Associated Press UDHAGAMANDALAM, India (AP) — Forests of native trees and plants once blanketed the Western Ghats mountains in southern India, but nearly 200 years ago, British colonists installed rows upon rows of tea plantations there. The few groves that stand today are either protected by Indigenous communities who preserve them for their faith and
Continue Reading Associated Press CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AP) — Over a New Mexico training range named the Hornet, two Osprey aircraft speed 100 feet off the ground, banking hard over valleys and hills as they close in on a dusty landing zone. A flight engineer in the back braces a .50-caliber machine gun over the
Continue Reading By Zoe Sottile, CNN (CNN) — Officials in Texas have backed a controversial new public school curriculum that would incorporate Christian lessons from the Bible as early as kindergarten. Eight out of 15 state school board members voted Tuesday to keep the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum on a list of K-5 reading and English language arts
Continue Reading By Billy Stockwell, CNN (CNN) — It was the early hours of the morning when a guard entered Sohrab’s cell – a small, dark room with a barred window and a blanket on the floor – in Kabul’s sprawling Pul-e-Charkhi prison last August. The 19-year-old was escorted to another room in the complex, where he
Continue Reading By Jessie Yeung and Laura Dolan, CNN (CNN) — The factory explosion that killed two workers in Louisville, Kentucky, last week was caused by a failed cooking vessel, officials said Monday. “It was an industrial accident, and there’s no indication anyone did anything intentional to cause the explosion,” said Shawn Morrow, the Louisville special agent
Continue Reading Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s president opened the second day of a meeting of the world’s 20 major economies Tuesday by calling for more action to slow global warming, saying developed nations must speed up their initiatives to reduce harmful emissions. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s comments came the day after
Continue Reading By Caroll Alvarado, Michelle Watson, Maria Aguilar Prieto and Chris Boyette, CNN (CNN) — It’s been more than a week since Hannah Kobayashi missed a flight connection in Los Angeles. After a series of suspicious texts from her phone, the 30-year-old Hawaii woman has gone silent – and her family now fears she may have
Continue Reading TORONTO (AP) — Poet-novelist Anne Michaels has won the Giller Prize for her novel “Held,” a multi-generational examination of war and trauma. The 100,000 Canadian dollar ($71,000) Giller prize honors the best in Canadian fiction. Past winners have included Margaret Atwood, Mordecai Richler and Alice Munro. Michaels appealed for “unity” among “all the arts” during
Continue Reading KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Led by Jamar Brown 22 points, the Kansas City Kangaroos defeated the Calvary Warriors 119-19.
Continue Reading Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — As tens of thousands crowded the streets in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, on Tuesday, the throng of people, flags aloft, had the air of a festival or a parade rather than a protest. They were marching to oppose a law that would reshape the county’s founding treaty between
Continue Reading ST. LOUIS (AP) — Christian Pulisic scored twice in the first half, Tim Weah got a goal in his return to the U.S. national team from a red card and the Americans beat Jamaica 4-2 for a 5-2 aggregate win in their CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal. Playing their first competitive matches under coach Mauricio Pochettino,
Continue Reading By Hanna Park, CNN (CNN) — Ohio officials have denounced a small contingent of neo-Nazis who paraded Saturday afternoon through a Columbus neighborhood – waving flags featuring swastikas and shouting a racist slur – in the latest public demonstration by White nationalists in recent years across the United States. Around a dozen people in black
Continue Reading AP Travel Editor NEW YORK (AP) — Arthur Frommer, whose “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad, has died. He was 95. Frommer died from complications of pneumonia, his daughter Pauline Frommer said Monday. “My father opened up the world to so many
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Sean Duffy to become transportation secretary in his new administration, positioning him to oversee a complex system that includes pipelines, railroads, cars, trucks, airlines and mass transit systems, as well as funding for highways. Here are some things to know about Duffy. He is a
Continue Reading Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese state media say numerous children were injured by a vehicle outside an elementary school in central China’s Hunan province. Students were arriving for classes on Tuesday morning at Yongan Elementary School in the city of Changde when the incident occurred. No details were immediately available, and it wasn’t
Continue Reading Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than 20 riders were suspended in midair for hours after a Knott’s Berry Farm ride malfunctioned Monday afternoon. Guests at the Southern California theme park were stuck on the Sol Spin ride after technical difficulties caused it to stop at about 2:00 p.m., a park spokesperson said. The
Continue Reading By Chris Lau and Nectar Gan, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — More than 40 of Hong Kong’s best known pro-democracy figures have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on subversion charges, in the biggest single blow to the city’s already shrinking political freedoms following Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on dissent. Among those
Continue Reading Associated Press/Report for America AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas public schools could use teachings from the Bible in lessons as an option for students from kindergarten through fifth grade under a proposal before the state board of education. Hours of testimony were heard Monday for and against the plan. It mirrors Republican-led efforts in other
Continue Reading Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Victims and family of those killed in the mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs in 2022 filed lawsuits Sunday against the El Paso County commissioners and former sheriff. The lawsuits allege that the killings could’ve been prevented if the sheriff’s office used the state’s red
Continue Reading Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has vetoed a U.N. resolution Monday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the war between Sudan’s military and paramilitary forces and delivery of humanitarian aid to millions in desperate need. Russia’s ally China supported the resolution sponsored by the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone, along with all other
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