Month: December 2022

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona will take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the U.S. government over trespassing on federal lands. The Biden administration and the Republican governor entered into an agreement that Arizona will cease installing the containers in the Coronado National

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The U.S. population expanded by 1.2 million people this year, with growth largely driven by international migration, and the nation now has 333.2 million residents, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Net international migration — the number of people moving into the U.S. minus the number

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A court in Cambodia has convicted 36 activists and former opposition lawmakers of conspiracy to commit treason. The human rights group Licadho says the 36, including former opposition leader Sam Rainsy and several leaders of his disbanded Cambodia National Rescue Party, were accused of trying to help exiled former lawmakers

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Three Cabinet ministers from Myanmar have attended an informal regional meeting in Thailand’s capital to discuss efforts to restore peace in the military-run country. A Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson described the meeting as meaningful, with the participants “engaging in free-flow and proactive discussions.” Myanmar’s military government is

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and JILL BLEED Associated Press MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Thousands of flights were canceled and homeless shelters were overflowing Thursday amid one of the most treacherous holiday travel seasons the U.S. has seen in decades, with temperatures plummeting 50 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas and forecasters warning of an impending “bomb cyclone”

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — White House holiday parties are back. And the “people’s house” is welcoming the people again, with 50,000 visitors expected between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Helping to make it happen is White House social secretary Carlos Elizondo, who’s worked for the Bidens since President Joe Biden was a vice

WOODBURY, N.J. (AP) — A man accused of killing several people in two states has been sentenced in New Jersey to 35 years in prison for the beating death of a former mentor. Sean Lannon had pleaded guilty in October to first-degree murder in the March 2021 slaying of 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski. Gloucester County prosecutors

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A severe economic crisis in Lebanon has sapped the savings of millions of residents. Now, thousands who left the country when its economy started to tumble in late 2019 have become a lifeline for families back home through remittances sent from abroad. Lebanon will receive roughly $6.8

By ED DAVEY SAN MARTIN, Peru (AP) — Rolando Zumba, a gentle 59-year-old, wept, though the moment he described took place many years ago. Nothing has been the same since that day, when a park ranger took away his hunting rifles. Now where there was once self-sufficiency, hunger has stalked his village. Zumba’s story has

By WILSON RING Associated Press Two of the men charged in the murder for hire case that led to the 2018 killing of a Vermont man are now facing federal wire fraud charges, court records show. Serhat Gumrukcu and Berk Eratay are due in appear in U.S. District Court by video next week to answer

By MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Just in time for Christmas, New York legislators passed a bill in both houses on Thursday that will make them the best-paid state lawmakers in the nation. If signed by the governor, members of the state Assembly and Senate will make a base salary

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian and Chinese warships have practiced joint action in the East China Sea, continuing a series of drills that reflect a growing defense cooperation between the two countries. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Varyag missile cruiser, the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer and two corvettes of Russia’s Pacific Fleet were taking part

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press DERVICAN, Albania (AP) — The Greek prime minister has offered his country’s full support to neighboring Albania’s further integration efforts with the European Union. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday visited the Greek minority in southern Albania, the first such visit since his father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, visited the area when

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer The unspoken deal between sports fans and their favorite teams and players has been, in theory: Sure, there are billions of dollars being thrown around, but at the core, sports are supposed to be fun and games, a never-ending menu of two- or three-hour escapes into a land of

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso’s state broadcaster says the government has expelled two French nationals accusing them of espionage. According to a Facebook post by Radio and Television of Burkina, the French citizens were detained last weekend and forced to leave the West African nation. France, which has had

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Fans will have to Google it beginning next season if they want to access the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package. The NFL announced a multiyear agreement on Thursday for Google to distribute the package of out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels. The NFL was seeking

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Shrugging off rampant inflation and rising interest rates, the U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly strong 3.2% annual pace from July through September, the government reported Thursday in a healthy upgrade from its earlier estimate of third-quarter growth. The rise in gross domestic product — the

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried walked out of a Manhattan courthouse Thursday with his parents after they agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him at their California home while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — In 2014, groups of unaccompanied children escaping violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. border authorities in South Texas. In 2016, thousands of Haitians fled a devastating earthquake and stopped in Tijuana, Mexico, after walking and taking buses through up to 11 countries to the U.S. border.

By CIARÁN GILES Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spain has sealed final approval for controversial reforms to the crimes of sedition and embezzlement. It’s a move by the ruling center-left coalition to retain the support of a pro-independence Catalan party and ease tensions in the northeastern region. The package passed by a Senate majority scraps

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Forest carbon credits are promises that companies, individuals and governments can buy to counteract their emissions by paying to plant or protect trees. Trees store carbon in their tissue, which means that the taller and healthier a tree grows, the more carbon it can store. Soils and

By ED DAVEY SAN MARTIN, Peru (AP) — Rolando Zumba, a gentle 59-year-old, wept, though the moment he described took place many years ago. Nothing has been the same since that day, when a park ranger took away his hunting rifles. Now where there was once self-sufficiency, hunger has stalked his village. Zumba’s story has

By SUZAN FRASER and KARL RITTER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister says his country appreciates steps Sweden has taken to win its approval for NATO membership but still has commitments to fulfill. Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments Thursday during a joint news conference with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. Cavusoglu also

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A bear escaped an exhibit at a Florida zoo and attacked a zookeeper before being fatally shot by workers, officials said. The escape in a behind-the-scenes area happened just after 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Zoo officials said in a Facebook post that an emergency call was

By INNA VARENYTSIA and E. EDUARDO CASTILLO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians hailed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s wartime visit to the United States as a success, while Russian officials said Thursday that it only fueled the conflict. The U.S. has announced a new $1.8 billion military aid package, including supplies of the Patriot air

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian state media say a fire broke out onboard Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, in the latest of a string of incidents incidents marring the Admiral Kuznetsov’s ongoing refit. The carrier suffered a “minor” fire while undergoing repair work in the Arctic port of Murmansk, Russia’s state news agencies Tass and Ria Novosti

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian prosecutors say a former European Parliament vice-president suspected of being at the center of one of the European Union’s biggest corruption scandals must remain in prison for at least another month. Prosecutors say Eva Kaili, who has been in prison since Dec. 9, has 24 hours

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s only nuclear plant has signed a deal with Westinghouse Electric Sweden to provide nuclear fuel for one of its reactors, in a bid to diversify its energy supplies. The Kozloduy plant currently uses nuclear fuel supplied by Russian firm Rosatom to operate the two Russian-designed VVER-1000 nuclear reactors that generate

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s defense ministry says that Indian and Chinese military commanders have met in yet another attempt to end a more-than-two-year-old standoff between tens of thousands of their soldiers along their disputed border that triggered bloody clashes in 2020. A ministry statement on Thursday said the meeting