Month: October 2023

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — The GOP presidential candidates are expected to woo donors and offer a staunch defense for Israel as they address at the annual gathering of a Republican Jewish group this weekend. The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual gathering of donors in Las Vegas kicking off Friday has

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has ended its search for three fishermen who are missing at sea nearly two weeks after their boat left the docks in Georgia. The decision was made Thursday evening after Coast Guard boats and planes spent a seventh day looking for the fishing vessel Carol Ann. Coast

By KEN SWEET and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried began testifying at his fraud trial on Friday, saying the innovative business he hoped would move the cryptocurrency ecosystem forward ended up doing the opposite and hurting customers. The onetime cryptocurrency golden boy lost his businesses and his reputation

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — One of the many impacts of Hollywood’s lengthy actors strike has been that most performers haven’t been able to promote their work. Movies have continued to flow into theaters and onto streaming services, but without their usual promotional blitzes. That’s led to some truly standout

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was struck by tragedy when one of his closest friends died in a mass shooting. The Democrat supports a proposal meant to keep firearms away from people deemed as threats to themselves or others. His Republican challenger offers condolences for his rival’s

By R.J. RICO Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — For more than a decade, work had been nonstop in Atlanta’s booming film industry thanks to Georgia’s extremely generous tax break. Dubbed the “Hollywood of the South,” metro Atlanta became ubiquitous as a backdrop for huge projects, including Marvel films and “Stranger Things.” But work dried up

By ANDREA ROSA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Scores of protesters have gathered in the streets of Ukrainian cities to demand a cap of 18 months on mandatory military service. The protests on Friday were a new suggestion of possible Ukrainian and international fatigue with the 20-month war. Both the warring sides are striving

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that’s closely monitored by the Federal Reserve showed price increases remained elevated in September amid brisk consumer spending and strong economic growth. Prices rose 0.4% from August to September, the same as the previous month. And compared with 12 months earlier, inflation was

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is launching a multi-agency effort to encourage states and cities to convert more empty office buildings into housing units, with billions of federal dollars available to help spur such transitions. The new initiative, announced Friday morning, involves the departments of housing and transportation as

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The families of children held captive by Hamas say they are adrift in a unique agony among the tragedies of Israel’s bloodiest day. Since the Oct. 7 massacre and incursion, Hadas Kalderon says she can hear her 12-year-old son, Erez, calling for her to save him from

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Central Bank has raised its key lending rate for the fourth time in half a year in an effort to bring down surging inflation. The bank raised the rate on Friday to 15%, up 200 basis points. The interest rate in the first half of the year was 7.5%. The bank

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Ahead of this year’s Halloween weekend, Tokyo’s busy shopping, business and entertainment district of Shibuya is trying hard to shoo away visitors. Banners across town say no drinking and no Halloween events on the street, and town officials are cordoning off their landmark statue of faithful dog

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press Voters in Maine will be deciding a question in November about whether independent automobile repair shops should have access to the same diagnostic technology as dealerships. In Ohio, voters will be settling a pair of more personal questions — whether to create a constitutional right to abortion and legalize

By HOLLY MEYER Associated Press Thanks to a rabble-rousing, socialist priest, it’s a milestone year for direct democracy in the U.S. and not just because Ohio voters are circumventing their Republican-controlled legislature to decide for themselves if they have constitutional abortion rights. The practice of citizen-originated ballot measures began 125 years ago when South Dakota

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has ordered the Vatican to reopen the case of a famous priest-artist accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing adult women. The Vatican says Francis has removed the statute of limitations on their claims to allow a canonical trial to proceed. The announcement came just

BEIJING (AP) — China’s chief epidemiologist who helped drive anti-COVID-19 measures in the country that suspended access to cities and confined millions to their homes has died. Wu Zunyou was 60 when he died on Friday. An announcement from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention about Wu’s death gave no cause but said that

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders believe it’s time to lay the foundations for a future relationship between Israel and the Palestinians where the militant group Hamas does not control Gaza. The 27-nation bloc is exploring ways to realize a long-held EU ideal — two states living peacefully side by

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian activists have slammed the government’s plan for a weeklong program in schools to support the Palestinian cause after pictures of students and teachers toting toy guns went viral on social media. The Education Ministry says the Palestine Solidarity Week program starting Monday is to teach students empathy and concern

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — An independent probe has found “serious failings” in how NatWest Group’s private and exclusive Coutts Bank shut down the account of the right-wing British politician Nigel Farage.  Law firm Travers Smith was appointed to conduct a review in the wake of Farage’s so-called “debanking” at NatWest-owned Coutts

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s ruling party has selected as its leader the daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, the country’s divisive former prime minister, highlighting the family’s continuing influence more than two decades after Thaksin entered politics. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s youngest daughter, was voted into the post at a meeting at the

By The Associated Press Russian state news agency Tass says Iran’s deputy foreign minister met Hamas representatives in Moscow. Thursday’s meeting  is likely to draw condemnation from Israel which criticised Russia’s decision to invite the Hamas representatives and called for them to be expelled from Russia. The Iranian deputy foreign minister and Hamas representative discussed

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The United States on Friday expanded its effort to cut off funding for Hamas, announcing a second round of sanctions against people and organizations linked to the group since it launched an attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people. The new sanctions highlight Iran’s role

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s royal families have elected the powerful and wealthy ruler of southern Johor state as the country’s new king under a unique rotating monarchy system. The palace said Friday that the 64-year-old Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar will ascend to the throne on Jan. 31 for a five-year term. His election had

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s state RTS television says that a shooting between migrants near Serbia’s border with Hungary has left three people dead and one other person seriously wounded. The report says the shooting happened early Friday at abandoned farming warehouses near the village of Horgos. RTS added that a large number of police

By CORA LEWIS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — About 2 in 3 Americans say their household expenses have risen over the last year, but only about 1 in 4 say their income has increased in the same period, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. As household

By ZEN SOO AP Technology Writer HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies has reported its profit inched higher in the first three quarters of this year despite persisting U.S. sanctions that have hindered both its sales and its purchases of advanced technology. Huawei said Friday that it earned 456.6 billion yuan

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Just three weeks into the deadliest war between Israel and Hamas, it already is clear that the bloodshed has flipped long-standing assumptions in Israel and the region upside down. Israel’s military and intelligence services were exposed as incompetent and ill-prepared. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decades of

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares advanced Friday after the latest tumble on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 fell to its lowest level in five months. U.S. futures gained and oil prices were more than $1 higher as the Israeli military said its troops and tanks had briefly entered

By WAFAA SHURAFA and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a second ground raid into Gaza in as many days and struck targets on the outskirts of Gaza City, the military said Friday, as it prepares for a widely expected ground

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Rights groups and lawyers in Nigeria say the West African nation’s law enforcement authorities are using the country’s same-sex prohibition law to target the LGBTQ+ community while ignoring abuses against them. The comments were made in interviews with The Associated Press in the wake of fresh