Month: May 2023

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Supreme Court has upheld the 135-year prison sentence of a British teacher and nanny who created and distributed pornography of children in his care after changing his name and moving to another country following previous convictions. Ben David Rose legally changed his identity after his conviction on child pornography charges in

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ defense minister says the island nation is working together with Irish and U.S. military experts to help train two groups of Ukrainian personnel in clearing an untold number of unmarked minefields in their homeland. Replying to an Associated Press query, Minister Michalis Georgallas said Friday

By The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Dutton and Wrenlee are on the rise but they’re no match for champs Liam and Olivia as the top baby names in the U.S. last year. The Social Security Administration released the annual list Friday. The agency tracks baby names in each state based on applications for Social

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — McDonald’s and a franchise holder are at fault after a hot Chicken McNugget from a Happy Meal fell on a little girl’s leg and caused second-degree burns, a jury in South Florida found in a case reminiscent of the famous hot coffee lawsuit of the 1990s. A second jury will

BRIENZ, Switzerland (AP) — Stragglers packed up belongings in cars, trucks and a least one pickup truck before a looming deadline on Friday to evacuate a village in eastern Switzerland that is facing an urgent rockslide threat. About 2 million cubic meters of rock on an Alpine mountainside overhead could soon come crashing down. As

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the U.S. Ambassador to a meeting over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Ambassador Reuben Brigety said Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition

BERLIN (AP) — A labor union representing more than 200,000 railway workers says it’s going ahead with a planned strike next week after its demands for better pay were rejected by employers. The EVG union said Friday that its members will walk out for 50 hours from late Sunday until late Tuesday. Rail company Deutsche

By ELAINE GANLEY PARIS (AP) — France’s foreign minister says two French citizens imprisoned in Iran have been freed. Benjamin Briere and Bernard Phelan had been held in a prison in Mashad, in northwest Iran. A statement from French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said the two were headed to Paris on Friday. Briere, who is

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer As Republican-governed states across the nation advance myriad bills targeting transgender young people, America’s faith leaders are starkly divided in their assessment. Some view the legislation as reflecting God’s will; others voice outrage that Christianity is being invoked to justify laws they view as cruel and hateful. In one

By JOVANA GEC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have marched through the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and blocked a key bridge in the second large protest since two mass shootings that rattled the Balkan country and left 17 people dead, including many children. Protesters gathered in front

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Forty years after California condors were on the brink of extinction, aggressive conservation efforts and breeding-in-captivity programs remain as essential as ever. Condors in the wild are facing the most serious strain of avian flu in years, marking a fresh threat to a population constantly under

By KRISTA LARSON Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A new report from the U.N. Human Rights Office says the death toll from a massacre last year in central Mali is now believed to be at least 500 people killed. The new figure is significantly higher than the figure of 300 previously given by Human

ZURICH (AP) — A FIFA fund to compensate for unpaid wages helped 225 players in the latest round of payments. The governing body of soccer says 61 were with clubs in Portugal and 50 in Greece. The $16 million FIFA Fund for Football Players was created in 2020 with the FIFPRO player union. Some clubs

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — A top Vatican cardinal is defending Pope Francis’ “drastic” leadership firings at the Holy See’s preeminent charity. Cardinal Michael Czerny said Friday they were necessary for the wellbeing of staff at Caritas Internationalis and not a condemnation of its work. Czerny sought to explain Francis’ extraordinary decision

BEIJING (AP) — China is sending a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia starting next week in what it calls an effort to help reach a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The Foreign Ministry says Li Hui, a former ambassador to Moscow, will also visit Poland, France and Germany. China says it remains neutral

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Aaron Rodgers nearly upended the NFL schedule two years ago when he told some within the Green Bay Packers organization that he didn’t want to return to the team. For the sake and sanity of those in the league’s scheduling department, cooler heads prevailed. Rodgers was on the move

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Marine veteran who placed an agitated New York City subway passenger in a chokehold, killing him and sparking outrage as video of the encounter went viral, surrendered Friday on a manslaughter charge brought nearly two weeks later. Daniel Penny, 24,

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. economy grew sluggishly during the first three months of the year as double-digit inflation curbed consumer spending and labor unrest curtailed output in industries ranging from transportation to healthcare and education. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, increased 0.1% in the first

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department is launching the application process for cities to receive a total of $500 million in grants to become technology hubs. The $500 million is part of a $10 billion authorization from last year’s CHIPS and Science Act to stimulate investments in new technologies such

By NICOLE WINFIELD and PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has joined Italy’s conservative premier in encouraging Italians to have more children after Italy registered a record low birth rate last year. Francis urged concrete political action to invert the “demographic winter” that in population terms resulted in the disappearance of a

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer NIIGATA, Japan (AP) — Financial leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies are focusing on ways to fortify ever more complicated financial systems and supply chains during meetings in Japan ahead of a summit next week. Japan’s finance minister cited growing use of online banking and social media

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — This weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest will have Ukrainian flags, Ukrainian musicians and Ukrainian fans — but not the country’s wartime leader. Organizers say they rejected a request from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a video address to the final of t he pan-continental music competition on

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press VOLOS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s prime minister says his government is exploring a “win-win” solution to one of the world’s most intractable cultural heritage disputes: The fate of the Parthenon Sculptures currently in the British Museum. But he ruled out any deal that would be considered a loan. Prime Minister

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press VOLOS, Greece (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview that he will extend “a hand of friendship” to the winner of the upcoming Turkish election and try to build on the momentum of recently reduced tensions. But Mitsotakis told the AP

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Authorities in Bangladesh and Myanmar prepared to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people Friday, warning them to stay away from coastal areas as a severe cyclone churned in the Bay of Bengal. Cyclone Mocha is expected to hit land on Sunday with wind speeds of up

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Another seemingly listless week on Wall Street came to a quiet close on Wall Street Friday, but big worries continue to roil under the surface. The S&P 500 dipped 6.54 points, or 0.2%, to 4,124.08 to cap a sixth straight week where it moved by

By FARES AKRAM and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes have killed a senior militant commander in the Gaza Strip amid the worst bout of fighting in months. Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets toward Jerusalem on Friday, despite efforts to broker a cease-fire led by regional powers. The

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has left a high court in Islamabad after it granted him broad protection from arrest in multiple legal cases. Friday’s ruling is a victory for the former prime minister in his standoff with the government that sparked days of rioting by

BEIJING (AP) — Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell appears to be making progress in restoring a nearly decade-long rift in relations with China during a visit to Beijing. Farrell was holding meetings and visiting businesses on Friday in a sign that relations were getting back on track. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Over recent years, Sudan’s military and a separate armed force accumulated power, each suspicious of the other, even as they worked together against the country’s pro-democracy movement. Officers inside both forces say it was a long-building recipe for disaster. Their tenuous alliance ended in mid-April, when they

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press Japanese and South Korean officials have agreed on a visit later this month by South Korean experts to the Fukushima nuclear plant before it begins the controversial release of treated but radioactive water into the sea. The safety of the water is a major sticking point as the two sides

By STEPHEN SMITH and KEVIN McGILL Associated Press BENTLEY, La. (AP) — They were born and raised in captivity, but as they slowly slithered away from their handlers and disappeared into gopher holes in the Kisatchie National Forest, the group of Louisiana pine snakes appeared to be right at home. The five pine snakes bred