Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is demanding the immediate release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that if they are not freed before he is sworn into office for a second term there will be “HELL TO PAY.” “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Threats by President-elect Donald Trump to impose U.S. tariffs on its immediate neighbors appear to have created a split between Canada and Mexico, after Canadian officials said problems with the two countries’ borders were not comparable. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected those comments made following a meeting between Trump and Prime
Continue ReadingAP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Artificial intelligence is changing the way industries do business. But executives in the pharmaceutical industry are still waiting to see whether AI can tackle their biggest challenge: finding faster, cheaper ways to develop new drugs. Despite billions poured into research and development, new medicines still typically take a decade
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DETROIT (AP) — A program that provides federal funds to groups in Detroit working to cut down the numbers of homicides and shootings is showing reductions of 83%, 73% and 61% in some of the city’s most violent areas. The city says the numbers come as Detroit is on pace to continue setting
Continue ReadingHONOLULU (AP) — Authorities say a Hawaii crime boss who was convicted of racketeering charges last summer has died in prison. The Bureau of Prisons said in a news release Monday that 50-year-old Michael Miske was found unresponsive Sunday morning at the Federal Detention Center Honolulu and that life-saving efforts failed to save him. His
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is bracing for a no-confidence vote this week, a political reckoning poised to topple his fragile government and send shockwaves across the eurozone. Barnier on Monday invoked a rarely used constitutional mechanism to push through the contentious 2025 budget without parliamentary approval, arguing it was
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court has validated the first round of a presidential race in which a far-right outsider emerged as the frontrunner, plunging the country into a week of turmoil amid allegations of electoral violations and Russian meddling. The Constitutional Court’s decision Monday came after it asked the Central
Continue ReadingDAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (AP) — The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of two boaters off the Alabama coast but suspended the search for a missing 7-year-old boy after combing the area over the weekend. Searchers were unable to find Hunter Slezak. He was on a boat that went missing Friday. Searchers on Saturday found a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A critically endangered species of leopard has died at age 21 in a Southern California zoo. Officials at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert say Amur leopard Zoya died of old age last Tuesday after over a decade there. She was one of the oldest leopards
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — A small migrant caravan has set out from southern Mexico, heading north, but is unlikely to reach the U.S. border after authorities broke up two other small caravans headed to the United States over the weekend. About 1,500 migrants — mostly from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras
Continue ReadingTRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Filling up your vehicle’s gas tank in New Jersey will cost an extra 2.6 cents a gallon starting on New Year’s Day. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration said Monday the state’s gas tax will climb about 6% to 44.9 cents a gallon. The change stems from a review required under a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Closing arguments began on Monday in the trial of a tech consultant in the 2023 stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco, an event that shocked the broader tech community whose members mourned the loss of an entrepreneur they called charismatic and kind. San Francisco
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Established nonprofits, everyday individuals and mutual aid groups all want your dollars to make a difference. But with so many worthy causes and the rise of new giving technologies, how should you donate? The choices can be immobilizing. Many value conventional charities. But others like to crowdfund by pooling
Continue ReadingBOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian officials said Monday that most of the victims of a bus crash in Southern France, in which two people were killed and dozens were injured, are citizens of the South American country, who reside in Spain. Colombia’s Ambassador to France, Alfonso Prada, said the bus that crashed on Sunday evening
Continue ReadingBANGOR, Maine (AP) — Stephen King’s rock ‘n’ roll radio station is going silent at year’s end. King, a 77-year-old rocker who used to perform with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band that featured literary icons, said Monday that it’s time to say farewell to his rock station and two others that have been bleeding
Continue ReadingAssociated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A military spokesperson says at least 10 people were killed and an unspecified number of others were abducted in eastern Congo by extremist rebels linked to the Islamic State group. He says the rebels with the Allied Democratic Forces, an IS-affiliate in the region, attacked the area of Batangi-Mbau
Continue ReadingTBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia is convulsed by political upheaval again after its pro-Moscow government, fresh off parliamentary elections denounced as rigged by its critics, decided to suspend negotiations for the small former Soviet republic to join the European Union. The small but ancient Caucasus country has long inhabited a crossroads between Slavic, Turkish and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s election is over but the country faces weeks of coalition talks before it gets a new government. With all seats filled in the 174-seat legislature on Monday, center-right party Fianna Fail had won 48 seats and fellow center-right party Fine Gael 38. The two parties will now hold talks
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging a Savannah city ordinance that imposes fines or even jail time for people who leave guns in unlocked cars. Chatham County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Karpf dismissed the case Nov. 22. He ruled that Georgia gun owner Clarence Belt lacked
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri’s governor has denied clemency for Christopher Collings, an inmate who is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for sexually assaulting and killing a 9-year-old girl. The 49-year-old prisoner was condemned to die for the 2007 killing of Rowan Ford, a fourth-grader whose body was left in a sinkhole. Parson’s
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