Month: January 2024

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Farmers have captured France’s attention by showering government offices with manure and snarling Parisian traffic with barricades of tractors and hay bales. The farmers say their protests aren’t a moment too soon. Grievances have long been brewing in the European Union’s leading agricultural power. The war between

NEW YORK (AP) — Russian billionaire art collector Dmitry Rybolovlev lost a legal fight with Sotheby’s when a U.S. jury sided with the auction house. The decision was made Tuesday against the businessman’s claims that the auction house ripped him off. Rybolovlev alleged Sotheby’s helped a Swiss art dealer cheat him out of over $160

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press Former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri when she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, has died at age 90. Carnahan was appointed to the Senate in 2001 after the posthumous election of her husband, Gov. Mel Carnahan, and she

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s governor is calling for strengthening the state’s yellow flag law, boosting background checks for private gun sales and bolstering mental health crisis care following the deadliest mass shooting in state history. An army reservist killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in Lewiston in October.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden has again asked a judge to dismiss the federal gun case against him, arguing it is politically motivated and key evidence was tested after charges were filed. Hunter Biden’s defense attorney says in court documents that cocaine residue found on the pouch the president’s son

By ADRIAN SAINZ and ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. (AP) — Residents of an east Arkansas town have been without running water for the past two weeks after the state was hit by below-freezing temperatures. The outage in Helena-West Helena, located along the Mississippi River, has forced residents to line up for bottled

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is teaming up with Google to hunt for leaky water pipes using satellite imagery as the drought-stricken state prepares for a future in which growing demand puts more pressure on already dwindling drinking water supplies. State officials made the announcement Tuesday as they

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has made it clear the U.S. will strike back after a deadly drone attack killed three service members and wounded more than 40 at a small base in Jordan over the weekend. What isn’t yet clear is who will be

By RANDALL CHASE AP Business Writer DOVER, Del. (AP) — Elon Musk is not entitled to a landmark compensation package awarded by Tesla’s board of directors that is potentially worth more than $55 billion, a Delaware judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling by Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick comes more than five years after a shareholder

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Advertisements for sports betting may seem to be everywhere, but the NFL says viewers will only see three of them during next month’s Super Bowl. During an online news conference Tuesday to discuss the upcoming championship game, league officials said they generally limit sports betting

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer NHL players Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils and Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames have been charged with sexual assault in connection with an investigation into an alleged sexual assault by several members of Canada’s 2018 world junior

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it has conducted a test-firing of long-range cruise missiles with an aim to sharpen its counterattack and strategic strike capabilities. It is the country’s latest display of weapons threatening South Korea and Japan. The report by North Korean state media on Wednesday

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to temporarily halt state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s scheduled testimony in a whistleblower lawsuit that was at the heart of the impeachment charges brought against him in 2023, delaying what could have been the Republican’s first sworn statements on

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer A Senate committee investigating the PGA Tour’s proposed commercial deal wants the governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund fund to stop hampering the inquiry. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson say they will press on with their subpoenas of four U.S. consulting firms that did work for the

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press SAN SALVADOR (AP) — El Salvador’s government “made mistakes” in its war against the country’s gangs, but has never undermined the country’s democracy to consolidate power, according to the man likely to be reelected vice president. Félix Ulloa, temporarily on leave as El Salvador’s vice president while he runs for

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Democratic-backed bill to ban firearms at polling places and near ballot drop boxes won the endorsement of New Mexico’s state Senate in response to concerns about intimidation and fears among poll workers in the runup to the 2024 election. The bill now moves to

By EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Prime Minister Ariel Henry has met for the first time with officials from various countries who are part of a committee aimed at boosting the country’s beleaguered police department as it awaits the potential deployment of a foreign armed force to help it fight gangs. Haiti’s

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Former Nebraska tight end Arik Gilbert pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was ordered to pay a fine and restitution in connection with a break-in at a liquor and vape shop in Lincoln last summer. Gilbert had been charged with burglary, but prosecutors amended it to trespassing and criminal mischief.

OURAY, Colo. (AP) — A southwestern Colorado police chief has been placed on paid administrative leave after charges were filed against three men in the case of a 17-year-old girl who reported being raped by more than one person during a party at the chief’s house. The city of Ouray announced Monday that Police Chief

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America RICHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — Travelers in northwestern Minnesota can shake off their trepidation about hitting the winter roads knowing Taylor Drift is clearing a path ahead of them. The snowplow named for Taylor Swift was the runaway winner of Minnesota’s fourth-annual Name a Snowplow contest. Eight new names

ATLANTA (AP) — Officials say court and other systems in Georgia’s most populous county were hacked over the weekend, interrupting routine operations. A Fulton County official says phone, court and tax systems are experiencing a “widespread system outage” from a “cybersecurity incident.” The online court filing system remained inaccessible Tuesday. Attempts to reach it were

By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Business and agricultural groups are suing California over new climate disclosure laws. The groups argue the policies overstep on the federal government’s authority to regulate emissions nationwide. They also say that the laws violate free speech rights by requiring companies to comment on climate

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Cyprus for a year and urged all parties including rival Green Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to take steps “to de-escalate tensions in and around the buffer zone” dividing the Mediterranean island.