Month: January 2023

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — Rhino poaching in Namibia increased dramatically last year. The country’s environment ministry says nearly twice as many of the critically endangered animals were killed than the year before. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism released figures on Monday that 87 rhinos were poached in Namibia in 2022. That is up

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is imposing sanctions on a group of people and organizations connected to Myanmar’s military regime as the two-year anniversary nears for the coup that removed the country’s civilian government. The Treasury Department says six people and three organizations were designed for sanctions, including the country’s

By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jason Jitoboh won’t step foot onto a basketball court without his glasses. And he doesn’t even need them to see. The darkened lenses merely provide extra protection for what eyesight Jitoboh has remaining. Florida’s 6-foot-11 center took a finger to his left eye at Tennessee

By CLAIRE SAVAGE Associated Press/Report for America CHICAGO (AP) — A judge dismissed sex-abuse charges against R&B singer R. Kelly on Tuesday based on the recommendation of a Chicago prosecutor. The hearing lasted just minutes and came a day after Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said she was comfortable dropping the case because Kelly

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press Former U.S. Senator David Durenberger has died at age 88. Durenberger was a Minnesota Republican who espoused a progressive brand of politics. His longtime spokesperson says his health has declined in recent months and he died Tuesday morning at his St. Paul home. Durenberger won a U.S. Senate seat in

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer American consumers are kicking off 2023 slightly less confident than they were at the end of last year as inflation and a potential recession continue to weigh on them. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slipped to 107.1 in January, down from 109 in December.

BERLIN (AP) — Doug Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, has met Ukrainian refugees at a Berlin synagogue and visited the city’s Holocaust memorial as he wraps up a tour of Poland and Germany focused on Holocaust remembrance and combating rising antisemitism. Emhoff took part in a roundtable event with Jewish, Muslim

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Dozens of African civil society groups and press associations have called for an independent investigation into the death of a Rwanda-based journalist. They say the official explanation lacked backing evidence. Investigative journalist John Williams Ntwali had previously expressed fears for his life. He had told the Human Rights Watch rights organization

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s police commissioner has apologized after seven officers were placed under investigation for allegedly extorting money from a Taiwanese actor who was visiting Bangkok on a holiday. Charlene An said on social media that she was traveling in a taxi with friends after a night out in the Thai capital when they

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The military says the death toll from a boating accident in a lake in northwest Pakistan over the weekend has reached 51. The vessel was carrying children and teachers from a seminary on a picnic. Police on Sunday said at least 10 students drowned after their boat capsized in Tanda Dam

By JIM RENDON of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy Over his six years at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Esteban Gil watched colleague after colleague leave. “People burn out and they tire out, and then they leave,” says Gil, a program associate in the group’s criminal-justice-reform division. A union, Gil thought, could be

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Officials in Ohio’s largest city have reached a $225,000 settlement with a man who said police officers used improper force during a 2017 arrest. The Columbus City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve the deal with Timothy Davis. Neither the city nor the officers admitted to wrongdoing. Davis had sued the

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee has voted unanimously to lift the protective immunity of two lawmakers wanted for questioning over a major corruption scandal. Tuesday’s move paves the way for the full house to consider on Thursday whether to remove the protections of Belgian lawmaker Marc Tarabella and Italian Andrea Cozzolino.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police in Nebraska say two officers were wounded and a suspect was killed in a shootout during an attempted burglary. Omaha police Chief Todd R. Schmaderer says the officers responded to a report of a burglary at a storage business around 10:30 p.m. Monday. Employees let the officers into the building,

By MEGAN JANETSKY and PIERRE RICHARD LUXAMA Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Jimmy Cherizier zips through Haiti’s capital on the back of a motorcycle, flanked by young men wielding black and leopard print masks and automatic weapons. As the pack of bikes flies by graffiti reading “Mafia boss” in Creole, street vendors selling vegetables,

By The Associated Press The U.S. Justice Department has requested documents from Tesla Inc. related to its Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” features, according to a regulatory filing. “To our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred,” Tesla said in the filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Pay and benefits for America’s workers grew at a healthy but more gradual pace in the final three months of 2022, a third straight slowdown, which could help reassure the Federal Reserve that wage gains won’t fuel higher inflation. Wages and benefits, such as health insurance,

By TOM DAVIES Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says he won’t seek that state’s open U.S. Senate seat next year, ending weeks of speculation about whether the longtime Republican figure would enter a possibly vicious GOP primary fight with a combative defender of former President Donald Trump. The decision by

By SALLY HO and GARANCE BURKE Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Justice Department has been scrutinizing a controversial artificial intelligence tool used by a Pittsburgh-area child protective services agency following concerns that the tool could lead to discrimination against families with disabilities, The Associated Press has learned. The interest from federal civil rights attorneys

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — It is Maximinio Vertiz’ busy season. Dozens of beloved but worn and broken baby Jesus figurines will pass through this 49-year-old craftsman’s hands, restoring them in time for their annual pilgrimage to church for a Candlemas blessing. Holding a putty knife with a steady hand,

By ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Two years after Myanmar’s generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, thousands of people have died in civil conflict and many more have been forced from their homes in a dire humanitarian crisis. The economy lags behind where it stood before the Feb. 1, 2021, military

By BECKY BOHRER and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took an unusually strong step Tuesday and blocked a proposed mine heralded by backers as the most significant undeveloped copper and gold resource in the world because of concerns about its environmental impact on a rich Alaska aquatic