Month: March 2024

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has said in an interview that Ukraine, facing possible defeat, should have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with Russia and not be ashamed to sit at the same table to carry out peace talks. The pope made his appeal during an interview recorded last month with

ASHTABULA, Ohio (AP) — Two Ohio women have been accused of driving the body of a deceased 80-year-old man to a bank in order to withdraw money from his account before dropping his body off at a hospital. Ashtabula Municipal Court records indicate that 63-year-old Karen Casbohm and 55-year-old Loreen Bea Feralo have been charged

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing has acknowledged in a letter to Congress that it cannot find records for work done on a door panel that blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon two months ago. “We have looked extensively and have not found any such documentation,” Ziad Ojakli, Boeing

Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Another top donor to the U.N. agency aiding Palestinians says it will resume its funding. Sweden’s decision comes weeks after over a dozen countries halted hundreds of millions of dollars in support in response to Israeli allegations against the organization. A ship bearing tons of humanitarian aid is preparing to

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Spain’s prime minister says he will propose that parliament recognizes a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday that his position on the conflict in the Gaza Strip is much like his country’s support for Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion. Sánchez joins other European leaders and government officials who have

By FERNANDA PESCE Associated Press TULTEPEC, Mexico (AP) — Every year, in the first week of March, hundreds of giant paper-mache bulls stuffed with fireworks are erected in the front yards of the Mexican town of Tultepec. Thousands of restless fingers carefully cut, pasted and painted the colorful patterns that brought the “toritos” to life

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Police in Nigeria say armed men have invaded a school in northwestern Nigeria and abducted 15 children. The attack came at about 1 a.m. local time Saturday — about 48 hours after nearly 300 students were seized in the conflict-hit region. School abductions are common in

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s lawmakers have granted a request by President Nayib Bukele for the 24th consecutive one-month extension of an anti-gang emergency decree. The vote in congress means that the country will have spent a full two years under the decree by March 27. The measure suspends some rights. Bukele

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $460 billion package of spending bills approved by the Senate in time to avoid a shutdown of many key federal agencies. The legislation’s success gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year.

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A Sudanese paramilitary group battling the country’s military in a nearly yearlong ruinous conflict has endorsed a resolution by the U.N. Security Council calling for a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Rapid Support Forces said Saturday that it hopes the resolution will help

MADRID (AP) — An official at Spanish soccer club Sporting Gijón has apologized for a video meant to commemorate International Women’s Day that sparked widespread criticism. The short video featured a young girl painting a woman symbol on its field. But the opening sequence showed the girl on her hands and knees removing the original

BESSEMER, Ala. (AP) — A new plea hearing has been set for an Alabama woman accused of falsely telling police she was abducted last summer after stopping to check on a toddler wandering near a highway. Carlee Russell’s disappearance captivated the nation before police called her story a hoax. A court document filed Thursday shows

SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) — Crime scene tape surrounds the Skowhegan Indian, a local landmark in Maine, after an assault by Mother Nature. The towering wooden sculpture is missing part of its face and arm, as well as a spear. The damage is believed to have been caused by wild weather and a windstorm. The 62-foot

By MICHAEL KEALY and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press DUBLIN (AP) — Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar conceded defeat Saturday as two constitutional amendments he supported that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about a woman’s role at home were headed toward rejection in early vote tallies. Varadkar, who pushed the vote

By BERT WILKINSON Associated Press GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Caribbean leaders have called for an emergency meeting in Jamaica with the United States, Canada and France on Monday to seek a way out of spiraling gang violence in Haiti. Members of the Caricom regional trade bloc have been trying for months to get political actors

By JACK JEFFERY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — On the eve of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Jerusalem’s Old City bears few of its usual hallmarks of festivity. Nearly half of the grotto-shaped gift shops are sealed behind metal shutters. The narrow streets that run toward Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, are eerily empty.

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press ABOARD THE FRENCH FRIGATE NORMANDIE (AP) — Large NATO drills in the frigid fjords of northern Norway may be just war games meant to hone the skills of the newly expanded 32-nation military alliance in the event of conflict. But for troops taking part, they are very real. With drills

By RIAZAT BUTT Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s lawmakers have chosen Asif Ali Zardari as the country’s new president. It’s his second time in the job. Zardari is the widower of assassinated former Premier Benazir Bhutto and the father of former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Zadari secured 411 votes from national and provincial lawmakers.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities say two people including a teenage boy have been killed in Russian artillery attacks. Russia meanwhilesaid Saturday it shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet and destroyed a wave of drones over several regions. Ukraine’s allies in the West are delicately raising the prospect of sending troops. Polish Foreign Minister

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Doctors around the country say insurers are making it harder to get coverage for home ventilators that patients with serious illnesses need as their lungs fail. They say patients often must struggle first with less-effective — and cheaper — devices before some plans will pay for noninvasive ventilators. In

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Eleven-year-old Domonic Davis was not far from his mom’s Cincinnati home when a hail of gunfire sprayed out from a passing car. Nearly two dozen rounds hurtled through the night at a group of children in the blink of an eye. Four other children and a woman

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is making no excuses for his age in the first campaign ad of a $30 million buy across battleground states after Super Tuesday, casting himself as more effective than his predecessor, Donald Trump. The 60-second spot opens with 81-year-old Biden addressing one

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Torrential rains have triggered flash floods and a landslide on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 10 people and leaving 10 others missing. Mud, rocks and uprooted trees rolled down a mountain and reached a river that burst its banks and tore through mountainside villages in West Sumatra province. The spokesperson

By ABBY SEWELL Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A top U.S. Treasury official has pressed Lebanese authorities to prevent funds from being funneled to Hamas by way of Lebanon during a visit to Beirut. Jesse Baker visited Lebanon and met with financial sector and political officials Thursday and Friday. A senior Treasury official says Baker

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Intense rainfall has swept across Dubai and the wider United Arab Emirates, causing localized flooding and disrupting flights at the world’s busiest airport for international travel. Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in Dubai over six hours Saturday — a heavy amount when the country as a whole averages

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire attorney general says police shot and killed a man during a foot chase after he was taken down by a police dog and pulled a weapon. State Attorney General John Formella says New Hampshire state police troopers killed Joseph Russell, 36, during the pursuit with the Rochester Police

By BABACAR DIONE and JACK THOMPSON Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Presidential candidates in Senegal have kicked off their election campaigns, following weeks of violent protests across the African country after the vote was delayed. The campaigns started on Saturday. The candidates now have a shorter period to rally supporters ahead of the March

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s foreign minister says the presence of NATO forces “is not unthinkable” and that he appreciates the French president for not ruling out that idea. Radek Sikorski made the observation during a discussion marking Poland’s 25th anniversary of NATO membership in the Polish parliament on Friday,

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The Romanian government has won a yearslong legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country. Gabriel Resources was seeking $4.4 billion in damages from the Romanian state, which owned a 20% stake in the mining

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Unrelenting gang attacks in Haiti have paralyzed the country and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Rotting fruit and withered vegetables sit next to hundreds of empty water jugs and propane gas canisters at businesses across the country. Worsening the situation

By DASHA LITVINOVA and KATIE MARIE DAVIES Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to secure his fifth term in power this month on the heels of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in prison. The death demoralized Kremlin critics. It also elicited concerns about the safety of other imprisoned dissidents.

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal is holding an early general election on Sunday when 10.8 million registered voters will elect 230 lawmakers, who will then choose a new government. Two moderate parties that have alternated in power for decades — the center-left Socialist Party and the center-right Social Democratic Party

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police say a cleaning person found two dead baby boys in glass bottles in the living room of a vacated apartment. Authorities have detained a man and woman who lived in the apartment and are believed to be the parents. The bottles were about a foot tall and the

By PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pressure is building on authorities in Italy to close a notorious Rome migrant detention center where a 19-year-old Guinean allegedly hanged himself last month. Rome’s city assembly and a group affiliated with the Radical Party are calling for Rome’s mayor to shut the Ponte Galeria facility. Italy’s

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Njeri Migwi is the co-founder of a community-based organization called Usikimye, which means “Don’t be silent” in Swahili. The organization helps women escape violent relationships, puts them up in safe houses and counsels them on how to rebuild their lives. Migwi is on the front lines

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A lonely man jailed for criticizing the government on his ham radio. A poet assaulted by police after he recited a poem objecting to Russia’s war in Ukraine. A low-profile woman committed to a psychiatric facility for condemning the invasion on social media. President Vladimir Putin’s

By LEAH WILLINGHAM and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Nearly 130 years since the first three women were elected to state legislative offices in the U.S., women remain massively underrepresented in state legislatures. In 10 states, women make up less than 25% of their state legislatures, according to Rutgers’ Center for American

By TERRY TANG Associated Press TUBA CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Melissa Blackhair is not eager to spring forward Sunday. “I’m dreading it. I just don’t want to see how much we have to adjust,” Blackhair said while sitting in her home office in Tuba City on the Navajo Nation, the only area in Arizona that

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A massive floating pier that will allow ships to sail up to Gaza and offload aid will soon sail from the U.S. to the Mediterranean Sea as the U.S. looks at ways to address Gaza’s dire food needs. While Army and Military Sealift

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The UN chief says legal equality for women could take centuries as the fight for gender equality has become an uphill struggle against rank discrimination and gross human human rights abuses. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a warning on International Women’s Day that “a global

By BILL BARROW and JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The 2024 presidential election campaign will pick up Saturday where the 2020 contest left off. Or, more precisely, in a place where it never actually ended. Georgia was so close four years ago that Republican Donald Trump finds himself indicted here for his push

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities investigating a fire and explosions that rocked a suburban Detroit building filled with vaping industry supplies are urging residents not to pick up any debris because they still pose potential hazards. One man was killed in the explosive blaze that sent gas canisters soaring miles away. Clinton Township officials

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) — Firefighters in Hawaii have gotten control of a large fire at a biomass plant on Kauai Island. KITV Island News reports crews were called to the plant at about 3:30 p.m. on Friday. They got the fire under control about two hours later. An image of the fire shows red flames