Month: December 2022

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister has ordered a crackdown on local businesses operating under the names of international brands without legal permission. That’s according to a statement from the premier’s office on Wednesday. The Associated Press reported last week that Iraq has become a major center of trademark violations

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — A monthslong Toni Morrison tribute at Princeton University will range from music created and performed by Grammy-winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant to a spring lecture series to a three-day symposium. Morrison taught there for 17 years. The tribute will center around the exhibit “Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory,” an exhibition drawn

By WILSON RING Associated Press The head of the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee says he’s going to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session to close an exemption to child abuse and neglect reporting laws for members of the clergy. Democratic Sen. Richard Sears of Bennington says he was unaware of the exemption in

By CARRIE ANTLFINGER and ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press Some 1,600 bats found a temporary home this week in the attic of a Houston Humane Society director, but it wasn’t because they made it their roost. It was a temporary recovery space for the flying mammals after they lost their grip and plunged to the pavement

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Officials say the Turkish, Syrian and Russian defense ministers have held previously unannounced talks in Moscow. It was the first ministerial level meeting between rivals Turkey and Syria since the start of the Syrian conflict 11 years ago. A Turkish defense ministry statement said the Turkish, Syrian and Russian intelligence chiefs

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Emergency services were placed on alert on an island near Athens following a new earthquake Wednesday that caused no injuries or severe damage but puzzled scientists. The magnitude-4.9 quake occurred inland, near the western coast of the island of Evia, and follows an uncommon pattern of seismic activity in the area.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A veteran Bosnian Croat politician has received a mandate to form a new government, positioning her to become the first female prime minister in the Balkan country’s history. Borjana Kristo accepted the role of prime minister-designate on Wednesday after 23 lawmakers in the 42-seat lower house of Bosnia’s parliament voted to

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury convicted Dayonta McClinton of robbing a CVS pharmacy but acquitted him of murder. A judge gave McClinton an extra 13 years in prison for the killing anyway. In courtrooms across America, defendants get additional prison time for crimes that juries found they didn’t commit. The

ROME (AP) — Italy’s foreign minister has summoned Iran’s ambassador to Rome to express his country’s concerns over the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on anti-government protests that have been underway for over three months. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday conveyed Italy’s “indignation and worry” over the crackdown and said that he hopes Iran will

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A police officer in Tampa, Florida, who was videotaped dragging a handcuffed woman into jail has been fired, authorities said. An internal investigation determined that former officer Gregory Damon violated department policies during the Nov. 17 incident, the Tampa Police Department announced Tuesday in a news release. The woman was being

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer A change of scenery worked out just fine for Katie Ledecky. Shifting coasts and coaches after last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, the American swimmer turned in another stellar performance at the world championships, set a pair of world records and capped 2022 as The Associated Press Female Athlete of the

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — The Vatican has detailed rituals and procedures to follow when a pope dies. But it hasn’t published any rules for a pope emeritus. As a result, news Wednesday that the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had worsened prompted questions about what would happen if and when

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is marking the four-year anniversary of the detention in Russia of American businessman Paul Whelan. His continued imprisonment is one of several major irritants in tattered relations between Washington and Moscow. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says in a statement that securing Whelan’s release remains a top administration priority.

By DENG MACHOL Associated Press JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A local official says at least 57 people have been killed and more than a dozen others injured during recent ethnic violence in South Sudan’s eastern Jonglei region. Armed groups of youths from the Nuer tribe attacked members of the Murle ethnic group in the

PARIS (AP) — Ukrainian authorities say a Ukrainian businessman and former lawmaker suspected of embezzling more than $100 million has been arrested at a luxury ski resort in the French Alps. Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations says French police arrested Kostiantyn Zhevago in a hotel in Courchevel on Tuesday based on an international warrant. Zhevago

By CAROLYN THOMPSON and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The National Guard went door to door in parts of Buffalo on Wednesday to check on people who lost power during the area’s deadliest winter storm in decades, and authorities faced the tragic possibility of finding more victims amid melting snow. Already, more

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s first floating liquefied natural gas terminal was moored Wednesday at the southern port of Inkoo where it will supply gas to the Nordic country that was cut off from Russian gas imports earlier this year amid the war in Ukraine. The massive 291-meter-long and 43-meter-wide offshore

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A giant Mega Millions jackpot grew larger Wednesday to an estimated $640 million after another drawing without a winner. No one won the lottery game’s top prize Tuesday night, making it 21 straight drawings without anyone matching all six numbers. The next drawing will be Friday night. The huge jackpot

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A group of ethnic Chechens fleeing Russia has arrived in Bosnia with hopes of using the Balkan country as a launchpad to reach the European Union and avoid getting sent to fight in Ukraine. The Bosnian Security Ministry said Wednesday that about 50 people, predominantly from Russia’s Chechnya region, were congregated

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s prime minister has inaugurated the country’s first metro rail service aimed at easing notorious traffic jams in capital Dhaka. Sheikh Hasina held a ceremony for a limited version of the service with the Japanese ambassador and the chief representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency. Japan funded the project with a

By KATE ASHFORD of NerdWallet More than 1 in 4 retirees say they’re spending more than they can afford, according to a recent survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. With inflation at 7.1% in November, it’s not surprising that savings aren’t going as far as they used to. But there are ways to bring

BERLIN (AP) — A Swiss court has granted a six-month “stay of bankruptcy” to the operating company for the never-opened Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The pipeline was built to bring Russian gas to Germany but put on ice shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February. A regional court in the Swiss canton (state) of Zug

By FELIPE DANA, RENATA BRITO and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — France’s defense minister on Wednesday pledged further military support for Ukraine, insisting his government’s backing is unflagging while efforts are also being made with Moscow to reach an eventual negotiated end to Russia’s invasion. Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopian Airlines has resumed scheduled flights to Tigray’s capital, Mekele, as the result of a peace agreement signed between the federal government and Tigray officials in November. The resumption of flights on Wednesday came a day after a federal government delegation led by the speaker of

A 97-year-old woman is appealing her conviction in Germany of being an accessory to more than 10,000 murders when she was a secretary to the commander of the Nazis’ Stutthof concentration camp during World War II. In a Dec. 20 verdict, the Itzehoe state court gave Irmgard Furchner a two-year suspended sentence for being an

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming hard-line Israeli government has put West Bank settlement expansion at the top of its list of priorities, a day before it’s set to be sworn into office. Netanyahu’s Likud party released the new government’s policy guidelines on Wednesday, the first of which is

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI ‘s health has worsened over the past hours due to advanced age and doctors are constantly monitoring his condition, the Vatican said Wednesday, as Pope Francis appealed to the faithful to pray for his “very ill” predecessor “until the end.” Vatican spokesperson

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong is scrapping some of its COVID-19 restrictions, including PCR tests for inbound travelers and vaccination requirements to enter certain venues. The move comes as Hong Kong is preparing to reopen its borders with mainland China next month. China had imposed harsh restrictions and snap

By SAM MEDNICK and VIRGILE AHISSOU Associated Press COTONOU, Benin (AP) — It’s been more than a year since jihadis first stormed Igor Kassah’s town in northern Benin but the priest still lives in fear. His once peaceful life is now marked by threatening phone calls and Islamic extremist diatribes tacked on church doors demanding

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has bought some 1,400 drones, mostly for reconnaissance, and plans to develop combat models that can attack the exploding drones Russia has used during its invasion of the country, according to the Ukrainian government minister in charge of technology. In a recent interview with The

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir said government forces killed four suspected militants in a gunbattle on Wednesday. Troops intercepted a truck moving unusually on a highway in the outskirts of Jammu city and when they began searching it, gunfire came from inside the vehicle. Police said four suspected militants were killed in