Month: February 2023

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s humanitarian aid and refugee agencies say they are seeking $5.6 billion to help millions of people in Ukraine and 10 countries that have taken in fleeing Ukrainians in the wake of Russia’s invasion of their country nearly a year ago. The bulk of the joint

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension plan has unleashed the most turbulent debate in years in the National Assembly, with uncertainty looming over the final outcome. Tensions at parliament are fed by the unpopularity of the reform that seeks to raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — At no time during his seven-decade career did renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim ever consider slowing down his frenetic pace. That is until his health issues forced him to. Just two weeks after formally stepping down as the Berlin’s State Opera music director after 30 years,

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A defense lawyer says a court in northwest Pakistan has acquitted the parents of an exiled female human rights activist three years after the couple was arrested on charges of terror financing and sedition. The 2019 arrests of the activist Gulalai Ismail’s parents, Mohammad  Ismail and Uzlifat Ismail, had drawn widespread

By PIYUSH NAGPAL and CHONCHUI NGASHANGVA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s tax officials searched BBC offices in India for a second straight day on Wednesday questioning staff about the organization’s business operations in the country, some staff members said. BBC management told editorial and other staff members to work from home after they

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 5.7 earthquake has struck near the New Zealand capital Wellington as the nation grapples with widespread landslides and flooding days after a cyclone. New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Center tweeted that the quake on Wednesday was widely felt in the North Island. There

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Wednesday said that it’s still premature to determine whether the recently unveiled daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is being groomed as her father’s successor. Speculation about the status of Kim’s daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged about

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — U.S. forces had shot down an Iranian-made drone flying over a base housing American troops in northeastern Syria. The U.S. military statement on Wednesday said reconnaissance drone flew over Mission Support Site Conoco on Tuesday afternoon before American forces shot it down. No group claimed responsibility for flying the drone

By PAUL WISEMAN and DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writers An Egyptian widow is struggling to afford meat and eggs for her five children. An exasperated German laundry owner watches as his energy bill jumps fivefold. Nigerian bakeries have shut their doors, unable to afford the exorbitant price of flour. One year after Russia invaded Ukraine

By CAROLYN THOMPSON and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after relatives of his victims confronted him with pain and rage caused by his racist attack. Anger briefly turned physical at Payton

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A criminal court has imposed a $5.3 million fine on the Saudi BinLadin Group and sentenced seven people to prison over the collapse of a crane ahead of the 2015 hajj pilgrimage. The disaster killed more than 100 people. The Okaz daily reported Tuesday that the company was fined

BEIJING (AP) — The head of China’s national soccer federation has been arrested on corruption charges in the latest blow to the country’s effort to grow its standing at home and internationally. A one-sentence statement from the ruling Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog body said Chen Shuyuan had been placed under investigation by national and Hubei

By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to line the streets of downtown Kansas City on Wednesday as the city celebrates the Kansas City Chiefs’ second Super Bowl championship in two years. Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be

By PATRICK ORSAGOS Associated Press EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment packed a school gym on Wednesday to seek answers about whether they were safe from toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off. Hundreds of worried people gathered to hear state officials tell them

By MARK PRATT Associated Press BOST0N (AP) — An increasing number of municipal, county and state governments are using federal pandemic relief funds to pay residents’ burdensome medical debt. Experts say medical debt often forces people to make difficult decisions about which bills to pay and even whether to seek critical medical care. Cook County,

By RODRIQUE NGOWI and MARK PRATT Associated Press FALMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The sheer size of the vessel and the shoes were what struck Robert Ballard when he descended to the wreckage of the RMS Titanic in 1986, the year after he and his crew from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution helped find the ocean

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares edged higher Thursday, cheered by a stronger than expected reading on U.S. retail sales that set off a rally on Wall Street. In the latest data on the regional economy, Japan’s trade deficit reached a record 3.497 trillion yen ($26.2 billion) in January. Imports

By MEG KINNARD and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Republican Nikki Haley has kicked off her 2024 presidential campaign. She’s highlighting her biography while trying to sidestep the looming presence of her onetime boss, former President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the former South Carolina governor released a short video announcing her

By AAMER MADHANI and EMILY SWANSON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Support among the American public for providing Ukraine weaponry and direct economic assistance has softened as the Russian invasion nears a grim one-year milestone, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Forty-eight percent say they favor the

NEW YORK (AP) — Two California-based journalists won $100,000 in the American Mosaic Journalism Prize, announced on Wednesday. The Heising-Simons Foundation says it is the largest dollar prize given annually for journalism in the U.S., and it is given for excellence in long-form work about underrepresented groups. Cerise Castle, from Los Angeles, won for an

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Thom Browne’s fashion shows are nothing like a typical runway show. Rather, they are elaborate, lengthy, fully realized theatrical productions. They have backstories and narration and music and role-playing, along with fashion, of course, that are endlessly inventive. On Tuesday night, Browne, who has just

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. (AP) — A guest at an oceanfront hotel in Florida has died after being run over by a forklift working on storm repairs, authorities said. The 62-year-old woman, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was struck Monday while walking through the parking lot of the Beach Haven Inn, said Michael Fowler, the

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A cyclone that left a devastating wake of extensive flooding and landslides in New Zealand has claimed at least four lives and police have “grave concerns” for other residents who remain unaccounted for, the prime minister said on Wednesday. Cyclone Gabrielle struck the country’s north on Monday and has brought

By JOHN FLESHER and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — One student was a fraternity chapter president. Another was a science student with fond memories of her days as a high-school athlete — and the third was a frequent volunteer who wanted to become a surgeon. Family and friends mourned the deaths

GREENFIELD, Ind. (AP) — A former suburban Indianapolis daycare director is facing multiple charges after being accused of giving melatonin gummies to children without their parents’ consent to get them to sleep. Tonya Rachelle Voris, 52, of Fortville faces 11 counts of neglect of a dependent and six counts of reckless supervision by a child

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A man who went on a deadly rampage with a U-Haul truck Monday in New York City was suffering from an apparent mental health crisis and said he started mowing people down after seeing an “invisible object” coming toward him, police

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua province have released photos and videos of a man they say is the pilot from New Zealand whom they took hostage last week. Phillip Mark Mehrtens is a pilot for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air. He was abducted by independence

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The community of Parkland, Florida, has gathered to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the murder of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. About 200 people attended Tuesday’s ceremony outside a community counseling center that opened up after the massacre. They

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A bill criminalizing gender-affirming healthcare for minors overwhelmingly passed the Idaho House Thursday, despite warnings from opponents who said it would likely increase suicide rates among teens. The bill, which would subject physicians to felony charges if they provide puberty blockers, hormone treatment or gender-affirming surgeries

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has expressed support for Iran during a visit by its president as Tehran tries to expand relations with Beijing and Moscow to offset Western sanctions over its nuclear development. The Chinese government account of Xi’s meeting with Ebrahim Raisi gave no indication whether they discussed Russia’s war against

Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Texas authorities say police in Nevada didn’t inform them when a suspect in a Las Vegas-area stabbing relocated to Dallas while awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge. Nika Nikoubin has pleaded not guilty to stabbing a man she met on a dating app in March 2022. Henderson police

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Haitian woman has signed a tentative agreement to plead guilty to weapons charges more than four years after authorities arrested her and four other adults from an extended family at a squalid New Mexico compound and recovered the remains of a 3-year-old boy. Jany

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer New Mexico State fired basketball coach Greg Heiar on Tuesday in the wake of hazing allegations within the team that shut down the program for the rest of the season. Chancellor Dan Arvizu announced the firing of the first-year coach and said “hazing has no place on our campus,