Month: May 2023

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer NIIGATA, Japan (AP) — Financial leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies are discussing ways to support Ukraine and pressure Russia to end the war as they meet in Japan starting Thursday. Ukraine’s finance minister, Serhiy Marchenko, was participating online in the first session of the G-7 talks

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will drop its COVID-19 quarantine requirements and end testing recommendations for international arrivals starting June 1. In lowering the coronavirus alert level from “critical” to plainly “alert” starting June 1, health authorities will also lift mask mandates in pharmacies and small clinics. Wearing

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has overturned the fraud convictions of two parents who were found guilty at trial of paying bribes to get their kids into elite universities as part of a sprawling college admissions bribery. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed all the

By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press New York City officials plan to send some asylum-seekers to an upstate hotel. That’s despite fierce resistance from suburban leaders and a judge’s order temporarily blocking the use of another hotel. Mayor Eric Adams touched off a furor north of the city by announcing last week that the city would

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s primetime return to CNN Wednesday for the first time since 2016 felt like a throwback: Trump with the long, twisting answers; the interviewer at times struggling to fact-check him or return his focus to the question at hand; and then, eventually, both talking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll tried unsuccessfully to get a man booted off the jury that found former President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse because he occasionally listens to the provocative podcaster Tim Pool, newly unsealed court records revealed Wednesday. The 31-year-old male juror ultimately

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Citing the current Hollywood writers strike, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos will not be attending next week’s PEN America Gala in Manhattan, when he was to accept a Business Visionary Award. PEN America will not be presenting the award this year, saying the honor is premised

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press/Report for America WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Democratic governor is rallying voters in a last-minute bid to persuade a Republican to sustain his expected veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Gov. Roy Cooper’s visit to Wilmington on Wednesday marks the second stop on

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Three residents of Mississippi’s capital city say their rights are undermined by a new state law that would create a court inside Jackson with judges who are appointed. The state constitution requires most judges to be elected. Jackson resident Ann Saunders testified Wednesday that the

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A coroner says a worker who died after being hurt at an Amazon warehouse in Indiana suffered a blunt force injury. Allen County Coroner Dr. Jon Brandenberger said Wednesday that the death of 20-year-old Caes David Gruesbeck of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been ruled an accident. Police say emergency medical

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia coach Kirby Smart insists there was no political motivation behind the decision for his national championship football team to decline an invitation to visit the White House in June. Instead, Smart says scheduling issues, including a youth camp in June at the Georgia football facility, made it impossible for the

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors say a northern Virginia man arrested last week on terrorism charges has a husband-wife relationship with another American who was dubbed by prosecutors as an “empress of ISIS” for her work to establish an all-female Islamic State battalion. Thirty-three-year-old Mohammed Chhipa, of Springfield, Virginia, is

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Tens of thousands of fans descended upon the Swedish capital of Stockholm to celebrate the opening show of Beyoncé’s new world tour on Wednesday. “Renaissance” is the superstar’s first solo tour since 2016 and shares the namesake of her 2022 dance-centric album, the success of which landed Beyoncé at the top of

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state is being sued over its alleged failure to meet constitutional provisions meant to protect against pollution from the industry. A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday in New Mexico district court, marking the first time the state

By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — A $17 billion budget package that Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs negotiated with leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature is drawing criticism from Democrats for failing to put limits on an expansion of a school voucher program that they say is a drain on the state’s coffers. The Democratic

By DAVID HAMILTON AP Business Reporter SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A ChatGPT user was recently detained by Chinese police for allegedly using the artificial intelligence chatbot to fake a news story reporting a nonexistent train crash. It’s one of the first enforcement actions under a recently enacted Chinese law regulating AI-generated “deepfakes” — seemingly realistic

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The last time Sonia Cruz saw her 14-year-old son, it was just a few days after Christmas. He walked out onto the street at 8 p.m. in their small town in northern Mexico going to meet his girlfriend, but he was dragged into a black truck

By DAVID KOENIG and MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writers A Senate panel has approved a rail-safety measure in response to the train derailment earlier this year in East Palestine, Ohio. The Senate Commerce Committee voted to send the bill to the full Senate. The vote was mostly along party lines, with only two Republicans favoring

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has given notice that he will sue a news organization unless it apologizes for statements he said some of its employees made in connection to misspending of welfare money. An attorney for Bryant sent a certified letter Wednesday to Mississippi

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A second Michigan school district is banning backpacks, this time because an elementary school student was found with a loaded gun. Grand Rapids Public Schools announced Wednesday that backpacks are banned until further notice. Hours earlier, a third-grade student was found with a loaded gun at

By WILSON RING Associated Press A New Hampshire electric utility is offering a new proposal for an electrical transmission line from Canada that would carry renewable power to New England. The proposed 211-mile, $2 billion Twin State Clean Energy Link would enter the United States in Canaan, Vermont. Unlike a separate, stalled project in Maine,

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — An experimental skin patch is showing promise to treat toddlers who are highly allergic to peanuts — training their bodies to handle an accidental bite. Peanut allergy is one of the most common and dangerous food allergies. Parents of allergic tots are constantly on guard against

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio Constitution change aimed at thwarting an abortion rights push this fall has been cleared for an August statewide ballot. The measure cleared the politically fractured Ohio House on Wednesday in a Statehouse resounding with shouts of protest. It means voters will decide this

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican governor is taking applications to replace the soon-to-depart St. Louis prosecutor. Gov. Mike Parson said Wednesday that he’s looking for a St. Louis lawyer with strong managerial experience and a commitment to the rule of law to take over from embattled St. Louis

By PAUL J. WEBER and ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Rare momentum in the Texas Capitol for a tougher gun law has flickered out, days after a mass shooting near Dallas left eight people dead. Republicans late Tuesday stalled a bill that would raise the purchase age for certain AR-style semiautomatic rifles

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army has announced changes to the way it will care for the gray and black horses that carry service members’ flag-draped caskets to their final resting places in Arlington National Cemetery. This comes after the deaths last year of two horses in the ceremonial unit exposed

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press An Idaho man who traveled to Washington in a car loaded with weapons and was photographed dangling from the Senate balcony during the Capitol riot was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison. Josiah Colt, one of the first rioters to reach the Senate floor on

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida judge who gained a national profile while presiding over the Parkland school shooting trial announced Wednesday that she is resigning June 30 to pursue unspecified career opportunities. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer rose in prominence when she oversaw the televised penalty trial of Nikolas

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua has ordered the closure of the country’s Red Cross, capping a crackdown that has seen the government toss out out religious orders, charities and civic groups. The legislature voted to shutter the Nicaraguan Red Cross, accusing it of “attacks on peace and stability” for helping treat injured protesters during antigovernment

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s a new leader at America’s National Archives. President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Archives was confirmed Wednesday after a partisan battle over the agency’s role in the investigation into sensitive documents seized at Donald Trump’s Florida home. The Senate confirmed Colleen Shogan as archivist in