Month: March 2024

By JSARH NGARNDEY ULRICH and JESSICA DONATI Associated Press METCHE CAMP, Chad (AP) — Overcrowded refugee camps in eastern Chad are set to run out of money soon, exacerbating a dire humanitarian situation caused by the spillover from the conflict in Sudan. Over a million people in Chad, including many refugees from Sudan, face losing

By The Associated Press Russia attacked electrical power facilities in much of Ukraine, including the country’s largest hydroelectric plant, causing widespread outages, officials said Friday. Energy Minister German Galushchenko said the nighttime drone and rocket attacks were “the largest attack on the Ukrainian energy sector in recent times. The goal is not just to damage,

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say a former Filipino congressman accused of masterminding the killings of a provincial governor and several others has been arrested in East Timor and will be deported. The Department of Justice said Friday that Arnolfo Teves Jr. was arrested while playing at a golf driving range Thursday. Teves is

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Stocks were mixed Friday in Asia after Wall Street tapped fresh records, led by big gains in chipmakers. Japan’s Nikkei 225 topped 41,000 for the first time early Friday but then fell back, closing up 0.2% lower at 40,888.43. Chinese property and tech companies weighed on

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing that targeted Taliban trying to collect their salaries at a bank in southern Afghanistan. The bombing Thursday at a branch of New Kabul Bank in Kandahar city killed three people and wounded 12 others. A Kandahar official said all of the

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani court in the eastern city of Lahore has sentenced a Muslim woman to life in prison after finding her guilty of burning pages of Islam’s holy book. Government prosecutor Mohazib Awais said Friday that Aasiya Bibi was arrested in 2021 after residents claimed she desecrated the Quran by burning

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer Allergy season in the U.S. is starting sooner than experts expected. Experts say climate change is leading trees and grasses to pollinate longer and more intensely. That means more days of stuffy noses and itchy eyes for more than 80 million Americans. People can manage most symptoms by using

NEW DELHI (AP) — Supporters of an anti-corruption crusader and one of India’s most consequential politicians of the last decade in India are protesting against his arrest. Opposition parties say the arrest late Thursday is part of a crackdown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government before national elections start next month. Arvind Kejriwal, who is

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press HUSTOPECE, Czech Republic (AP) — Masses of white and pink blossoms in a rare almond grove in the Czech Republic appeared earlier than usual after one of the warmest winters on record. The almond trees are usually among the first to bloom at the beginning of spring, on the turn

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — A cluster of Bollywood films based on polarizing issues that promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government’s Hindu nationalist agenda are coming out. It’s just weeks until a national vote that will determine the political direction of the country. Some of these films have been

By TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are split on how to best address the retail theft cases that have proliferated in the state. Top Democratic leaders reject calls to reform Proposition 47, an initiative approved by voters in 2014 that reduced penalties for certain retail theft and drug offense charges.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A nearly $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot is up for grabs, offering the prospect of instant riches for a lucky player after more than three months without a big winner. The numbers will be drawn at 11 p.m. EDT Friday for the estimated $977 million Mega Millions prize. The jackpot

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on a U.S.-sponsored resolution declaring that “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war is “imperative” to protect civilians and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to more than 2 million hungry Palestinians. U.S. Ambassador Linda

By SAM MEDNICK and MICHAEL BIESECKER Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Women slain with babies wrapped against their bodies, lifeless children intertwined together, a 2-month-old face-up on the ground with puppies crawling on his tiny frame. The scenes were horrifying, but the 32-year-old farmer felt he had to document them, as proof of the

By SAM MEDNICK and MICHAEL BIESECKER Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Women slain with babies wrapped against their bodies, lifeless children intertwined together, a 2-month-old face-up on the ground with puppies crawling on his tiny frame. The scenes were horrifying, but the 32-year-old farmer felt he had to document them, as proof of the

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Cheating on your spouse is illegal in New York, but the state might soon change that. A bill working its way through the New York Legislature could repeal a more than a century-old law that makes adultery a crime. The obscure law is actually on the

By DÉBORA REY Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A butcher shutting down his shop barely eight months after opening it. A 72-year-old retiree singing in the streets of Buenos Aires to make ends meet. A 34-year-old mother of four struggling to feed her children and surviving mostly by eating in soup kitchens. They’re

By BROOKE SCHULTZ Associated Press/Report for America PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Police Department is seeing success in more recruits passing the entry physical fitness exam thanks to a new law that changed the standards. It is part of a broader effort nationally to reevaluate policies that keep applicants out of the job pool amid

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don’t see a clear way to slow the devastating virus. The worldwide bird flu outbreak that began in 2020 has led to

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona rancher is set to go on trial in the fatal shooting of a migrant on his property near Mexico. The Friday trial of 75-year-old George Alan Kelly comes as the national debate over border security heats up ahead of this year’s presidential election. Kelly has

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The sun is setting on Stumpy, the gnarled old cherry tree that has become a social media phenom. This year’s cherry blossom festivities in Washington will be the last for Stumpy and more than 100 other cherry trees that will be cut down as part of a

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The race is on for Congress to pass the final spending package for the current budget year and push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall. With spending set to expire for several key federal agencies at midnight Friday, the House and Senate are expected

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s return to the stock market could be right around the corner. All eyes are on a vote Friday by shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a shell company that is looking to merge with the former president’s media business. The deal’s approval would open the door for Trump Media

By The Associated Press As the world warms from human-caused climate change, fresh water for drinking, cooking and cleaning is becoming harder to get for many people. That’s because the warming world is leading to erratic rainfall patterns, extreme heat and periods of drought — on top of decades of bad water management and extractive

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Vietnam’s president has resigned as the ruling communist party in the latest episode of a “blazing furnace” anti-corruption campaign. Vo Van Thuong was the second to resign from the post in just over a year. The presidency is largely a ceremonial role. The most powerful job

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The International Monetary Fund says the economic situation in debt-stricken Sri Lanka is improving gradually from the country’s worst economic crisis two years ago. The IMF says inflation has come down from a peak of 70% in 2022 to 5.9% last month and Sri Lanka’s

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Insurance giant State Farm says it will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California starting this summer. The announcement this week comes nine months after the Illinois-based company said it would not issue new home policies in the state. California’s largest insurer is citing soaring costs, the increasing risk

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOBISHIMA, Japan (AP) — Japan’s space agency and its prime contractor say they hope to be able to forge a profitable launch business with their new H3 rocket after its first successful flight last month in an increasingly competitive market dominated by Space X. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia is set to provide $3 billion to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time. The announcement at an annual gathering Friday comes a day after the two countries signed a defense and security pact to better meet such challenges as China’s

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Up to one-third of the 12,000 inmates in Los Angeles County jails can’t get to their court appearances because of a shortage of functioning buses. County supervisors this week advanced a proposal to try and fix the problem. Officials say the LA County Sheriff’s Department currently has only 23 operable buses

NEW YORK (AP) — Lorrie Moore has won the prize for fiction and Judy Blume received a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Critics Circle. The awards were handed out at a ceremony in New York on Thursday Night. Moore, best known as a short-story writer, won the fiction award for her novel, “I

By PETER SMITH Associated Press A top Southern Baptist administrative body has selected its first permanent leader in nearly two-and-a-half years, a time when it has navigated a tumult of controversies ranging from a sexual abuse scandal to financial struggles — to its own stumbling efforts to find a new president. Jeff Iorg, the longtime

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States is calling for a vote Friday on a newly revised and tougher U.N. resolution declaring that “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war is “imperative” to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to more than 2 million

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma district attorney said Thursday he doesn’t plan to file any charges in the case of Nex Benedict, the nonbinary 16-year-old Owasso teenager whose death following a fight in a high school bathroom was ruled a suicide. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement that after reviewing

By ZEKE MILLER and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are posing the time-tested question “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” to their supporters. Rarely have voters’ answers to the question been so complicated. Each candidate is hoping the

By SEAN MURPHY and ERIK VERDUZCO Associated Press SANDERSON, Texas (AP) — The nine hours that Texas was allowed to arrest and deport migrants who illegally enter the U.S. provided a glimpse at what sort of obstacles law enforcement agencies in the state face. It revealed that many sheriffs were unprepared, unable or uninterested in

By The Associated Press A Russian court has rejected a lawsuit filed by the mother of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition stalwart who died in prison in February, that claimed he received inadequate medical care, a close Navalny colleague said. Ivan Zhdanov, head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation that was started by Navalny, said the court

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s Senate has voted overwhelmingly to reject legislation to ratify a 2017 trade deal between the European Union and Canada that has been criticized by farmers as fostering unfair competition from abroad. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, provisionally went into effect in September

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey says he will not run in the Democratic primary as he faces federal corruption charges, but he is leaving open the possibility that he would reenter the race as an independent later this year if he is exonerated at a trial. Menendez made the

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022. That’s according to final figures the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday. The number of U.S. overdose deaths has risen almost every year and continued to break annual records. The official number of