Month: December 2023

By CHRISTIAN WARDLAW Edmunds Ready to go the distance, or at least as far as a plug-in hybrid can take you on electricity before using a drop of gas? Edmunds has performed the research so you don’t need to. In this article, you’ll discover the plug-in hybrids with the most electric range in five different

By ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower was shut down to visitors Wednesday because of a strike over contract negotiations, the day the Paris monument marks 100 years since the death of its creator, Gustave Eiffel. Tourists can still access the glass-enclosed esplanade beneath the tower, but access to the 300-meter

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ja Morant is quickly re-establishing himself as one of the NBA’s best players upon his return from a 25-game suspension and the Memphis Grizzlies are reaping the benefits. Morant has averaged 28.8 points through his first four games since returning from a ban that stemmed

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s defense minister says the military has hit more than 70 sites linked to Kurdish groups in Syria and northern Iraq in aerial strikes launched in retaliation for the deaths of 12 Turkish soldiers in Iraq. Yasar Guler said Wednesday at least 59 militants were killed in the strikes as well

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian politician calling for peace in Ukraine has lost her appeal against election officials’ refusal to accept her nomination for the country’s presidential race that President Vladimir Putin is all but certain to win. Former regional legislator Yekaterina Duntsova has called for peace in Ukraine. Russia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected

LONDON (AP) — Bill Granger, the Australian chef, food writer and restaurant owner who brought Aussie-style food to international capitals from London to Seoul, has died. He was 54. Granger’s family said on social media Tuesday that the chef died in a hospital in London on Christmas Day. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Granger was a

By NAJIB JOBAIN, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war. Residents reported heavy bombing in

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek air force training jet has crashed in the countryside outside an airbase near the southern town of Kalamata, leaving its pilot missing. State-run ERT television said the two-seater T-2 aircraft was carrying only one crew member, who was seen ejecting before the crash Wednesday morning. Rescue teams cordoned off

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Najiah Knight is a 17-year-old bull rider with a big dream. She wants to be the first woman to compete at the top level of the Professional Bull Riders tour. She’s garnered attention in bull riding circles for years. She’s eligible for the top

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Najiah Knight is a 17-year-old bull rider with a big dream. She wants to be the first woman to compete at the top level of the Professional Bull Riders tour. She’s garnered attention in bull riding circles for years. She’s eligible for the top

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The death toll from a massive fire at a guesthouse in Romania has risen to seven people, including at least two children. Emergency intervention teams were deployed to the blaze that erupted Tuesday morning in the village of Tohani in Prahova county. Authorities confirmed the death of a second child Wednesday

By YAYAN ZAMZAMI Associated Press BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Students in Indonesia’s Aceh province have rallied demanding the government drive away Rohingya refugees arriving by boat in growing numbers as police named more suspects of human trafficking. Over 1,500 Rohingya, who fled violent attacks in Myanmar and now are leaving camps in neighboring Bangladesh

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has fired almost 50 Shahed drones at targets in Ukraine and shelled a train station where more than 100 civilians were gathered to evacuate. Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that the barrages killed at least six people and knocked out power in most of the southern

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say they have detained a man in connection with a reported threat to Cologne Cathedral over the holiday weekend. Police searched the cathedral with sniffer dogs just before Christmas, and Christmas Eve worshippers faced security checks to get into midnight Mass there. Cologne police say they took precautions over Christmas

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. ecommerce company Zulily says it is closing down, surprising customers, after efforts to salvage the business failed. The Seattle-based company said in a notice on its website that it had tried to fill all pending orders and expected to manage that within the coming two weeks. Zulily said it was

By The Associated Press World shares advanced on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street gains as markets there reopened for what’s expected to be a quiet, holiday-shortened week of trading. The future contract for the S&P 500 added less than 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower. European shares opened steady in

BEIJING (AP) — China says it is banning a United States research company and two analysts who have reported extensively on claims of human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups native to the country’s northwest. China is accused of sending Muslims to prison camps for brainwashing and forced labor. Foreign Ministry spokesperson

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and as finance minister was a central figure in the austerity-heavy effort to drag Europe out of its debt crisis more than two decades later, has died. He was 81. His family told German news agency dpa that

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese nuclear safety regulators are lifting an operational ban imposed on Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator behind the Fukushima disaster. The move allows TEPCO to resume preparations for restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, another plant it runs, after a more than 10-year stoppage. The plant on the

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will seek a fourth term in office, his party says, noting he will be its consensus candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and the office of the prime minister. Sharif, who has served as prime minister three times, returned to Pakistan in October after four

By GENE JOHNSON, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, MARK THIESSEN and LINDSEY WASSON Associated Press LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — A wildfire that tore through the heart of the Hawaii island of Maui this summer showed how older residents are at particular risk from disasters. Sixty of the 100 people killed in the Maui fire this summer were

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — At his suburban St. Louis home, Brett Koenig can pull out his smartphone and open a sports betting app. But he can’t place a bet. He is blocked by a pop-up message noting he is not in a legal location. Missouri is one of

By JOSHUA GOODMAN AND ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The Venezuelan diaspora is one of the most vexing migration challenges facing the U.S. secretary of state and the homeland security secretary when they meet Mexico’s president Wednesday to discuss unprecedented arrivals at the border. Venezuelans topped all nationalities in border arrests in September.

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — The blank canvass of desert wilderness in northern Nevada seemed the perfect place in 1992 for artistic anarchists to relocate their annual burning of a towering, anonymous effigy. It was goodbye to San Francisco’s Baker Beach, hello to the Nevada playa, the long-ago floor of an

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — Much of how South Carolina has seen its civil rights history has been through the lens of photographer Cecil Williams. From sit-ins to prayer protests to portraits of African Americans integrating universities and rising to federal judges, Williams has snapped it. After years of work, Williams’

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press GILBERT, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley is betting her 2024 candidacy on winning South Carolina. But the politics of Haley’s home state have shifted far to the right since she was governor. That threatens her ability to tap into her local roots to notch the victory she has promised. In

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With the GOP primary process just about to start, many Republicans aren’t certain that votes will be counted correctly in their presidential primary contest, amid widespread pessimism about the future of both the Democratic and Republican parties, according to a new poll from The

By TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — On Dec. 28, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act. The powerful law charged the federal government with saving every endangered plant and animal in America. It enjoyed nearly unanimous bipartisan support but soon became controversial. The United States’ own national animals, the bison

By TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — On Dec. 28, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act. “Nothing,” he said, “is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” The powerful new law charged the federal government with

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A top U.S. delegation is to meet with Mexico’s president Wednesday in what many see as a bid to get him to do more to stem a surge of migrants reaching the U.S. southwestern border. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he is willing to help, as he’s done before.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — At least nine people have died in wild weather in the Australian eastern states of Queensland and Victoria, officials said on Wednesday. Three men were killed after a boat with 11 people aboard capsized in rough weather in Moreton Bay off the south Queensland coast on Tuesday, police said. Ambulances took

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Actor Lee Sun-kyun of the Oscar-winning movie “Parasite” has been found unconscious, South Korean police said Wednesday. Police officers discovered an unconscious Lee at an unidentified Seoul location on Wednesday but gave no further details. South Korean media including Yonhap news agency reported that Lee was found dead in a

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a missing pregnant Texas teenager and her boyfriend have been found dead in a car in San Antonio and police say they may have been there for days. The bodies of 18-year-old Savanah Nicole Soto and 22-year-old Matthew Guerra were found Tuesday afternoon in an apartment complex parking

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised what he called achievements and victories that strengthened national power this year, as he opened a key political meeting to set new policy goals for 2024. North Korean state media said Wednesday that Kim made the comments

HONOLULU (AP) — A high surf warning is in effect for some of Hawaii’s shores. The National Weather Service says some north shores could see waves of up to 30 feet. The high surfing warning is in effect for north- and west-facing shores of the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Molokai and Niihau and north-facing shores

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Remains found by hikers in a shallow grave 47 years ago near a lake on the border of Arizona and Nevada have been identified. The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday that the man was Luis Alonso Paredes, who was from El Salvador but may have been living or working

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — From an ice storm in North Dakota that sealed windows shut to blizzard conditions in Colorado causing hundreds of airport delays and cancellations, a winter storm pummeled much of the central United States on Tuesday, the day after Christmas. “The heavy snow conditions in the