Month: August 2023

By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press A Rochester, New York, woman who spent 25 years in prison for murder before being exonerated will be laid to rest Friday.  Betty Tyson died last week in a Rochester hospital following a heart attack. Her sister confirmed the death Wednesday and said Thomas was 75 years old and had

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has approved a new $500 million arms sale to Taiwan as it ramps up military assistance to the island despite fervent objections from China. The State Department said Wednesday it had signed off on the sale of infrared search tracking systems along with

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year, was presumed dead Wednesday after a plane crash north of Moscow that killed all 10 people on board. Prigozhin was on the plane, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency,

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A compromise deal on a state budget is likely to be reached in the next few days. That’s according to remarks Wednesday from a bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers who have been leading this year’s drawn-out negotiations. Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee co-chair Janet Howell says

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Employees of Walt Disney World’s governing district are criticizing new board members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis for a decision to eliminate free passes and discounts to the theme park resort for 400 of its district workers. The workers say Wednesday during a district board meeting that they earned the

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Tennessee Titans cornerback Caleb Farley says he took the first flight home after learning of an explosion that destroyed the NFL player’s North Carolina home, killing his father and injuring a family friend. Farley said in an interview with WCNC-TV that he was in Nashville when a neighbor called and explained

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus says it has dismantled a criminal human smuggling ring responsible for bringing boatloads of Syrian migrants from Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. Cypriot police said five suspects — all Syrian nationals — were arrested following Wednesday’s raid by a combined force of 40 officers on several

By JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — As the St. Louis mayor pushes legislation that would prohibit “military-grade weapons” on city streets and make it a crime for “insurrectionists” and those convicted of hate crimes to possess firearms, Missouri’s Republican attorney general is warning that such a law would violate the state constitution.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck deep underground in northern Argentina. There have been no immediate reports of damages. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake occurred at a depth of 568 kilometers (353 miles). The epicenter was in the province of Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, about 130

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer A new study finds the number of gender-affirming surgeries in the United States nearly tripled from 2016 to 2019. That’s a timespan when insurance coverage was expanding. Breast surgeries were the most common type, followed by genital surgeries. The study was published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network

By JONATHAN MATTISE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Signs have returned to the Tennessee Capitol complex after a judge agreed to temporarily block a new rule advanced by House Republicans that had largely banned them. Wednesday’s ruling came in a lawsuit that was filed after state troopers removed three people from

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature have asked that the newest Democratic-backed justice on the state Supreme Court recuse herself from lawsuits seeking to overturn GOP-drawn electoral maps, arguing that she has prejudged the cases. Republicans argue in their motions filed Tuesday with the Wisconsin Supreme

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Police in southwest Switzerland are warning that a heat wave has increased the risk of falling rock and ice in the Alpine region, where it’s been particularly deadly this year for mountaineers and hikers. Most of the victims have been foreigners. Valais regional police say a spike

Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — Injured North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum says he plans to participate in the Republican presidential debate. The Burgum campaign posted a photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, of Burgum entering the stage on crutches during a candidate walkthrough earlier Wednesday. “I’m in,” he posted. Burgum hurt his Achilles tendon

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s newly all-male Supreme Court reversed course on abortion Wednesday, upholding a law banning most such procedures except in the earliest weeks of pregnancy. The continued erosion of legal abortion access across the U.S. South comes after Republican state lawmakers replaced the lone

Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is in hospital in Sao Paulo undergoing what a close aide describes as routine health examinations. Bolsonaro has been in and out of hospitals since he was stabbed in his abdomen at a campaign event before Brazil’s 2018 presidential election. The conservative leader

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump’s decision to skip the first Republican debate may hurt television ratings and put more pressure on the eight contenders who will be on stage. But plenty of rank-and-file conservatives said they were eager to see their options without the former president dominating the conversation. “People

MILAN (AP) — The director of Florence’s Uffizi Galleries is calling for stiff penalties against vandals who spray-painted graffiti on the exterior columns of the Vasari Corridor. The corridor connects the famed museum to the Boboli Gardens. Later on Wednesday, Italy’s culture minister announced that Italian police have identified the vandals. He gave no details.

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jason Kelce has mixed fun and football like no one else for the Philadelphia Eagles. Kelce is a Super Bowl champion and enters the season having started 139 straight games. It’s the second-longest active streak in the NFL and second-longest in franchise history. Kelce has been