Month: November 2023

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two meetings in Bismarck this week are receiving public comment on the draft environmental review of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline. The Bismarck Tribune reports pipeline opponents are frustrated with the format of private oral testimony in the meetings. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson says the meetings are

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press An investigation into a Colorado coal train derailment and bridge collapse that killed a truck driver is focused on whether inspection and maintenance practices at BNSF Railway contributed to the accident, federal officials said Thursday. The steel bridge built in 1958 collapsed onto Interstate 25 Oct 15, when a broken

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, TARA COPP and LOLITA BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed three top military officers, including the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Thurday’s confirmations came as bipartisan frustration swirled around Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville for blocking hundreds more nominees. Republican senators plan to hold

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s election oversight body has postponed the country’s upcoming parliament elections for the second time, saying the vote will take place in February. It was originally expected in November and then scheduled for the last week of January. The Election Commission of Pakistan said on Thursday that

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government said Thursday that the guerrilla group National Liberation Army, known as ELN, was responsible for the weekend kidnapping of the father of Liverpool and Colombian national soccer team striker Luis Díaz. The peace delegation of the government, which is currently in negotiations with ELN, said in a statement it

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An upcoming sale of federal Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases was officially postponed Thursday amid legal fights over protections for an endangered species of whale. A federal appellate panel last week paused a separate appeals panel’s order that the sale be held next Wednesday.

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell slightly this week, ending a seven-week climb —- modest relief for prospective homebuyers grappling with an increasingly unaffordable housing market. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell to 7.76% from 7.79% last

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Olive oil is continuing its staggering rise in prices in Europe. It is the prime example of how food still outruns overall inflation in the European Union. Olive oil has increased by around 75% since January 2021. That dwarfs overall annual inflation that has already been considered

By JENNIFER PELTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Trump, one of two sons entrusted to run Donald Trump’s real estate empire, swore Thursday that he was never involved with financial statements that New York state lawyers say fraudulently puffed up the ex-president’s wealth and the worth of the family

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced a stimulus package of more than 17 trillion yen ($113 billion) that includes tax breaks and benefits for low-income households. The plans is being criticized by some observers as populist spending that would worsen Japan’s national debt. Kishida says his

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian opposition lawmakers have caused commotion in Parliament, trying to disrupt a session in protest against what they say is increasingly authoritarian rule by the governing Socialists. Democratic lawmakers on Thursday blocked left-wing Socialists of Prime Minister Edi Rama from taking their seats and stacked chairs

By NAJIB JOBAIN and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dozens of Palestinians with foreign passports crossed through the war-torn Gaza Strip’s only exit for the second straight day Thursday, escaping Israel’s suffocating siege into the empty Egyptian desert. But the evacuation rush left families divided by citizenship status in painful limbo.

By LEAH WILLINGHAM and JOHN RABY Associated Press Crews began the arduous process of removing layers of rubble and debris from a collapsed coal mine preparation plant in eastern Kentucky Thursday. Efforts were part of the continued search for a worker missing since Tuesday night, when the 11-story abandoned building crashed down on two men

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press The state of Pennsylvania will work with a major natural gas producer to collect in-depth data on air emissions and water quality at well sites, enhance public disclosure of drilling chemicals and expand buffer zones, the governor announced Thursday, touting the collaboration as the first of its kind. CNX Resources

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s highest court apparently isn’t ready to allow the state to restart executions after more than 12 years until they hear more arguments about newly obtained lethal injection drugs as well as the firing squad and electric chair. The state Supreme Court set a Feb.

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Autoworkers at the first Ford factory to go on strike have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a tentative contract agreement reached with the company. Members of Local 900 at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, west of Detroit voted 81% in favor of the four

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on 130 firms and people from Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to choke off Russia’s access to tools and equipment that support its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions imposed by the

By SIMINA MISTREANU and HAN GUAN NG Associated Press SHANGHAI, China (AP) — American Ballet Theatre has returned to China for the first time in a decade, the latest sign that strained U.S.-China relations are beginning to improve. The New York-based company’s 85 dancers prepared for opening night at the Shanghai Grand Theater on Thursday.

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Rights groups say in new reports that security forces and armed groups are committing alleged war crimes against civilians in Africa’s Sahel region where extremists and rebels are increasingly fighting to exert dominance and control resources in communities. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say that

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The final Beatles recording is here. Titled “Now and Then,” the almost impossible-to-believe track is four minutes and eight seconds of the first and only original Beatles recording of the 21st century. There’s a countdown, then acoustic guitar strumming and piano bleed into the unmistakable

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Called cover crops, they top the list of tasks U.S. farmers are told will build healthy soil, help the environment and fight climate change. Yet after years of incentives and encouragement, Midwest farmers planted cover crops on only about 7% of their land in 2021.