Month: January 2024

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — The PGA Tour season starts at Kapalua and there’s a different feeling this year. Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele are among several players contributing to relief efforts toward the Lahaina fires on Aug. 8 that killed 100 people and leveled the historic waterfront

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV is reporting that two explosions have occurred in the central city of Kerman during the fourth death anniversary of Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. State TV said two explosions were

By SAM KEMMIS of NerdWallet Remote working has led to so-called “bleisure” travel, where employees mix work and leisure on the same trip. This trend appears to be affecting the lodging industry, with demand for short-term rentals such as Airbnb outpacing that for hotels. With more and more travelers working on vacation — and extending

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer DENVER (AP) — For 20 months, a teenage swimmer has been awaiting a decision about accusations filed against him by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. In April 2022, SafeSport sent the teen a letter saying he had allegedly engaged in behavior that constituted sexual misconduct. It took three months

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has imposed sanctions on the world’s biggest diamond mining company and its chief executive officer as part of what it says is its “unwavering commitment” to Ukraine in the war against Russia. Wednesday’s move targeted Alrosa, which accounts for about 90% of Russia’s diamond production, and CEO Pavel Marinychev.

By FADI TAWIL and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Israel was on high alert for an escalation with Hezbollah on Wednesday after one of the top leaders of the Palestinian Hamas was killed in a strike in Beirut that was widely blamed on Israel and heightened the risk of a broader Middle East

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Temperatures have fallen below minus 40 degrees Celsius in the Nordic region for a second day in a row, breaking a 25-year-old record for the coldest January night in Sweden as a cold spell grips the area. In Swedish Lapland, the coldest January night in the country since 1999 was registered

By WILL WEISSERT and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is starting the campaign year by evoking the Revolutionary War to mark the third anniversary of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and visiting the South Carolina church where a white gunman massacred Black parishioners. He’s seeking to present in

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Prosecutors have alleged that Hong Kong activist and publisher Jimmy Lai had encouraged the city’s residents to protest and urged the U.S. to take action against the “totalitarian” Chinese authorities in Beijing. The 76-year-old media tycoon who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper was arrested in

The Russian military said Wednesday it shot down 12 Ukrainian missiles over Russia’s southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces seek to embarrass Russian President Vladimir Putin and puncture his argument that life in Russia is going on as normal despite the 22-month war. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the situation in the regional

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of doctors have walked off the job in Britain, the start of a six-day strike that’s set to be the longest in the history of the state-funded National Health Service. Managers say tens of thousands scheduled appointments and operations will be canceled during the walkout across England and Wales by junior

By HIRO KOMAE and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press SUZU, Japan (AP) — The powerful earthquake that shattered the peace of New Year’s Day in central Japan did not spur massive tsunamis like those that scoured the Pacific coast in 2011, killing nearly 20,000 people and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. The

By FOSTER KLUG and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Transport officials and police have begun separate investigations at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, a day after a large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway and burst into flames, killing five people. The accident occurred Tuesday evening when the Japan

By The Associated Press Asian shares dropped Wednesday after Wall Street started 2024 with a slump, giving back some of its powerful gains from last year. U.S. futures were lower and oil prices were little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1% to 16,618.50, influenced by a 2% drop in technology shares, while the Shanghai

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police have raided the residence and office of a man who stabbed the country’s opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, in the neck this week. The assault occurred when Lee was passing through a throng of journalists after visiting the proposed site of a new

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In 2024, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro could face a more complicated sophomore year in charge of Pennsylvania. He’s facing pressure to respond to a court ruling that Pennsylvania’s system of public school funding unconstitutionally discriminates against poorer districts. Meanwhile, his administration must oversee a presidential election

By COLLIN BINKLEY and MORIAH BALINGIT AP Education Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — The downfall of Harvard’s president has elevated the threat of unearthing plagiarism, a cardinal sin in academia, as a possible new weapon in conservative attacks on higher education. Claudine Gay’s resignation Tuesday followed weeks of mounting accusations that she lifted language from other

By HIRO KOMAE and YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press SUZU, Japan (AP) — Rescue workers and canine units urgently sifted through rubble in the winter cold Wednesday in what the prime minister called a race against time after powerful earthquakes in western Japan left at least 62 people dead and dozens believed trapped under collapsed buildings.

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has collected enough signatures to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot in Utah, election officials say, marking the first state where the independent candidate and prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist has qualified. Kennedy has met the 1,000-signature requirement needed to qualify for

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press Noelia Sanchez was born in the rolling farmlands of southwest Missouri, where her Mexican parents worked as seasonal farmworkers in the 1950s. When she was 1, Noelia and her mother, Aurora, who had no work documents, were rounded up with dozens of other immigrants in a Texas town near

By TRÂN NGUYỄN and ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are returning to work for an election-year legislative session. The state Legislature is scheduled to convene Wednesday. The session will likely be dominated by decisions related to artificial intelligence and the state’s struggling budget. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says California

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Love it, hate it or yawn at it, Minnesota is set to get a new state flag next spring that echoes its motto of being the North Star State. It’s replacing an old flag that brought up painful memories of conquest and displacement for Native Americans. The

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Income, sales, property and gas taxes: Almost every U.S. state cut at least one such broad-based tax as budget surpluses soared over the past three years. Some states made permanent tax reductions. Others passed one-time rebates or temporary suspensions. One way or another, whether

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Four years after the last census, almost a dozen small communities in the Midwest are going to be counted again in hopes of getting a new grocery store or more state funding to build roads, fire stations and parks. Eleven municipalities in Illinois and Iowa are the only cities in

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is “confident” that Palestinian militant groups used Gaza’s largest hospital to hold “at least a few” hostages seized during their bloody Oct. 7 attack and to house command infrastructure, an American intelligence assessment declassified Tuesday and shared by a U.S. official found. The

By KRUTIKA PATHI and JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The elections in Bangladesh are all about one person: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Analysts predict that since the main opposition party is staying out of Sunday’s vote, the 76-year-old leader is practically guaranteed her fifth term in office. Hasina’s entire political life has

By KRUTIKA PATHI and JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The elections in Bangladesh are all about one person: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Analysts predict that since the main opposition party is staying out of the vote Sunday, the 76-year-old leader is practically guaranteed her fifth term in office. Hasina’s entire political life

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a 10-year-old Northern California boy on suspicion of shooting to death another child with his father’s gun. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office says it happened Saturday afternoon in the Sacramento suburb of Foothill Farms when the boy went out to his father’s truck to get him some cigarettes

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ordered an inquiry into why 20-year-old Cabinet documents relating to Australia joining the United States-led Iraq invasion remain secret, saying Australians have a right to know why their country went to war in 2003. On Monday, the National Archives of Australia

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Disgraced Los Angeles celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi has been found competent to stand trial on charges that he stole more than $15 million from his clients. A federal judge filed the brief order Tuesday. The 84-year-old Girardi is the estranged husband of Erika Jayne, star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press A congressman and a senator’s son jumped into the race Tuesday for the Utah U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney. Republican U.S. Rep. John Curtis announced his campaign to a TV station after saying last fall he had decided not to run. After people asked him to reconsider,

By ERIC TUCKER and ALAN SUDERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly unsealed Justice Department court records say two well-connected political consultants provided false information about lobbying work on behalf of a wealthy Persian Gulf country during the Trump administration. Charging documents filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington allege that Barry P. Bennett, an

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico marijuana regulators have revoked the licenses of two growing operations for numerous violations and have levied a fine of $1 million against each business. The state’s Cannabis Control Division announced the revocations and fines Tuesday. Both operations are located in rural Torrance County,

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Visitors to New York City hoping to take home a souvenir from the Brooklyn Bridge will now have to settle for a photograph, as vendors are about to be banned from the iconic span. The new rule, which goes into effect Wednesday, aims to ease overcrowding

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A court has ruled Wisconsin election clerks can accept absentee ballots that contain minor errors such as missing portions of witness addresses. Dane County Circuit Court ruled Tuesday in favor of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin in its lawsuit to clarify voting rights protections for voters whose absentee ballots

LUKEVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — U.S. authorities say a border crossing on the most direct route from Phoenix to the nearest beaches will reopen Thursday, one month after it closed in response to a large migrant influx. While remote, the crossing in Lukeville, Arizona, is used to travel to Puerto Peñasco, a resort area on Mexico’s