Associated Press SALCEDO, Ecuador (AP) — Ice-cream production in Salcedo, a quaint town in Ecuador’s central highlands, began in the mid-20th century, born from the ingenuity of Franciscan nuns. Locals say the sisters would drink fruit shakes made with milk from the region’s dairy farms until one of them began collecting the leftovers, turning them
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Associated Press LUANDA, Angola (AP) — President Joe Biden on his visit to sub-Saharan Africa pledged another $600 million for a cross-continent rail corridor project Wednesday, telling regional leaders that “Africa has been left behind for much too long. But not anymore. Africa is the future.” Biden used the third and final day of his
Continue Reading AP Technology Writer It is an ambitious social experiment of our moment in history — one that experts say could accomplish something that parents, schools and other governments have attempted with varying degrees of success: keeping kids off social media until they turn 16. Australia’s new law, approved by its Parliament last week, is an
Continue Reading Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A judge is weighing which of Missouri’s sweeping abortion restrictions will fall under a new constitutional amendment. Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang did not immediately rule after a Wednesday hearing in Kansas City court. Abortion-rights supporters want a court order declaring the state’s near-total abortion ban and
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hearing a high-profile culture-war clash, the Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed likely to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The justices’ decision, not expected for several months, could affect similar laws enacted by another 25 states and a range of other efforts to regulate the lives of transgender
Continue Reading Authorities fear a woman in western Pennsylvania who disappeared while looking for her cat may have been swallowed by a sinkhole caused by mine subsidence. A sinkhole is an area of ground that has no natural external surface drainage and can form when the ground below the land surface cannot support the land above. Sinkholes
Continue Reading Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say Chinese coast guard vessels backed by navy ships have fired powerful water cannons and blocked and sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. They say three Philippine coast guard and bureau of fisheries vessels were on routine patrol to
Continue Reading AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes rose to more records Wednesday after tech companies talked up how much of a boost they’re getting from the artificial-intelligence boom. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to add to what’s set to be one of its best years of the millennium. It’s the 56th time
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials are urging telecommunication companies to boost network security following a Chinese hacking operation that gave officials in Beijing access to the private texts and phone conversations of Americans. The warning issued Tuesday by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency includes technical recommendations designed to prevent
Continue Reading AP National Writer Miami’s playoff hopes took an all-but-final nosedive while Alabama’s got a boost Tuesday night in the last rankings before the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is set next weekend. The Hurricanes (10-2) moved down six spots to No. 12 — the first team out of the projected bracket after suffering their second
Continue Reading Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s opposition parties moved Wednesday to impeach the president over the shocking and short-lived declaration of martial law that drew heavily armed troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers climbed walls to reenter the building and unanimously voted to lift his order. Impeaching Yoon Suk Yeol would require
Continue Reading Associated Press/Report for America GARYVILLE, La. (AP) — State and federal authorities in Louisiana celebrated breaking ground on an ambitious $330 million conservation project intended to revitalize one of the state’s largest swamp ecosystems by reconnecting it with the Mississippi River. The 176 square mile Maurepas Swamp, a state wildlife refuge, holds Louisiana’s second largest
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, spent a second day on Capitol Hill, meeting privately with Republican senators amid rising questions about his ability to effectively lead the Pentagon. Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that he was planning to sit down with senators, even with those potentially skeptical
Continue Reading Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Closing arguments in the murder trial of a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee have concluded and the case will go to jurors. Prosecutors say Nima Momeni stabbed Lee in April 2023 after a dispute involving Momeni’s younger sister. But defense attorney
Continue Reading EDISON, New Jersey (AP) — A New Jersey township council’s decision to bar people from using “props” — which officials say can include the U.S. flag and Constitution — when addressing the council has drawn protests and a warning from a free speech advocacy organization. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression posted a clip
Continue Reading DOS PALOS, Calif. (AP) — A central California teacher died last month after she was bitten by a bat inside her classroom that presumably had rabies, officials and the woman’s friend said. In the wake of Leah Seneng’s death on Nov. 22, public health officials are warning the public about the dangers of bats, which
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has dialed in to what was described as a “love fest” with Senate Republicans. They are beginning to laying the groundwork for control of government in the new year, and a potential first-30-days agenda. Trump’s brief call was more celebratory than a prescriptive policy agenda, according to
Continue Reading Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — A U.S. official says authorities made about 46,700 arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico in November, down about 17% from October to a new low for Joe Biden’s presidency. It marks a decline of more than 80% from an all-time high of nearly 250,000 in December and
Continue Reading Associated Press Debbie Nelson, the single mother of rapper Eminem whose rocky relationship with her son was known widely through his hit song lyrics, has died. She was 69. Eminem’s longtime representative Dennis Dennehy confirmed Nelson’s death in an email on Tuesday. He did not provide a cause of death, although Nelson had battled lung
Continue Reading Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Years of legal wrangling have come to an end for a woman who spent 43 years behind bars for a killing that her attorneys argue was committed by a discredited police officer. A judge ruled Tuesday that Sandra Hemme can’t be retried, the final step toward making her
Continue Reading Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A very close election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat heads next to a hand recount. That comes after a machine recount of well over 5 million ballots resulted in no margin change between the candidates. Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs has a 734-vote lead over Republican challenger
Continue Reading Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration says he’s withdrawing his name from consideration. Sheriff Chad Chronister of Hillsborough County, Florida, made the announcement in a post on X Tuesday evening. He called the nomination “the honor of a lifetime” but said he had concluded he must
Continue Reading AP Health Writer New research shows that nearly three out of 10 U.S. drugstores that were open during the previous decade had closed by 2021. A study published Tuesday in Health Affairs says Black and Latino neighborhoods were most vulnerable to the retail pharmacy closures, which can chip away at already-limited care options in those
Continue Reading Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The top United Nations human rights watchdog has ordered Venezuela to avoid destroying tally sheets as it opens an investigation into allegations that President Nicolás Maduro stole this summer’s election. The U.N. Human Rights Council announced the probe Tuesday in a letter to several Latin American jurists who petitioned the
Continue Reading Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, admitting that he misled customers about the business. Alexander Mashinsky entered the plea Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to commodities and securities fraud. He admitted illegally manipulating the price
Continue Reading Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a
Continue Reading Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Non-governmental organizations monitoring Cuban prisons are demanding an investigation into the death of a man imprisoned since 2021 after being arrested for participating in historic protests against shortages and blackouts. Authorities say 29-year-old Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas committed suicide in prison. However, relatives claim he succumbed to injuries sustained
Continue Reading Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A judge is weighing whether a Georgia state Senate committee has the right to subpoena testimony and documents from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as it looks into whether she has engaged in misconduct during her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump. The Republican-led committee was formed earlier this year
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is ramping up efforts to address a crisis of suicides and systemic failures in federal prisons and jails, announcing sweeping reforms aimed at overhauling how mental health care is provided behind bars. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco outlined the measures in a memo and report Tuesday, directing
Continue Reading Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction, arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short
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