Month: December 2022

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A court in Guatemala has convicted former President Otto Pérez Molina and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, on fraud and conspiracy counts. Both were acquitted Wednesday of illegal enrichment charges. Pérez Molina and Baldetti resigned in 2015 and have been in custody on charges of permitting and benefiting from a customs

By SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is calling again for a ban on so-called assault weapons, calling it “simple common sense.” He spoke Wednesday evening in Washington at a vigil honoring victims of gun violence. The event took place nearly 10 years after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The first-ever U.S. auction of leases to develop commercial-scale floating wind farms in the deep waters off the West Coast raised $757 million in bids, from mostly European companies. The auction offered two adjoining lease areas in northern California and three in central California that have

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Police are asking for help finding the occupant of a car that was seen near where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death last month, saying that person could have “critical information” about the case. The Moscow Police Department issued a statement Wednesday afternoon

By DENISE LAVOIE Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia sheriff’s deputy who killed the family members of a 15-year-old California girl he tried to sexually extort online had been detained in 2016 for a psychiatric evaluation over threats to kill himself and his father. The incident raises new questions about how the man

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Senate has confirmed Jerry Blackwell — one of the prosecutors who helped convict a former Minneapolis police officer of murder in the killing of George Floyd — as the next federal judge in Minnesota. Jerry Blackwell is a Minneapolis attorney and a founding partner of the law firm Blackwell Burke.

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — After years of delay, the U.N. body overseeing economic development and social issues has voted to give nine human rights and minority groups the right to raise concerns and participate in its discussions. The vote Wednesday overrode objections from Russia, China, India, Arab nations and

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s governor says Democrats have a better chance of connecting with rural voters when they talk about the things people need and the ways they can help them. Gov. Andy Beshear says the first thing for candidates is to show they care about rural voters and

By NARDOS HAILE and SHARON JOHNSON ATLANTA, Ga (AP) — Ludacris and Mercedes-Benz have surprised schoolchildren in Atlanta with more than 500 new pairs of shoes just in time for the holidays. “It’s all about giving kids moments that they’re going to remember for the rest of their lives,” Ludacris said Wednesday at Miles Elementary

By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer BOSTON (AP) — Apple has embarked on its latest privacy-enhancing move. The tech giant says it will now offer full end-to-encryption for nearly all the data its users store in its cloud system. That will make it more difficult for hackers, spies and law enforcement agencies to access sensitive

DALLAS (AP) — Dallas police say a 12-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with murder in a hit-and-run car crash that killed an 82-year-old woman last month. Police said Wednesday that the boy was behind the wheel of a grey sedan that struck Florence Kelly as the woman was driving on Nov. 7. Police

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Many decisions by New Mexico’s most powerful regulatory panel have had direct economic and environmental consequences for one corner of the state, and yet not one candidate nominated to fill the Public Regulation Commission is from northwestern New Mexico. Critics are concerned about the lack

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine House has selected Democrat Rachel Talbot Ross to be its first Black speaker in a vote witnessed by her proud father, who made history himself 50 years ago by becoming the first Black person elected to the Legislature in the nation’s whitest state. House

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Prosecutors say former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza will not be charged in connection with an alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party last year when he played football for San Diego State University. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office also says no charges will be

By TARA COPP and MATT O’BRIEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Google, Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon will share in the Pentagon’s $9 billion contract to build its cloud computing network. The announcement comes a year after accusations of politicization over the previously announced contract and a protracted legal battle resulted in the military starting over

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet is urging Georgia officials to deny permits for a proposed mine near the edge of the famed Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says in a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that the

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The NCAA has granted an extra year of eligibility to Virginia football players whose eligibility has expired in the aftermath of the slaying of three members of the team. The school confirmed the decision Wednesday. Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed last month as they returned to

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — It has been about a week-and-a-half since the world’s largest volcano began erupting. Hawaii officials continue to brace for slow-moving lava to intersect with a crucial Big Island road, even though scientists are not sure when or even if that will happen. Last week, officials said

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A former Border Patrol agent who confessed to killing four sex workers in 2018 was convicted Wednesday of capital murder, after jurors heard recordings of him telling investigators he was trying to “clean up the streets” of his South Texas hometown. Juan David Ortiz, 39, receives an automatic sentence of life

By COLLEEN SLEVIN AND JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Authorities said the person who would later kill five at a Colorado gay nightclub was on the FBI’s radar a day before being arrested for threatening to kill family members, but agents closed out the case just weeks later. The FBI’s disclosure about the