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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department is opening the application process for computer chip manufacturers to access $39 billion in government support to build new factories and expand production. The funding is part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last August. Grants, loans and loan guarantees are meant to revive domestic production of computer chips. The effort is designed to sharpen the U.S. […]

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai and U.S. officials officially opened annual Cobra Gold multinational military exercises on Tuesday, now restored to one of the world’s largest following three years of sharp pandemic cutbacks, reinforcing the security alliances of the United States and six Asian nations. Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia are full participants in the two-week planning and field exercises, which are co-hosted by the Royal Thai Armed Forces […]

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. government bans on Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok reveal Washington’s own insecurities and are an abuse of state power, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday. The U.S. government “has been overstretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to suppress other countries’ companies,” Mao Ning said at a daily briefing. “How unsure of itself can the U.S., the world’s top superpower, be to […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is aiming to use the leadup to the release of his proposed budget next week to sketch a dire picture of what could happen to U.S. health care if congressional Republicans had their way with federal spending. The Democratic president is traveling to Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Tuesday to discuss potential GOP efforts to cut spending on health care, part of a broader presidential […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Supreme Court is meeting Tuesday to hear two cases challenging President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. At stake: forgiveness of up to $20,000 in debt for more than 40 million Americans. Nearly half of those people could have their federal student debt wiped out entirely. Already, about 26 million people have applied for debt forgiveness, and 16 million applications have been approved. However, because […]

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Danish parliament on Tuesday urged lawmakers and employees with the 179-member assembly against having TikTok on work phones as a cybersecurity measure, saying “there is a risk of espionage.” The popular video-sharing app, which is Chinese-owned, faces intensifying scrutiny from Europe and the U.S. over security and data privacy amid worries that TikTok could be used to promote pro-Beijing views or sweep up users’ information. […]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Over the past three months, hundreds of young girls attending different schools in Iran have become overpowered by what are believed to be noxious fumes wafting into their classrooms, with some ending up weakened on hospital beds. Officials in Iran’s theocracy initially dismissed these incidents, but now describe them as intentional attacks involving some 30 schools identified in local media reports, with some speculating […]

TOKYO (AP) — The lower house of Parliament approved Tuesday a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes a record 6.8 trillion yen ($50 billion) in defense spending, part of Japan’s effort to fortify its military as China’s influence in the region grows. The 2023 defense budget, up 20% from a year earlier, includes 211.3 billion yen ($1.55 billion) for deployment of U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that can […]

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Belfast on Tuesday to sell his landmark agreement with the European Union to its toughest audience: Unionist politicians who fear post-Brexit trade rules are weakening Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. The U.K. and the 27-nation EU announced Monday that they had struck a deal to resolve a dispute over Northern Ireland trade that has vexed relations since the […]