Month: January 2024

By ISABEL DEBRE and NAJIB JOBAIN Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — For a few hours every day or night, Dr. Suhaib Alhamss tries to sleep on a thin mattress in an operating room. He swings in and out of half-consciousness, both too tired to open his eyes and too tense to let go.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Just a few months after he took office, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium to halt federal executions — a stark contrast after his predecessor carried out 13 in six months. Under Garland’s watch and a president who vowed to abolish the death penalty, the Justice

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Every morning, before she’s even out of her pajamas, Rachel Goldberg-Polin tears a piece of masking tape off the roll, grabs a pen and writes the number of days her son has been held hostage in Gaza. Then she sticks the tape to her chest. Her son,

By SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s imminent inauguration and the unrelenting pursuit of him and his party by the attorney general are recurring topics over dinner tables in this country, reflecting a political awakening in a population weary of corruption and impunity. Despite Arévalo’s wide margin of

By TERRY TANG and NOREEN NASIR Associated Press As communities nationwide celebrate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday this weekend with events ranging from parades to prayer services, some people are taking a cue from the slain civil rights icon’s history of protest to demonstrate against the war in Gaza and draw attention to

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Sunday marks 100 days that Israel and Hamas have been at war. The war already is the longest and deadliest between Israel and the Palestinians since Israel’s establishment in 1948, and the fighting shows no signs of ending. Israel declared war in response to Hamas’ unprecedented cross-border

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, MATTHEW LEE and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration keeps pressing Israel to reengage with Palestinians as partners once fighting in Gaza is over and support their eventual independence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps saying no. Even on actions to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians, the

By JIM SALTER and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Icy winter weather blanketed the U.S. on Saturday as a wave of Arctic storms threatened to break low-temperature records in the heartland, spread cold and snow from coast to coast and cast a chill over everything from football playoffs to presidential campaigns. As

By DAN IKPOYI and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The accident that broke 10-year-old Princess Igbinosa’s right leg could have crushed her dreams of becoming a model in a country where not many can afford prosthetics to cope with life and fight social stigma. “It was heartbreaking when they told us they

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The expansive version of free speech long accepted in American society is facing more forceful competition than it has seen in a century. On college campuses, a newer version of free speech is emerging as young generations redraw the line where expression crosses into harm. Their

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s two main drug cartels have long taken their deadly rivalry with them as they expand into distant markets from Asia to Australia to Africa. But never before have they done so with such massive street gang violence and a state of emergency as erupted this

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer Generations of Americans have held firm to a version of free speech that makes room for even the vilest of views. It’s girded by a belief that the good ideas rise above the bad, that no one should be punished for voicing an idea — except in rare cases

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — After almost five years of engagement and a postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern married longtime partner Clarke Gayford in a private ceremony Saturday. Details of the event were closely held by the pair, but the ceremony is reported to have been staged

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Laughs and hugs were shared between Hollywood’s best — including Margot Robbie, Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio — during a celebratory ceremony where everyone ended up walking away a winner at the American Film Institute Awards on Friday. The annual invite-only luncheon honored

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of an inmate who is scheduled to be the first person executed with nitrogen gas.  Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to be executed Jan. 25 by nitrogen hypoxia. Alabama attempted to put Smith to death by lethal injection in 2022. The lethal injection

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Russian billionaire who accused Sotheby’s of teaming up with a Swiss art dealer to cheat him of tens of millions of dollars became tearful while testifying in court and calling for more transparency in the art market. The emotional moment came Friday as Dmitry Rybolovlev

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from Starbucks in a dispute with the National Labor Relations Board over workers who were trying to unionize a store in Memphis, Tennessee. Starbucks fired seven employees in Memphis in February 2022, citing safety. But the labor board intervened and asked a federal

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors have urged a judge to reject former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s attempt to overturn his civil rights conviction in the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin filed his motion in November, saying new evidence shows that he didn’t cause Floyd’s death, and alleging ineffective counsel

By SARA CLINE Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In what would be an overhaul to Louisiana’s unusual open “jungle primary” system, which has been used for most of the past 50 years, lawmakers during next week’s special session may consider shifting the state toward a closed primary. Opponents argue the change would result