Month: January 2024

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek court has acquitted a group of 16 aid workers and volunteers of charges linked with their efforts to rescue migrants making the dangerous sea crossing in small boats from neighboring Turkey. The trial on the eastern island of Lesbos on espionage and other charges had attracted international scrutiny, with

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. syphilis epidemic isn’t abating, with the rate of infectious cases rising 9% in 2022, according to a new federal government report on sexually transmitted diseases in adults. But there’s some unexpected good news: The rate of new gonorrhea cases fell for the first

By MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York will expand its legal definition of rape to include various forms of nonconsensual sexual contact, under a bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul signed the bill on Tuesday. The law will apply to sexual assaults committed on or

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Indiana State Police arrested two-time NBA champion Rajon Rondo on Sunday in southern Indiana on misdemeanor gun and drug charges, police said. The 37-year-old former guard was initially stopped for a traffic violation in Jackson County, police said in a news release. An investigation began Sunday afternoon after a caller said

By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state’s governor has called for the state to develop best practices on how agencies use generative artificial intelligence as it continues to incorporate the technology into government operations. The executive order was signed by the Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday and highlights the huge potential

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge has ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to implement his ruling allowing election clerks to accept absentee ballots that have partial witness addresses, a decision that is expected to expand the number of ballots that will be counted in battleground Wisconsin. Each of the

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The number of western monarch butterflies overwintering in California dropped by 30% last year, likely due to how wet it was, researchers said Tuesday. Volunteers who visited sites in California and Arizona around Thanksgiving tallied more than 230,000 butterflies, compared to 330,000 in 2022, according

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine court has overturned labor rules proposed by President Javier Milei that would make it easier to fire workers, in a new blow to the leader’s efforts to shake up regulations that he says have hampered the country’s struggling economy. The appeals court already temporarily suspended the incoming president’s

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Molly Manning Walker makes her directorial debut with “How to Have Sex,” a cheekily titled film about three British teens on a booze-fueled holiday trip in Greece. Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce) and her two friends, Em (Enva Lewis) and Skye (Lara Peake) are looking to drink and dance and meet

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will play its entire schedule on the road next season, though some of those games will be played just down the road in venues that should create a home atmosphere. The school is building a new stadium and had hoped to play in the

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — U.S. Navy veteran and political newcomer Joe Fraser has launched a longshot Republican campaign to oust three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The 50-year-old from the western edge of the Twin Cities area kicked off his campaign with a media tour that includes stops in Duluth, Moorhead, Rochester and Mankato. Fraser

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The U.S. figure skating team from the Beijing Olympics will receive a gold medal now that Russian skater Kamila Valieva has been disqualified for doping. That followed a two-year investigation and a case brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It will still

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Chita Rivera, the dynamic dancer, singer and actor who garnered 10 Tony nominations, winning twice, in a long Broadway career that forged a path for Latina artists and shrugged off a near-fatal car accident, died Tuesday. She was 91. Rivera’s death was announced by her

By ED WHITE Associated Press A Michigan school official told jurors that he had no grounds to search the backpack of a teenager before the boy killed four fellow students in 2021. Nick Ejak testified Tuesday that he was pulled into a meeting earlier that day at Oxford High School to discuss a violent drawing

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Gayle Manchin, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s wife, who leads an economic development partnership of the federal government and 13 state governments, and a colleague of hers have both been hospitalized following a car crash in Alabama. Gayle Manchin, 76, and Guy Land were injured Monday in the accident which happened in

NEWTON, Mass. (AP) — A teachers strike in a Boston suburb entered its eighth day Tuesday with both sides still unable to agree on salaries and other issues. The Newton School Committee said Tuesday that it has made another revised offer to the Newton Teachers Association, which it described as a fair and competitive offer.

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press Fire crews found the burned remnants Tuesday of a prized bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that was stolen last week from a public park in Kansas, authorities said. The Wichita fire department received a call around 8:40 a.m. about a trash can on fire at Garvey Park in the southern

By TERESA M. WALKER and RALPH D. RUSSO AP Sports Writers The University of Tennessee chancellor ripped the NCAA president in a scathing letter released Tuesday that said the “failing” organization is pursuing “factually untrue and procedurally flawed” allegations the school violated rules for name, image and likeness compensation compensation to athletes. The letter was

Associated Press ARDMORE, Ala. (AP) — A Greyhound bus and a car have collided on a northern Alabama road, killing a man and injuring the bus driver and eight bus passengers. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says the crash happened shortly after 10 p.m. Monday. 23-year-old Sidney C. Benson of Ardmore, Alabama, was killed in

By JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press U.S. and Mideast mediators appeared optimistic in recent days that they were closing in on a deal for a two-month cease-fire in Gaza and the release of over 100 hostages held by Hamas. But on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the militant group’s two main demands — that

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating whether Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri misused campaign funds for her own personal security, the progressive lawmaker confirmed in a statement Tuesday. Bush, a second-term lawmaker, denied any wrongdoing and said she is “fully cooperating” with federal prosecutors. “As a rank-and-file