Month: May 2023

BERLIN (AP) — Five people are going on trial in Germany accused of planning a coup and plotting to kidnap the country’s health minister. The four men, aged 44 to 56, and a 75-year-old woman are accused of founding or being members of a terrorist organization and treason. Federal prosecutors say the group is linked

By MOLLY QUELL Associated Press REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — More than 40 countries at a summit of European leaders have backed a system to estimate the damage Russia is causing during the war in Ukraine, in the hopes Moscow can be forced to compensate victims and help rebuild the nation once the conflict is over.

PARIS (AP) — A French appeals court on Wednesday upheld a one-year prison sentence for former President Nicolas Sarkozy on a conviction for corruption and influence peddling. His lawyer said he will take the case further to France’s highest court. He would not have to serve time until a final ruling. He could ask to

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police have surrounded the home of former Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, claiming he is sheltering dozens of people who were allegedly involved in violent protests over his recent detention. Wednesday’s police deployment was likely to anger Khan’s many followers. It raised concerns about possible new

By LUCA BRUNO and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press IMOLA, Italy (AP) — Exceptional rains Wednesday in a drought-struck region of northern Italy swelled rivers over their banks, killing at least eight people, forcing the evacuation of thousands and prompting officials to warn that Italy needs a national plan to combat climate change-induced flooding. The heavy

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss has warned of the economic and political threats posed to the West by China during a visit to Taiwan. Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island democracy that China claims as its territory.

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Papua New Guinea had declared next Monday a public holiday in anticipation of an historic visit by U.S. President Joe Biden. Security was being tightened, billboards were going up and people were getting ready to sing and dance in the streets. Expectations were high for

By ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — The symbolism will be palpable when leaders of the world’s rich democracies sit down in Hiroshima, a city whose name evokes the tragedy of war, to tackle a host of challenges including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions in Asia. The attention on the war

By SUZAN FRASER, JAMEY KEATEN and COURTNEY BONNELL Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia agreed to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the more

By ILLIA NOVIKOV and VASILISA STEPANENKO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The lead trauma surgeon at a military hospital in Ukraine’s capital has his hands deep in a war churning hundreds of miles away. The 59-year-old doctor’s work to repair the bodies of some of the most badly injured soldiers is all-consuming. “I only

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A truck driver has been charged after seven children were hospitalized with serious injuries when he rear-ended a school bus on the outskirts of Melbourne in southeastern Australia. Police say the dump truck hit the back of the school bus carrying 45 students and caused it

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singapore has hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the second in three weeks, as it clings firmly to the death penalty despite global calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions. Anti-death penalty activist Kokila Annamalai said the 37-year-old man was executed Wednesday after his last-ditch bid to reopen his

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — One of the greatest mountain guides regained his title for the most climbs of Mount Everest after scaling the peak for the 27th time on Wednesday, just three days after a fellow Sherpa climber had equalled his previous record. Kami Rita, 53, reached the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot)

By CURT ANDERSON and BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press Democrat Donna Deegan’s decisive win over a Republican in the open Jacksonville mayor’s race will make her the first woman to hold the job in the Florida city’s history, sparking a flicker of hope for a besieged Democratic Party that has few levers of power in a

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — An Islamic extremist was given 10 life sentences and another 260 years in prison on Wednesday for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan and severely injuring 18 others. “The conduct in this case is among the worst if not the

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, encouraged women to find inspiration to fight for equity as she accepted the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Award Tuesday night, with Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown. “It’s never too late to start,” Meghan said at the Ziegfeld Ballroom

By CLAUDIA LAUER and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press Thousands of Americans each year turn to state-run programs that provide financial assistance to victims of violent crime. The money is used to help with funeral expenses, physical and emotional therapy, lost wages, crime-scene cleanup and more. While interviewing people for a story on gun violence in

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military is proposing an October start date for a plan to drain a World War II-era fuel tank facility that poisoned 6,.000 people when it leaked jet fuel into Pearl Harbor’s drinking water 18 months ago. Fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility

By CLAUDIA LAUER and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press The cold formality of the letter is seared in Debra Long’s memory. It began “Dear Claimant,” and said her 24-year-old son, Randy, who was fatally shot in April 2006, was not an “innocent” victim. Without further explanation, the agency that assists violent-crime victims and their families, known

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Appellate judges with a history of supporting abortion restrictions are hearing arguments over access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion. The case is likely to wind up at the Supreme Court. The high court already intervened to keep the drug, mifepristone,

By TERRY TANG and JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Attorneys for Kari Lake, the 2022 Republican candidate for Arizona governor, say Maricopa County has a “failed process” for verifying thousands of ballot signatures. Lake’s lawyers spent Wednesday, the first day of a three-day trial showing video and taking testimony from two previous

By COLLEEN LONG and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Two New York Police Department officers ambushed and killed after responding to a 911 call and the rookie cop who took down the gunman are among those honored Wednesday by President Joe Biden with the Medal of Valor, the nation’s highest honor for bravery

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Sports Writer The Arizona Coyotes’ bid for a new arena appears to be dead. In the first release of results from Tuesday’s referendum, voters in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe were strongly against three propositions to build a $2.3 billion entertainment district that would include a new arena for the Coyotes.

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama is set to follow in the footsteps of David Robinson and Tim Duncan, and the San Antonio Spurs are ready to welcome the French phenom. It sure seems like an ideal pairing. The Spurs hit the lottery jackpot on Tuesday, landing the No. 1

By MEGAN JANETSKY and FERNANDA PESCE Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican woman who killed a man defending herself when he attacked and raped her in 2021 was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a decision her legal defense called “discriminatory” and vowed to appeal. While the Mexico State court found

BEIJING (AP) — Reports Wednesday said 39 people are missing more than 24 hours after a Chinese fishing boat operating in the Indian Ocean capsized. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the accident happened around 3 a.m. Tuesday. The report said the crew includes 17 from China, 17 from Indonesia and five from the Philippines. Chinese

By ERIC TUCKER and NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A 306-page report by Justice Department special counsel John Durham is refocusing negative attention on one of the most politically significant investigations in FBI history: the probe into whether Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was colluding with Russia to tip the outcome of the

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a finished military spy satellite, which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to an aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea. Kim during Tuesday’s visit

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized Donald Trump on Tuesday for implying Florida’s new six-week abortion ban is “too harsh,” stepping up his attacks on the former president as he prepares to challenge him for the 2024 Republican nomination. DeSantis was responding to a question about Trump’s comments in an article published

ST. CHARLES, Ill. (AP) — Police say a girl who was allegedly abducted by her mother in suburban Chicago nearly six years ago has been found safe hundreds of miles away in North Carolina after she was spotted at a business Officers found a woman and a minor child at the business in Asheville, North

By DÉBORA REY Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández has made it official that she will not be running for president again, putting the brakes on an effort by members of her party to push her to become a candidate in the October election. Fernández, who was president 2007-2015,

By JOHN HANNA and JOSH FUNK Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A report for U.S. government regulators says pipeline design issues, lapses in its operations and problems caused during construction led to a massive oil spill on the Keystone pipeline system in northeastern Kansas. An engineering consulting firm said in the report that the

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers are warning that the country’s Parliament building is at “real and rising” risk of destruction. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said Parliament is “leaking, dropping masonry and at constant risk of fire,” as well as riddled with asbestos. The committee said Wednesday that

Associated Press Elon Musk on Tuesday dismissed speculation that he might step down as Tesla’s CEO and told the company’s annual shareholders meeting that the electric car and solar panel company would start doing some advertising. “Say it ain’t so,” one shareholder asked Musk about stepping down as Tesla’s leader. “It ain’t so,” he replied

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A Louisiana man who was injured in a shooting at a Texas mall just over a week ago says he has taken strength from his faith, family, friends and hospital staff. Irvin Walker, who is 46, spoke from a wheelchair Tuesday during a news conference at