Month: December 2024

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has departed on her final solo foreign trip as first lady. It’s a six-day, four-country haul through Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and France. It ends with her and President-elect Donald Trump joining other dignitaries in Paris on Saturday for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. Biden

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday that it has suspended the search for a man believed to have gone overboard from a cruise ship as it was returning to San Francisco after a voyage to Ensenada, Mexico. The Ruby Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, arrived in San Francisco at 6:50 a.m.

AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “Not Like Us,” it’s like them — Kendrick Lamar and SZA will hit the road together in 2025. On Tuesday morning, Lamar and SZA announced the Grand National Tour, which will hit 19 stadiums across North America next spring and summer. The news arrives less than two weeks

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s minority government appears to be in its final hours as opposition lawmakers from the left and the far right vow to topple Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s Cabinet. A no-confidence vote is scheduled Wednesday at parliament in the wake of a divisive budget debate, with a strong chance of being

Associated Press Even more snow could be on the way for places in the Great Lakes region that are still digging out after days of storms caused deadly wrecks, collapsed a barn on top of 100 cows and buried some towns under nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters). While cleanup was continuing Tuesday around parts of

Associated Press It was a life that took him from peanut farming to the presidency. While former President Jimmy Carter’s time in the White House only lasted one term, the decades afterward were defined by humanitarian work that affected people all around the world. Carter was the nation’s longest-lived president when he died in December

Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European nations have approved plans to scale back the protection for wolves in a victory for farmers over environmentalists that has caught the political limelight in the European Union. The decision on Tuesday sets up looser protection rules from March 2025 that will allow nations to hunt wolves under specific

AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Did you have a “Brat summer” this year? Were you “demure,” and were you “mindful”? Did you enter a celebrity look-alike contest? All these were pop culture trends that emerged in 2024. But most of all, it seemed the theme was escapism. Whether it was the yellow brick

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has ducked questions on his decision to break his word and pardon his son Hunter, ignoring calls for him to explain his reversal as he was making his first presidential trip to Angola. Dismissing shouted questions Tuesday with a laugh, Biden said to the Angolan delegation: “Welcome

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday presided over a parade that saw the queen lead hundreds of military personnel in honor of his 72nd birthday. It was the first such ceremony in Bangkok’s vast Royal Plaza in 16 years. Birthdays celebrated in 12-year cycles are considered especially auspicious in Thai culture. The

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — TikTok took down several networks allegedly trying to meddle in Romania’s elections, executives said Tuesday as they defended the company’s election integrity measures to European Union lawmakers. The video-sharing platform is a focus of controversy in the Eastern European country after far-right outsider Calin Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has dispatched a surveillance plane and a navy ship after spotting a Russian submarine off the coast of a southwestern island near Taiwan. The Japanese Joint Staff said the Russian Kilo-class submarine was sighted 31 miles south of Yonaguni Island, Japan’s westernmost territory. It said Tuesday that there was

AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “Not Like Us,” but people sure like him: Kendrick Lamar’s smash topped Apple Music’s global song chart in 2024 as the giant music streamer released year-end lists Tuesday and provided listeners with data on their own most listened-to tunes. “Not Like Us” is Lamar’s first-ever No. 1 on

Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Group of 20 bloc has sufficient “shock absorbers” to function effectively if a Donald Trump administration promotes an America First policy at the expense of international cooperation. South Africa assumed the rotational leadership of the group of the world’s leading

Associated Press PALMIRA, Colombia (AP) — It’s been three years since Douarleyka Velásquez abandoned her career in human resources. Her new job is not what she had planned for, but still feels rewarding. As a cleaning supervisor at a migrant shelter in Colombia, she gets to comfort Venezuelans who, just like herself, fled their homes

Associated Press GOMA, Congo (AP) — Fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group has resumed in eastern Congo ahead of potential mediation talks. The army said in a statement it inflicted heavy losses on the rebels in North Kivu province while a rebel spokesperson said the group was also attacked by the

Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A Zimbabwean High Court judge has ruled that provisions of a law that deny abortion services to women raped by their husbands and girls under the age of 18 are unconstitutional. The ruling is significant, given Zimbabwe’s restrictive abortion laws. In his ruling, Judge Maxwell Takuva ruled that because

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports. The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after the Washington expanded its list

Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A court in Bangladesh has rescheduled a bail hearing for a prominent Hindu leader who was detained after leading large rallies in the Muslim-majority country demanding better security for minority groups. It comes as tensions spiked following reports of the desecration of the Indian flag across Bangladesh. Krishna Das

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition activists say insurgents have captured four new towns, bringing them closer to the central city of Hama. Meanwhile, government forces retook some territory they lost last week. The latest push is part of a wide offensive by forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad that over the past

Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The remaining five Australians from the Bali Nine group who are serving life sentences for drug smuggling in Indonesia could be repatriated home this month as Indonesia and Australia put finishing touches on a draft proposal for their transfer. The Indonesian government is awaiting Australia’s response to key points

Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Thirteen women from the Philippines have been convicted on human trafficking-related charges for acting as surrogates in Cambodia for a ring selling babies to foreigners for cash. They were each sentenced Monday to four years in prison after being found guilty of selling, buying or exchanging a person

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian media say authorities have released a government critic and popular hip-hop artist who came to fame over his lyrics about the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini. Toomaj Salehi spent a little over a year in jail and faced a death sentence which was overturned in June. Iranian newspapers

Associated Press KOTA BARU, Malaysia (AP) — Severe floods caused by monsoon rains have killed more than 30 people and displaced tens of thousands in Malaysia and southern Thailand, with both countries preparing shelters and evacuation plans in anticipation of more heavy rain. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says five days of heavy rain that