Month: December 2023

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is the first tour to cross the billion-dollar mark, according to Pollstar’s 2023 year-end charts. Not only was Swift’s landmark Eras Tour the No. 1 tour both worldwide and in North America, but she also brought in a whopping $1.04 billion

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — House lawmakers are demanding information on federal efforts to stop the influx of kid-appealing electronic cigarettes from China. A letter sent Thursday by a congressional committee calls attention to “the extreme proliferation of illicit vaping products.” The letter cites Associated Press reporting on how thousands of

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s caretaker interior minister says nearly half a million Afghans who were living in Pakistan without documents have returned home in the past more than two months as part of an ongoing crackdown on foreigners living illegally in the country. The expulsions are part of a nationwide

By AYAKA MCGILL Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Thousands of tons of dead sardines have washed up on a beach in northern Japan for unknown reasons. The sardines and some mackerel washed ashore in Hakodate on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Thursday morning, creating a sliver blanket along a stretch of beach about

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A man arrested for firing gunshots outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York been federally charged. An FBI spokesperson says Mufid Fawaz Alkhader has been charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Officials say Alkhader fired two shots outside  a synagogue in Albany on Thursday. The episode

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer Jon Rahm is the biggest name yet to bolt to Saudi-funded LIV Golf. It’s a huge catch for LIV and an equally huge loss for the PGA Tour. The move creates as many questions as answers. What does this mean for the PGA Tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s national

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer A large British study finds that less frequent screening is just as good as annual mammograms for certain breast cancer survivors. The findings are being discussed at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Until now, there wasn’t solid evidence for when women could ease back on yearly mammograms

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Asian Development Bank says it approved $200-million concessional loan to debt-stricken Sri Lanka to help stabilize the country’s finance sector. An unprecedented economic crisis engulfed the Indian Ocean island nation last year. Sri Lanka is awaiting International Monetary Fund approval for a second installment

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta police have arrested a woman who’s accused of trying to burn down the birth home of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. A police statement says officers arrested the 26-year-old woman after responding to a report of vandalism in process at the two-story home in the historic Auburn Avenue

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — This weekend’s soccer matches in Greece have been postponed following serious clashes involving sports fans that left a police officer in critical condition after he was hit by a flare. Greek league organizers said weekend matches would be rescheduled after it failed to fill referee positions for key matches. The decision

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of people have lined the streets of Dublin to watch the funeral procession of The Pogues front man Shane MacGowan. Crowds applauded as a horse-drawn glass-sided carriage bore MacGowan’s coffin, draped in an Irish tricolor, through the streets. MacGowan’s funeral mass is due to be held later in th town of

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is considering allowing neighboring Greece to benefit from a nuclear power plant that Turkey plans to build near the Black Sea coast. Erdogan made the comments on Thursday on his return from a visit to Athens, where the longtime regional rivals took significant

The Associated Press Vladimir Putin has moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for another six years. Putin still commands wide support after nearly a quarter-century in power, despite starting an immensely costly war in Ukraine that has taken thousands of his countrymen’s lives, provoked repeated attacks inside Russia -– including one

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and several key Cabinet ministers have been grilled by opposition lawmakers in parliament over a widening fundraising scandal that threatens to further drag down the government’s sagging popularity. Dozens of governing party lawmakers, including Cabinet members, are accused of failing to fully

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Nintendo has canceled an upcoming video game event and postponed several others because of persistent threats to the company, its workers and players. The Japanese manufacturer behind Super Mario and Pokemon canceled Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo, which was set for Jan. 20 and 21. The annual

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The three candidates running in Taiwan’s presidential election will hold a televised debate on Dec. 30 as the race heats up under pressure from China. The outcome of the Jan. 13 election could have a major effect on relations between China and the United States, which

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure to explain why Britain has paid Rwanda 240 million pounds ($300 million) as part of a blocked asylum plan. That’s without a single person being sent to the East African country. The total is almost twice the 140 million pounds

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Syrian refugee has been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of crimes against humanity, including sexual violence, while he was allegedly head of an interrogation team in a militia aligned to the government of President Bashar Assad. The arrest Friday of the 55-year-old man

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry has lost a preliminary round in his libel case against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid for a story that said he tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the U.K. after giving up his status as a working member of the royal family. A

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The CEO of chipmaker Nvidia views Malaysia as a potential hub for artificial intelligence “manufacturing.” Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s founder and CEO, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday that the Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corp. could play an important role in setting up AI data centers. Huang didn’t confirm reports that

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s defense minister has vowed massive retaliatory missile strikes on “the heart and head” of North Korea in the event of provocation, as the rivals escalate their rhetoric over their respective spy satellite launches in recent days. The South Korean warning on Friday came

BERLIN (AP) — A union representing Germany’s train drivers began a 24-hour strike Thursday night, causing widespread rail cancellations and travel disruptions across the country. The strike began on Thursday at 10 p.m. for passenger services and will continue until 10 p.m. on Friday. For freight trains, the strike began at 6 p.m. Thursday. Deutsche

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian health officials say Israeli forces stormed into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank to arrest Palestinian militants and unleashed fighting with local gunmen in which six Palestinians were killed. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the dead included a 14-year-old boy and a local commander

PARIS (AP) — A French juvenile court is handing down a verdict for six teenagers accused of involvement in the killing of teacher Samuel Paty. He was beheaded by an Islamic extremist after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class for a discussion on freedom of expression. Paty was killed in 2020

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral, marking the one-year countdown to its reopening. The cathedral is undergoing extensive restoration after the blaze that burned through the roof and spire on April 15, 2019. The spire’s restoration symbolizes an emotional revival for the French

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Las Vegas to showcase $8.2 billion in funding for 10 major passenger rail projects across the country. The money includes funding to spur work on high-speed, electric train routes that could one day link Nevada and California, as well as Los

By SIBI ARASU The Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As United Nations climate talks enter their second week, negotiators who are largely focused on how to curb climate change have another thing on their plates: how to adapt to the warming that’s already here. Discussions for what’s known as the Global Goal

By NAJIB JOBAIN, BASSEM MROUE and ELENA BECATOROS The Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Desperate Palestinians fleeing Israel’s expanding ground offensive crowded into an ever-shrinking area of the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war entered its third month Friday. The United Nations warned that its aid operation is “in tatters” because no place

BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. and Iraqi officials say a rocket attack at the sprawling U.S. embassy in Baghdad has caused minor material damage but no casualties. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that targeted bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas

By ZIMO ZHONG AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday ahead of a U.S. government jobs report, after Wall Street rose Thursday to snap its first three-day losing streak since Halloween. U.S. futures were lower and oil prices gained more than $1. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — From trade to human rights, the leaders of China and the European Union differed on a wide range of issues at a summit this week in the Chinese capital. Separate post-summit news conferences on Thursday highlighted their divergent positions. China raised concerns about trade protectionism and “de-risking,”

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — One of the biggest and brightest stars in the night sky will momentarily vanish. That’s because an asteroid will pass in front of it in a one-of-a-kind eclipse. The rare event will occur late Monday into early Tuesday. Weather permitting, it should be visible

By ISABEL DEBRE, SAMY MAGDY and NAJIB JOBAIN Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The roads are so ravaged that the dead and wounded arrive by donkey cart. Desperate relatives rush bloodied and dust-covered people, many of them children, to the hospital. Naseem Hassan, a 48-year-old Palestinian medic in the Gaza Strip’s southern town

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says a Chinese military surveillance balloon has been spotted in the Taiwan Strait, along with a large-scale movement of military aircraft and ships. The ministry said the balloon passed over the northern port city of Keelung on Thursday night, then continued east before disappearing. Taiwan has threatened to

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO Associated Press Buddhists around the world are celebrating Bodhi Day. Also called Buddha’s Enlightenment Day, it commemorates when Siddhartha Gautama attained awakening — or enlightenment — some 2,600 years ago, becoming the Buddha. When is Bodhi Day celebrated? Japan celebrates on Dec. 8, following the Western calendar. It varies elsewhere in

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press Derek Chauvin was stabbed nearly two dozen times in the law library at a federal prison in Arizona. Larry Nassar was knifed repeatedly in his cell at a federal penitentiary in Florida. The assaults of two notorious, high-profile federal prisoners by fellow inmates in recent months

By RIO YAMAT and BEN FINLEY Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police say a gunman who killed three faculty members at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was an unemployed professor who stuffed his waistband with loaded handgun magazines before beginning the attack. Authorities say 67-year-old Anthony Polito brought more than 150 rounds of

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The U.S. Census Bureau wants to change how it asks people about disabilities, and some advocates don’t like where things are heading. They say the proposed changes will artificially reduce their numbers by almost half, even as more people are living with new conditions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Census Bureau

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Voters in Houston will elect the oldest big-city mayor in the U.S. this weekend when they choose between U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Sen. John Whitmire, two Democrats in their 70s. That’s well above the median age of around 35 in the nation’s fourth-largest