Month: May 2024

By SYLVIE CORBET and BARBARA SURK Associated Press MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Tens of thousands welcomed the Olympic torch in the southern French city of Marseille, marking another milestone in the lead-up to the Summer Games in Paris. A majestic three-mast ship carried the Olympic torch from Greece for the welcoming ceremony at sunset Wednesday

By LISA LEFF Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Thousands of ride-or-die Taylor Swift fans who missed out on her U.S. concert tour last year or didn’t want to buy exorbitantly priced tickets to see her again found an out-of-the-way solution: Fly to Europe. The pop star is scheduled to kick off the 18-city Europe leg

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change. Founded 114 years ago, the Texas-based organization has recently been mired in turmoil over a flood of sexual abuse claims and bankruptcy.

By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES Associated Press SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia has elected its first woman president as the governing Social Democrats suffered historic losses in twin presidential and parliamentary elections. Conservative-backed Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, a 70-year-old law professor, was declared the winner after receiving nearly 65% support with more than two-thirds of the vote

By GEORGE WALKER IV, JOEY CAPPELLETTI and ED WHITE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — Severe storms tore through parts of the U.S. again Wednesday, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and one person in North Carolina. A storm that rumbled across northeastern Tennessee brought high winds that knocked

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Representatives from 22 Western Hemisphere countries gathered in Guatemala have renewed their commitment to continue offering legal pathways to enter their countries, to provide aid to communities most affected by migration and to coordinate their response to manage immigration flows. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted Tuesday that progress had

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Paintbrush in hand, Anastasiya Sereda is working on a painting of a chubby-faced panda in the uniform of a Ukrainian soldier. Propped on her easel is the reason why – a photo of her boyfriend Bohdan, a burly serviceman with a gentle smile. “He looks like

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A settlement has been reached in a civil lawsuit seeking damages from three relatives in the shooting of a Native American activist in northern New Mexico amid confrontations about a statue of a Spanish conquistador and aborted plans to reinstall it in public, according to

By ANNIE MA and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of three large public school systems strongly denied allegations that they let antisemitism run rampant. They told a congressional panel Wednesday that they’re fighting it with education and, when necessary, discipline. As part of a series of hearings on antisemitism, a House Education

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected China’s argument that Australia was responsible for a dangerous weekend encounter between their military aircraft in international airspace over the Yellow Sea. Both China and Australia lodged official protests and blamed each other for a Chinese warplane’s extraordinary use

By JILL COLVIN, LISA MASCARO and ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — As former President Donald Trump remains stuck in the courtroom listening to salacious details of an extramarital sexual encounter he denies, another spectacle is playing out in the background as his vice presidential tryouts get underway. The dynamic was on full

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The future of the Tampa Bay Rays is about to come into clearer focus as the St. Petersburg City Council begins discussions about the team’s planned $1.3 billion ballpark. The stadium would be the anchor of a much larger project to transform downtown with affordable

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A former University of Arizona graduate student accused of killing a professor on campus showed premeditation and intent in the 2022 fatal shooting, according to prosecutors. Murad Dervish’s trial began Tuesday and is expected to last two weeks in Pima County Superior Court. Dervish, 48, faces seven felony charges including first-degree

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is due to deliver a first-of-its-kind verdict on whether Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza complies with international and U.S. laws. The decision is due from the administration Wednesday. Officials say they won’t meet the deadline for the report to be delivered to

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Italy’s president says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be solved by rewarding its aggression and peace can only come when Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored. Sergio Mattarella told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that Italy and many international partners have come to

By EDNA TARIGAN and KRISTEN GELINEAU Associated Press MEULABOH, Indonesia (AP) — Huddled on board the boat, the 12-year-old girl quaked with fear. The captain and crew who she says had tortured her and three other women and girls were not finished. And the punishment for disobedience, the men warned, would be death. It was

By JIM GOMEZ and AARON FAVILA Associated Press LAOAG, Philippines (AP) — U.S. and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian air force surveillance aircraft, have unleashed a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship as part of largescale war drills in and near the disputed South China Sea

By EDNA TARIGAN and KRISTEN GELINEAU Associated Press MEULABOH, Indonesia (AP) — The boat glided across waters that were dark and still, under a night sky that was cloudless and calm. But on board, the 12-year-old girl quaked with fear. The captain and crew who she says had tortured her and three other women and

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Soccer fans around the world will now have a day to celebrate the world’s most popular sport every year – May 25. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Tuesday proclaiming May 25 as World Football Day. The sport is called football outside of

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says Kim Ki Nam, the propaganda chief who helped build personality cults around the country’s three dynastic leaders, has died at 94. State media said leader Kim Jong Un visited the body of Kim Ki Nam at a funeral hall in Pyongyang early Wednesday and expressed condolences to

By ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S., a senior administration official said Tuesday. The

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Panera Bread said it’s discontinuing its Charged Sips drinks that were tied to at least two wrongful death lawsuits due to their high caffeine content. Panera didn’t say Tuesday whether the drinks were being discontinued because of the lawsuits or health concerns, and it wouldn’t comment on the timeline

DALLAS (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice is suspected of assault in Dallas a little over a month after he was one of the speeding drivers in a chain-reaction crash that led to multiple charges, according to a newspaper report Tuesday. Law enforcement officials told The Dallas Morning News that Rice was suspected

By JENNIFER PELTZ, MICHAEL R. SISAK and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump squirmed and scowled, shook his head and muttered as Stormy Daniels described the unexpected sex she says they had in a hotel nearly two decades ago. It was a story Daniels has told before. This time, Trump had

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities say a cruise ship worker from South Africa has been arrested in Alaska’s capital city after he was accused of attacking a woman and two security guards with scissors on board the vessel. The U.S. attorney’s office says the man is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon within maritime