Month: June 2023

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked a new Mississippi law that requires permission from state police for protests or other gatherings near state government buildings in the capital city of Jackson. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate said the law is vague and could have a

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief is warning that the 12-year conflict in Syria has pushed 90% of its population below the poverty line and millions face a 40% cut in emergency food aid in July because the $5.4 billion U.N. humanitarian appeal for Syria – the

By The Associated Press This week’s new entertainment releases include a new album from Lucinda Williams, the kickoff of the 20th season of the reality dating show “The Bachelorette” starring a 27-year-old therapist from Georgia who was featured on the last season of “The Bachelor,” and Idris Elba is stuck on the worst flight ever

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly has approved a resolution that will establish an independent body to determine what happened to more than 130,000 people missing as a result of the conflict in Syria. It is an important response to appeals by their families and loved ones.

By JUAN LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas grand jury declined to indict rap superstar Travis Scott in a criminal investigation of a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival, where some spectators were packed so tightly they could not move their arms or even breathe, his attorney and prosecutors said Thursday.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials say a key dam in Puerto Rico that was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria will be rebuilt and improved. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will work with Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority on the multimillion-dollar project that is expected to take a decade. Priorities include installing an

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s health authorities have belatedly released a report showing a significant spike in heat-related fatalities in the last two weeks. The report was released late on Wednesday and comes after the country’s president repeatedly downplayed the deaths from the recent heat wave. The Health Department normally issues a report on heat-related

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ and MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The leader of an armed civilian movement that once kicked a drug cartel out of the western Mexico state of Michoacan has been killed. Tributes quickly rolled in Thursday for slain “self defense” leader Hipólito Mora. Mora was one of the last leaders

By AARON MORRISON Associated Press A California judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit that grassroots racial justice activists from around the U.S. brought last summer against a foundation with stewardship of the Black Lives Matter movement’s charitable endowment worth tens of millions of dollars. Black Lives Matter Grassroots Inc., a collective of organizers and BLM

ROME (AP) — Italian police on Thursday said they believe the man filmed while engraving his name and that of his apparent girlfriend last week on the ancient Roman Colosseum is a tourist who lives in Britain. The identification was made using photographic comparisons, Italian Carabinieri said in a press release. The statement did not

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has adopted a new law that changes how people count their ages. The country’s previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are. A law that went into effect Wednesday formalizes the international age-counting method as standard in

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Law enforcement officials say a man who had explosives materials and was wanted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has been arrested in the Washington neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives. They say 37-year-old Taylor Taranto was seen a

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Beatriz has formed off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast and may strengthen rapidly to become a hurricane as early as Friday. U.S. hurricane forecasters say Beatriz was about 110 miles south of Acapulco late Thursday and moving west-northwest at 12 mph with sustained winds of 40 mph. A hurricane warning

By SYLVIE CORBET, JOHN LEICESTER and ALEX TURNBULL Associated Press NANTERRE, France (AP) — France mobilized tens of thousands of police officers Thursday in an effort to head off widespread urban rioting following the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old that shocked the nation, with commuters rushing home before transport services closed early to avoid