Month: May 2023

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer DENVER (AP) — They were No. 8 seeds. They barely got into the playoffs after up-and-down regular seasons. They had to face the No. 1 overall seeds in Round 1 of the postseason. They had to win Game 7s in Boston just to keep their seasons alive. They are

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s foreign ministry has summoned the United States’ deputy ambassador over a series of tweets the embassy sent calling for a peaceful election in a country that has a history of violent and disputed votes. The ministry is accusing the embassy of “meddling” in internal affairs.

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Jury selection in the trial of an ex-sheriff’s deputy charged with failing to confront the Parkland, Florida, school shooter has gotten off to a speedy start. Prosecutors and the attorney representing former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson began choosing a jury Wednesday, concluding the preliminary

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Last year was a mixed bag pay-wise for the women who run companies in the S&P 500 — compensation increased for more than half of them, but the median pay package fell 6%. Of the 343 CEOs in the compensation survey of S&P 500 companies

The Associated Press For its annual analysis of CEO pay, The Associated Press used data provided by Equilar, an executive data firm. Equilar examined regulatory filings detailing the pay packages of 343 executives. Equilar looked at companies in the S&P 500 index that filed proxy statements with federal regulators between Jan. 1 and April 30,

By ALEXANDRA OLSON AP Business Writer After ballooning for years, CEO pay growth is finally slowing. The typical compensation package for chief executives who run S&P 500 companies rose just 0.9% last year, to a median of $14.8 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. That means half the CEOs in

By ALBERT AJI Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two Palestinian officials say a blast at a military base has killed five militants of a Syria-backed Palestinian faction in eastern Lebanon and wounded 10 others. The faction said an Israeli airstrike was behind the explosion, but that account was disputed by an Israeli official, speaking

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Olympic sports bodies are meeting amid ongoing uncertainty about if and how Russian athletes could return to their competitions ahead of the 2024 Paris Games. The annual meeting of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations is being held in the Olympic home city of

By JOHNSON LAI and HIROYUKI KOMAE Associated Press NAHA, Japan (AP) — A weakened Tropical Storm Mawar headed toward Japan’s southern archipelago of Okinawa, leading the airport and businesses to close and fishermen to batten down their boats in preparation. Many residents in the prefectural capital of Naha on the main Okinawan island, where about

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Latvian lawmakers have picked the Baltic country’s long-serving and popular foreign minister as its new head of state in a tight vote. The 100-seat Saeima legislature elected Edgars Rinkevics, the country’s top diplomat since 2011, as president to serve for a four-year term. He received 52 votes,

By DENG MACHOL and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press MAGWI COUNTY, South Sudan (AP) — Many South Sudanese are returning to areas riddled with mines left from decades of conflict as they trickle back into the country after a peace deal was signed in 2018 to end a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has asked aides to get to the bottom of how at least $17 million was transferred from the Vatican’s U.S.-based missionary fundraising coffers into an impact investing vehicle run by a priest. The story of what happened to the money and how is one

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — United Nations appeals judges have significantly expanded the convictions of two allies of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, holding them responsible for involvement in crimes across Bosnia and in one town in Croatia as members of a joint criminal plan to drive out non-Serbs from

By FARES AKRAM Associated Press KHUZAA, Gaza Strip (AP) — Locals call it “watermelon salad.” But this delicacy popular in the southern Gaza Strip at this time of year is far from the sweet, refreshing taste the name evokes. “Lasima,” “Ajar,” or “Qursa” are different names for the hot, savory meal that takes hours to

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican is seeking clarity after the former director of its U.S. missionary fundraising office oversaw the transfer of at least $17 million of its donations into a new non-profit and private equity fund that he created. The new management of The Pontifical Mission Societies in

By The Associated Press He’s heir to the throne in one of the oldest monarchies in the Middle East and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. She’s a Saudi architect with an aristocratic pedigree of her own. Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, 28, and Rajwa Alseif, 29, are to be married Thursday at

By RADUL RADOVANOVIC Associated Press ZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — Hundreds of ethnic Serbs on Wednesday gathered in a town in northern Kosovo, days after clashes that injured 30 soldiers from a NATO-led peacekeeping force and over 50 Serbs, provoking fears of a renewal of the region’s bloody conflicts and prompting the Western military alliance to

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian benchmarks were mostly higher Thursday after the United States House of Representatives approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, avoiding a default crisis. But the enthusiasm was muted by worries about the Chinese economy after disappointing recent data on a recovery in the world’s

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s national airline is asking passengers to step on the scales before they board international flights. Air New Zealand says it wants to weigh 10,000 passengers during a monthlong survey so pilots can better know the weight and balance of their planes before takeoff.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party has warned of the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence while calling for heightened national security measures. The statement issued after a meeting Tuesday chaired by party leader and President Xi Jinping underscores the tension between the government’s determination to seize global leadership in cutting-edge technology and

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer OYAMA, Japan (AP) — Eri Yoshida sat in the dugout of an all-dirt baseball field in rural Japan, surrounded by rice paddies, narrow roads, and traditional Japanese houses. The scene recalled instantly the 1989 film “Field of Dreams” — Asian style — and Yoshida certainly has her own. The

By CLAUDIA LAUER and MIKE CATALINI The Associated Press Vanessa Martinez was finishing preparations for her daughter’s second birthday in September 2021 when her ex-boyfriend broke into her Mesa, Arizona, condo and shot her in the head as she frantically tried to shield their three young children. Doctors had to remove a third of her

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A former Connecticut state representative has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for stealing more than $1.2 million from the city of West Haven, most of it federal-related coronavirus aid. Michael DiMassa used a chunk of the money to fuel his gambling addiction. He apologized

By ED KOMENDA Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Telling executives to “strive harder,” hundreds of corporate Amazon workers protested what they decried as the company’s lack of progress on climate goals and an inequitable return-to-office mandate during a lunchtime demonstration at its Seattle headquarters Wednesday. The protest came a week after Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A couple whose young children were taken by social workers and police in the middle of the night are suing, arguing they were unconstitutionally removed without a warrant or court order. Sarah Perkins and Joshua Sabey have filed the lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts, where the

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — As an alternative to affirmative action, colleges from California to Florida have tried a range of strategies to achieve the diversity they say is essential to their campuses. Many have given greater preference to low-income families. Others started admitting top students from every community in their

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press SALIX, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis is making a four-stop blitz through Iowa during his first full day of presidential campaigning on Wednesday. He’s aiming for a personal connection with voters even as he intensifies his criticism of former President Donald Trump. The Florida governor’s first stop

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is encouraging Iraq’s recently formed government to deliver on reforms and combat corruption — and it’s backing the country’s ongoing fight against the Islamic State, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. A council resolution adopted unanimously also extends the U.N. political mission

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress are locked in an escalating fight with the director of the FBI. The chairman of the House Oversight Committee says he plans to hold Wray in contempt of Congress over a record related to President Joe Biden and his family. Rep. James Comer says

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private crew is back on Earth after a nine-day trip to the International Space Station. The SpaceX capsule carrying two Saudis and two Americans parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico late Tuesday night, just off the Florida panhandle. The Saudi government picked up

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s House of Representatives has voted overwhelming in favor of holding a referendum this year on creating a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament. But the 121-to-25 vote on Wednesday that approved the referendum being held does not reflect the level of lawmakers’ support for enshrining the Voice

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — “The Ride,” a new eight-episode Prime Video series, documents the peaks and valleys of the fearless competitors of the Professional Bull Riders league, as well as those closest to them. Cameras followed an ensemble cast of PBR’s best and most engaging riders, along with coaches

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The driver of the semitruck involved in a fatal crash on Interstate 5 in Oregon earlier this month that left seven farmworkers dead has been indicted on charges of manslaughter, court documents show. A grand jury in Marion County Court on Tuesday indicted Lincoln

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have advanced a bill to comply with a voter ID requirement mandated by voters last November. Passage of the bill will come down to the wire, with lawmakers scheduled to take up final debate on the bill Thursday. That’s the same day lawmakers

By CARLA BRIDI and DIANE JEANTET Associated Press BRASILIA (AP) — The Brazilian president’s strong support of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader marred the unity Tuesday at a South American summit that Brazil convened in hopes of reviving a bloc of the region’s 12 politically polarized countries. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed during his

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Major League Baseball will take over broadcasts of San Diego Padres games beginning Wednesday after Diamond Sports missed a rights fees payment and let the grace period expire. Diamond Sports owns 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner. The Padres become the first team that MLB will take over

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the U.S. Border Patrol announced that he’s retiring, after seeing through a major policy shift that seeks to clamp down on illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border following the end of Title 42 coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Chief Raul Ortiz said Tuesday in a note

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Even with new spending restraints included in the congressional debt limit deal, the U.S. government’s deficits are still on course to keep climbing to record levels over the next few decades. The projections are a sign that the two-year truce between President Joe Biden and House Speaker

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Ten months before Donald Trump is scheduled to stand trial in his historic New York City criminal case, Manhattan prosecutors are turning the former president’s words against him in a tug of war over precisely where he will be tried. Trump’s lawyers have spent weeks

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida art dealer was sentenced Tuesday to two years and three months in federal prison in connection with a scheme involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings. Daniel Elie Bouaziz, 69, was sentenced in Fort Pierce federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in February

NEW YORK (AP) — A third man has been charged in the 2002 shooting death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, prosecutors said Tuesday, marking the latest movement in a case that languished for years. Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York filed a superseding indictment on Tuesday, charging Jay Bryant, 49, in

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s attempt to put its first spy satellite into space has failed. Wednesday’s unsuccessful launch is a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost his military capabilities. After its unusually quick admission of failure, North Korea vowed to conduct

By GABE STERN Associated Press/Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a bill into law that makes it a felony to harass, intimidate or coerce election workers in a rare bipartisan move to increase protections for election workers in the Western swing state ahead of 2024. The bill was

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Colorado is tackling a surge in eating disorders with its acting governor signing two bills to address the mental illness. The bills signed Tuesday will create a state program dedicated to addressing the mental illness, limit the use of body mass index in determining treatment