News

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine (AP) — Lobster boat engines rumble to life, lumberjacks trudge into the woods and farmers tend wild blueberries just like they have for generations here at the nation’s northeastern tip, where the vast wilderness and ocean meet in one of the last places on the East Coast

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — In Japan, a nation reputed for loyalty to companies and lifetime employment, people who job-hop are often viewed as quitters. And that’s considered shameful. Enter “taishoku daiko,” or “job-leaving agents.” Dozens of such services have sprung up in the last several years to help people who simply

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Elián González has the same big, expressive eyes he did 23 years ago when an international custody battle transformed him into the face of the long-strained relations between Cuba and the United States. Now 29, González is stepping into Cuban politics. He recently entered his country’s congress

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s claims that absolute presidential immunity and free speech rights shield him from the defamation claims of a New York columnist were rejected Thursday by a federal judge. The writer, E. Jean Carroll, can continue to press claims that Trump owes her at

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