Month: December 2024

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — Namibia’s ruling party presidential candidate leads in early results of an election characterized by technical problems which caused voting to be extended for three days. Opposition parties have rejected the results and claim the extension was illegal. The controversy undermines the vote in a southern African country that has a largely

Associated Press America’s wealthiest people have long urged each other to give away more of their money. So, what stands in the way of them giving more and giving faster? Philanthropy advisers say some of the answers are structural, like finding the right vehicles and advisers. Other issues have to do with very human emotional

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The reopening of Notre Dame this coming weekend will be a high-security affair, with a repeat of some measures used during the Paris Olympics. After more than five years of reconstruction following the devastating fire in 2019, invitation-only ceremonies Saturday and Sunday will usher in Notre Dame’s rebirth. Police chief

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The British government’s culture secretary has held talks with the BBC as the broadcaster comes under growing scrutiny after one of its TV hosts drew an angry backlash for dismissing sexual misconduct allegations made against him. Gregg Wallace, a long-time co-presenter on the popular cooking contest show “MasterChef,” has been

LONDON (AP) — Many of us have felt it, and now it’s official: “Brain rot” is the Oxford dictionaries’ word of the year. Oxford University Press said Monday that the evocative phrase “gained new prominence in 2024,” with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before. Oxford defines brain rot as “the supposed

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Pro-Western parties have won the most votes in Romania’s parliamentary election and will look to form a coalition government as the European Union country faces a surge of support for far-right nationalists who made huge gains in the country’s legislature. Data on Monday showed that the leftist Social Democratic

Associated Press Tired of thinking about what gifts to get everyone this year? Artificial intelligence chatbots might help, but don’t expect them to always give you the right answers. Scouring the internet for Cyber Monday deals may yield an encounter with more chattier iterations of the chatbots that some retailers built to provide customer service.

Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister says the recent rapid advance by opposition fighters in Syria shows that Syrian President Bashar Assad must reconcile with his own people and hold talks with the opposition. Speaking Monday at a joint news conference in Ankara with his Iranian counterpart, Hakan Fidan said Turkey and

Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — An impeachment complaint has been filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing a legal storm over a death threat she made against the president and her alleged role in extra-judicial killings of drug suspects, corruption and failure to stand up to Chinese aggression in the disputed

Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet residents and tourists starting Saturday in Hong Kong, where enthusiasm for the bears has grown since two cubs were born in a local theme park. The 2,500 exhibits were showcased in a launch ceremony of PANDA GO! FEST HK, the city’s largest

GENEVA (AP) — For the first time in Switzerland, a multinational company faces a criminal trial on charges of bribing a foreign public official, with alleged payments totaling about $5 million, to win lucrative oil industry contracts in Angola. Commodities trader Trafigura Group said it intended to defend itself against allegations that its former parent

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — It is the world’s rarest whale, with only seven of its kind ever spotted. Almost nothing is known about the enigmatic species. But on Monday a small group of scientists and cultural experts in New Zealand clustered around a near-perfectly preserved spade-toothed whale hoping to decode decades of

Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would require the state’s public universities to give admission priority to the descendants of slaves. The bill being introduced Monday by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat who represents parts of Los Angeles, comes as conservative officials throughout the country try to

Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court has taken up the largest case in its history, hearing the plight of several small island nations helpless in combating the devastating impact of climate change. They demand that major polluting nations be held to account. After years of lobbying by island nations

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked him for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conflict is approaching a

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani officials say authorities with help from community leaders brokered a second ceasefire between warring minority Shiites and Sunni Muslims in a troubled northwestern region bordering Afghanistan following a deadly sectarian violence that left dozens of people dead. The violence in Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, erupted after gunmen

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Chaos erupted at a soccer game in Guinea after fans protested a referee’s call and thousands of panicked spectators tried to flee the stadium, leaving at least 56 people dead in the West African nation, officials and witnesses said Monday. Amid the confusion, security forces used tear gas, local news website

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid a mixed Monday of trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% from its all-time high set on Friday to post a record for the 54th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128 points, or 0.3%, while the

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of Supreme Court justices didn’t seem convinced Monday that federal regulators misled companies before refusing to allow them to sell sweet flavored vaping products following a surge in teen e-cigarette use. The court did raise questions about an FDA crackdown that included denials on sales of more than

Associated Press SAINT-MALO, France (AP) — Had he continued working aboard fuel-powered cargo ships, Yann Jourdan reckons he’d be earning perhaps four times what he now gets as captain of a sailboat that instead uses the wind’s clean energy to transport goods across the Atlantic. But the hit to Jourdan’s pay is buying him peace

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The issue of transgender rights animated the presidential campaign. Now it has made its way to the Supreme Court, and in more ways than one. On Wednesday, the first openly transgender attorney to argue before the nation’s highest court steps up to the lectern. Chase Strangio is representing three families

Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a white ex-police detective in Kansas accused of sexually assaulting Black women has died in an apparent suicide at his home. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said 71-year-old Roger Golubski died of a gunshot wound and there are no indications of foul play. He died as his

Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The president of the International Criminal Court lashed out on Monday at Russia for targeting its prosecutors and judges over the panel’s investigation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and slammed comments by a U.S. senator threatening the court. Judge Tomoko Akane said in her address to the annual

Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two Indianapolis police officers are set to stand trial in the death of Black man after being shocked with a Taser and restrained during a mental health crisis in his parents’ home. Officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez were indicted by a grand jury in 2023 in Herman Whitfield III’s

Associated Press LUANDA, Angola (AP) — President Joe Biden has arrived in Angola for his long-awaited first presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa. Biden is using the three-day trip to counter China’s growing influence on the African continent by highlighting the U.S.-backed Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment in Zambia, Congo and Angola. The project aims to advance

AP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen’s memorable week began with singer and actress Hailey Steinfeld accepting his proposal for marriage and ended with the Buffalo Bills quarterback celebrating his three-TD outing in an AFC East-clinching 35-10 win over San Francisco by making snow angels alongside coach Sean McDermott on Sunday night.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Navy destroyers shot down seven missiles and drones fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the warships and three American merchant vessels they were escorting through the Gulf of Aden. No damage or injuries were reported. U.S. Central Command said late Sunday that the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter, though he had previously said he would not do so. That spares the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions. Biden is hardly the first president to deploy his pardon powers to benefit those close to

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australian police say they have seized a record 2.3 tons of cocaine from a fishing boat off the coast of Queensland. They say they have arrested 13 people, including two under the age of 18, who are accused of conspiring to import the drug into Australia by sea.

Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A rebel spokesman says drone strikes by Mali’s military regime have killed eight Tuareg rebel leaders in the north of the country. It was the first time since the start of the rebellion in 2012 that so many Taureg leaders have been killed in a single attack. “Several synchronized

Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers are hunting a coyote that attacked a 4-year-old girl on Thanksgiving after she mistook it for a dog crouching behind a tree. The young girl and another child approached the coyote near Colorado Springs, about an hour’s drive south of Denver. The animal

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — The Big Ten Conference announced it fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy for the on-field melee at the end of the Wolverines’ win in Columbus on Saturday. “Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church has called on the president of El Salvador not to lift the country’s ban on gold mining. Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas asked President Nayib Bukele not to reverse the ban, which has been in place since 2017. Escobar Alas said “it will damage this

MADRID (AP) — Local authorities say a bus has crashed near a ski resort in southern France, killing at least two people and injuring 33 others. A total of 47 people including the driver were on the bus when it crashed Sunday evening near the Pyrenees mountains ski resort of Porte-Puymorens. That’s according to the

AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Oscar-winning screenwriter Marshall Brickman, whose wide-ranging career spanned some of Woody Allen ‘s best films, the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” and a number of Johnny Carson’s most beloved sketches, has died. He was 85. Brickman died Friday in Manhattan, his daughter Sophie Brickman told The New York