Month: December 2022

By DAVID BILLER and DIANE JEANTET Associated Press Bocaina de Minas, BRAZIL (AP) — Down a dirt road in the mountains of Minas Gerais, Pelé’s home state, Jorge Tavares received the news of the star’s death from a 4 a.m. newscast. As a boy, Tavares and his cousins listened to Pelé’s World Cup games on

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sherlock Holmes is finally free to the American public in 2023. The long-running contested copyright dispute over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tales of a whipsmart detective — which has even ensnared Enola Holmes — will finally come to an end as the 1927 copyrights expiring Jan. 1 include Conan Doyle’s last Sherlock

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Arguments over who was the greatest player in the history of men’s soccer can often see cheap hits aimed at Pelé. The claim is that he wasn’t tested on the European stage against some of the best clubs in the world unlike other top players. But

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot increased to $685 million ahead of Friday night’s drawing, giving lottery players a chance to ring in the New Year with an even larger bonus in their bank account. There have been 21 straight drawings without a jackpot winner thanks to stiff odds of one in

Associated Press Volkswagen is recalling nearly 42,000 Beetles in the U.S. and Canada because they have potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The recall covers Beetles from the 2015 and 2016 model years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Friday that the inflators can explode with too much force and hurl

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City’s casinos are betting they can finally put the COVID pandemic behind them in 2023. Some casino executives are optimistic about the new year, while others note that economic challenges are likely to remain in the New Jersey resort town. Issues that could be

By NICOLE WINFIELD and FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — The Vatican says Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is in stable condition and was able to participate in Mass in his room amid a deterioration in his health. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Friday that Benedict was able to rest well Thursday night. Bruno added

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish officials say a gas canister explosion at a restaurant in western Turkey has killed seven people. The governor of Aydin province tweeted the gas canister explosion had injured five others. The health minister tweeted that one of the injured was in critical condition and intubated with burns over 80% of the

By JAKE BLEIBERG Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines returned to a relatively normal flight schedule Friday, as the focus shifts to making things right with what could be well more than a million passengers who missed family connections or flights home during the holidays, and many of whom are still missing luggage. The

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Did you win money betting on Saint Peter’s, the longest-of-longshots men’s college basketball team that got to the Elite Eight in the national championship tournament this year? If so, you’ve got plenty of company. According to DraftKings sportsbook, customers won more money betting on Saint

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s leader will have the power to decide whether foreign lawyers can be involved in national security cases in the city. The decision made Friday by Beijing could effectively block a prominent pro-democracy publisher from hiring a British barrister for his high-profile trial. China’s Xinhua

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has failed so far to create a path to residency for Afghans who worked alongside U.S. soldiers in America’s longest war, pushing into limbo tens of thousands of refugees who fled Taliban control more than two years ago and now live in the United States. Some

By ARNO PEDRAM Associated Press PARIS (AP) — When a 38-year-old man anguished over the protests in Iran took his own life in the French city of Lyon this week, fellow members of the Iranian diaspora felt his pain. Three months into the anti-government protests, Iranians abroad are experiencing a spectrum of emotions. Activists and

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and SARA BURNETT Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democrats will be in charge of Michigan’s state government for the first time in nearly 40 years come January, raising progressive hopes of undoing decades of Republican-backed measures and advancing an agenda that includes restrictions on guns and help for the working poor.

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Almost three years after officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Indonesia, the country’s leader says they are lifting all coronavirus-related restrictions nationwide. Large-scale social restrictions had been imposed in the world’s fourth-most populous nation in April 2020. President Joko Widodo said Friday that

PARIS (AP) — France says it will require negative COVID-19 tests of all passengers arriving from China and is urging French citizens to avoid nonessential travel to China. Spain also toughened its rules on Friday. France is reintroducing mask requirements on flights from China to France. French health authorities will carry out random PCR tests

By CARLOS VALDEZ and DANIEL POLITI Associated Press LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A judge in Bolivia has sentenced opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho to four months of pretrial detention on terrorism charges. After a virtual hearing that lasted more than seven hours, Judge Sergio Pacheco ordered Camacho to be remanded in custody early Friday.

By FELIPE DANA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed Friday to deepen their bilateral cooperation against the backdrop of Moscow’s 10-month war in Ukraine, which weathered another night of drone and rocket attacks following a large-scale missile bombardment. Putin and Xi made no direct mention

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military says its prosecutor has filed indictments against two soldiers who allegedly hurled an explosive device at a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank last month. It’s a rare instance of Israeli troops facing serious charges over an offense against Palestinians. The army announced late

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A defense lawyer says a prominent Algerian journalist is behind bars and the offices of his website and radio station have been shut down based on accusations that they threaten state security. Ihsane El-Kadi was detained on Dec. 23 at his home at midnight and held in a police facility until

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Andrew Tate, a divisive social media personality and former professional kickboxer, was detained in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape, an official said Friday. Tate, a British citizen who previously was banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech, was detained late Thursday along

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Arata Isozaki, a Pritzker-winning Japanese architect known as a post-modern giant who blended culture and history of the East and the West in his designs, has died of old age. He was 91. Isozaki won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, internationally the highest honor in the field, in

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese technology giant Huawei says it has pulled itself out of “crisis mode” following years of U.S. restrictions that have stifled its sales in overseas markets, though its revenue for 2022 did not grow from a year earlier. Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand,

BEIJING (AP) — China is on a bumpy road back to normal life as schools, shopping malls and restaurants fill up again with the easing of COVID-19 restriction. The abrupt end to testing and other measures came as hospitals were swamped with feverish, wheezing COVID-19 patients. Restaurant owner Li Meng and his wife are hoping

By HOGIR AL ABDO and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press RAQQA, Syria (AP) — Marwa Ahmad rarely leaves her run-down house in the Syrian city of Raqqa. The single mother of four says people look at her with suspicion and refuse to offer her a job, while her children get bullied and beaten up at school.

By HENG SINITH and SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press POIPET, Cambodia (AP) — The confirmed death toll from a massive fire at a casino hotel complex in western Cambodia rose to 25 on Friday as the search resumed for victims, officials said. The blaze at the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in the town of