Month: May 2024

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — An anti-discrimination activist in Tunisia was arrested in a money laundering investigation this week as the dangerous and dire conditions facing migrants and their advocates worsen. Saadia Mosbah was taken into custody as part of an investigation into the funding for the Mnemty association she

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is calling for an end to “antisemitic abuse” at U.K. universities as protests against the war in Gaza expand and the government tries to head off the type of unrest seen on American campuses in recent weeks. The comments came as Sunak and his education secretary prepared

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Scores of musicians, hundreds of journalists and thousands of music fans are gathering in the Swedish city of Malmo, where the Eurovision Song Contest is building towards Saturday’s exuberant, glitter-drenched final. Thirty-seven countries are participating in the contest, whose motto is “united by music.” The favorites

By The Associated Press The U.N. World Health Organization says it has only three days of fuel for its medical operations in southern Gaza, and shortages have already forced one of three hospitals in the city of Rafah to shut down. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel’s military took control

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street’s lull stretched into a second day, with Chinese benchmarks rising after China reported better-than-expected trade figures for April. U.S. futures were slightly lower and oil prices rose. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.3% at

By MAURICIO SAVARESE Associated Press PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (AP) — Vanderson Chaves has faced many challenges in more than a decade as a Paralympic fencer but none as fearsome as the massive floods in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state. The waters washed away his equipment, dozens of medals, his passport and might have even

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president has dismissed calls for independent investigations into allegations involving his wife and top officials. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s move drew strong rebukes from his rivals Thurday. After suffering a heavy loss in the recent April 10 parliamentary elections, Yoon

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer Norfolk Southern shareholders will decide Thursday morning whether to back an activist investor’s bid to take over the railroad’s board and replace management. Ancora Holdings picked up significant support during the campaign from major investors like EdgePoint Investment Group, two major rail unions and some customers. But the rest

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Former Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been sentenced to a year in prison for interfering in a criminal investigation while leading the government of his South Pacific island nation. The Fiji Times newspaper reported Bainimarama was sentenced Thursday and the suspended police commissioner received a

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen have killed seven barbers in a home in a volatile province in southwestern Pakistan. Police and a government official say the killings occurred early Thursday in Baluchistan province. The barbers were from Punjab province and lived and worked together. Police are investigating who was behind the attack. Separatists often target

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage. The claims Thursday by Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree come as the tempo of the rebel attacks have waned in recent weeks as they’ve been targeted

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union marks its annual Europe Day on Thursday. But instead of the humdrum celebrations, all eyes are on the EU elections in a month’s time. They portend a steep rise of the extreme right and a possible move away from the bloc’s global trendsetting climate

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — China reported Thursday that its exports and imports returned to growth in April, suggesting that demand is improving despite an uneven economic recovery. Customs data showed that exports grew 1.5% in April compared to a year earlier after falling 7.5% in March, the first contraction

BEIJING (AP) — A crash between a truck and a passenger van on a highway in northwestern China’s Ningxia region has killed nine people. State media said two others were injured in the crash early Thursday outside the city of Qingtongxia. They were in stable condition at a hospital. An official said the driver of

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is expected to maintain interest rates at a 16-year high of 5.25% Thursday, but a cut wouldn’t be a huge surprise as inflation falls from multi-decade highs. The consensus in financial markets is that a majority of the bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee

By GEORGE WALKER IV, JOEY CAPPELLETTI and ED WHITE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — Severe storms are tearing through the southeast U.S., spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and another in North Carolina. Forecasters warn that the wave of storms could march toward parts of the South early

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — This December marks the centennial of Rod Serling, the late host and writer of the classic TV series “The Twilight Zone.” A newly published story by Serling is the latest to draw upon his traumatizing World War II service, for which he received a Bronze

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Torchbearers are to carry the Olympic flame through the streets of France’ southern port city of Marseille, one day after it arrived on a majestic three-mast ship for the welcoming ceremony. The torch begins its 11-week journey across the country with about 10,000 bearers passing through more than 450 towns until

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried and failed in a brazen push to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, but the resounding rejection by Republicans and Democrats tired of the turmoil does not guarantee an end to the GOP chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Six months into an offensive against Myanmar ’s military government, opposition forces have made massive gains, but civilian casualties are rising sharply as regime troops increasingly turn toward scorched-earth tactics in the Southeast Asian country’s bitter civil war. There is pressure on all fronts from powerful militias

By CEDAR ATTANASIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Fellow former hostages, family and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson Wednesday, remembering a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. The news writer became a news subject when he was taken hostage in Lebanon by members of an Islamic

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia is wrapping itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that President Vladimir Putin has turned into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his move into Ukraine. Even though few veterans of what Russia

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican crosses a key milestone Thursday in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. It’s a once-every-quarter-century event that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and has already brought months of

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators are likely to change how some power companies calculate their customers’ bills. The state’s public utilities commission is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposal that would add a new monthly charge to most people’s electric bills. For many, it would be a charge

MOSCOW (AP) — Armenia’s prime minister has talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as tensions are spiraling between the estranged allies. Putin hosted Nikol Pashinyan for talks following a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, a Moscow-dominated economic alliance they both attended earlier in the day. In brief remarks at the start of

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JAKE OFFENHARTZ, JENNIFER PELTZ and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial as the defense tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor’s salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she

By AMY TAXIN Associated Press A battle is underway in California between a unit of the Wonderful Co. and United Farm Workers over how a group of workers organized under a recently-enacted labor law. Since the law took effect, four groups of farm workers have filed to unionize including the workers at Wonderful Nurseries in

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia has struck a new security deal with Tuvalu after critics complained that a previous pact created an Australian veto power over any other agreement the tiny South Pacific island nation pursued with a third country, such as China. Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo and Australian

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, has been chosen to serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention. The Republican Party of Florida said he will serve as one of 41 at-large delegates from Florida to the national gathering. Barron Trump has

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s military is criticizing the U.S. as hyping its warship’s passage through the Taiwan Strait. The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey passed through the waterway between mainland China and Taiwan on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the island’s new president takes office. China claims sovereignty over

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates in a move that is surprising  many as gang violence consumes the country. Two members who were not authorized to publicly share the changes because they had not yet been

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer Ownership of the NHL’s team in Utah has given fans 20 choices to vote on for the franchise’s new name, according to a survey sent out Wednesday by Smith Entertainment Group. Owner Ryan Smith has told The Associated Press the team will have a name starting with Utah. The

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania election officials say the rate of mail-in ballots rejected for technicalities saw a significant drop in last month’s primary election. That is after state officials tried anew to help voters avoid mistakes that might get their ballots thrown out. Pennsylvania’s top election official, Secretary of

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania has defended the decision not to allow Russian and Belarusian observers to monitor its upcoming presidential election, accusing both countries of spearheading campaigns that “pose a threat to our national security.” The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe — which includes Lithuania, Russia and Belarus — usually sends multinational

MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City’s watchdog agency says it has launched a probe into allegations that the New York City Police Department has improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens. The city’s Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Prosecutors say a former Memphis police officer has been charged with federal civil rights violations in the fatal shooting of a man while the officer was on duty. The U.S. attorney’s office in Memphis said Wednesday that 32-year-old Patric J. Ferguson also was indicted by a

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s attorney general has announced charges against a former small-town clerk and an attorney who had supported attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the charges late Wednesday. Nessel alleges former clerk Stephanie Scott and attorney Stephanie Lambert

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SARAH EL DEEB and LEE KEATH Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings from Rafah, dragging families on a new exodus. The main hospital has shut down, leaving little care for people suffering from malnutrition, illnesses

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Nikola Jokic did it all again. And the NBA MVP trophy is his again. The Denver Nuggets star from Serbia was announced Wednesday night as the league’s Most Valuable Player. It’s his third time winning the award in the past four seasons, a feat that just six other players

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Homeless people who camp on public property in Portland, Oregon, and reject offers of shelter could be fined up to $100 or sentenced to up to seven days in jail under new rules approved unanimously by the City Council on Wednesday. When shelter is not available, the same penalties apply for

By DAVID FISCHER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A civil rights attorney says deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun. Air Force officials say

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign legislation to criminalize the misuse of a powerful animal tranquilizer called xylazine that is showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths. Shapiro received the bill Wednesday after it received approval from the state House of

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A New York real estate developer was charged with felony assault after police said he hit a woman with his car during a pro-Palestinian demonstration led by students connected to the Columbia University protest movement. Reuven Kahane, 57, was arrested Tuesday morning after driving his car