Month: January 2023

By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The party of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has dissolved a provincial assembly in the country’s northwest, where it held majority seats. Its rival, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League criticized Wednesday’s move, saying it meant to deepen the political crisis and force early parliamentary elections.

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Thursday, as investors grew cautious after Wall Street’s biggest pullback of the year. Shares dipped in Tokyo, but rose in Seoul and Sydney, where they recouped earlier losses by late morning. Hong Kong shares were slightly lower, while Shanghai shares were

PARIS (AP) — A French nun who was believed to be the world’s oldest person but had been reportedly growing weary of the burdens of age has died a few weeks before her 119th birthday, her nursing home in southern France said Wednesday. Lucile Randon, known as Sister André, was born in the town of

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A tiger that escaped from a private farm in South Africa and attacked a man and killed two dogs and a pig while on the loose for days was euthanized on Wednesday. Sheba, an 8-year-old female tiger, was shot in the early hours of the morning after

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The new head of Taiwan’s ruling party who described himself as pro-independence has vowed to uphold the self-ruled island’s democracy in face of China’s authoritarianism. Lai Ching-te, who currently serves as Taiwan’s vice president, on Wednesday assumed the new role of the Democratic Progress Party chair.

By MALAK HARB Associated Press BROVARY, Ukraine (AP) — A helicopter carrying Ukraine’s interior minister crashed into a kindergarten in a foggy residential suburb of Kyiv on Wednesday, killing him and about a dozen other people, including a child on the ground, authorities said. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, who oversaw the country’s police and emergency

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel says it has deported an Italian activist to Italy after Israeli security forces detained her during a raid in the occupied West Bank, accusing her of having links to a Palestinian militant group. The Israeli military arrested Stefania Costantini during a pre-dawn incursion Monday into the

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court has found three former utility company executives not guilty of negligence over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster and the subsequent deaths of more than 40 elderly residents during their forced evacuation. The Tokyo High Court upheld a 2019 lower court decision that

BEIJING (AP) — Hairdresser Wang Lidan is making an emotional Lunar New Year journey from Beijing to her hometown in northeastern China — her first in three years after the government lifted its strict “zero-COVID” policy that kept millions of people at home and sparked protests. The relaxation of restrictions let loose a wave of

BERLIN (AP) — Police say a fire that killed three people in a psychiatric nursing home in southern Germany could have been set intentionally by one of the home’s residents. Police said Wednesday that the fire, which broke out on the second floor of the home in Reutlingen on Tuesday night, killed a 53-year-old woman

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — Matteo Messina Denaro’s long record as a killer — turncoat mobsters said he’d boast of enough murders to fill a cemetery — greatly burnished his credentials among his peers as a major boss in the Sicilian Mafia. After 30 years eluding capture while still running much of

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook eastern Indonesia and southern Philippines on Wednesday, with no damage immediately reported and no tsunami warning issued. Some residents tried to escape from houses in the Indonesian town of Tobelo in North Maluku province. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred 48 kilometers (30 miles)

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Pro tennis player Jessica Pegula has Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on her mind — and his No. 3 jersey number on her outfit — at the Australian Open. Pegula, whose parents own the NFL’s Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is wearing a white

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced Wednesday, with Tokyo gaining more than 2% after Japan’s central bank kept its lax monetary policy unchanged, dispelling speculation it would yield to pressure to tighten credit to counter rising inflation. Oil prices rose and U.S. futures edged higher. The Bank of Japan

By ABBY SEWELL Associated Press TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) — On New Year’s Eve, a small boat carrying more than 230 would-be migrants, most of them Syrians, broke down and began to sink after setting sail from the northern coast of Lebanon. Since the collapse of Lebanon’s economy in 2019, an increasing number of people —

By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former researcher accused of concealing work he did in China while employed by the University of Kansas was sentenced Wednesday to time served and two years of supervised release. Feng “Franklin” Tao was convicted last year of three counts of wire fraud and one

By BRIAN WITTE Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been sworn in as the state’s first Black governor. The 44-year-old Democrat pledged on Wednesday to work for greater inclusion and economic equity. He called for bold policies to improve education and fight crime and climate change. Moore also attended a

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An attorney for Derek Chauvin has asked an appeals court to throw out the former Minneapolis police officer’s convictions in the murder of George Floyd. William Mohrman told the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Wednesday that the trial judge should have moved the case out

HONG KONG (AP) — China games company NetEase Inc. says it has rejected a proposal from World of Warcraft creator Activision Blizzard to temporarily extend its partnership while the U.S. company seeks a new partner, in an escalating public spat. Blizzard said in November that its 14-year partnership with NetEase was set to end, spelling

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press ZURICH (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met on Wednesday with her Chinese counterpart and pledged an effort to manage differences and “prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict” as the two nations try to thaw relations. Yellen’s first face-to-face meeting with Vice Premier Liu He in Zurich

SYDNEY (AP) — A Qantas flight traveling from New Zealand to Sydney landed safely on a single engine after it issued a mayday call over the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. Qantas Flight 144 with 145 passengers aboard landed at Sydney Airport from Auckland, New Zealand, after a 3.5-hour flight between the neighboring nations’ most populous

By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Attorneys for an adjunct art professor said Tuesday she is suing the Minnesota university that dismissed her after a Muslim student objected to depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in a global art course, while the university admitted to a “misstep” and plans to hold public

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press MACAO (AP) — The founder of Macao’s once-biggest casino junket organizer has been sentenced to 18 years in jail after being convicted of operating illegal gaming activities, running a criminal organization and other charges. Alvin Chau, former chairman of Suncity Group, was arrested in 2021 on accusations he ran an

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov cited his Russian Orthodox religion as the reason he did not participate in pregame warmups when the team wore Pride-themed jerseys and used sticks wrapped in rainbow Pride tape. The 26-year-old Provorov boycotted the pregame skate with his teammates before Tuesday night’s

WALES, Alaska (AP) — A polar bear has attacked and killed two people in a remote village in western Alaska, according to state troopers. Alaska State Troopers said they received the report of the attack at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Wales, on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula, KTUU reported. “Initial reports indicate that

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa and her news company have been cleared of tax evasion charges she said were among legal cases used by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to try to muzzle critical reporting. The Court of Tax Appeals ruled Wednesday that prosecutors failed to prove Ressa and Rappler

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling for new gun control laws and greater accountability for firearm manufacturers while denouncing recent drive-by shootings against politicians in Albuquerque and what she called a national scourge of violence. Her State of the State address Tuesday at the start

SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state Supreme Court has brushed aside the final remaining legal hurdle in the way of a $4 billion dividend by Albertsons to its shareholders ahead of a proposed merger with rival Kroger. The state’s highest court on Tuesday declined to review a case against the dividend brought by state Attorney

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis laid out a vision Tuesday to tackle the state’s sky-high housing prices. Polis’s proposals include rolling back burdensome building regulations and zoning rules, opening public land to affordable housing development, and supporting innovation such as pre-built units. Polis, a Democrat re-elected

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A deep earthquake has shaken eastern parts of Indonesia, but no serious damage or injuries have been reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.1 earthquake was centered 91 miles under the sea south-southeast of Gorontalo. It shook parts of Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, North Maluku and Central Sulawesi provinces. No

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NCAA hopes a federal appeals court will soon block a lawsuit that seeks to treat athletes as employees who are paid for their time. It is the latest test of amateurism in college sports. The Division I athletes who filed the suit being argued next month

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington, D.C., mayor and city council are locked in a public dispute over how to respond to rising crime rates and spiraling public tensions over gun violence in the nation’s capital. The D.C. Council voted 12-1 on Tuesday to override Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto of a

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man who police say fatally shot his wife, her mother and their five kids before turning the gun on himself had been investigated two years prior for child abuse, but local police and prosecutors decided not to criminally charge him, new records released

By MICHAEL TARM and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER The Associated Press President Joe Biden campaigned on a pledge to work toward abolishing federal capital punishment. But his Justice Department continues to press for the death penalty in certain cases — even as a moratorium means no federal executions are likely to happen anytime soon. Advocates for

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A married couple and their son convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in the fatal shooting of a security guard who demanded the woman’s daughter wear a mask while shopping were sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole. Larry Teague, wife Sharmel Teague, and Sharmel Teague’s son, Ramonyea Bishop, were sentenced

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says the rising cost of purchasing or leasing a vessel that can hold more than 1 million barrels of crude oil now in a rusting old tanker off the coast of war-torn Yemen is the latest obstacle to resolving the threat of