Month: June 2023

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon is preparing to step down. Rendon will hand over the gavel to Assemblymember Robert Rivas on Friday. Rendon is the second-longest serving Assembly speaker in state history. He’s not happy about the way he’s leaving office. He said Rivas’ efforts to

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The “Alaska Weather” program has been must-see TV for 47 years in a state where extreme weather dictates everyday life. But the only weather show produced by the National Weather Service will have its last on-air broadcast Friday. It’s move to YouTube-only has led to fears

By SYLVIE CORBET, JOHN LEICESTER and ALEX TURNBULL Associated Press NANTERRE, France (AP) — France mobilized tens of thousands of police officers Thursday in an effort to head off widespread urban rioting following the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old that shocked the nation, with commuters rushing home before transport services closed early to avoid

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The window for local, state and tribal governments to challenge their 2020 census figures closes after Friday, and with it the opportunity to correct mistakes in population totals that could cost them millions of dollars in federal funding. As of this week, almost 160 challenges had been filed through two

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government says that from Saturday, it will be the first nation in the world to ban the thin plastic bags that supermarket customers use to collect their fruit and vegetables. The new ban will also extend to plastic straws and silverware, as the

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say a suspected cooking gas explosion has injured at least 15 people and damaged a restaurant and two nearby food outlets in a province south of Manila. Twelve parked cars were slightly damaged by the blast on Thursday at Mr. Won’s Samgyeopsal Korean restaurant in the port city of

By MICHAEL WAGAMAN Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Domingo Germán of the New York Yankees has pitched the 24th perfect game in major league history, retiring every Oakland batter in an 11-0 victory over the Athletics. It was the first perfect game since Seattle Mariners ace Félix Hernández threw one against the Tampa Bay

By SOPHIE AUSTIN and JANIE HAR Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s first-in-the-nation reparations task force met for a final time in a crowded hearing room in Sacramento Thursday. A boisterous audience chanted for reparations as the task force submitted its final report to lawmakers. The findings document the state’s role in

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Norfolk Southern’s CEO has spoken often of safety and better service since he took the job over a year ago, but it’s safety that has dominated discussions after one of his trains derailed and caught fire in February in Ohio. Alan Shaw has said his plans

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer The only break much of America can hope for anytime soon from eye-watering dangerous smoke from fire-struck Canada is brief bouts of shirt-soaking sweltering heat and humidity from a southern heat wave that has already proven deadly, forecasters say. And then the smoke will likely come back to the

By JILL COLVIN and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s criminal indictment on charges of mishandling government secrets appears to have dented his popularity among Republicans — but only slightly —- according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Sixty percent of Republicans

By ANDI JATMIKO and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Muslims across Indonesia on Thursday were celebrating Eid al-Adha, one of the biggest holidays in the Islamic calendar, with full meat-based feasts after fears of last year’s foot-and-mouth disease outbreak waned. Eid al-Adha, known as the “Feast of Sacrifice,” coincides with the final

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden closed out an end-of-quarter campaign blitz Thursday with a pair of Manhattan fundraisers hosted by Wall Street power brokers, a funding push designed to put Biden on strong financial footing for a 2024 White House contest expected to set spending records.

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge says she won’t block temporarily a large swath of North Carolina’s abortion law taking effect this weekend that includes a near-ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles made the comment Wednesday in Greensboro federal court as she considered

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Senate, in a surprise move, are proceeding with trying to force a vote on firing the state’s nonpartisan top elections official before the 2024 presidential election. The Senate voted Wednesday night to move ahead at a later date with a public

By MALAK HARB Associated Press ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The baby sea turtle flapped its flippers as it was lowered into the ocean, only to be pushed back ashore by the strong tide. It tried again, and this time it made it, swimming fast and deep into Persian Gulf waters lapping at

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — What was shaping up as a regular workday turned out to be anything but for the organizers of France’s first summer Olympic Games in a century. French anti-corruption police raided their bustling Olympic headquarters on the outskirts of Paris, arriving unannounced and accompanied by a magistrate

By AAMER MADHANI and JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s youngest brother said in a radio interview that the president has been “very open-minded” in conversations the two have had about the benefits of psychedelics as a form of medical treatment. Frank Biden made the comments during a call into The

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — An appeals court has denied a new trial request from a longtime Texas death row inmate whose supporters say there is evidence to back his claims of innocence. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday accepted a 2021 recommendation from a lower court judge, who

By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have selected Connor Bedard with the first pick in the NHL draft. The move should kick-start a hopeful new era for Chicago. Bedard is a highly skilled offensive forward who’s drawn comparisons to Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. Bedard is the second

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hundreds of people in Puerto Rico including religious leaders, economists, teachers and retirees are protesting a proposed increase to already high electric bills that a growing number of people are struggling to pay. The crowd marched Wednesday toward the governor’s mansion. They held up

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and TikTok serve as a vehicle for deception, misinformation and scams aimed at migrants seeking a better life for them and their families in the United States. The ignorance of many of those who venture into a dangerous journey across the borders makes them fall

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Women’s World Cup has an official song. It’s a collaboration between alt-pop artists from the two host countries, New Zealand’s BENEE and Australia’s Mallrat. The song is called “Do It Again” and the musicians will perform it at the tournament’s opening ceremony on July

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Internet gambling would be allowed to take place for at least five more years under the latest proposal by New Jersey lawmakers. On Wednesday evening, legislators abandoned a move they made just a day earlier to drastically cut the extension of internet casino gambling in

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — A suspect in the stabbing of a professor and two students during a class on gender issues at a university in the Canadian city of Waterloo has been charged in what police are calling a hate-motivated attack. Waterloo Regional Police say Geovanny Villalba-Aleman faces three counts of

By MADDIE BURAKOFF AP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have observed for the first time the faint ripples caused by the motion of black holes that are gently stretching and squeezing everything in the universe. They reported Wednesday that they were able to “hear” what are called low-frequency gravitational waves — changes in

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A man who oversaw food service for New York City schools was convicted Wednesday in a bribery case that picked apart how chicken tenders riddled with bone and bits of metal were served for months in the nation’s biggest public school system. Former city Department of

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers have finalized legislation that would bar certain gender-affirming care for children. It also would prevent state funds from being used to provide such therapies and procedures. The House voted on Wednesday to accept a version of the measure approved by the Senate and it now heads to Democratic

By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Lawyers for the family of a Virginia man who died of asphyxiation after he was pinned to the floor for about 11 minutes while being admitted to a psychiatric hospital have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation. In a

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A U.N. human rights expert says that a specialized international force is needed to help fight gang violence in Haiti and that an embargo on weapons should be implemented immediately. William O’Neill spoke Wednesday at the end of a 10-day trip after meeting with civil

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department says 44 farms in Mississippi exploited local Black workers by paying higher wages to immigrants on temporary work visas. The department announced it completed investigations in the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest areas of the U.S. The 44 farms include

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Human remains have likely been recovered from the wreckage of the submersible that imploded during an underwater voyage to view the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday. The news came hours after the announcement that debris from the Titan, collected from the seafloor more than