Month: October 2023

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel has told senators he will “ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself” and will work with the U.S. ally to end the attacks by Hamas if he’s confirmed. Jacob Lew said at a Senate committee

By LINLEY SANDERS and REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — At a time when Americans are deeply divided along party lines, a new poll shows considerable agreement on at least one issue: The United States’ two-decade-long war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting. The poll from the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution

By KIM CHANDLER and SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway has admitted he beat the young Alabama woman to death on a beach in Aruba after she refused his advances, then dumped her body into the sea. New details in the killing emerged

By SIMINA MISTREANU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping is promising foreign companies more access to China’s huge market and more than $100 billion in new financing for other developing economies. He spoke at a forum Wednesday in Beijing on Xi’s signature Belt and Road infrastructure program. The BRI initiative has financed

By AAMER MADHANI and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — President Joe Biden swept into wartime Israel for a 7 1/2-hour visit Wednesday that produced a heaping dose of vocal support, a deal to get limited humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt, likely by the end of the week, and a plea

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — Three young men charged in the death of a 20-year-old driver who was hit in the head by a rock that crashed through her windshield will stand trial on murder and other charges, a judge ruled Wednesday. After a hearing on evidence gathered by investigators, 1st

NEW YORK (AP) — Crash and fatality rates among drivers under 21 have fallen dramatically in the U.S. during the past 20 years, a new report says, while noting young drivers are still the riskiest group behind the wheel. Using data from 2002-2021, a non-profit group of state highway safety offices says in the report

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — A well-known leader of a civilian “self-defense” group has been shot to death in southern Mexico. Bruno Plácido rose to prominence in the violence-plagued state of Guerrero in 2013 when he organized a rag-tag army of farmers to capture suspected gang members. His group held about

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian government investigation has concluded that a landslide that killed 31 people at an unlicensed campground last year was caused by persistent heavy rainfall, not human activity. Ninety-two people were sleeping at a campsite on an organic farm when soil and debris crashed down from a road above and

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas child welfare officials say they investigated the family of a 5-year-old Kansas girl five times during the 13 months before she was raped and killed. But in a report released Tuesday, the Department for Children and Families said that it could not

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The United Nations says it is collecting evidence of war crimes by both sides in the Israel-Hamas war, which began with the militant group’s brutal Oct. 7 cross-border attack and was followed by Israel’s relentless bombardment and a siege of Gaza. At least 1,400 Israelis and more

By TERRY TANG Associated Press Curtis Chin has been championing other Asian Americans for over 30 years. He co-founded the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. He’s produced documentaries, including one on the racially motivated killing of Vincent Chin in 1983. Now it’s his turn in the spotlight. Curtis Chin has a new memoir, “Everything I Learned,

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Family members of a murdered 16-year-old girl tried to attack her ex-boyfriend during a court hearing Tuesday after he had pleaded guilty to shooting her nearly two dozen times while she was walking her dog. Frank DeLeon, 19, agreed to plead guilty to murder in the

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jada Pinkett Smith is feeling free these days. She’s no longer hiding that she’s been separated from megastar husband Will Smith for seven years. “It’s a weight off my shoulders, honestly,” said Pinkett Smith whose new memoir, “Worthy,” is out now. “Ever since the Oscars,

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer LSU is ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll for the first time in school history. The defending champion Tigers were ranked second in 1977 and third twice in 2004 and 2005 in the preseason poll, but never No. 1 until now. LSU received

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court tossed out a lawsuit brought by former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake that was previously dismissed, challenging the use of electronic tabulation systems and that sought to ban them in last year’s midterm elections. Lake and failed Arizona Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem, both Republicans, filed a

By HARM VENHUIZEN Associated Press/Report for America MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal jury has convicted two senior employees at a Wisconsin corn plant of falsifying records and obstructing an investigation into a fatal corn dust explosion in 2017. The vice president of operations and a former food safety superintendent at Didion Milling falsified documents