Month: January 2022

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — An unprecedented, experimental attempt to feed manatees facing starvation in Florida has started slowly but wildlife officials expressed optimism it will work as cold weather drives the marine mammals toward warmer waters. Officials said Thursday that a feeding station established along the state’s east coast has

By JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican National Committee says it is planning a rules change that would force presidential candidates seeking the party’s nomination to sign a pledge saying they will not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. If ultimately enacted and enforced,

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge has sided with conservatives, ruling that absentee ballot drop boxes cannot be located anywhere other than at offices of local clerks and that no one other than the voter may return such a ballot. Thursday’s ruling, if it stands, means that no ballot

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Lael Brainard, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Federal Reserve’s No. 2 spot, said Thursday that combating high inflation is the Fed’s top priority and promised the Fed could bring it down without sacrificing job growth. Brainard’s elevation of inflation-fighting as the Fed’s top goal is

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — GOP Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says he has no regrets about his response to the coronavirus pandemic, even if Republican voters who thought he went too far are angry enough to vote him out in the upcoming May primary. DeWine is running for

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police have dispersed hundreds of Bedouin protesters who blocked a desert highway during a demonstration against a tree-planting campaign they say is aimed at pushing them off disputed land. It was the third consecutive day of demonstrations by Bedouin residents of southern Israel’s Negev desert against a forestry project they say

WESTBROOK, Maine (AP) — A swirling disk of ice on a Maine river is drawing onlookers in the heart of winter once again. The disk has formed in the Presumpscot River in Westbrook. A handful of dog-walkers and onlookers stopped to gaze at the curious ice formation on a chilly Thursday morning around dawn. The

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is prolonging economic sanctions against Russia for six months for failing to live up to its commitments to the peace agreement in Ukraine. The move comes amid concern that Moscow may be preparing to invade its former Soviet neighbor, but is not linked to the tensions. The measures target

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Two U.S. science agencies say 2021 was the sixth hottest year on record globally, part of a long-term warming trend. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday released measurements showing how hot last year was. It wasn’t record hot, but the year’s 58.5 degree average is not

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the U.S. are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections. The problem is that production is not yet at full

BY JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prestigious Peace Prize, has issued a very rare admonition to the 2019 winner, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, over the war and humanitarian crisis in his country’s Tigray region. Abiy partly won the prize for making peace with

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An investigation has found that Utah police made “several unintentional mistakes” when they stopped Gabby Petito and her boyfriend before she was killed in what became a high-profile missing person case. The independent report released Wednesday examines a stop by police in the tourist town

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch king has ruled out using, for now at least, the royal family’s “Golden Carriage.” One side of the ornate vehicle is decorated with a painting that has drawn fire from critics who say it glorifies the Netherlands’ colonial past, including its role in

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been arrested after hundreds of pigs died at his farm last month after they went without adequate food and were kept in conditions so cold that some of their ears froze off. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Black Hawk County sheriff’s deputies arrested the 38-year-old

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A man accused of killing two co-workers at a North Dakota plastics factory in November will undergo a mental health exam to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Cass County Judge Wade Webb signed a commitment order Wednesday so that Anthony Reese Jr. can be evaluated at the North

NEW DELHI (AP) — A railroad official says nine people have died and 45 were injured when a train derailed in India’s West Bengal state. Rescuers found four more bodies overnight as they cleared the 12 mangled coaches of the train. The accident occurred Thursday as the coaches went off the rails and three capsized.

BERLIN (AP) — Data shows that most COVID-19 patients in intensive care in German hospitals aren’t vaccinated. The data published on Thursday by the country’s intensive care association DIVI showed that 62% of ICU patients whose vaccine status was known had received no protective shots against the coronavirus. Unvaccinated people make up about a quarter

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia sheriff’s deputy has been suspended and faces being fired over comments posted on social media after a judge sentenced three white men to life imprisonment in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Reacting to a story on Facebook after the men were sentenced on their murder convictions in the

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — If you can’t make it to New York to see Sutton Foster on Broadway in the classic musical “The Music Man,” don’t worry. You can always catch her at your local movie theater in another classic musical. A filmed recording of the two-time Tony Award-winner

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department will begin transferring thousands of inmates out of federal prisons this week as part of a sweeping criminal justice overhaul signed by President Donald Trump more than three years ago. The department is now spelling out how “time credits” for

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN BRUSSELS (AP) — United Nations World Food Program senior official Mary-Ellen McGroarty is warning that Afghanistan is facing a “tsunami” of hunger because of a shortage of funds that’s needed to get food to people across the country. In an interview with The Associated Press, the WFP leader in Afghanistan urged the

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A communal funeral for victims of New York City’s deadliest fire in years has been planned for Sunday, a week after the the blaze in the Bronx high-rise. The service is to be held at the Islamic Cultural Center in the Bronx. Funerals began Wednesday

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegrin police have seized nearly half a ton of cocaine reportedly hidden in a banana shipment. The official RTCG television says more than 400 kilos (880 pounds) were found in a warehouse in the capital Podgorica on Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic hailed the seizure in a Tweet without revealing

NEW YORK (AP) — Sandra Boynton’s prolific career as an author, cartoonist and songwriter has reached a scale so vast that a publisher has formed an imprint dedicated solely to her books. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing announced on Thursday the launch of Boynton Bookworks, which will be home to her dozens of previous works,

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Senior U.N. refugee agency and European Union officials are accusing Latvia, Lithuania and Poland of using questionable methods to keep out migrants trying to enter from Belarus. Officials say the three countries also continue to deny access to aid groups that want to help people stuck in