Month: July 2023

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban says beauty salons have been banned in Afghanistan because they offered services forbidden by Islam and caused economic hardships for grooms’ families. The explanation comes days after the group confirmed they were giving all salons in the country one month to close shop. In a video released Thursday, a Taliban

PHOENIX (AP) — Adults in Arizona can now obtain contraceptive medications over the counter at a pharmacy without a doctor’s prescription under a governor’s order announced Thursday. Gov. Katie Hobbs says the rule will go into effect immediately. It applies to self-administered birth control such as hormonal and oral contraceptives. Patients 18 or older need

NEW YORK (AP) — Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub have sued New York City to block its new minimum pay rules for food delivery workers. The recently announced rules could nearly triple average earnings for app-based delivery workers in the coming years. An increased pay rate of $17.96 an hour is set to take effect

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden administration attorneys say a Louisiana-based federal judge’s order broadly limiting executive branch communications with social media companies could cause “grave harm” by preventing the government from “engaging in a vast range of lawful and responsible conduct.” The lawyers filed a motion Thursday with a federal appeals court. The request to stay

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Some of the nation’s largest truck makers have pledged to not sell new gas-powered vehicles in California by the middle of the next decade. California regulators earlier this year approved new rules to ban the sale of new gas-powered trucks by 2036. Thursday’s agreement means the

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s conservative government is promising to continue a multi-billion euro defense modernization program during its second term in office, setting its sights on acquiring F-35 fighter jets in five years. Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made the pledge in parliament at the start of a debate to approve his new government

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Senate has given final approval to a bill that would expand access to abortions later in pregnancy, sending the proposal to the governor for her signature. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills pressed for the proposal that would give Maine one of the least restrictive abortion

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has decided to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help its military push back Russian forces entrenched along the front lines. The Biden administration is expected to announce on Friday that it will send thousands of them as part of

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is condemning Israel’s excessive use of force in its largest military operation in the West Bank in two decades, citing its airstrikes and ground operations in a refugee camp crowded with civilians. It was a rare condemnation of Israel by the

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Frances Tiafoe is still waiting on his sneakers from Travis Scott. The American tennis player advanced to the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday and then playfully nudged the rapper to send him a pair of his new Nike sneakers. Tiafoe joked that Scott’s says, “’Yeah, it’s coming, yeah, it’s coming.’”

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Wildfires raging across Canada have already broken records for total areas burned, the number of people forced to evacuate their homes and the cost of fighting the blazes, and the fire season is only halfway finished. Michael Norton, director general, Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, said that “it’s no

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a former Indiana congressman should pay nearly $1.4 million to cover the legal bills of companies forced to incur expenses when he was prosecuted on insider trading charges. But his lawyer says it’s an exorbitant amount to demand from a man already suffering

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut state lawmaker attacked as she left a Muslim prayer service is accusing local police of downplaying what happened to her. Democratic Rep. Maryam Khan called Thursday for a federal investigation into how the Hartford Police Department handles violent crimes, especially those against women. The

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — The case of a Texas man who was reported missing as a teenager in 2015 and found alive last week at a church took an unexpected turn Thursday when police revealed it all was a hoax — the man was only gone for a day, but

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest dropped 33.6% in the first six months of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s term, providing an encouraging sign for his administration’s environmental efforts. Lula campaigned last year with pledges to rein in illegal logging and undo the environmental devastation

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama said Thursday he believes Britney Spears grabbed him from behind as he was walking into a restaurant at a Las Vegas casino, and that the security detail he was with pushed the pop star away. Wembanyama said he wasn’t

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin police officer who ran into a burning barn and rescued three cows trapped inside says the bovines “made a beeline” for a pasture once he opened a gate holding them back. Sturgeon Bay police officer Andrew Crabb was nearing the end of his overnight shift on June 25

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials have granted full approval to a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug for patients with early stages of the disease. The Food and Drug Administration decision clears the way for Medicare and other insurers to begin paying for the drug called Leqembi. The FDA gave it

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The railroad industry has sued to block a new minimum crew-size requirement that Ohio imposed after a fiery train derailment in East Palestine in February. Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the new rule in March as part of the state’s nearly $13.5 billion state

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — John Berylson, an American businessman and owner of English soccer team Millwall who was remembered for his enthusiasm for the game, has died. He was 70. His death was the result of a car accident in Massachusetts on Tuesday and was announced by the second-division London team,

GRAND MARAIS, Minn. (AP) — A 40-acre plot of Minnesota forest land connected to a polygamous sect once led by Warren Jeffs is up for sale. News that the property is back on the market, listed for $189,000, relieved residents in the remote area near the town of Grand Marais, where some once feared the

By NOMAAN MERCHANT, LOLITA C. BALDOR and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine and is expected to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will send thousands as part of a new military aid package worth up to $800 million for the war effort

By ED WHITE Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — An engineering company accused of partial responsibility for Flint’s lead-contaminated water in 2014 and 2015 has agreed to settle lawsuits brought by some residents of the Michigan city. Lockwood, Andrews & Newman is an engineering firm known as LAN. It says in a court filing that a

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The lengthy process of putting the retired space shuttle Endeavour on display in the vertical launch position will begin this month in Los Angeles. The California Science Center announced Thursday that the six-month process will get underway July 20 at the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center currently under construction