Month: October 2023

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador has sent more than 4,000 security forces into three communities on the outskirts of the capital to root out gang members. That move comes as President Nayib Bukele prepares to request another extension of emergency powers to combat crime. Bukele announced the pre-dawn operation Tuesday in a

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A gun count that had been part of a collapsed plea deal in the Hunter Biden case has been dismissed as a judge signed off on a prosecution request. Wednesday’s order from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika formally removes a gun-possession charge that has now been replaced

ST. CLAIR, Mo. (AP) — District officials say a Missouri high school teacher who was suspended after officials discovered that she was performing on a pornography website has resigned. St. Clair High School English teacher Brianna Coppage was placed on leave last month after school officials discovered her page on the OnlyFans website. The 28-year-old

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two newly created national wildlife refuges in Tennessee and Wyoming will help protect habitats for threatened and endangered species such as toads, bats, shrimp and salamanders, federal officials say. The Wyoming Toad Conservation Area and the Paint Rock River National Wildlife Refuge in Tennessee are the

By AMY TEIBEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Hamas-run Gaza Strip is a tiny enclave, measuring 25 miles long and no more than 7 miles wide, surveilled continually by Israel, surrounded by its guns. But rescuing — or even locating — more than 150 hostages hustled there by Palestinian militants who overran Israel’s southern

HELSINKI (AP) — Finnish police say they have launched a criminal investigation into possible sabotage of an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia that was shut down over the weekend following a leak. Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, or NBI, says it has started gathering evidence at the location of the leak, which was

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer While Twitter has always struggled with combatting misinformation about major news events, it was still the go-to place to find out what’s happening in the world. But the Israel-Hamas war has underscored how the platform now transformed into X has become not only unreliable but is actively promoting falsehoods.

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says the number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to 22. That’s an increase from the 14 who’d been confirmed dead one day on Tuesday. President Joe Biden told reporters Wednesday that there was no

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — A court in Slovakia found former President Andrej Kiska guilty of tax fraud and gave him a two-year suspended sentence. The county court in the city of Poprad also handed him on Wednesday a fine of about $16,000. The verdict is not final and his legal team says he plans to

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden is recognizing 15 young women from around the United States for their advocacy on a range of issues in their communities. Many of those issues are priorities for the White House, too. They range from lobbying for tighter gun laws and against banning

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA on Wednesday showed off its first asteroid samples delivered last month by a spacecraft — the most ever returned to Earth. Scientists and space agency leaders took part in the reveal at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The ancient black dust and chunks

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Democratic challenger in the Mississippi governor’s race, Brandon Presley, has raised more campaign cash than Republican Gov. Tate Reeves so far this year. But finance reports filed Tuesday show that Reeves has more money left to spend in the final weeks of the race.

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It has been 25 years since the body of Matthew Shepard was discovered in Laramie, Wyoming. The gay college student had been tied to a fence post, tortured and left to die. The murder drew national attention to violence against gay people, and attracted the

By The Associated Press Brendan Malone, father of Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone and a driving force behind the Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys” defenses in the late 1980s and early ’90s, has died at age 81. A Nuggets representative told The Associated Press on Tuesday that a family member confirmed his death. “It is with

INDIANA, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a confrontation between several people at a private party inside a Pennsylvania community center led to gunfire that killed one man and wounded eight other people. Police say the shooting early Sunday inside the Chevy Chase Community Center in White Township sent people diving from windows and bolting through

By MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press DAJABON, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic has partially reopened its border with Haiti to limited commercial activity nearly a month after shuttering the frontier amid an ongoing spat over construction of a canal targeting water from a shared river. Vendors in Dominican border cities

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly speaker revealed the names of the three former state Supreme Court justices he asked to investigate possible impeachment of a sitting justice for the first time in a court filing made public Wednesday. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos floated impeaching liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — From auto production lines to Hollywood, the power of labor unions is back in the national spotlight. But despite historic strikes and record contract negotiations seen this year, there’s still a lot stacked against organizing today. Rates of union membership have been falling for decades.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lidia has dissipated after hitting land as a Category 4 hurricane near the resort of Puerta Vallarta. One person was killed by a falling tree and two others were injured after the hurricane made landfall on Tuesday and carried winds as high as 140 mph before moving inland. The U.S. National

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A conservation group in Cyprus says that police have been lax in cracking down on criminal gangs who illegally trap songbirds to supply restaurants. Tassos Shialis of the conservation group BirdLife Cyprus says that the overall war on songbird poaching is being won. But he says criminal gangs continue to make

NEW YORK (AP) — Fiction originally written in Vietnamese, Polish and French and poetry in German and Arabic are among this year’s finalists for National Translation Awards. On Wednesday, the American Literary Translators Association announced lists of six finalists in prose and poetry, with winning translators in each category receiving $4,000. The books include a

ALLENDALE, Mich. (AP) — Prosecutors are recommending a prison sentence for a former Republican candidate for Michigan governor. Ryan Kelley pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his participation in the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. He returns to federal court in Washington next week. Prosecutors say Kelley has shown no remorse. They want a three-month prison

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish court has fined climate activist Greta Thunberg once again for disobeying police during an environmental protest in July in southern Sweden. The Malmo District Court on Wednesday fined her 2,250 kroner ($206). Thunberg has been fined for a similar offense earlier. She took part in a July 24 environmental protest

Jada Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith have lived what she says are “completely separate lives” since 2016. Pinkett Smith made the revelation in a interview with Hoda Kotb. The prominent Hollywood couple married in 1997 and have addressed separations and marital troubles. But never this specifically. Though it’s not a legal divorce, Pinkett Smith

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have arrested an Iraqi man accused of involvement in the killing of prisoners and the amputation of a person’s hand as a member of the Islamic State group in his homeland. Federal prosecutors said the suspect was arrested on Wednesday in the western city of Wuppertal. He is accused of

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Cellist Alisa Weilerstein and conductor Rafael Payare are on a four-concert cross-country run that ends Friday night at Carnegie Hall. They met in 2009 at a rehearsal in Caracas, Venezuela, became a couple three nights later and were married in 2013. Getting them on the road

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — In his two decades as a professional drug snitch, Jorge Hernández was a master of the double cross. He lied to his handlers, threatened to unmask fellow informants and even admitted killing three people during his days as a cocaine runner. But time

By KRYSTA FAURIA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — While John Carpenter has become synonymous with fictional horror storytelling, the 75-year-old director is dipping his toe into true life terrors with his new show, “John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams.” The director sat down with The Associated Press for a wide-ranging interview ahead of the release of

By EMMANUEL IGUNZA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s government has announced that it won’t renew a deal that saw Cuban doctors employed in Kenya while those from the East African country travelled to Cuba for specialized training. The program has been unpopular with Kenya’s main doctors union, partly because the Cuban doctors received

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis is launching a program that seeks to help low-income families by providing them with $500 monthly payments for a year and a half. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the program is a signature priority for Mayor Tishaura Jones, who said Tuesday that the money will go to hundreds

PARIS (AP) — France’s highest administrative authority has rejected an effort by rights campaigners to end what they allege is a generalized practice by French police of targeting Black people and people of Arab descent for stops and checks. Local grassroots organizations and international rights groups had hoped that a favorable ruling from the Council

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Soccer officials in Australia and Indonesia have floated the idea of teaming up in a bid to rival Saudi Arabia for the hosting rights to the men’s World Cup in 2034. The Sydney Morning Herald has reported comments from Indonesia soccer federation president Erick Thohir about ongoing talks that could also

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Country superstar Keith Urban and Kix Brooks of powerhouse duo Brooks & Dunn will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on Wednesday night at Nashville’s Music City Center. Urban, a four-time Grammy Award winning musician, is being celebrated at the 53rd anniversary

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister says Malaysia’s national carmaker Proton and its Chinese partner Geely are considering setting up a plant in Thailand to produce electric vehicles. Srettha said after talks with Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday in Malaysia that the two sides would hold a meeting to identify the next step

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Family and supporters of an African American combat medic who tended to dozens of troops under harrowing conditions on D-Day in northern France are gathering in Arlington National Cemetery to posthumously honor him. During Wednesday’s ceremony, Waverly Woodson’s wife and son will receive his Bronze Star and

NEW YORK (AP) — Birkenstock is making its debut on the stock market as Wall Street trades in its wingtips for sandals for a day. The 249-year-old German maker of upmarket sandals set a price of $46 per share for its initial public offering of stock, valuing the company at $8.64 billion. It is due