Month: January 2023

BEIJING (AP) — A survey shows Chinese factory activity rebounded in January, adding to signs the world’s second-largest economy might be recovering from a painful slump. A monthly index issued by the Chinese statistics agency and an industry group rose to 50.1 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity growing. That

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and HARUKA NUGA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has sharply criticized China for “bullying its neighbors and threatening Taiwan” and stressed the need for Japan and other democracies to work together with the alliance to defend the international order. Calling it a “critical moment for NATO and for

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles accused of threatening students and staff was found mentally unfit to stand trial last week by a federal judge in Denver. The LA Times reports Monday that an exam by a forensic psychiatrist found Matthew Harris is “suffering from a mental

By FELICIA FONSECA and SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Six Western states that rely on water from the Colorado River have agreed on a model to dramatically cut water use in the basin, months after the federal government called for action and an initial deadline passed. California — with the largest allocation

By JAMIE STENGLE, RIO YAMAT and DEEPA BHARATH LOS ANGELES (AP) — Those killed when a gunman opened fire at a Los Angeles-area dance hall are being remembered by friends and family for the zest for life that brought them out that night to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Eleven people were killed when a

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Ten people were injured during a drive-by shooting in a central Florida neighborhood, police said. Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said during a news conference that two of the victims were critically injured Monday afternoon, while the wounds of the other eight victims weren’t considered life-threatening. The victims were males between

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The outlook for the global economy is growing slightly brighter as China eases its zero-COVID policies and the world shows surprising resilience in the face of high inflation, elevated interest rates and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. That’s the view of the International Monetary Fund, which

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Nothing — not Tom Cruise’s snub nor Austin Butler’s lingering Elvis Presley inflections — has caused quite as much a stir around this year’s Oscars as the best-actress nomination for British actress Andrea Riseborough. Riseborough was unexpectedly nominated for her performance as an alcoholic Texas

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — When officers pulled over a van for speeding outside of Arches National Park in August 2021, they found a visibly distraught young couple in an emotional fight. Gabby Petito, 22, and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, 23, were driving across the United States, and upon observing

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Ira “Bob” Born, a candy company executive known as the “Father of Peeps” for mechanizing the process to make the marshmallow chicks, has died. He was 98. Born’s father, Sam Born, was a Russian immigrant who founded Just Born Quality Confections, a small candy company, in 1923. The family

LIDO BEACH, N.Y. (AP) — A 35-foot (11-meter) humpback whale washed ashore and later died on a New York beach, one of several cetaceans discovered over the past two months along the shores of New York and New Jersey. The whale was discovered Monday morning at Lido Beach West Town Park on Long Island. Officials

Associated Press PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday against journalist Bob Woodward, claiming he never had permission to publicly release interview recordings made for the book “Rage.” The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Pensacola, Florida, against Woodward, his publisher Simon & Schuster Inc., and the publisher’s parent

NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan prosecutors investigating Donald Trump have convened a new grand jury to hear evidence in a years-old probe into payments made to keep the porn star Stormy Daniels quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president, according to multiple news reports. The news outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported that

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer A federal judge has denied a bid by LIV Golf to receive communications between the PGA Tour and 10 additional Augusta National members to part of its discovery process. LIV wanted PGA Tour board members and retired commissioner Tim Finchem to provide all communications with Augusta National members. The

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cindy Williams, who was among the most recognizable stars in America in the 1970s and 1980s for her role as Shirley opposite Penny Marshall’s Laverne on the beloved sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” has died. She was 75. Williams died in Los Angeles on Wednesday after

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Republican lawmakers have advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the state to require people on Medicaid to work. The state recently expanded eligibility for the health plan. The proposal would amend the South Dakota constitution, meaning it requires voter approval. On

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is estimating that it could collect as much as $4.7 billion from insurance companies with newer and tougher penalties for submitting improper charges on the taxpayers’ tab for Medicare Advantage care. For years, federal watchdogs have sounded the alarm on questionable charges through the

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Highway Patrol has arrested a man suspected of being the Tesla driver seen in viral videos attacking Los Angeles-area vehicles with a pipe. The CHP says 36-year-old Nathaniel Walter Radimak was arrested Sunday by major crimes unit officers in connection with assaults he is believed to have committed Jan.

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Priscilla Presley has filed legal documents disputing who oversees the estate of her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley. The filing in Los Angeles Superior Court last week disputes the validity of a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie Presley’s living trust that removed Priscilla Presley and

By DYLAN LOVAN Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former Louisville police officer blamed for instigating a deadly shooting during the 2020 Breonna Taylor protests has been sentenced to two years of probation. Katie Crews pleaded guilty last year to using excessive force. During a curfew enforcement at the height of the protests, she

By MARLON GONZÁLEZ Associated Press TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduran authorities have ordered the exhumation of the body of a land defender who died under unclear circumstances near the country’s Caribbean coast. Members of an ethnic group of mixed African and Indigenous heritage says his death was a homicide related to a long-running land dispute.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Guatemalan police chief has been found guilty of lying on his U.S. immigration papers about a prior conviction for killing two political activists in his country. U.S. authorities said Monday that 82-year-old Catalino Esteban Valiente Alonzo was convicted last week of using a green card obtained by making a

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief is warning that the Taliban’s ban on women aid workers in Afghanistan is “a potential death blow” to many important humanitarian programs. Martin Griffiths says that if the Taliban don’t make more exceptions to their edict “this would be catastrophic.” Griffiths

By ZEKE MILLER and AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared. The move to end the

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor says a wealthy Russian businessman and associates made tens of millions of dollars by cheating the stock market in an elaborate scheme that involved hacking into U.S. computer systems to steal insider information about companies such as Miscrosoft and Tesla. Vladislav Klyushin is

VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — Two weeks after shooters brazenly killed a teen mother, her 10-month-old baby and four other members of her household, the suspects remain at large and authorities have provided no motive for the attack in a central California farming community. No new details emerged during the Tulare County sheriff’s news conference on

By CLAIRE SAVAGE and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago prosecutor said Monday that she’s dropping sex-abuse charges against singer R. Kelly following federal convictions in two courts that should guarantee the disgraced R&B star will be locked up for decades. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced the decision a day

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — An attorney for one of two law enforcement officers indicted in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man who was stranded along a road in a small mountain town and having a “mental health crisis” last year is trying to have the charges thrown out against him.