World News

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home construction fell 6% in January but applications for building permits, which typically signal activity ahead, rose sharply. The decline pushed home and apartment construction down to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.

LOS ANGELES — Paris Hilton received a special gift for her 40th birthday: an engagement. Hilton announced her engagement to entrepreneur Carter Reum in her social media post on Wednesday — the same day as her birthday.

NEW YORK — An Asian woman standing on a New York City street was violently shoved to the ground and police were searching for the suspect, with a spotlight being put on the case by actor Olivia Munn who said she was a friend of the woman's daughter.

MADRID — More than 50 people were arrested and dozens injured during a second night of protests that turned violent in several Spanish cities.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays will play their first two homestands of the regular season at their spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, because of Canadian government restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the

PHILADELPHIA — At least eight people were wounded by gunfire Wednesday near a transit station in north Philadelphia, and one was critically injured, police said.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has charged three North Korean computer programmers in a broad range of global hacks, including a destructive attack targeting an American movie studio, and in the attempted theft and extortion of more than $1.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — New legislation would ban all fracking in California by 2027, taking aim at the powerful oil and gas industry in the state already planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

DOVER, Del.