Month: January 2023

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — President Joe Biden has opened 2023 by watching the first sunrise of the new year from the U.S. Virgin Islands and attending church. Biden worshipped Sunday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in the town of Christiansted on St. Croix. The president has attended religious

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press ROME (AP) — Dubai has ended its 30% tax on alcohol sales in the sheikhdom and made its required liquor licenses free to obtain. The announcement Sunday ends a long-standing source of revenue for its ruling family to apparently further boost tourism to the emirate. It came apparently from a

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Libyan authorities say they have found 18 bodies buried in a mass grave in the central coastal city of Sirte, a former stronghold of the Islamic State group in the conflict-stricken North African nation. The Missing Persons Authority said Sunday in a statement the bodies were unearthed

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Police say one person has been killed and nine hurt in a shooting a few blocks away from where thousands were in the streets for a New Year’s Eve party in downtown Mobile, Alabama. TV news footage showed police officers running and on horseback rushing to the area where the shooting

By MARIA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press RAPA NUI, Chile (AP) — Rapa Nui – the remote Chilean territory in the mid-Pacific widely known as Easter Island – is home to a Catholic church featuring artwork that reflects that islanders’ ancestral culture as well as Christian beliefs. Among the eye-catching works are stained glass windows —

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer After the best semifinal day in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff, the title game will match the defending national champion against the closest thing the sport has had in years to a Cinderella team. It will be No. 1 Georgia (14-0) looking for its

JERUSALEM (AP) — The tourism minister of Israel’s new hardline government has promised to invest in the West Bank, calling the occupied area “our local Tuscany.” Haim Katz made the comments days after the new government took office. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition has promised to make West Bank settlement construction a top priority.

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — There was no tolling of the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica, no solemn announcement by a Vatican monsignor to the faithful in the square. A fisherman’s ring did not get smashed and the diplomatic corps were not mobilized to send official delegations to Rome. The death

By MAURICIO SAVARESE AP Sports Writer SANTOS, Brazil (AP) — Pelé. Santos, Brazil. Over decades, adoring fans around the world mailed thousands of letters, postcards and packages to the sports legend without his address or full name. Almost without fail, they reached the office of Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the port city he made