Month: December 2023

LUKEVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it will temporarily close south and northbound traffic to vehicle and pedestrians at the remote Lukeville, Arizona border crossing with Mexico. The agency said Friday that beginning on Monday its Office of Field Operations will shut down the port to help Border Patrol agents

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — An appeals court has ruled that the Florida Legislature didn’t violate the state constitution when it approved congressional maps pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last year. Friday’s decision reverses a lower court ruling that the map that helped the GOP replace a Black Democratic representative

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Canada’s First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has announced it will start arbitration proceedings to fight the closure order of an open-pit copper mine in Panama, or possibly obtain damages. First Quantum says one arbitration was filed under the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement. It says it has also started proceedings before the International

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The government of Venezuela and a faction of the opposition have agreed on a process through which aspiring presidential candidates who were banned from running for office can attempt to get that decision reversed. The agreement was released late Thursday by negotiators from each side

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Olympic gold medalist swimmer Klete Keller has been sentenced to six months of home detention for joining the mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sentenced him Friday to three years of probation and ordered him to perform 360 hours

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys for the victims of a racist episode of police torture say new policies unveiled by a Mississippi sheriff’s department this week were introduced so the sheriff can escape liability in a civil lawsuit and forestall a federal probe. Criminal sentencing for six former

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press Friday was a day for speechmaking at the United Nations annual climate conference known as COP28, as heads of state each gave short speeches to deliver their views on the planet’s climate crisis, what their nation is doing and what they think others should do. It was also a day

By TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — An alternative California mental health court has received more than 100 petitions after seven counties began the program in October. CARE Court was created by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to address the homelessness crisis. The law enables family members and first responders to file a petition

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer A group of female athletes has filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Oregon alleging Title IX violations by the school. Thirty-two women, all varsity beach volleyball and club rowing athletes, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which accuses the school of depriving women of equal treatment and

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press An appeals court has paused enforcement of a federal government regulation that allows abortion providers to receive family planning grants — but only in Ohio. Since the 1980s, Republican presidential administrations have imposed rules keeping the providers from receiving the grants. Democratic administrations have allowed it. A dozen GOP state

ATLANTA (AP) — A protester is in critical condition after setting themself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta. A security guard who tried to intervene was also injured. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said a Palestinian flag found at the scene was part of Friday’s protest. He said investigators did not believe there

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press A federal inmate was charged Friday with attempted murder in the Nov. 24 prison stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd. Federal prosecutors say John Turscak stabbed Chauvin 22 times in the law library at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona,

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The International Red Cross has suspended the Belarusian chapter after its chief stirred international outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies halted the membership Friday of the Belarus

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a 22-year-old woman who died in an apartment fire in Kansas’ largest city following mistakes by the 911 dispatch center says the center has systemic issues. The statement from Paoly Bedeski’s family in Wichita was reported by The Wichita Eagle two days after the local firefighters union called

By MATT BROWN Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — In wide-ranging interviews with The Associated Press, six sitting Black attorneys general discussed the challenges and opportunities of serving as the top law enforcement officer in their respective states. They have been at the forefront of criminal justice reform, emerging as prominent figures on democracy issues as

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the Mideast this week looking to press for agreements to extend the Gaza cease-fire, step up the release of hostages held by Hamas and limit Palestinian civilian casualties if fighting with Israel resumed. He left

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — An attorney for former President Donald Trump says it would amount to “election interference” if his client is the Republican nominee for president while on trial in Georgia in the months running up to the general election. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee opened the door

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California water agencies serving 27 million people will get 10% of the water they requested from state supplies to start 2024 due to a relatively dry fall. The state’s Department of Water Resources said Friday there was not much rain or snow in October and November. Those months are critical to

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Tennessee’s decades-old aggravated prostitution statute violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The department warned on Friday that the state could face a lawsuit if officials don’t immediately cease enforcement. Tennessee is the only U.S. state that imposes a

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia City Council passed legislation to ban ski masks in some public spaces, a measure supporters say will increase public safety amid high violent crime, but opponents argue it will unfairly target people without proof of any wrongdoing. The legislation passed on Thursday with a 13-2 vote, and now goes to Democratic

By STEVE PEOPLES, THOMAS BEAUMONT, and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press The chairman of most powerful independent group supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential ambitions has resigned. Never Back Down Chairman Adam Laxalt’s decision to step down marks the second major departure at the pro-DeSantis super PAC in the last two weeks. Laxalt, the former

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Republican lawmakers have approved new voting districts for themselves, but Democrats say the proposals are still racially discriminatory against Black voters. The state House on Friday voted to approve a new House map and the Senate voted to approve a new Senate map. No congressional map

By EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — An attorney for former Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe says he is being held by Haitian authorities at a police station a day after the U.S. repatriated him to Haiti. Jean Joseph Louicher says Philippe has not been charged and no hearing has been held. Police

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are demanding that Hunter Biden appear this month for a closed-door deposition, rejecting his offer to testify publicly while pledging to release a transcript of the private interview for transparency. House Oversight Committee chair James Comer and Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan reiterated the parameters

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press Michigan regulators have approved a $500 million plan to encase in a protective tunnel a portion of an oil pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes. The state Public Service Commission on Friday approved the proposal for the tunnel through the Straits of Mackinac. The project still

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — The International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico, is celebrating an out-of-this-world milestone: 5 million visitors. The Roswell Daily Record reported Friday that a father and daughter from Roswell became the lucky visitors when they entered the museum Nov. 21. Chris and Hannah McDonald received balloons, memorabilia and

By HARM VENHUIZEN Associated Press/Report for America MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man has pleaded guilty to firebombing the office of a prominent anti-abortion group last year. Prosecutors say 29-year-old Hridindu Roychowdhury threw two Molotov cocktails through the window of Wisconsin Family Action’s Madison office on May 8, 2022, less than a week after

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A weeklong cease-fire that brought the exchanges of dozens of hostages held by Hamas for scores of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel gave way Friday morning to resumed fighting between Israel and Hamas. As mediators scuttle between the warring sides in a last-ditch effort to broker another

ARLINGTON, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana coroner has identified the remains of a 17-year-old girl who vanished in June and whose body was found this week in a box buried on land owned by a man now charged in her slaying. The remains discovered Tuesday on property owned by suspect Patrick Scott were positively identified

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to increase the number of troops by nearly 170,000 to a total of 1.32 million — as Moscow’s military action in Ukraine continues into its 22nd month. It is the second such expansion of the army since 2018. In a statement following the

By EMMANUEL IGUNZA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The leader of a doomsday cult in Kenya has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for the illegal distribution of films and operating a film studio without licenses. The senior magistrate in the city of Malindi, handed down the sentence for Paul Mackenzie, who had

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is picking up steam while RSV lung infections that can hit kids and older people hard may be peaking, U.S. health officials said Friday. COVID-19, though, continues to cause the most hospitalizations and deaths among respiratory illnesses — about 15,000 hospitalizations and about 1,000

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, will close in May 2024 after years of financial struggles. Officials at the century-old Roman Catholic college announced the decision to close on Friday. Board of Trustees Chair Jeffrey D. Stone said the board determined that the

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — South Korea has launched its first military spy satellite, a little over a week after rival North Korea claimed to put its own spy satellite into orbit for the first time. The launch on Friday from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base used SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. It was

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says state Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler should resign while police investigate a rape allegation against him. Ziegler hasn’t been charged, but the investigation comes as the 2024 election heats up. DeSantis is running for president and the state GOP is working

Police say a dead longhorn cow was found on the lawn of an Oklahoma State University fraternity in Stillwater. The discovery of the dead animal on Friday on the lawn of the Farmhouse fraternity comes the day before the school’s football team plays the University of Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 championship game. The

By BETH HARRIS Associated Press PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Audra McDonald will serve as grand marshal of the 135th Rose Parade next year. The actor and singer was introduced Friday in Pasadena, California. The six-time Tony Award winner will ride the 5 1/2-mile parade route down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day. McDonald will be

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of one of two people who had been missing following a deadly landslide last week in the southeast Alaska community of Wrangell. Alaska State Troopers say the body of 65-year-old Otto Florschutz was found late Thursday afternoon. One person, 12-year-old Derek Heller, remained missing following the