Month: February 2023

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — A freight train derailment in Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line left a mangled and charred mass of boxcars and flames Saturday as authorities launched a federal investigation and monitored air quality from the various hazardous chemicals in the train. About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine at about 9

By NICOLE WINFIELD, DENG MACHOL and TRISHA THOMAS Associated Press JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Pope Francis warned Saturday that South Sudan’s future depends on how it treats its women, as he highlighted their horrific plight in a country where sexual violence is rampant, child brides are common and the maternal mortality rate is the

By WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Indian police have arrested more than 2,000 men in a crackdown on illegal child marriages involving girls under the age of 18 in a northeastern state, officials said Saturday. Those arrested this week included more than 50 Hindu priests and Muslim clerics for allegedly performing marriages

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers have vowed to finalize negotiations with China aimed at preventing conflicts in the disputed South China Sea. In the final session of their two-day annual retreat in Indonesia’s capital on Saturday, the ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also agreed

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California’s most popular puma gained fame as P-22 and cast a spotlight on the troubled population of California’s endangered mountain lions and their decreasing genetic diversity. After his death in December, wildlife officials and representatives from the region’s tribal communities are now debating his next

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI and KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka has marked its 75th independence anniversary as a bankrupt nation, with many citizens angry, anxious and in no mood to celebrate. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has started to improve some but not all of the acute shortages, acknowledged the somber

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Democratic Party on Saturday approved reordering its 2024 presidential primary, replacing Iowa with South Carolina in the leadoff spot as part of a major shake-up meant to empower Black and other minority voters critical to its base of support. Although more changes are possible later this

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP WASHINGTON (AP) — The massive white orb that drifted across U.S. airspace and was shot down by the military has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and blown up on social media. The Pentagon says it was a Chinese spy balloon and that its presence led Secretary of State Antony

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A year ago, President Joe Biden used his first State of the Union address to push top Democratic priorities that were sure to face a battle in the narrowly divided Congress but he also laid out a four-pronged “unity agenda” that would be an easier sell. Biden’s

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The new Republican majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court has agreed to rehear redistricting and voter identification cases less than two months after the court’s previous edition controlled by Democrats blocked a voter ID mandate and a district map. The court granted the requests of

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s new law banning new oil and gas wells near homes, schools and other community sites has been put on hold until after voters decide next year whether to throw the law out. The secretary of state said Friday that opponents of Senate Bill 1137 have gathered enough voter signatures to

WASHINGTON (AP) — ABC’s “This Week” — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Gov. Chris Sununu, R-N.H.; retired Adm. Mike Mullen, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. __ NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Buttigieg; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio. _ CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Booker; Sen. Ted Cruz,

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — At least 13 people have died as a result of the more than 150 wildfires burning across Chile that have destroyed homes and thousands of acres of forest while the South American is in the midst of a heat wave. Four of the deaths took place in the Biobío region, around

By TERRY SPENCER, ELEONORE HUGHES and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Only a few weeks after his supporters stormed the seat of his country’s government, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday expressed bafflement at how he could have lost October’s election, then smiled silently as a crowd of supporters cried, “Fraud!” He

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska authorities say a skull found in a remote part of the state’s Interior in 1997 belongs to a New York man whose death was likely caused by a bear mauling. The Alaska State Troopers said in a statement that investigators used genetic genealogy to identify

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers will meet next week to complete a state takeover of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district and debate proposals on immigration and election crimes. The legislative work comes as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to leverage national political fissures ahead of an expected White House

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Children in California won’t have to get the coronavirus vaccine to attend schools, state public health officials confirmed Friday, ending one of the last major restrictions of the pandemic in the nation’s most populous state. Gov. Gavin Newsom first announced the policy in 2021, saying it

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A man who was saved by a Coast Guard rescue swimmer at the mouth of the Columbia River as a massive wave rolled the yacht he was piloting Friday was wanted for a bizarre incident in which police said he left a dead fish at the Astoria,

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — Farmworkers at two mushrooms farms in California’s Half Moon Bay are back at work barely a week after seven of their colleagues were shot and killed. Three workers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity say they need to earn

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Adults ages 21 and older now can legally buy marijuana for recreational use in Missouri. The state health department approved marijuana dispensary licenses unexpectedly early Friday. Recreational pot became legal in Missouri in December, but the health department had until Friday to approve or deny licenses.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas lawmaker who admitted to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and filing a false income tax return has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison. A federal judge on Friday sentenced former Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson to 46 months in prison. Hutchinson pleaded guilty in 2019

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A cyberattack caused a nearly daylong outage of the nation’s new 988 mental health helpline late last year, federal officials tell The Associated Press. Lawmakers are now calling for the federal agency that oversees the program to prevent future attacks. The attack occurred on the network for

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A detainee’s recent death is adding to mounting concerns over the conditions at a jail in South Carolina’s capital city. The Richland County Sheriff has announced five murder charges for other detainees involved in the death of Antonius Randolph at Alvin S. Glenn Detention

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — As the Manhattan district attorney’s office again ramps up its yearslong investigation of Donald Trump, a new book by a former prosecutor who once led the probe details just how close the former president came to getting indicted — and laments friction with the new

By GISELA SALOMON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Mexican actor Pablo Lyle was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter after fatally punching a man during a road rage confrontation in Miami in 2019. The sentence came almost four years after Lyle was charged with murder in the death of a man

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Customs agents say they discovered a dolphin skull in luggage left at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Friday that agents found the skull last week when they conducted a routine x-ray scan of the luggage, which had been inadvertently separated from owners during transit. The

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man who exchanged sexually explicit videos and images with a 13-year-old girl has admitted paying $20,000 in bitcoin to have the child victim murdered. He eventually called it off. Federal prosecutors say John Michael Musbach pleaded guilty Thursday to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The federal labor board has decided that fewer than 100 employees out of thousands at Nissan’s auto assembly plant in Tennessee can hold a vote on whether to form a small union. The ruling Thursday by the National Labor Relations Board overturns a June 2021 decision

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his Cabinet will embark on a post-State of the Union “blitz” to visit at least 20 states next week to discuss his economic agenda after his Tuesday night address to Congress. The White House announced the travel plan Friday. Biden is