Month: May 2023

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s embattled central bank governor has failed to appear before French prosecutors in Paris, questioning him in the ongoing European money-laundering and illicit enrichment probe. Gov. Riad Salmeh is a no-show in Paris Tuesday comes as a European judicial team from France, Germany, and Luxembourg continue to

NEW YORK (AP) — Prize-winning author Clint Smith has a three-book deal with Random House, starting with an exploration of World War II’s impact upon everyone from a survivor of a Japanese internment camp in the U.S. to a Jewish activist in Nazi Germany. Smith’s “Just Beneath the Soil” will be his first nonfiction book

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese and Chinese defense ministers have inaugurated their long-awaited hotline as a step to build trust and improve communication. It comes at a time when Japan and other neighbors are concerned about Beijing’s increasingly assertive military activities. Tokyo and Beijing are embroiled in a dispute over

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — The union for Canada’s second biggest airline have issued a 72-hour strike notice to WestJet and they warn the airline could be shut down before the weekend. The Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement late Monday that pilots plan to begin lawful job action early Friday. The statement said

The Associated Press Edna Adan Ismail, a nurse-midwife, hospital founder, and health care advocate who for decades has combated female circumcision and strived to improve women’s health care in East Africa, was named Tuesday as winner of the 2023 Templeton Prize, one of the world’s largest annual individual awards. “Rooted in her Muslim faith, she

MOSCOW (AP) — The lower house of Russia’s parliament has voted unanimously to formally pull out of a Cold War-era security deal more than eight years after Moscow halted its participation. The vote on Tuesday came less than a week after President Vladimir Putin introduced a draft bill “denouncing” the Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces

MILAN (AP) — The discovery of two skeletons buried beneath a collapsed wall in the Pompeii archaeological site point to deaths by powerful earthquakes that accompanied the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the first century, experts said Tuesday, in addition to the victims of volcanic ash and gas. The two skeletons believed to be

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The former head of Volkswagen’s luxury division Audi pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges tied to the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, becoming the highest-ranking executive convicted over cars that cheated on emissions tests with the help of illegal software. Rupert Stadler answered “yes” to a statement read in court by his attorney

By OMAR FARUK Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The United Nations says floods caused by the annual rains have left “a trail of destruction” across Somalia, citing inundated homes and farmland as well as the shutdown of health facilities. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that more than 460,000 people have been impacted, including nearly 219,000

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer The head of the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT told Congress on Tuesday that government intervention will be critical to mitigating the risks of increasingly powerful AI systems. “As this technology advances, we understand that people are anxious about how it could change the way we live. We

By KATE ASHFORD of NerdWallet Concierge medicine, a business model in which patients pay a membership fee to have a direct relationship with a doctor — used to feel like something just for the well-to-do. But as fees have come down and frustration with traditional primary care has gone up, concierge services are getting more

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A court has sentenced moderate Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi to a year in prison for allegedly referring to police officers as tyrants in what his party said early Tuesday amounted to a sham trial. The 81-year-old founder of the Ennahdha party has refused to

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An unexpected visitor spotted sunbathing on a beach in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is turning heads and causing a media buzz. But it’s not American film director and Tel Aviv mainstay Quentin Tarantino or another celebrity. It’s Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal. The seal cow, named Yulia

BRUSSELS (AP) — The 27 European Union countries have formally endorsed a law that should help the bloc reduce its contribution to global deforestation by regulating the trade in a series of harmful goods. Under the new legislation, traders exporting or making available palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy in the region

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is vowing to expand the country’s non-lethal aid to Ukraine as it fights Russian aggression. Yoon met with Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, who was in Seoul on Tuesday as a special envoy of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Yoon’s office

By BROOKE SCHULTZ Associated Press/Report for America Cherelle Parker, a Democrat with a long political history in Pennsylvania, won Philadelphia’s mayoral primary on Tuesday, likely setting her up as the city’s 100th mayor and the first woman to serve in the role. Parker, 50, who served for 10 years as a state representative for northwest

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Seven children remain hospitalized with serious injuries after a truck hit the rear of a school bus on the outskirts of Melbourne in southeastern Australia. Police say the bus was carrying as many as 45 children when it was struck at an intersection and overturned. A Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne official

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Writer Salman Rushdie has made a public speech, nine months after being stabbed and seriously injured onstage, warning that freedom of expression in the West is under its most severe threat in his lifetime. Rushdie delivered a video message to the British Book Awards, where he was

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer MIAMI (AP) — Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Denver’s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team. They know how rare that is. Spoelstra and Malone both spoke out Monday following the recent dismissals of three coaches who

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad has received an invitation to attend the upcoming COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this year, even as the yearslong war in his country over his rule grinds on. Assad’s invite, late Monday, to the climate talks comes as

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will mark Jewish American Heritage Month on Tuesday by highlighting his administration’s efforts to combat rising antisemitism when he speaks at a White House reception that will feature performances from the stars of the Broadway revival of “Parade.” While Biden plans to use his comments to celebrate the contributions

BY DREW COSTLEY AP Science Writer The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment on Tuesday to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country. Rural electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities will be able to apply for funding through two programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A German court convicted five men Tuesday of breaking into a Dresden museum and stealing 21 pieces of jewelry containing more than 4,300 diamonds. The men ages 24 to 29 received prison sentences ranging from four years and four months to six years and three months, German

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry says South Korea midfielder Son Jun-ho has been detained in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning on suspicion of accepting a bribe. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin saysa Son was placed in custody “recently” and was under investigation. Wang says the South Korean consulate in the provincial capital of Shenyang has

By DAVID KEYTON and RAF CASERT Associated Press REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Leaders from across the continent are heading toward Iceland for a rare summit of the 46-nation Council of Europe that will once more step up support for member state Ukraine and condemn expelled Russia for inflicting war on its neighbor. The two-day summit

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Jessica Tincopa may leave the photography business she spent 14 years building for one reason: to find coverage for fertility treatment. After six miscarriages, Tincopa and her husband started saving for in vitro fertilization, which can cost well over $20,000. But the pandemic wiped out their savings, and they

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian air defenses, bolstered by sophisticated Western-supplied systems, thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv early Tuesday, shooting down all 18 missiles aimed at the capital, officials said. The bombardment included six Russian “Kinzhal” aero-ballistic hypersonic missiles — the most fired in a single attack

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Wednesday as Japan’s benchmark jumped on the news of solid economic growth data, while the rest of the region was mired in uncertainty. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained nearly 0.7% in early trading to 30,039.41. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5% to

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Attorneys for the Republican candidate who lost last year’s election for Arizona attorney general on Tuesday requested a new trial in his efforts to overturn the results of the November contest, alleging Abraham Hamadeh actually won because many provisional ballots they believe were cast for him were

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio have won their parties’ primaries for a vacant seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The two will face each other in a fall contest for the court, which is at the center of cases on guns, abortion and elections

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Conservatives in the Nebraska Legislature have gotten just enough votes to fold a proposed 12-week abortion ban into a bill that would ban gender-affirming health for minors. As expected, the debate Tuesday over the plan was raucous, with lawmakers opposed to the plan sparring with

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and GONZALO SOLANO Associated Press QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A showdown between Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso and the opposition-led National Assembly could result on either side being booted out of office before the end of the week. That’s because lawmakers on Tuesday will press on their effort to try him on

By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats will maintain their narrow Pennsylvania House majority after winning a special election in the Philadelphia suburbs. Tuesday’s win will also help them control how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation. Heather Boyd defeated Republican Katie Ford in a special election

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Closing arguments are expected to begin Tuesday at the second trial of “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, who is charged with raping three women at his Los Angeles home between 2001 and 2003. Attorneys for both sides rested their cases Friday, three weeks into

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say clashes between two tribes feuding over the ownership of a coal mine in the country’s remote northwest left 15 men dead and several wounded. The fighting erupted on Monday between the Sunny Khel and Zarghun Khel tribes in Dara Adam Khel, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along