Month: August 2023

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — China’s government is trying to reassure jittery homebuyers after a major real estate developer missed a payment on its multibillion-dollar debt, reviving fears about the industry’s shaky finances and their impact on the struggling Chinese economy. There is no indication Country Garden’s problems might spread beyond

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston was ruled not guilty Thursday of an Australian charge of concealing his father’s child sex crimes. Houston, 69, was the Sydney-based church’s senior global pastor when police charged him two years ago with concealing a serious indictable offense. He resigned from

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency has resigned after facing criticism for not activating disaster sirens during last week’s deadly wildfires that killed at least 111 people. The County of Maui announced Thursday on Facebook that Mayor

By ANDREW DALTON and RYAN PEARSON AP Entertainment Writers LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears and her husband Sam Asghari separated nearly three weeks ago, and he is seeking spousal support and attorneys’ fees in their divorce, according to his divorce filing. Asghari, 29, filed his petition to dissolve his 14-month-old marriage to the 41-year-old

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David to encourage the U.S. allies, who have been thawing their frosty relationship, to cooperate more given their shared concerns about aggression from China and North Korea. Taking place this weekend, it will

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A U.S. Army soldier is accused of killing his wife in Alaska after a night out celebrating his 21st birthday. Zarrius Ray Hildabrand faces murder and evidence tampering charges in the death of his wife, Saria Hildabrand, earlier this month. He had a brief pre-indictment hearing

YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories (AP) — Air evacuations were to begin Thursday to move residents in the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories out of the path of wildfires that neared the city of 20,000 people. People in the four areas of Yellowknife at highest risk should leave as soon as possible and residents in other areas

By The Associated Press A federal judge on Wednesday declined to approve a proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit prompted by a surge in Hyundai and Kia vehicle thefts, saying it fails to provide “fair and adequate” relief to vehicle owners. The settlement, announced in May, could be valued at $200 million and covers about

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council over the plight of the 120,000 people in the Nagorno-Karabakh region that Armenia says are blockaded by Azerbaijan and facing a humanitarian crisis. Armenia sought Wednesday’s council meeting saying Azerbaijan’s blockade of

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police have changed their account of a fatal shooting by a Philadelphia officer during a traffic stop earlier this week. They are now acknowledging that the driver was shot inside the car rather than outside. And they have dropped an earlier assertion that the man “lunged at” police with a knife. Police

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The former mayor of Anaheim has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing an FBI corruption investigation into the $150 million sale of Angel Stadium to the owner of the Major League Baseball team. Federal prosecutors say “Harry” Sidhu acknowledged in a plea agreement Wednesday that while part of the city’s

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski has resigned, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The move comes less than two weeks after the Americans were knocked out of the Women’s World Cup earlier than ever before. The person spoke to the

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas woman was arrested and has been charged with threatening to kill the federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington and a member of Congress. Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, called the federal courthouse in Washington and left the threatening message — using a

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Chicago man to 11 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 7-year-old female relative in an act witnessed in an online forum used for remote teaching. The Chicago Tribune reports that 21-year-old Catrell Walls was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to a felony sexual assault charge for

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Destinee Thompson was supposed to be on her way to lunch with her stepmother in August 2021 when Colorado police, mistaking her for a robbery suspect, fatally shot the pregnant mother as she fled in her minivan. Frustrated by the district attorney’s decision last year

By SUSANA HAYWARD Associated Press SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — Patrick Hamilton, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War who covered civil wars in Central America as a photojournalist for The Associated Press and later worked at Reuters covering the first Gulf War in Iraq, has died after a long struggle with cancer. He died

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A hostage situation at a Tennessee apartment complex erupted into gunfire when police entered the residence after an hourslong standoff, leaving two brothers who were barricaded inside dead. Four Clarksville police officers and the hostage were also wounded in the gunfire. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says the episode began Tuesday

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tonya Wichman has overseen elections in a rural Ohio county for eight years and hasn’t experienced any significant problems with voting or counting the ballots. But that doesn’t mean no big worries at all. What does concern her is the frequent harassment, intimidation and even

By DAVID KOENIG Associated Press The U.S. Air Force will invest $235 million to help a start-up manufacturer build a jet with a blended-wing body that officials say could provide greater range and efficiency for military tankers and cargo planes and perhaps eventually be used to carry airline passengers. JetZero and the Air Force, which