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More than 400 companies __ including Tesla, Pfizer, Delta Air Lines and Amazon __ have signed on to support civil rights legislation for LGBTQ people that is moving through Congress, advocates said Tuesday. The Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based LGBTQ…

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian authorities on Tuesday took a Greek far-right member of the European Parliament into custody ahead of his likely extradition to Greece to serve a 13-year prison sentence for being a leading member of a criminal organization.…

Iraqi doctors, medics and rescue workers have described the first moments of a catastrophic fire that broke out in an intensive care unit for coronavirus patients at a Baghdad hospital. They recounted the horrors of that night last weekend and warned of systemic mismanagement, describing Iraqi hospitals as ticking bombs because of lax safety rules. The fire, which erupted on Saturday, raged for hours at the Ibn al-Khatib hospital’s coronavirus ward. It claimed 82 lives and left 110 people injured. Officials said the blaze was set off by exploding oxygen cylinders and in the aftermath, speculation has run rampant about what caused the cylinders to explode. 

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The killing of President Idriss Deby Itno has left his son in charge of Chad, the first change of power in more than three decades for the central African nation that borders some of the world's…

Ethnic guerrillas say they captured a Myanmar army base near the border with Thailand. It's a morale-boosting action for those who oppose the Myanmar military's takeover of the central government in February. A spokesman for the Karen National Union said the group’s armed wing attacked the base early Tuesday and burned it down. Hours later, Myanmar’s military staged airstrikes on villages in territory controlled by the Karen forces. The Karen minority’s main political group seeks greater autonomy, and controls territory in eastern Myanmar near the Thai border. It's a close ally of the resistance movement against the military's ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is raising its economic growth forecast for the year on the expectation of the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions and an anticipated rise in domestic spending, the economy minister said Tuesday. Peter Altmaier said gross domestic…

MADRID (AP) — Hailed as a flag-bearer of Spain's anti-lockdown movement, the chief of the country's capital region turned Madrid this year into a European exception, where bars, restaurants, museums and concert halls remained open even as contagion rates strained…

Toyota Motor Corp. has acquired the self-driving division of American ride-hailing company Lyft for $550 million, in a move that highlights the Japanese automaker’s ambitions in that technology. The acquisition, announced Tuesday, was carried out by Woven Planet Holdings, a Toyota subsidiary that began business in January and focuses on innovations and investment in projects such as “smart cities,” robotics and automated driving. The Woven Planet project will bring together an international team of engineers and researchers in mobility services, software and sensor assets and automated driving systems, according to Toyota. 

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers are set to formally ratify the post-Brexit deal between the EU and the United Kingdom amid ongoing tensions between London and Brussels over Northern Ireland trade rules. The deal, which was finalized on Christmas…

It’s almost award-voting season in the NBA, and the best race is the one that not enough people are talking about. The MVP race between Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic seems like a toss-up. There will be great debates about other races as well: most improved player, defensive player of the year and the All-NBA balloting will inevitably lead to cries that some players got overlooked and were wronged. Some of those arguments will probably be right, too. But the best race will be for coach of the year.

Merrill Kelly starts for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they host Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres following a dominant pitching performance in a doubleheader at Atlanta. Madison Bumgarner tossed a seven-inning no-hitter against the Braves on Sunday after Zac Gallen threw a one-hit shutout in the opener. Bumgarner didn’t get credit for a no-hitter in the Major League Baseball record book, igniting a lively debate among fans. An MLB committee in 1991 ruled a no-hitter had to go at least nine innings and the Elias Sports Bureau — the sport’s official statistician — repeated that stance last year when seven-inning doubleheaders began. There currently are no plans by MLB to revisit the decision. 

The U.S. Navy says that American and Iranian warships had a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf earlier this month. It said on Tuesday that the encounter marked the first such incident in about a year. Footage released by the Navy showed a ship commanded by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard cut in front of the USCGC Monomoy, causing the Coast Guard vessel to come to an abrupt stop with its engine smoking. This happened on April 2. The Navy said the Guard also did the same with another Coast Guard vessel, the USCGC Wrangell. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the incident. 

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Human and four-legged performers alike are preparing to bring Hungary's largest traveling circus back on the road after the COVID-19 pandemic halted its shows for more than a year. From its offseason home in Sada, a…

Some Africans are hesitating to get COVID-19 vaccines amid concerns about their safety,. The reluctance is alarming public health officials, and some countries have started to destroy thousands of doses that expired before use. Malawi and South Sudan in recent days have said they will destroy some of their doses. It's a concerning development on a continent where health officials have been outspoken about the need for vaccine equity as the world’s rich nations hold the bulk of shots. Africa has received less than 2% of the COVID-19 vaccine doses administered globally, according to the World Health 0rganization. The continent seeks to vaccinate up to 60% of its people by the end of 2022.

India recorded more than 320,000 new cases of coronavirus infection as a grim surge of illness and death weighed on the country and its sinking health system started getting much-needed support from foreign nations. Tuesday’s increase raised India’s total past 17.6 million and ended a five-day streak of recording the largest single-day increases in any country throughout the pandemic. However, the decline likely reflects lower weekend testing rather than reduced spread of the virus. A foreign ministry official showed photos of the first shipment of medical aid India received from Britain. It included 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators. The White House was moving to share raw materials for vaccine production to India and was working to satisfy other requests.

Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani had a start like none since Babe Ruth 100 years earlier. The Japanese right-hander struck out nine after a shaky first inning on the mound, and also scored three runs and drove in two as Los Angeles beat Texas 9-4. A day after tying for the MLB home run lead at seven, Ohtani became the first home run leader since Ruth in 1921 to start a game on the mound. Ohtani pitched five innings. He drove in two runs and scored three. Justin Upton and Albert Pujols put LA ahead to stay with back-to-back homers off Jordan Lyles.

President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress is an invite-only affair, no guests allowed. The restrictions for Wednesday’s event are due to COVID-19 safety protocols, but will have the added security benefit of a limited number of people inside the Capitol for the president’s first major indoor event since he took office just weeks after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The fence is still up around the U.S. Capitol, and the National Guard is still there. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Biden to the chamber to share his "vision for addressing the challenges and opportunities of this historic moment.” Presidents don’t deliver a State of the Union address to Congress until their second year in office.