and others in gymnasiums or community centers, were bracing for another … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — A small chocolate milk company wanted publicity touting the purported ability of its drink to help high school athletes recover from concussions to coincide with the Will Smith movie “Concussion,” according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. The University of Maryland issued a press release in December about its study … Continue reading
BOSTON (AP) — An archaeological dig at the boyhood home of Malcolm X in Boston has turned up some surprising findings, but not related to the early life of the slain civil rights activist. City archaeologist Joseph Bagley said this week that researchers digging outside the two-and-a-half story home have found kitchenware, ceramics and other … Continue reading
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. is calling his decision to donate his brain to science a “no-brainer.” NASCAR’s most popular driver tweeted his intention earlier this week. He said Friday he plans to pledge his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation. The group works with Boston University on research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — California and New York — where almost 1 in 5 Americans live — are on their way to raising their minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the activists who spearheaded those efforts are now setting their sights on other similarly liberal, Democratic-led states. Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were on opposing sides of certain types of biomedical research while they served in Congress, differences that have gained notice by scientists and advocates on the forefront of stem cell research. Clinton has pointed to her advocacy for groundbreaking medical research, from her … Continue reading
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea has officially announced it is blocking Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and South Korean websites in a move underscoring its concern with the spread of online information. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications announcement was posted this week at the country’s main mobile service provider, Koryolink, and other places serving … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory met with gay-rights advocates bearing a letter signed by more than 100 corporate executives urging him to repeal the nation’s first state law limiting the bathroom options for transgender people. The law also excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections, and blocks municipalities … Continue reading
VALLEY OF THE KINGS, Egypt (AP) — Egypt’s archaeologists announced Friday they completed more extensive scanning of the two recently discovered hidden chambers behind King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings as part of a quest that some hope could ultimately lead to finding Queen Nefertiti’s remains. Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anani told reporters … Continue reading
HAVANA (AP) — The Latest on President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba (all times local): 6:50 p.m. President Barack Obama says he’s willing to meet with former Cuban President Fidel Castro in the future. In an interview with ABC News with David Muir, Obama says he has no problem with such a meeting “just as … Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African archaeologist has found a piece of debris with part of an aircraft engine manufacturer’s logo and Malaysia’s transport minister said Tuesday that authorities will examine it to see if it is from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. “Based on early reports, there is a possibility of the piece … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — Sweden’s Karolinska University says it has fired Italian stem cell scientist Paolo Macchiarini, whose work was once considered revolutionary but has since been deemed to have breached medical ethics. In a statement on Wednesday, Karolinska said Macchiarini was to be informed immediately that his contract has been rescinded. The university said Macchiarini … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Math and momentum on his side, an emboldened Donald Trump offered himself Wednesday as the inevitable Republican presidential nominee and called on balky GOP leaders to embrace the voters’ “tremendous fervor” for his candidacy. If GOP leaders try to deny him the nomination at a contested convention when he is leading the … Continue reading
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A new program approved by Utah lawmakers creates a statewide center to train more police officers on how to defuse potentially deadly confrontations amid a national debate on police use of force. The training will include a 360-degree virtual-reality simulator to practice dealing with high-pressure situations and lessons from prosecutors … Continue reading
BEIJING (AP) — The economy dominated the Chinese legislature’s annual session, but other challenges cropped up too, including the potential for new instability on the Korean Peninsula, unrest in Hong Kong, the election of an independence-leaning government on the self-ruling island of Taiwan and tensions in the South China Sea. Such issues could prompt President … Continue reading
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The death toll from a ferocious cyclone which tore through Fiji over the weekend has risen to 18 as authorities on Monday began to get a grasp on the scale of the disaster and deploy aid to hard-hit outer islands. Authorities were still having trouble communicating with some islands, including … Continue reading
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An Uber car was ambushed and burned highlighting an escalation of tension between conventional taxi operators and drivers of the ride-sharing app, a Kenyan police official said Monday The Uber driver was injured in the attack Sunday night when his vehicle was blocked by another car with four attackers, said Nairobi … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook acknowledged to employees Monday that “it does not feel right” to refuse to help the FBI hack a locked iPhone used by a gunman in the San Bernardino mass shootings. But he said that to do so would threaten data security for millions and “everyone’s civil liberties.” … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 campaign for president (all times local): 10:25 p.m. Hillary Clinton says the country faces a “legitimate dilemma” over whether to hack the phone of the gunman in a California mass shooting. Clinton says she sees both sides of the issue and wasn’t offering a specific solution, but … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The tech industry is starting to line up with Apple in its fight against the federal government over the encryption it uses to keep iPhones secure. Earlier this week, a U.S. magistrate ordered Apple to help investigators break into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. Apple … Continue reading
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The International Space Station just got a whole lot tidier. A pair of NASA astronauts released a capsule loaded with 1.5 tons of trash Friday as the space station soared over Bolivia. The capsule should re-enter the atmosphere and burn up harmlessly over the Pacific on Saturday. NASA supplier Orbital … Continue reading
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — No last-day appeals were filed as a Texas inmate condemned for the shotgun slaying of a suburban Dallas liquor store clerk was moved to a small holding cell outside the death chamber to await his Tuesday evening execution. Gustavo Garcia refused to eat breakfast, but did visit with family members and … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 