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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Lee says it would be “ridiculous” to conflate a recently surfaced yearbook photo of him wearing women’s clothing in high school to drag show performances currently under attack in Tennessee and other GOP-led states. Lee told reporters this week that he plans to sign legislation that would severely limit where drag performances can take place by banning “adult cabaret entertainment” that is “harmful […]

The woman pastor at the center of the Southern Baptist Convention’s decision to oust Saddleback Church — the California megachurch founded by pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren — says she will continue to serve as a ministry leader despite her longstanding ties to the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Saddleback has yet to say if it will appeal its expulsion. But at least one other church — a Kentucky congregation […]

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s Parliament on Wednesday gave final approval for the Nordic country’s historic bid to join NATO, with lawmakers signing off on membership along with the required legislation. The 200-seat Eduskunta legislature passed the measure in a 184-7 vote to allow for Finland’s accession to NATO, clearing the last required national hurdle for joining the 30-member Western alliance. The vote was initiated by Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s center-left […]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Recent cases of bird flu discovered in two Cambodian villagers, one of them fatal, show no sign of human-to-human transmission, health officials in the Southeast Asian nation say, allaying fears of a public health crisis. An 11-year-old Cambodian girl from a village in the southeastern province of Prey Veng died Feb. 22 at a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, shortly after tests confirmed she […]

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops arrested two Palestinians on Wednesday suspected of involvement in the killing earlier this week of an American-Israeli, the military said, in a daylight raid in a West Bank refugee camp. The arrest raid came as Israel’s parliament was meeting to give initial approval to a proposal to impose the death penalty against Palestinians convicted in deadly attacks. A top minister in Israel’s far-right government, meanwhile, […]

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — After a hotly contested election, Bola Tinubu on Wednesday was proclaimed the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election, clinching the most votes in the West African nation’s closest race in recent memory. While his party will stay in power for at least another four years, he faces a divided country, having won less than 50% of the vote, less than any previous president. Tinubu, 70, struck a […]

PLANICA, Slovenia (AP) — Jessie Diggins became the first American to win world championship gold in an individual cross country ski race, finishing 14 seconds in front of Sweden’s Frida Karlsson on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Diggins outlasted the competition in the 10-kilometer race, crossing the line in 23 minutes, 40.8 seconds to become the first racer outside of Europe to win gold at a world championships in the sport since […]

TikTok said Wednesday that every account held by a user under the age of 18 will have a default 60-minute daily screen time limit in the coming weeks. The changes arrive during a period in which there are growing concerns among different governments about the app’s security. Families have struggled with limiting the amount of time their children spend on the Chinese-owned video sharing app. Cormac Keenan, head of trust […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Kohl’s swung to a surprise fourth quarter loss and sales slumped as the department store’s customers pulled back on spending with inflation squeezing family budgets. The retailer also issued an annual outlook Wednesday that fell well below Wall Street expectations, sending shares tumbling 10% in premarket trading. The company reported a loss of $273 million, or $2.49 per share for the quarter ended Jan. 28. Industry […]