Month: November 2023

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Lewiston, Maine, takes another step in its recovery from the state’s worst mas shooting, as high school football resturns. Friday’s game between Lewiston High School and Edward Little High School was postponed and now will be played Wednesday night. Known as the “Battle of the Bridge,”

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands has declared a state of emergency after officials revealed last week that tap water in St. Croix contains lead and copper and warned people not to consume it. The declaration announced Wednesday frees up urgently needed resources, streamlines emergency response and allows

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and LOLITA BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are trying a new workaround to confirm hundreds of military officers blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, ten months after the Alabama Republican first said he would object to the nominations over a Pentagon abortion policy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said

By CLAIRE SAVAGE Associated Press/Report for America CHICAGO (AP) — A jury in Illinois has ordered Chicago-based Conagra Brands to pay $7.1 million to a Pennsylvania woman who was badly injured in 2017 when a can of commercial brand cooking spray ignited in a kitchen at her workplace and set her aflame. The verdict, issued

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus has offered more detail about its initiative to create a sea corridor for the steady flow of humanitarian assistance from Cyprus to Gaza, saying that aid-laden ships would sail directly to the enclave, where United Nations personnel would receive it for eventual distribution. Cyprus government

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The state of Tennessee has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal lawsuit by its former vaccine leader over her firing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Agreement details obtained in a public records request shows that it limits what Michelle Fiscus can say and what can

By HOLLY RAMER, LINDSAY WHITEHURST, KIMBERLEE KRUESI and BERNARD CONDON Associated Press LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — A history of mental illness. An array of weapons. Numerous run-ins with police. But he was still able to able to own guns and commit the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history. One week later, many in Lewiston and

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The mayors of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and New York are pressing to meet with President Joe Biden about getting federal help in managing the surge of migrants they say are arriving in their cities with little to no coordination, support or resources from his administration.

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press If Henry Winkler is not a morning person, it’s impossible to tell. He’s logged onto Zoom for an interview about his new memoir but occasionally is interrupted by a phone call — which he answers with a cheery “Good Morning.” His granddaughter walks through his home office, as do his

Associated Press Delta Air Lines says the pilot accused of threatening to shoot the plane’s captain during a flight no longer works for the airline, and federal officials say his authority to carry a gun on board was revoked. Jonathan J. Dunn was indicted Oct. 18 and charged with interfering with a flight crew over

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A court says Pennsylvania can’t enforce a regulation to make power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The ruling Wednesday by the Commonwealth Court is another setback for the centerpiece of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight global warming. The court temporarily

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer The time to shop for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s coverage marketplaces is back. Experts and insurance agents say people should think about more than price before picking next year’s coverage. Experts say you can prevent financial surprises or buyer’s remorse by knowing what a plan covers,

ROME (AP) — Italian politicians and Jewish leaders are condemning the antisemitic vandalizing of four memorial plaques. The tiny plaques are embedded in Rome’s sidewalks in front of apartment buildings where four Roman Jews had been living when they were deported from the Nazi-occupied city in 1944 and sent to their deaths in Auschwitz. The

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Teachers in Portland, Oregon, went on strike Wednesday, shuttering school for some 45,000 students in Oregon’s biggest city. The Portland Association of Teachers union said it was the first-ever teacher’s strike in the district. Large class sizes, salaries that haven’t kept up with inflation

NEW YORK (AP) — An 80-foot-tall (24-meter) Norway spruce from the Binghamton area has been selected as this year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and will be cut down and trucked to New York City next week. Rockefeller Center officials say the tree will be cut on Nov. 9 in Vestal, New York, and will arrive

By EMMANUEL IGUNZA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya has announced a sharp increase in passenger fares on the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway as the country struggles with repaying loans owed to Beijing and others along with higher fuel prices. That affects travel between the capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa. They

The Associated Press The Associated Press news website experienced an outage that appeared to be consistent with a denial-of-service attack, a federal criminal act that involves flooding a site with data in order to overwhelm it and knock it offline. Attempting to visit the apnews.com site at various points from Tuesday afternoon would load the

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The operator of the Keystone pipeline system and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say that the company has finished cleaning up a massive December 2022 oil spill in northeast Kansas. Canada-based TC Energy and the EPA’s regional office announced Tuesday that the creek affected by the

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas says she won’t seek reelection in 2024. The Republican chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee is the nation’s longest-serving GOP congresswoman. The 80-year-old congresswoman said Wednesday that “it’s time for the next generation to step up.” Her decision ends a barrier-breaking career that

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish prosecution dismissed two separate cases against former defense minister, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, and ex-head of the country’s foreign intelligence service, Lars Findsen, due to the inability to divulge classified information in court. Both were charged with leaking state secrets. In a statement, Denmark’s prosecution authority said Wednesday that “in the

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — In a closing argument, a prosecutor told a New York jury to follow overwhelming evidence and the “pyramid of deceit” that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried constructed to conclude he’s guilty of fraud charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos launched a day of closings in Manhattan federal

By JACK JEFFERY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Libyan authorities say an international conference seeking to reconstruct one of Libya’s coastal city’s, decimated in a fatal flood in early September, has begun. The two-day conference marks a tentative step toward the rebuilding of the city of Derna, with at total of 400 participants convening there

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria has expelled a Russian journalist for allegedly engaging in activities that pose a threat to the country’s national security. The State Agency for National Security said the correspondent for Russian state-run newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta was barred from entering Bulgaria and other European Union member nation. The agency says Alexander Gatsak

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints investment arm misused hundreds of thousands of dollars donated by three men by investing the money instead of using it for charitable purposes as they claim was promised. The legal action brings

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The extension of the U.S. program allowing sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets is expected to be high on the agenda of the U.S. Africa Growth and Opportunity Act trade forum that will begin in South Africa on Thursday. Officials including U.S. trade representative Ambassador

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers posted 9.6 million job openings in September, up from 9.5 million in August and a sign that the U.S. job market remains strong in the face of higher interest rates. Layoffs fell, and the number of Americans quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The German government has approved legislation that would allow asylum-seekers to start working sooner and a plan to stiffen punishment for people who smuggle migrants. The package backed on Wednesday by the Cabinet, which still requires parliamentary approval, is the latest in a series of steps taken

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press SANTA MARÍA ATZOMPA, México (AP) — Ana Martínez is eager to welcome her deceased loved ones back home. Martínez and others in southern Mexico’s Oaxaca state wait with anticipation for Day of the Dead celebrations every Nov. 1, when families place homemade altars to honor their dearly departed and

LONDON (AP) — Police in England say two more men have been arrested in the investigation into who cut down the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree. Northumbria Police said Wednesday that the men were in their 30s. They were released on bail without being charged in the felling of the iconic sycamore. The tree stood for

By ED DAVEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — France, England and countries across western Europe are bracing for what meteorologists warn could be some of the highest wind speeds the region has witnessed in decades as Storm Ciarán hurtles toward coastlines and is set to make landfall on Wednesday evening. Residents were battening down the

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Huey Lewis, who with his band The News stormed radio in the 1980s with such rock-pop hits as “The Power of Love” and “I Want a New Drug,” is about to take his music to a Broadway stage. Lewis says the jukebox musical “The Heart

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Israel’s ambassador to Moscow offered new details of the weekend riots at an airport in southern Russia when a flight from Tel Aviv landed there, saying some of the passengers had to hide in the terminal before being flown by helicopter to safety. Ambassador Alexander Ben

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press The Environmental Protection Agency spent more than a year investigating whether Louisiana’s oversight of industrial air emissions discriminated against Black residents. That ended in June without Louisiana agreeing to change their practices. A draft agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that Louisiana health officials were open to stronger rules,

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is pressing Catholic theologians to be more in tune with the challenges of ordinary people. In a document that Francis issued on Wednesday, he also encouraged theologians to dialogue with different Christian confessions and other religions as well as with non-believers. He said he

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press VALLE DE BRAVO, Mexico (AP) — It’s as if Narcissus Quagliata is painting with light. He sprinkles the crushed, colorful glass onto a template of his own design before baking the powder-coated pane at nearly 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit for almost an entire day. Once cooled, a translucent, stained-glass image