Month: June 2023

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke have settled nearly a decade of suits and countersuits over her accusation that he drugged and raped her and his claim that she made it up and defamed him, they announced Thursday, with the singer saying that “only God

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The French government says that Zambia has reached a deal with China and several other government creditors to restructure $6.3 billion in loans. The deal was announced on the sidelines of a summit in Paris that’s aimed at reforming a global financial system to better help developing

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first gene therapy to treat a deadly form of muscular dystrophy. The treatment from Sarepta Therapeutics was approved Thursday for children ages 4 and 5 with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare muscle-wasting disease that causes early death.

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The intersex documentary “Every Body” shines a warm spotlight on a much-misunderstood community, and three of its most dauntless champions. An estimated 1.7% of the U.S. population has some intersex traits. That’s equivalent to the number of redheads in the country. The film, directed by

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his harsh public comments on China, including calling President Xi Jinping a dictator, saying his words would have no negative impact on U.S.-China relations and that he still expects to meet with Xi sometime soon. Biden said his

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and JONATHAN MATTISE NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A lockdown on a Tennessee’s legislative office building in Nashville has been lifted. The building was shuttered after several Republican leaders received what House Speaker Cameron Sexton says was “a white powder substance” in the mail. An email sent to building staff on Thursday afternoon

By DIANE JEANTET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A federal court has sentenced Brazilian engineer Mário Marcelo Santoro to 27 years in prison after he confessed to the murder of his ex-girlfriend Cecília Haddad in Australia. Santoro, today in his mid 40s, was convicted of aggravated homicide, asphyxiation, femicide and concealment of a

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has collected DNA samples from more than 200 families following last week’s sinking of an overcrowded smuggling vessel off Greece that left more than 500 migrants missing, including scores of Pakistanis. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters on Thursday that the families had approached the authorities themselves, saying they suspect their

By HOLLY RAMER, JENNIFER McDERMOTT and BEN FINLEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — About an hour and a half into its voyage, a missing submersible on an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic lost communications. It would take another eight hours before the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan,

By BEATRICE DUPUY and COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A brief but fierce storm pummeled concertgoers at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver with golf ball-sized hail, injuring dozens and forcing the cancellation of the show’s headliner, former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson. Authorities say as many as 90 people were treated

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press/Report for America RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina has given final legislative approval to a bill banning transgender girls from playing on the school sports teams that align with their gender identity. The GOP-controlled state House voted 62-43 Thursday to send the bill to the desk of Democratic Gov. Roy

MACON, Ga. (AP) — A doctors’ group that promotes animal rights is makin’ a fuss over the Macon Bacon baseball team. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine wrote to the president of the Georgia collegiate team urging him to change its name. Committee nutritional educator Anna Herby wrote that the team’s name amounts to a

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators have sent warning letters to dozens of retailers selling fruity disposable e-cigarettes, including the current best-selling brand, Elf Bar. The action Thursday is the Food and Drug Administration’s latest attempt to crack down on illegal disposable vapes that have poured into U.S. stores in

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates at least once more this year because of persistently high inflation in the economy’s service sector and the surprisingly tight job market. Speaking to the Senate Banking Committee, Powell noted that “inflation has

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Two relatives helped indicted U.S. Rep. George Santos stay out of detention while he awaits trial by guaranteeing his bond, according to court records unsealed Thursday, answering two of many questions surrounding the Republican’s finances. The documents revealed that Santos’ father, Gercino dos Santos, and an

HAVEN DALEY SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The giant canvas pink triangle that is one of the LGBTQ+ community’s Pride month symbols in San Francisco is bigger than ever this year. Volunteers said they are taking a stand for their rights amid a national pushback from conservative lawmakers. Hundreds of volunteers installed the triangle made out

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A new survey says America’s honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record, with beekeepers losing nearly half of their managed colonies. But using costly measures to create new colonies, beekeepers are somehow keeping afloat. Thursday’s University of Maryland and Auburn University

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — In a story published June 22, 2023, about the NTSB hearings on the Ohio train derailment, The Associated Press quoted National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy saying that Norfolk Southern sent details of what was on the train to its contractor within 10 minutes. Norfolk Southern said that was erroneous

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a man whose conviction on gun charges was called into question by a recent high court decision is out of luck. The court’s conservatives were in the 6-3 majority against the man, Marcus DeAngelo Jones, who was given a 27-year prison sentence for violating a federal

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In the year since the Supreme Court overturned the national legal right to abortion, President Joe Biden has made little progress toward restoring access. But the White House has maintained an intense focus on the issue as the first anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision approaches

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — The desperate search for a submersible that disappeared while taking five people to view the Titanic wreckage has drawn attention to other deep-sea rescues. Those rescue efforts — from a submersible off Ireland to a submarine off the New Hampshire coast — offer some measure of hope

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation on Thursday in a dispute involving water from the drought-stricken Colorado River. States that draw water from the river — Arizona, Nevada and Colorado — and water districts in California that are also involved in the case had urged

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes edged higher in May and the national median sale price posted its biggest annual drop in more than a decade, even as the supply of available properties sank to an all-time low. Existing home sales rose 0.2% last month

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Bret swirled close to St. Vincent late Thursday as it began pushing into the eastern Caribbean, where islands were shut down to brace for torrential downpours, landslides and flooding. The storm’s center was about 5 miles (10 kilometers) east of St. Vincent

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyans are preparing for tough times after lawmakers approved tax increases that are even unpopular with supporters of the president who once vowed to reduce the cost of living. The doubling of the tax on petroleum products, to 16%, is expected to have a ripple effect

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remained elevated last week, a possible sign that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes are beginning to cool a still-strong labor market. U.S. applications for jobless claims were 264,000 for the week ending June 17, the same as the previous week, the