Month: December 2023

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE and MARIA CHENG Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — As Congo copes with its biggest outbreak of mpox, scientists warn discrimination against gay and bisexual men on the continent could make it worse. In November, the World Health Organization reported that mpox, also known as monkeypox, was being spread via sex in

By SAMYA KULLAB and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (AP) — An AP investigation has found that Russian occupation authorities vastly and deliberately undercounted the dead in one of the most devastating chapters of the 22-month war in Ukraine — the flooding that followed the catastrophic explosion that destroyed the Kakhovka Dam in the

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press Gypsy Rose Blanchard is set to be paroled years after she persuaded an online boyfriend to kill her abusive mother. The now-32-year-old Missouri woman is scheduled to be released on Thursday. Her case sparked national tabloid interest after reports emerged that her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, had essentially kept

By SAMYA KULLAB and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An AP investigation has found that Russian occupation authorities vastly and deliberately undercounted the dead in one of the most devastating chapters of the 22-month war in Ukraine — the flooding that followed the catastrophic explosion that destroyed the Kakhovka Dam in the

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania saw a tenfold increase in deaths of older adults following an abuse or neglect complaint over the past few years. It came as COVID-19 ravaged the nation, complaints grew and local agencies struggled to keep caseworkers on staff.  State data shows the increase went from

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press The house where four University of Idaho students were killed last year was set to be demolished Thursday, marking an emotional step for the victims’ families and a close-knit community that was shocked and devastated by the brutal stabbings. The owner of the rental home near the university campus in

BY MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press McLEAN, Va. (AP) — As casinos start to pop up on Virginia’s southern border, some lawmakers are ready to explore whether wealthy northern Virginia should get in on the action. State Senator David Marsden is planning to re-introduce legislation that would allow Fairfax County to hold a referendum on building

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The legendary Paris restaurant Le Tour d’Argent already boasts a wine cellar with 320,000 bottles, a world-famous duck recipe and a storied history stretching back 441 years. And it will have a front-row view of two of the biggest events of 2024: the renaissance of Notre Dame

By VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — A ragged migrant tent camp next to the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico, is a long way from the country’s National Palace, where a top level U.S. delegation met with Mexico’s president seeking more action to curb the surge of migrants reaching the U.S. border. But

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) — The number of Israeli soldiers wounded in the war with Hamas is growing. They are yet another sizable and deeply traumatized segment of Israeli society whose struggles are emerging as a hidden cost of the war that will be felt acutely for years to come.

By AAMER MADHANI, PAUL WISEMAN and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s been no shortage of tough news for China’s economy as some of the world’s biggest brands consider or take action to shift manufacturing to friendlier shores at a time of unease about security controls, protectionism and wobbly relations between Beijing and

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley was asked Wednesday by a New Hampshire voter about the reason for the Civil War, and she didn’t mention slavery in her response. That led the voter to say he was “astonished” by her omission. Asked during a town hall in Berlin, New Hampshire,

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police say that a bus caught fire after colliding head-on with a truck on a highway in central India, killing at least 13 people. Police officer Anoop Bhargava says 12 bus passengers died in the blaze and the truck driver was killed by the impact of the collision in Guna district

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Acting Foreign Minister Mark Dreyfus says two Australian citizens including an alleged Hezbollah fighter have been killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. Ibrahim Bazzi and his brother Ali Bazzi were killed in the airstrike on Tuesday night in the town of Bint Jbel in

By JESSE BEDAYN and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is shifting congressional districts to a more conservative seat on the opposite side of the state to improve her chances of staying in office. Boebert announced that she was switching from her district to the seat being vacated by retiring

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for bolstered war readiness to repel what he says are unprecedented U.S.-led confrontational moves in comments during a key political meeting tasked with setting state objectives for 2024. Kim’s comments, reported by state media, indicated once again

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Republican Party is appealing that state supreme court’s ruling banning former President Donald Trump from its primary ballot. Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for the party, announced the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on his website. Trump himself will also appeal the decision in the

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman accused of stabbing two girls ages 4 and 1 while babysitting them has been denied pretrial release by a judge. Fifty-one-year-old Jennifer Kouchoukos of Naperville is charged with two counts each of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery to a child under 13 and aggravated battery with a

CHANNELVIEW, Texas (AP) — Texas police ripped apart the cab of a tractor trailer and pulled the truck’s driver out after pursuing him in a slow highway chase that shut down the road for hours. The dramatic confrontation Wednesday on a stretch of highway east of Houston came hours after sheriff’s deputies began trying to

LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) — The trial of a 76-year-old Alabama man accused of the 1988 killing of an 11-year-old girl in Massachusetts has ended with a judge declaring a mistrial. The judge said Wednesday the jury was deadlocked on the murder charge. Marvin C. McClendon Jr. had pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in

By TODD RICHMOND and FREDERIC J. FROMMER Associated Press Herb Kohl, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Wisconsin and former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, has died. He was 88. His death Wednesday was announced by Herb Kohl Philanthropies. The foundation did not give a cause but said he died after a brief

STONINGTON, Conn. (AP) — A man wanted in a 2022 shooting had a pistol as he attempted to flee from Connecticut State Police troopers and other officers serving a warrant. That is according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the Office of Inspector General into the fatal shooting that left the suspect and a

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid to Ukraine unless Congress approves supplemental funding legislation that is stalled on Capitol Hill. The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include an array of air munitions and other missiles,

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The mayors of Chicago, New York City and Denver renewed pleas Wednesday for more federal help and coordination with Texas over the growing number of asylum-seekers arriving in their cities by bus and plane. The mayors’ requests come as U.S. cities have struggled to manage the increasing

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A state cabinet secretary and former economist to the Legislature has been selected to oversee New Mexico’s $49 billion nest egg of savings and trust accounts at the State Investment Council. As state investment officer, Albuquerque native Jon Clark will oversee assets including the New Mexico land grant permanent fund.

DELANO, Calif. (AP) — “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson has been sent to a California state prison to serve his sentence for two rape convictions. Authorities said Wednesday that the 47-year-old Masterson has been admitted to North Kern State Prison, and they released his first prison mug shot. The photo shows the actor wearing

NAGS HEAD, N.C. (AP) — A juvenile sperm whale that appeared to be in poor health has been euthanized after stranding on a North Carolina beach. The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reports the whale was put down Wednesday near Jennette’s Pier in the Outer Banks town of Nags Head. The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island said

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The family of a 16-year-old who was killed by Des Moines police in December 2022 has filed a lawsuit arguing that the teen never pointed a gun at officers and that police should have had better training in de-escalation before the confrontation. The shooting of Trevontay Jenkins was linked to

Associated Press If you are an Amazon Prime Video user, get ready to see ads on movies and TV shows starting next month. Prime will include ads beginning on Jan. 29, the company said in an email to U.S. members this week, setting a date for an announcement it made back in September. Prime members

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Pop star Shakira has been immortalized in her Colombian hometown of Barranquilla, where officials unveiled a giant bronze statue of the music diva known around the world for her catchy tunes and exhilarating moves. The six-meter — about 20-feet — monument depicts the multiple Grammy and

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Five Boardwalk casinos and a hospital want a judge to prevent Atlantic City from narrowing the main road running through the city’s downtown. They say such a move could hurt business and endanger lives during traffic-choked periods. The AtlanticCare hospital system, along with Caesars, Tropicana,

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer Thank you, next! Ariana Grande will release a new album in 2024. On Wednesday, the two-time Grammy award winner teased the future full-length album on her Instagram page. It will be her seventh studio album and first since 2020’s “Positions.” “See you next year,” she wrote in the caption

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Thousands of union members and activists are taking to the streets of Argentina’s capital to protest President Javier Milei’s sweeping program of cutbacks, deregulation and austerity measures meant to reform the country’s struggling economy. Unions had asked a court for a prior injunction to block

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The reputed last member of the famed World War II American jungle fighting unit nicknamed the Merrill’s Marauders has died. Ninety-nine-year-old Russell Hamler died on Tuesday. That is according to his son Jeffrey. He didn’t give a cause of death. The daughter of a late former Marauder, Jonnie Melillo Clasen, told

MIAMI (AP) — Emergency workers in South Florida rescued two people from a canal after their helicopter crashed. The helicopter was carrying two people from Fort Myers when it crashed into a canal about three miles west of Miami Executive Airport. Aerial video footage showed divers from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue searching the canal. The two

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota Republican does not immediately plan to resign following a DUI traffic stop in which he used homophobic and anti-migrant language against a police officer. Republican state Rep. Nico Rios said in a statement on Wednesday that he is “seriously mulling all aspects” of

By The Associated Press wo higher end models of the Apple Watch can go on sale again after a federal court temporarily lifted a sales halt ordered by the International Trade Commission due to a patent dispute. The ITC, a federal agency, ordered the halt to block Apple from using specific technologies underpinning a blood-oxygen

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly blocked entrance roads to airports in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, forcing some travelers to set off on foot to bypass the jammed roadway. Held on one of the busiest travel days of the year, the pair of protests were the

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Crews removed a Confederate monument from a Jacksonville, Florida, park following years of public controversy. Work began early Wednesday morning. Mayor Donna Deegan ordered the removal of the “Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy” monument, which has been in Springfield Park since 1915. She said the decision is not