Month: December 2023

LONDON (AP) — British Home Secretary James Cleverly is under fire for making a date rape joke at a party just hours after announcing plans to crack down on the offense. Cleverly, who oversees national security and law enforcement in England and Wales, faces a call to step down after he reportedly joked at a

By STEPHEN GROVES and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With support for Ukraine slipping in Congress, the United States is once again struggling to assert its role in the world. Congress is not expected to return for two weeks while continued aid for Ukraine has nearly been exhausted. Still, congressional leaders are

By DAVID McHUGH Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Tourist visits have been barred at Germany’s landmark Cologne cathedral and Christmas Eve worshippers face security checks to get into midnight Mass as police respond to indications of a potential attack. However, a top security official urged people not to shy away from holiday celebrations out

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers are telling a federal appeals court that he was acting within his role as president when he pressed claims about “alleged fraud and irregularity” in the 2020 election. The attorneys also said in a filing late Saturday night that the “historical fallout is tremendous”

By ANGELA CHARLTON and ELISE MORTON PARIS (AP) — Judges will decide whether about 300 Indian citizens, suspected of being victims of human trafficking, should continue to be sequestered in a small French airport. En route to Central America, the passengers have been held at Vatry airport — in Champagne country — since Thursday after

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian state TV says the country’s navy has added domestically produced sophisticated cruise missiles to its arsenal. It said Sunday that both Talaeieh and Nasir cruise missiles have arrived at a naval base near the Indian Ocean in the southern Iranian port of Konarak. Navy chief Adm. Shahram Irani

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus looks like a ghost town on Christmas Eve, with celebrations in Bethlehem called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. The festive lights and Christmas tree that decorate Manger Square are missing, as are the throngs of foreign tourists

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Atop many Christmas wish lists in economically troubled Zimbabwe is a travel document. People are flooding the passport office this holiday season ahead of a price hike planned in the New Year. The desperation at the office in the capital is palpable as some people fear

By TIA GOLDENBERG, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military says more than a dozen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. It was some of the bloodiest days of battle since the start of Israel’s ground offensive in late October

By MOHAMMAD TAUFAN Associated Press PALU, Indonesia (AP) — A smelting furnace has exploded at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 13 workers and injuring dozens of others. The incident on Sunday was the latest of a series of deadly accidents in nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s state media says Tehran has summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires after Moscow and Arab countries released a joint statement earlier this week challenging Iran’s claim to disputed islands in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s official IRNA news agency said Sunday the Russian envoy was summoned the day before and handed

By JOHN O’CONNOR Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Pillsbury Mills was a groundbreaking, history-making flour mill in central Illinois for most of the 20th century. But its continued disuse prompted a nonprofit group to create a five-year plan for razing the empty plant on Springfield’s northeast side. The group called Moving Pillsbury Forward has

By JESSE BEDAYN The Associated Press/Report for America FORT MORGAN, Colo. (AP) — Millions of migrants have arrived in the U.S. in recent years, many in cities and counties across America. After an arduous journey, they face the next challenges of finding enough work and a roof to sleep under and can often feel alone

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — The room was packed with Native American leaders from across the United States, all invited to Washington to hear from federal officials about President Joe Biden’s accomplishments and new policy directives aimed at improving relationships and protecting sacred sites. Arlan Melendez was not among them. The

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Police in Cologne, Germany, say indications of a possible attack have led them to search the country’s landmark cathedral with sniffer dogs. They add that worshippers attending Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday in the Cologne landmark will undergo security screening before being allowed in. Meanwhile, police in Vienna, Austria, also said

BEAVER, W.Va. (AP) — Officials say an inmate at a West Virginia jail scrutinized in lawsuits citing inmate deaths and alleging poor living conditions has been pronounced dead. Authorities say correctional officers at Southern Regional Jail found a 24-year-old man unresponsive in his cell and attempted life-saving measures. He was then taken to a local

HONOLULU (AP) — The state has announced the first recipients of a program aimed at helping medical professionals pay off student loans in exchange for a two-year commitment to provide care in Hawaii. Gov. Josh Green, who is also a doctor, says he wants the Hawaii Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program to become a national

DORA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman with two uteri and two cervixes has given birth to two babies after carrying one of them in each uterus. Kelsey Hatcher of Dora, about 28 miles (45.06 kilometers) from Birmingham gave birth to two girls on Wednesday and Thursday after a combined 20 hours of labor. Hatcher

By MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has vetoed a bill days before Christmas that would have banned noncompete agreements, which restrict workers’ ability to leave their job for a role with a rival business. The veto is a blow to labor groups, who have long

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — Multiple people were injured Saturday during what authorities described as “an active shooting” situation at a shopping mall in central Florida. The Ocala Police Department said they were responding to “an active shooting” situation at the Paddock Mall in Ocala, located about 80 miles northwest of Orlando. The police department later

By MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has struck down a bill days before Christmas that would have made it easier for people who have pleaded guilty to crimes to challenge their convictions after the measure came under fierce opposition by prosecutors. This year marks the

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The city of Tampa, Florida, has reached an agreement with the federal government to resolve a discrimination lawsuit alleging that male workers didn’t receive the same parental leave time as female workers. Under the proposed settlement reached Thursday, Tampa will pay $300,000 and credit 240 hours of additional leave time to

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A woman who was shot in the head while she was a passenger in a car fleeing from police has filed a federal lawsuit against a state-run department in Mississippi’s capital city. Sherita Harris was shot in the head during an August 2022 pursuit that began after a traffic stop in

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa will not participate in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family over the summer to help with food costs while school is out. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said the Summer EBT program “does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A freshman point guard from Michigan State is recovering after he was shot while on holiday break near his hometown. The university says Jeremy Fears was shot in the leg sometime late Friday or early Saturday morning in the Joilet, Illinois, area. Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said in the

By MOHAMMED ZAATARI and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press AIN EBEL, Lebanon (AP) — Christians in the border villages of south Lebanon are preparing for a subdued Christmas under the shadow of the ongoing war in Gaza and its spillover in Lebanon. While in Beirut, restaurants are packed and hundreds flocked to Christmas markets in the

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president says he intends to veto a spending bill which includes money for public media and raises for teachers, dealing a blow to the new pro-European Union government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. President Andrzej Duda said he would veto the bill that includes 3 billion zlotys ($762 million) for

Associated Press Wildlife officials in Colorado have released an additional five gray wolves in the state, bringing the total so far under a voter-approved reintroduction program to 10. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says its team has completed an agreement to capture 10 gray wolves in Oregon for release in Colorado as part of an effort

By ELOGE WILLY KANEZA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Burundi’s government says at least 20 people have been killed following an attack by a rebel group based in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The government says in a statement that 12 children were among the dead, along with three women, two of whom

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Six Turkish soldiers have been killed in clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, a day after another six were also killed. Turkish Defense Ministry said the six soldiers slain on Saturday died in a firefight when militants attempted to infiltrate a Turkish base. The statement said 13 militants had been

NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Travell “G. Dep” Coleman, who walked into a New York police precinct in 2010 and admitted to committing a nearly 2-decade-old cold case murder to clear his conscience, has been granted clemency by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Now 49, Coleman has served 13 of a 15-year-to-life sentence. With his sentence being

LONDON (AP) — Detectives are investigating the alleged theft of a Banksy work of art after witnesses shot photos and video of a man removing a red stop sign adorned with three military drones, London police said Saturday. The sign was taken less than an hour after the elusive street artist posted a photo of

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Fadi Sckak has already lost his father to the violence in Gaza. He wants to help his mother escape that fate. “I just want to see my mother again, that’s the goal,” said Sckak, a university student in Sunnyvale, California. The 25-year-old is one of the

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The leaders at USRowing have been working with producers of the new movie “The Boys in the Boat” to sponsor dozens of screenings across the country. They’re hoping the film will help raise funds for an organization that received about $3.5 million of its

NEW DELHI (AP) — A maritime intelligence company says a drone has hit an Israeli-affiliated merchant vessel off the coast of India in the Arabian Sea. The British firm Ambrey said the attack on Saturday damaged the vessel but caused no casualties. The incident on the Liberian-flagged tanker occurred 120 miles southwest of the Indian

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian politician Yekaterina Duntsova hit a roadblock in her presidential campaign Saturday, when Russia’s Central Election Commission refused to accept her initial nomination by a group of supporters, citing errors in the documents submitted. Duntsova calls for peace in Ukraine and hopes to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin. She said she would

LONDON (AP) — The Premier League has its first female referee. Rebecca Welch blew her whistle to start the match between Fulham and Burnley on Saturday in a landmark moment for England’s top league. She was applauded by some fans as she emerged from the tunnel ahead of the match at Craven Cottage. Welch has

By CHRISTINA LARSON, JENNIFER McDERMOTT, PATRICK WHITTLE and WAYNE PARRY Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Unfounded claims about offshore wind threatening whales have surfaced as a flashpoint in the fight over the future of renewable energy. In recent months, conservatives including former President Donald Trump have claimed construction of offshore wind turbines is killing

ROME (AP) — The Vatican next year will publish a collection of never-before-seen homilies delivered by the late Pope Benedict XVI. Most of them were penned during his 10-year retirement. The Vatican says the homilies were recorded and transcribed by the consecrated women who tended to Benedict during his pontificate and retirement. In all, there

By DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — American colleagues have educated millions of Chinese students over the past four decades. Many of those students have stayed in the United States and become top researchers and distinguished professors. But that academic cooperation is now in decline. Washington sees Beijing as a strategic rival and there