Month: January 2023

By BASSEM MROUE and FAY ABUELGASIM Associated Press KFAR TIBNIT, Lebanon (AP) — On the outskirts of this southern Lebanese village, workers in a pickup truck parked at a nature reserve named after a fallen fighter of the militant Hezbollah group. They took two large eucalyptus tree seedlings out of the truck and planted them.

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The parents of a New Zealand scientist who was killed in Ukraine say he helped save hundreds of people while volunteering in the dangerous Donbas region. Andrew Bagshaw was a dual New Zealand and British citizen who was killed along with British colleague Chris Parry

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government says the U.S. should stop pressuring it on debt relief for Zambia and focus on averting a government default at home with possible repercussions for the global economy. Its embassy in Zambia responded Tuesday to remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said on a visit to the

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) — The beaches and temples of Asian travel hotspots like Bali and Chiang Mai are the busiest they’ve been since the pandemic struck three years ago, but they’re still relatively quiet. Chinese tourists who used to visit by the millions have yet to

By DANIEL POLITI Associated Press LIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Peru’s capital and were met with volleys of tear gas and pellets amid clashes with security forces just hours after President Dina Boluarte called for a “truce” in almost two months of protests. The antigovernment protest Tuesday was

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A senior Australian government minister said Wednesday that rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, could be refused a visa due to antisemitic comments if he attempts to visit Australia. Education Minister Jason Clare was responding to media reports that the U.S. celebrity intends to visit

By ED DAVEY Associated Press An independent investigation into logging in the Liberian rainforest found illegal operations “on a significant scale,” with multiple missteps or breaches of law by the government agency charged with protecting those forests, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Associated Press. The report was completed in 2020

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Scott Rolen sat with his son in the parking lot outside Indiana’s Bloomington South High School in 2018, waiting to coach grade schoolers in basketball and listening on the radio for results of his first appearance on baseball’s Hall of Fame ballot. “`Dad, I think

BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — The former mayor of a Portland, Oregon, suburb has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for possessing child pornography. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said former Beaverton mayor Dennis  “Denny” Doyle was also sentenced Tuesday to five years probation and ordered to pay $22,000 to

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — A nod for a nonagenarian and a surge of first-time acting honorees are among the notable numbers stemming from the Oscar nominations announced Tuesday. Composer John Williams becomes the oldest nominee for a competitive Oscar ever with his best original score nomination for “The Fabelmans.”

By JOHN O’CONNOR AP Political Writer SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A new federal lawsuit contends that Illinois’ two-week-old ban on semiautomatic weapons outlaws “ubiquitous” firearms in “radical” defiance of the Constitution’s Second Amendment. The powerful National Rifle Association on Tuesday filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. It challenges the

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy is reiterating that he will block Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell of California from serving on the House committee that oversees national intelligence. He says the decision is not based on political payback but because “integrity matters, and they have failed in

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) — A former University of Wisconsin football player has been convicted of two counts of first degree homicide and other charges Tuesday in the February 2020 shooting deaths of two women. Jurors deliberated about two hours Tuesday before finding Marcus Randle El guilty in the slayings of 27-year-old Brittany McAdory and 30-year-old

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Families of the 21 victims killed in a Texas elementary school shooting last May gathered Tuesday at the state capitol in Austin to renew their calls for tighter assault weapon restrictions, just days after three separate shootings in California left 24 people dead. Six mass killings

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Mississippi are advancing a bill that would transfer ownership of Jackson’s troubled water system to a new public entity overseen by a nine-member board. The majority of the board would be appointed by state leaders. The new entity would assume ownership

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Twenty states with GOP attorneys general are suing the Biden administration over a major change in immigration policy. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in a federal court in Texas challenges new rules that would turn away more migrants but still allow 360,000 people to legally enter each year from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua

By KIM TONG-HYUNG and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ships searching in wind-whipped waters between South Korea and Japan have picked up at least 14 of the 22 crew members from a cargo vessel that sank, killing at least two. South Korean officials say nine of those rescued remain unconscious but

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that the armed forces do not have to advise civilian police when they make an arrest. The issue is a sensitive one, because Mexico’s military is supposed to be participating in civilian law enforcement only as ‘support’ for police. But the court ruled Tuesday that soldiers

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer Georgia has made its most extensive comments on the car crash that killed football player Devin Willock and a recruiting staff member. Athletic director Josh Brooks says they were not on department business at the time of the incident, which occurred shortly after the Bulldogs celebrated their second straight

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and Canada — the two countries most often mentioned as possible leaders of an international armed force to help Haiti combat gangs – are showing no interest in deploying security personnel despite renewed appeals from the United Nations and Haiti for help

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — The case of the stolen scooter has been solved. Cleveland police recovered Guardians manager Terry Francona’s beloved two-wheeled ride on Tuesday night after it was swiped from outside his downtown apartment this past weekend. A team spokesman said police located the scooter and arrangements were being

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president says his country wants a big chunk of money from former Mexican security official Genaro Garcia Luna. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his government wants to recover $700 million that García Luna allegedly accumulated as a result of corruption. Formerly the country’s top security officer, Garcia Luna is

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Police located the suspect in the random killing of three people at a convenience store in Yakima, Washington, after he borrowed a stranger’s cell phone to call his mother and confess to what he had done, authorities said Tuesday. The suspect shot and killed himself behind some

By TERRY TANG, OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (AP) — California is reeling from three major mass shootings in just over a week. Gov. Gavin Newsom says he is fatigued and frustrated by the senseless violence. The governor was in Half Moon Bay on Tuesday, the day after a

By ALEX SANZ Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The Carter Center said Tuesday that only 13 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide last year. After decades of progress, the eradication program’s director cautioned the end phase of the global effort to eradicate the parasitic disease will be “the most difficult.” The Atlanta-based

By MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s Legislature has taken a critical step toward adopting a constitutional amendment that would bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” or “gender expression.” Supporters say the provisions are intended to protect abortion rights and a person’s right to seek gender-affirming care. The proposed

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The month before the riot at the U.S. Capitol, members of the Proud Boys were growing increasingly angry about the outcome of the 2020 election and were expecting a “civil war,” a former member told jurors on Tuesday as he took the stand in the seditious conspiracy

ENFIELD, Conn. (AP) — The Lego Group has announced that it will move its North American headquarters from Connecticut to Boston by the end of 2026. Skip Kodak, president of the Lego Group in the Americas, said in a release that the move supports the Denmark-based global toymaker’s growth ambitions. He said Boston is ranked

By TERRY TANG, DEEPA BHARATH and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (AP) — For those who made their way to the Star Ballroom over the years, Ming Wei Ma was a bright light, always smiling and encouraging those who came to the Los Angeles area dance hall popular with older Asian Americans. Ma