Month: December 2023

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis says he’s “much better” after a two-week bout of bronchitis but says speaking still makes him tired. Francis asked an aide to read his remarks at his weekly general audience Wednesday. Francis turns 87 on Dec. 17 and had part of one lung removed as

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran says it sent a capsule into orbit carrying animals as it prepares for human missions in coming years. A report by the official IRNA news agency on Wednesday quoted Telecommunications Minister Isa Zarepour as saying the capsule was launched 80 miles into orbit. Zarepour said the launch of the 1,000-pound

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Marking his first anniversary of coming to power, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahm admitted he was still struggling to win over ethnic Malay votes and acknowledged frustration over the slow pace of reforms. But he defended his unity government, saying it is now politically stable and able to fully focus

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced on Wednesday after most stocks slipped on Wall Street following a mixed set of reports on the U.S. economy. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.9% to 16,477.34, while the Shanghai Composite edged 0.1% higher, to 2,968.93. The gains followed selloffs the day before

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A U.S. citizen has been charged in Arizona over online posts that allegedly incited what police describe as a “religiously motivated terrorist attack” in Australia a year ago in which six people died. Two Queensland state police officers and an innocent bystander were fatally shot by

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces battled Hamas militants across Gaza on Wednesday after expanding their ground offensive to its second-largest city, further shrinking the area where Palestinians can seek safety and halting the distribution of vital aid across most of the territory. The assault

By EMMA BURROWS Associated Press VERONA, Italy (AP) — Western officials say sanctions against Russia’s billionaires are meant to isolate President Vladimir Putin, choke off support for his war and turn powerful business allies against him. But in the 20 months since the invasion, only a handful of sanctioned businessmen have spoken out against him.

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — When Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, the outside world viewed “Russian oligarchs” as men who whose vast wealth, ruthlessly amassed, made them almost shadow rulers. The term has persisted well into Putin’s rule, broadening in popular usage to refer to almost any Russian with

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America’s secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide — but Saint Nicholas’ origin story is not. The legends surrounding jolly old St. Nicholas — celebrated annually on Dec. 6 — go way beyond delivering candy and

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press NABI SALEH, West Bank (AP) — The release of Palestinian prisoners under the Israel-Hamas cease-fire agreement last week has touched nearly everyone in the occupied West Bank, where 750,000 Palestinians have been arrested since 1967. In negotiations with Israel to free hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza, the militant group

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press NABI SALEH, West Bank (AP) — The release of Palestinian prisoners under the Israel-Hamas cease-fire agreement last week has touched nearly everyone in the occupied West Bank, where 750,000 Palestinians have been arrested since 1967. In negotiations with Israel to free hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza, the militant group

By SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Negotiators at a critical United Nations climate conference prepared Wednesday to wrap up their first week of work with moderate progress on some issues, with little time to make a bit more headway before government ministers return for a final week that will shape

By KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Andy Hoang eagerly began her first nursing job this year in New Hampshire, with a desire to specialize in cardiac care. She was excited about attending a November practice session on how to respond to someone in cardiac arrest. But as things were getting under way

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s siblings topped a Yale list of 2023’s most notable quotations with their condemnation of his presidential candidacy. Former New York Rep. George Santos, meanwhile, came in at No. 2 with the comment that he is not Jewish, but rather “Jew-ish,” with Jewish

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Texts and emails sent by Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania have emerged publicly in a court filing that hints at how Perry worked to keep Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss. The court case is over federal authorities seizing Perry’s cell phone last

By SEUNG MIN KIM and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington’s center of gravity on immigration has shifted demonstrably to the right. The debate is now focused on measures meant to keep migrants out as Republicans sense they have the political upper hand. A bipartisan group of senators tasked with finding a border

By BILL BARROW and JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — The shrinking field of Republican presidential hopefuls are preparing to gather on a debate stage for the fourth time this year. The debate Wednesday at the University of Alabama will be their last meeting before the Iowa caucuses kick off the presidential

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as Dubai hosts the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks. That’s despite facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over the war in Ukraine. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Four more members of the K-pop supergroup BTS are to begin their mandatory South Korean military duties soon. Their management agency said Tuesday that RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook will all be enlisting but didn’t disclose the starting dates. Local media reported that RM and V will start their

By ROD McGUIRK Associatedc Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government hopes to rush legislation through Parliament that could place behind bars some of the migrants who have been freed since the High Court ruled their indefinite detention was unconstitutional. The Senate on Tuesday passed draft legislation that would create so-called community safety orders.

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Members of Hollywood’s actors union have voted to ratify the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months. The 78% approval from the members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists was no certainty, with some prominent members

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The European climate agency calculates that for the sixth month in a row, Earth set a new monthly record for heat, and also added the hottest autumn to the litany of record-breaking heat this year. And with only one month left for the

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is declining to rule out abusing power if he again wins the presidency. Trump has talked about targeting his rivals and has referred to them as vermin. Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity asked Trump on Tuesday night to respond to growing

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A pregnant Texas woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis is asking a court to let her have an abortion. Attorneys for 31-year-old Kate Cox say they believe the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Austin is the first of its kind in the U.S. since Roe

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — China has intensified a crackdown on online scams operated in border areas of Myanmar. The drive has been showcased by confession videos and national TV broadcasts of arrests of high-profile suspects. But the drive is confined to a limited area and appears unlikely to root out the

By ADAM BEAM and KEN RITTER Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Biden administration said it will give more than $6 billion to a pair of high-speed electric rail routes in the West. The Federal Railroad Administration said Tuesday it will give $3 billion to a route planned between Las Vegas and the Los

By RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — A rights group says the Taliban’s education policies are harming boys as well as girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from secondary school and higher education, but there has been less attention to the impact on boys’ education. That’s

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Lawyers and family members of three Black people who were fatally shot during a racially motivated attack at a north Florida Dollar General blamed the national chain for not providing security to protect customers and employees. They announced Tuesday that they are suing the store’s landlord, operator and security contractor for

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is ordering the country’s state-owned companies to “immediately” begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana’s Essequibo region, a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Venezuela claims as its own. The announcement came a day a day after

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight has been indicted on 83 charges of recklessly endangering another person and one charge of endangering an aircraft. However, Joseph Emerson is no longer charged with attempted murder. The district attorney in Oregon’s Multnomah

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico would underwrite the creation of a strategic new source of water by buying treated water that originates from the used, salty byproducts of oil and natural gas drilling, in hopes of preserving its freshwater aquifers, under a proposal from the state’s Democratic governor.

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge has reaffirmed her ruling this summer that state law permits consensual medical abortions. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year reactivated Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the ban’s validity.

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — Attorneys for the family of a Black man fatally shot by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop are demanding $16 million in restitution from the sheriff’s office. The attorneys say Tuesday they have sent Camden County notice that they intend to file suit. A Camden

By MEG KINNARD and STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The number of candidates on stage is shrinking, but the fundamentals of Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate may be familiar to anyone who has watched the previous three meetings. No one has yet emerged as the clear Republican alternative to former President Donald Trump,

LONDON (AP) — British police say a woman has died and two people have been wounded in a shooting in east London. The Metropolitan Police force said on Tuesday that three people were found with gunshot wounds after officers were called to reports of a shooting in the east London neighborhood of Hackney. The police

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say at least 16 people have been killed and 12 others injured when a passenger bus lost control while negotiating a downhill road curve in a central mountain village and plunged into a deep ravine. Eight of the wounded in the accident, which happened Tuesday afternoon in the province

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Donald Trump ally who worked in his Justice Department says that if the former president is elected again, his administration will retaliate against people in the media “criminally or civilly.” Kash Patel said Tuesday on Steve Bannon’s podcast that a future administration would “go

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A man hiding in a pit during the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on an outdoor music festival in Israel said he heard someone nearby screaming she was being raped. Elsewhere in the area, a combat paramedic saw the body of a young woman with her legs open,

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations food agency says it’s stopping food distribution in areas of war-torn Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels, a move that will impact millions of people. The World Food Program said on Tuesday the “pause” was driven by limited funding and the lack

REFORM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama police officer is on leave after video circulated on social media showing her appearing to shock a handcuffed man with a stun gun. The officer is also seen telling him to shut up after he cries out in pain. The video shows a white female police officer in uniform

NEW YORK (AP) — Denny Laine, a British singer, songwriter and guitarist who performed in an early, pop-oriented version of the Moody Blues and was later Paul McCartney’s longtime sideman in the ex-Beatle’s solo band Wings, has died at age 79. Laine, inducted five years ago into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and GERALD IMRAY Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai says the world needs to recognize and confront the Taliban’s “gender apartheid” against women and girls in Afghanistan. She says collective and urgent action by the international community is needed to end the “dark days” of the country’s

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The lawyer selected to be the Army’s first top prosecutor of sexual assaults under an overhaul of the military justice system has been fired because of an email he sent 10 years ago appearing to belittle victims’ assault allegations. Brig. Gen. Warren Wells was removed from

DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is calling reports of sexual violence by Hamas militants against Israelis “appalling.” He is urging the world to condemn alleged sexual assaults by militants “without equivocation.” He spoke out Tuesday at a Boston campaign fundraiser. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is