Associated Press BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Belem, a bustling metropolitan area of 2.5 million people near the mouth of the Amazon River, is preparing to host COP30 next year. But when tens of thousands of participants arrive, they won’t find idyllic images of rainforest, like lush vegetation and clean rivers. Impoverished, crime-ridden and filled with
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Three generations of TJ Rickard’s family lost their homes in the deadly Maui wildfire more than a year ago, and he and his extended family still have not rebuilt. That leaves Rickard, a high school basketball coach, conflicted about next week’s return of the storied Maui Invitational college tournament. Like
Continue ReadingAssociated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A parole board decided unanimously Wednesday that Susan Smith should remain in prison, despite her plea that God has forgiven her for infamously killing her two young sons 30 years ago by rolling her car into a South Carolina lake while they were strapped in their car seats. It
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s a common trait that President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing as he selects those to serve in his new administration: experience on television. Trump loves that “central casting” look, as he likes to call it. Some, like his choices for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and transportation secretary, Sean Duffy,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press EPWORTH, Zimbabwe (AP) — Carrying her infant daughter, 19-year-old Sithulisiwe Moyo waited two hours to get birth-control pills from a tent pitched in a poor settlement on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. The outreach clinic in Epworth provides Moyo with her best shot at achieving her dream of returning to school. “I
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of people are voting in state elections in Maharashtra, India’s western industrial hub, and the mineral-rich eastern province of Jharkhand in a test of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. Politically significant Maharashtra, home to India’s financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai, is currently ruled
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says a deal has been reached for Indonesia to send back a Filipino death-row drug convict, who was nearly executed by firing squad but got a reprieve due to years of pleadings from Manila. Marcos thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his government on
Continue ReadingLOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two police officers and a suspect were shot Tuesday night in Louisville during a struggle over a gun that happened after the officers stopped an allegedly stolen vehicle, authorities said. One officer was wounded in the leg, and the other in the hand, Louisville Metro Police said in a social media
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Linda McMahon is Donald Trump’s choice for Education secretary. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first presidency, and she supported his campaigns with financial contributions and her leadership of outside groups. Before entering politics, McMahon ran World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, with her husband Vince McMahon. McMahon is
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LA PAZ, Boliva (AP) — Last year, then-presidential candidate Javier Milei declared Argentina would not “make deals with communists” in China or Brazil, calling their leaders “murderers” and “thieves” in a bid to channel the populist energies of Donald Trump into a winning political message. But Tuesday, President Milei found himself at the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Terry Thompson had an election to run for voters in Cascade County, Montana. Why then, she thought, was her office in Great Falls being sent mailed ballots completed by voters in places such as Wasilla, Alaska; Vancouver, Washington; and Tampa, Florida? It was only about a dozen ballots total
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japan racked up a trade deficit in October for the fourth month in a row, as a weak yen and rising energy prices kept import costs high. The Finance Ministry said Wednesday that the red ink totaled 461 billion yen, or $3 billion. Japan’s exports expanded 3.1% in October
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ATLANTA (AP) — After almost a year of testimony, prosecutors in Atlanta rested their case against the two remaining defendants in a gang and racketeering trial that had included rapper Young Thug before he pleaded guilty. The sweeping gang and racketeering indictment led to the longest trial in Georgia’s history. Both Deamonte Kendrick,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press/Report for America BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s complex tax reform package, intended to deliver large income and corporate tax cuts, has faced pushback from a range of lawmakers, lobbyists and local governments. The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs committee responded to those concerns on Tuesday by introducing significant changes
Continue ReadingAssociated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republicans have advanced legislation that would weaken the powers of the incoming governor, attorney general and schools superintendent. All those are Democrats who were elected two weeks ago. The final measure was made public Tuesday shortly before the GOP-controlled House started debate during a lame-duck General Assembly
Continue ReadingAssociated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is urging Libya and other nations to help arrest six men allegedly linked to a brutal militia blamed for multiple killings and other crimes in a strategically important western town where mass graves were discovered in 2020. Karim Khan told the U.N. Security Council
Continue ReadingSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California voters have rejected a measure on the November ballot that would have raised the minimum wage for most workers to $18 an hour. The rate would have been on par with Hawaii and the highest statewide minimum wage in the country. Proponents of the failed initiative said it would have
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Former Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai denied in his landmark national security trial on Wednesday he had asked then U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to take action against the city and China during the territory’s anti-government protests in 2019. Lai, founder of
Continue ReadingAP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Distant, ancient galaxies are giving scientists more hints that a mysterious force called dark energy may not be what they thought. Astronomers know that the universe is being pushed apart at an accelerating rate and they have puzzled for decades over what could possibly be speeding everything up.
Continue ReadingSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Mayor London Breed has lost her reelection race to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie. The Associated Press called the race Tuesday. Breed already conceded the race to Lurie, and pledged a smooth transition for the incoming mayor. Breed’s victory six years ago as the city’s first Black female mayor
Continue Reading