Month: October 2023

BY AYANNA ALEXANDER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — On the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington this summer, a few Black queer advocates spoke passionately before the main program about the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights. As some of them got up to speak, the crowd was still noticeably small. Hope Giselle, a speaker

By JOSEPH KRAUSS, EDITH M. LEDERER and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours Friday, a U.N. spokesman said, as Israel presses its war to eradicate the Hamas militant group after its deadly attack. The

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says it has expressed its concerns to China after assessing that the country returned an unspecified “large number” of North Koreans, including escapees, back home. Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson of South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said Seoul did not have exact information on how many

HONG KONG (AP) — China has reported its exports and imports both fell in September from a year earlier as global demand remained muted. Customs data released Friday showed exports for September slid 6.2% to $299.13 billion in the fifth straight month of decline. Imports also slid 6.2%, to $221.43 billion. China posted a trade

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government has asked a court to revoke the legal status of the Unification Church after an Education Ministry investigation concluded the group systematically manipulated its followers into donating money, sowing fear and harming their families. Education Ministry officials submitted 5,000 pieces of documents and evidence in

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Castellanos became the first player to hit multiple homers in consecutive postseason games, sending the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-1 win in Game 4 of their NL Division Series that knocked the 104-win Atlanta Braves out of the playoffs for the second straight year. The

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 306 yards and a touchdown, Harrison Butker kicked four field goals, and the Kansas City Chiefs held off the Denver Broncos 19-8 on Thursday night for their 16th straight win over their longtime AFC West rivals. Travis Kelce had nine

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Maui County released audio of 911 calls from a deadly August wildfire late Thursday in response to a public record request from The Associated Press. The 911 audio adds another layer to what is known about the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, illustrating some of the chaos and

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho judge issued a death warrant on Thursday for the state’s longest-serving death row inmate, scheduling his execution for next month. Thomas Creech was convicted of killing two people in Valley County in 1974 and sentenced to death row. But after an appeal that sentence

By THOMAS PEIPERT Associated Press BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — As the death of Elijah McClain became a rallying point at police reform rallies in Colorado and across the county in 2020, the young man’s final words have become synonymous with the tragic case. Prosecutors also played them during a trial for two officers charged in

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press Less than a month before Hamas fighters blew through Israel’s high-tech “Iron Wall” and launched an attack that would leave more than 1,200 Israelis dead, they practiced in a very public dress rehearsal. A slickly produced two-minute propaganda video posted to social media by Hamas on

SMYRNA, Ga. (AP) — Police say a person suspected of fatally shooting two people northwest of Atlanta died by suicide while fleeing officers. The Cobb County Police Department says their major crimes unit is investigating a double homicide that happened Thursday near a dental office in Smyrna. Police say their preliminary investigation suggests that a

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is lashing out at the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in South Korea, calling it a provocation and again raising the specter of using nuclear weapons to defend itself. The North’s state media issued that threat Friday, citing its escalatory

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pop superstar Taylor Swift was back at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night to watch Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Denver Broncos, one day after walking the red carpet at the premiere of her concert movie. Swift and Kelce have

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Yehu Orland wore a shirt honoring a close friend who was killed two days earlier defending Israel, and expected to have tears in his eyes when his country’s national anthem played before a game in Brooklyn. But the coach of Maccabi Ra’anana believes continuing his

By MEAD GRUVER and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge has rejected an attempt by former President Donald Trump to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to keep him off the state ballot. The lawsuit claims the U.S. Constitution’s ban on those who have “engaged in insurrection” from holding office applies to

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri regulators are allowing a multistate wind-energy power line to increase the amount of power to the state’s consumers. State regulators on Thursday gave permission for the Grain Belt Express to expand to bring as much as 2,500 megawatts of power to Missouri. That’s the equivalent

By GUILLERMO GARAT Associated Press MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — A buyer from Argentina has paid $36,000 for a manuscript of works, including seven unpublished stories, by legendary Argentine writer Julio Cortázar at an auction in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo. The bundle of 60-year-old sheets bound together with metal fasteners and bearing the inscription “Julio Cortázar.

by DANIEL SHAILER Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is pursuing a criminal complaint against the country’s largest copper producer seeking to force a new remediation program for river pollution in the northern state of Sonora. The government’s top environment official announced Thursday that the complaint was filed in August and involves remediation funding

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin have tweaked their plan to help fund repairs at the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium to scale back the total public contribution by $54 million. A legislative committee approved the changes Thursday afternoon. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says the full chamber will vote

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Jurors Thursday convicted a Denver-area police officer of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault and acquitted another in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing. Aurora police officer

By MARCOS ALEMÁN Associated Press TECOLUCA, El Salvador (AP) — With tattoo-covered faces, wearing white shirts and shorts, gang members captured during El Salvador’s state of exception are gradually filling the country’s new mega prison. Unveiled earlier this year, the prison 45 miles southeast of the capital now holds some 12,000 accused or convicted gang

NATCHITOCHES, La. (AP) — A Northwestern State University football player has been shot and killed near an apartment complex not far from campus in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Police found 21-year-old Ronald Caldwell with multiple gunshot wounds at around 1 a.m. on Thursday. No arrests have been made. A junior from Austin, Texas, he played safety and

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Smoke from forest fires covered large swaths of the Brazilian Amazon as the region endures one of the worst droughts on record, with many rivers at historically low levels. In Manaus, the air quality ranked among the worst among cities worldwide, prompting suspension of college classes

A New York man killed after police say he came at them with swords in his hands was a former elite fencer. The state attorney general’s office says it has opened a probe into the killing of Alan Weber, 54, who died Tuesday night after being shot at his home on Long Island by a

CASTLETON, Vt. (AP) — Vermont State Police say more than 150 tips have come in since they released a sketch of a person of interest connected to the killing of a retired college dean. Honoree Flemming was shot dead a week ago on a recreation trail near the Vermont State University Castleton Campus. The composite

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Will Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah militia join the Israel-Hamas war? The answer could well determine the direction of a battle that is bound to reshape the Middle East. Hezbollah, which like Hamas is supported by Iran, has so far been on the fence about

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A federal admiralty court in Virginia has canceled a hearing to discuss a contested expedition to the Titanic shipwreck. The cancellation comes after a company significantly scaled back its dive plans. RMST Titanic Inc. owns the salvage rights to the Titanic. It originally planned to possibly

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department says investigators found 19 safety and health violations at a General Motors joint venture electric vehicle battery plant in Ohio during a two-week period this year. The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed fining Ultium Cells LLC $270,091 for the alleged violations at a recently opened

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Counties in Pennsylvania are telling Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and lawmakers that it’s too late to move up the state’s 2024 presidential primary date. In a letter last week, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania said there’s not enough time for counties to successfully administer the

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials are faulting communities in a stretch of the crop-rich San Joaquin Valley for failing to develop a plan to adequately protect groundwater. The state’s water resources board on Thursday set an April hearing to determine whether the Tulare Lake Subbasin should be placed on probation under a law aimed

By The Associated Press A founding member of the Isley Brothers who helped perform such raw rhythm and blues classics as “Shout” and “Twist and Shout” and the funky hits “That Lady” and “It’s Your Thing,” Rudolph Isley has died at 84. A Cincinnati native, Rudolph Isley began singing in church with brothers Ronald and

AIKEN, S.C. (AP) — A 79-year-old South Carolina man has avoided a possible death sentence by agreeing to plead guilty to ambushing police officers at his home in 2018. Frederick Hopkins killed two of the officers and wounded five others in Florence County. Hopkins court appearance was unannounced Thursday and reporters following the widely publicized

By TERRY SPENCER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A judge has scolded federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump as she abruptly postponed a hearing to determine if the lawyer for a co-defendant had a conflict of interest. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon accused prosecutors

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Voters in Ecuador are getting ready to pick a new president. Their choices in Sunday’s runoff election are an heir to a banana empire and an attorney. In a different year or in another country, their respective business and lawyering experience might help them deliver

By JESSE BEDAYN, AMY BETH HANSON, MATTHEW BROWN and MEAD GRUVER Associated Press DENVER (AP) — The legal and financial troubles piled up in recent months at the Colorado funeral home where authorities last week discovered at least 115 decomposing bodies. But the troubles went unnoticed by state officials who have long struggled to effectively

Authorities in Colombia say a prolific serial killer who confessed to murdering more than 190 children during the 1990s has died in a hospital where he was imprisoned. He was 66. Luis Alfredo Garavito was nicknamed “The Beast.”  He confessed to having murdered more than 190 children between the ages of 8 and 16, who

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer A leading doctors group on Thursday formally withdrew its approval of a 2009 paper on “excited delirium,” a document that critics say has been used to justify excessive force by police. The American College of Emergency Physicians in a statement called the paper outdated and said the term

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The chief executive over Georgia’s seaports says larger cargo ships will need deeper water and a taller bridge to reach the Port of Savannah in the near future. Georgia Ports Authority President and CEO Griff Lynch said Thursday that the $1.9 billion his agency is investing

CHICAGO (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the fatal 2021 shooting of Chicago police officer Ella French and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Twenty-five-year-old Eric Morgan entered the plea Thursday to charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, battery and obstruction of justice. French, who was 29,

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service charged with leaking tax information to news outlets about former President Donald Trump and thousands of the country’s wealthiest people pleaded guilty Thursday in an agreement with prosecutors. The Justice Department charged 38-year-old Charles Edward Littlejohn of Washington D.C.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Seventeen Florida sheriff’s deputies have appeared in court on charges that they stole about half a million dollars in pandemic relief funds. Court records show that the Broward County deputies are charged separately with a range of crimes. Most are charged with wire fraud, which carries a sentence of up

By ANGELA CHARLTON and JEFFREY SCHAEFFER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s interior minister ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend. President Emmanuel Macron urged French people not to allow the war in the Mideast erupt into tensions at home. Macron

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar’s highest court has ruled that next month’s presidential election be postponed for a week to allow authorities to prepare after two candidates were injured during protests when security forces fired tear gas grenades. The High Constitutional Court says the election must be moved from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16. The