Month: January 2023

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. home sales tumbled to the slowest pace in nearly a decade as soaring mortgage rates and sky high prices in 2022 pushed homeownership out of reach for many Americans. The National Association of Realtors said Friday that existing U.S. home sales totaled 5.03 million

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Inspections of ships carrying Ukrainian grain and other food exports have slowed to half their peak rate under a U.N.-brokered wartime agreement. That’s created backlogs in vessels meant to carry supplies to developing nations where people are going hungry. Some U.S. and Ukrainian officials accuse Russia

By MICHAEL PHILLIS and ADAM BEAM Associated Press ACAMPO, Calif. (AP) — On Sunday morning, Kyle Starks woke up to floodwaters that reached the door of his Jeep after yet another heavy rain storm drenched California. Emergency crews showed up with boats to float Starks and other residents of his rural mobile home park in

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first Native American woman in space ventured out on a spacewalk Friday to prep the International Space Station for more solar panels. NASA astronaut Nicole Mann emerged alongside Japan’s Koichi Wakata, lugging an equipment bag. Their job was to install support struts and

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County coroner’s office says “Will & Grace” actor Leslie Jordan died from natural causes and not from a car accident last year. A coroner’s report says the 67-year-old’s death was from sudden cardiac dysfunction due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Jordan died at the scene after his car crashed

LONDON (AP) — British scientists say they don’t think pollution killed thousands of crabs that washed up on beaches in northeast England in late 2021. The crustaceans were found dead or dying along more than 70 kilometers (44 miles) of coastline. Some displayed unusual “twitching” while in the throes of death. Environmentalists suspected toxins released

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Dior mania descended on Paris Fashion Week menswear Friday as over a thousand screaming fans thronged the magnificent Place de la Concorde for a glimpse of their favorite stars, with some almost risking their lives in snarled traffic. The minders of the show’s VIP guests, including

By ANDREW MELDRUM and BARRY HATTON Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia claims its forces have captured a village in an intense and monthslong push toward the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday that a village nine kilometers (five miles) south of Bakhmut had been “liberated.” Ukrainian officials

By IBRAHIM GARBA and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press KANO, Nigeria (AP) — Health authorities in Nigeria have confirmed an outbreak of diphtheria, with 25 people mostly children killed in the northcentral Kano state alone. It is still unknown the total number of confirmed cases or deaths related to the disease across Nigeria but authorities in

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia says there’s “a whole lot more” he wants to do and he’s seeking reelection next year. Kaine’s plan to run eases Democratic worries about holding onto the seat in a state now led by a Republican governor. Kaine said Friday

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani officials say a bomb planted on the tracks by suspected militants derailed a passenger train in a remote area in the country’s southwest, injuring at least 15 people on board. The officials say the train was passing through the district of Bolan in Baluchistan province when the bomb went off.

By NICOLAE DUMITRACHE AND STEPHEN McGRATH Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A judge in Romania has granted a request to extend by another 30 days the arrest of Andrew Tate, the social media personality who was detained in the country on charges of being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape,

LONDON (AP) — A British judge has rejected a lawsuit that accused the U.K. government of allowing the import of cotton products associated with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. High Court justice Ian Dove ruled Friday against a Uyghur organization and a human rights group who claimed the government unlawfully failed to investigate conditions

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is visiting Senegal with a message about the future of U.S.-Africa relations. Yellen later will visit Zambia and South Africa on her 10-day trip. Yellen’s biggest speech came Friday at a business incubator and co-working space in Senegal’s capital that provides

By OMAR FARUK Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s government and al-Qaida-linked fighters are both claiming more than 100 people were killed in their deadliest battle since the government launched a major military offensive against the extremists in August. The government asserted that more than 100 al-Shabab extremists died early Friday after they attacked

BEIRUT (AP) — Three suicide drones have attacked a U.S. base in eastern Syria, wounding two Syrian opposition fighters. The U.S. military says no Americans were hurt in Friday’s attack. It was not clear who was behind the drone attack, but Iran-backed fighters have carried out such operations in the past. The military says two

By SYLEJMAN KLLOKOQI and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Western envoys have visited Kosovo and Serbia as part of their ongoing efforts to defuse tensions and help secure a reconciliation agreement between the two. Envoys from the United States, the European Union, France, Germany and Italy met with Prime Minister Albin Kurti

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Google is laying off 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its workforce, becoming the latest tech company to trim staff as the economic boom that the industry rode during the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who also leads its parent company Alphabet, informed staff

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has formally resubmitted documents seeking to obtain UNESCO World Heritage recognition for a controversial former gold mine that has added to diplomatic frictions with South Korea over Japanese wartime actions. Japan’s earlier hope to get the Sado Island mine listed as a World Heritage site this

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — DeMeco Ryans’ day as San Francisco defensive coordinator started with meetings and then went to the practice field as he focused on implementing a defense to slow down Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. Then instead of relaxing or diving into more film

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister and the nation’s security official say that foreign divers rescued from near a key port where they had no authorization to be posed no threat to vital infrastructure or public safety. Premier Mateusz Morawiecki made the statement late Thursday after receiving a report on the incident near an

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Church of England formally apologized Friday for its treatment of LGBTQ people, even as it said that same-sex couples still won’t be allowed to marry in its churches. The apology from the church’s bishops came in a report following five years of debate on the church’s

By ALICE FUNG and KARMEN LI Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — In crowded Hong Kong, where most apartments range from small to miniscule, rabbits are popular pets. And when their owners are away, there are rabbit lovers ready to look after their lonely pets at Bunny Style, a luxury rabbit resort. Rabbits scamper around

By JOVANA GEC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian state television says that a man’s body has been pulled out of a swollen river in a southwestern town and rescuers are searching for another man. Floods in the Balkans have closed down schools, cut railway traffic and soaked homes and farmland. The floods this

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Andy Murray just wanted to go to the bathroom. It was 3 a.m., he’d already been playing his Australian Open second-round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis for more than 4 1/2 hours — they would carry on for another set across more than another hour —

By SOPHENG CHEANG and DAVID RISING Associated Press SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AP) — A group of 15 Ukrainian deminers are wrapping up a week of training in Cambodia, where experts who have cleared minefields from one of the world’s most contaminated countries shared their expertise with the relative newcomers to the dangerous job. Cambodia is