By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press Advocacy groups say thousands of struggling families in New York City are waiting unacceptably long times to receive emergency food and cash aid. The groups, including The Legal Aid Society, filed a contempt motion Monday in federal court in Manhattan asking a judge to order the city to reduce backlogs
Continue ReadingBy GISELA SALOMON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami has sentenced a former Haitian senator to life in prison for conspiring to kill Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, which caused unprecedented turmoil in the Caribbean nation. John Joel Joseph is the third of 11 suspects detained and charged in Miami
Continue ReadingBy QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s first provincial elections in a decade saw a relatively low turnout and largely benefitted traditional parties, according to results announced by the country’s election authorities. The Independent High Electoral Commission has said that some 41% of registered voters turned out in Monday’s general voting and special
Continue ReadingBy GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina voting-rights advocates have sued to overturn redistricting plans drawn by Republicans for the 2024 elections, saying legislative leaders unlawfully weakened the electoral influence of Black voters. The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, Common Cause North Carolina and eight Black residents filed a
Continue ReadingBy MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — South Carolina and Florida were the two fastest-growing states in the U.S., as the South dominated population gains in 2023, and the U.S. growth rate ticked upward slightly from the depths of the pandemic due to a drop in deaths, according to estimates released Tuesday by
Continue ReadingBy MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — South Carolina and Florida were the two fastest-growing states in the U.S., as the South dominated population gains in 2023, and the U.S. growth rate ticked upward slightly from the depths of the pandemic due to a drop in deaths, according to estimates released Tuesday by
Continue ReadingBy FABIANO MAISONNAVE, Associated Press and RUBENS VALENTE, Agencia Publica JACI-PARANA, Brazil (AP) — Authorities in a western Brazil state are taking aim at deforestation of the Amazon with a slew of lawsuits against slaughterhouses and farmers accused of illegally raising cattle in a protected area. The lawsuits seek millions of dollars for environmental damage
Continue ReadingBERLIN (AP) — A Syrian man has been convicted of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm over two knife attacks in Germany this year. He was convicted of stabbing a 35-year-old man to death in the western city of Duisburg in April, and attacking four people at a gym nine days later. The court said
Continue ReadingBy Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken, CNN (CNN) — The nation’s largest prison health care provider has come under fire from a group of Democratic senators who say they are alarmed the government contractor’s chronic understaffing and cost-cutting measures may have put inmates’ lives in danger. In a letter sent Monday, the group of lawmakers,
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration moved on Tuesday to conserve groves of old-growth trees on national forests across the U.S. and limit logging as climate change amplifies the threats they face from wildfires, insects and disease. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agency was adopting an “ecologically-driven” approach
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration moved on Tuesday to conserve groves of old-growth trees on national forests across the U.S. and limit logging as climate change amplifies the threats they face from wildfires, insects and disease. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agency was adopting an “ecologically-driven” approach
Continue ReadingBy MELINA WALLING Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Christmas tree breeder Jim Rockis knows what it looks like when one dies long before it can reach a buyer. Rockis farms trees in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where he and other producers often grow their iconic evergreens outside their preferred habitat higher in the mountains. But
Continue ReadingPERRY, Ga. (AP) — A man serving prison time for concealing the death of Georgia teacher Tara Grinstead has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in two unrelated rape cases. Houston County court records show that Bo Dukes made a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to two counts of aggravated assault
Continue ReadingBy Natasha Bertrand and Michael Williams, CNN Washington (CNN) — Attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea have escalated to a level not seen in decades, leaving the United States and its allies scrambling to protect shipping in a key corridor for the global economy. Houthi rebels have launched at least 100 attacks against 12 different
Continue ReadingBy LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Arizona rancher’s daughter who became a voice of moderate conservatism as the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, was memorialized by President Joe Biden on Tuesday as a pioneer in the legal world who inspired generations of women. Biden and Chief
Continue ReadingMOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that his country’s military is well positioned to meet Moscow’s goals in Ukraine. During a meeting with top military brass on Tuesday, Putin said Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield after repelling a 6-month Ukrainian counteroffensive. He declared that “our troops are holding the
Continue ReadingWAUPACA, Wis. (AP) — Authorities say an eastern Wisconsin man faces homicide charges for an alleged drunken driving crash last weekend that killed four siblings. Forty-seven-year-old Scott Farmer, of Neenah, is charged with four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle in Saturday night’s deadly crash in Weyauwega, about 100 miles northwest
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Blue Origin’s tourism rocket — designed to vault paying customers on brief trips to the edge of space — successfully launched Tuesday morning on an uncrewed science mission. The New Shepard rocket lifted off at 11:43 a.m. ET from Blue Origin’s facilities on a private ranch
Continue ReadingBy BEN FINLEY Associated Press A woman who bought a vase for $3.99 at a Virginia thrift store recently sold it for $107,000. Jessica Vincent said he bought it at a Goodwill outside Richmond and thought it would look nice in her house. But she soon learned the vase was extremely rare. It came from
Continue ReadingYORK, Pa. (AP) — A former Pennsylvania death row inmate who spent more than two decades locked up has been released from prison following the dismissal of murder charges in two 1998 killings that he blamed on his brother, who died in prison. Noel Montalvo, who turned 59 Tuesday, was freed Monday after York County
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