After sailing though House on bipartisan vote, Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal now goes to Senate
June 1, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Veering away from a default crisis, the House overwhelmingly approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, sending the deal that President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated to the Senate for swift passage in a matter of days, before a fast-approaching deadline.
Fresh Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s capital kills at least 3 people, wounds others
June 1, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces began June with a fresh aerial bombardment of Kyiv on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding others, authorities said.
Following a reported 17 drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in May, Russian forces hit the capital in the early morning with ground-launched missiles.
Reports: Prosecutors have tape of Trump discussing holding onto classified doc after leaving office
June 1, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of former President Donald Trump from after he left office in which he talks about holding onto a classified Pentagon document related to a potential attack on Iran, according to media reports.
Trump returns to campaign trail in Iowa as GOP rival DeSantis makes case to New Hampshire voters
June 1, 2023 GMTLACONIA, N.H. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail Thursday as his chief rival for the GOP presidential nomination, Florida Gov.
Jordan’s future king, Saudi bride to tie the knot in palace ceremony signaling continuity of rule
June 1, 2023 GMTAMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The future king of Jordan and an architect from Saudi Arabia linked to her country’s own monarchy are getting married on Thursday in a palace celebration that introduces him to the world and emphasizes continuity in an Arab state prized for its longstanding stability.
LGBTQ+ people flock to Florida for Gay Days festival
June 1, 2023 GMTORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ people are flocking to central Florida this weekend to go on theme park rides, mingle with costumed performers, dance at all-night parties and lounge poolside at hotels during Gay Days, a decades-long tradition.
Danny Masterson convicted of 2 counts of rape, ‘That ‘70s Show’ actor faces 30 years to life
June 1, 2023 GMTThe jury reached the verdict Wednesday in a Los Angeles court. It was the second trial for the 47-year-old actor, after a jury deadlocked in his first.
US births in 2022 didn’t return to pre-pandemic levels
June 1, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. births were flat last year, as the nation saw fewer babies born than it did before the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
Births to moms 35 and older continued to rise, with the highest rates in that age group since the 1960s.
Natalie Coles will never forget receiving an unexpected phone call in 2020. On the line was Virginia-based Dominion Energy, offering to give money to Wilberforce University, the small historically Black college where she is in charge of fundraising.
FTC hits Amazon with $25 million fine for violating child privacy with Alexa voice assistant
June 1, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids' voice and location data recorded by its popular Alexa voice assistant.
NAHA, Japan (AP) — A weakened Tropical Storm Mawar headed toward Japan's southern archipelago of Okinawa on Thursday, leading businesses and the airport to close and fishermen to batten down their boats in preparation.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Pistons made a bold move in their latest attempt to become relevant in the NBA again.
Who are the bride and groom in Jordan’s royal wedding?
June 1, 2023 GMTHe's heir to the throne in one of the oldest monarchies in the Middle East and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. She's a Saudi architect with an aristocratic pedigree of her own.
Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, 28, and Rajwa Alseif, 29, are to be married on Thursday at a palace wedding in Jordan, a Western-allied monarchy that has been a bastion of stability for decades as Middle East turmoil has lapped at its borders.
The Middle Eastern country of Jordan is set to host its biggest royal wedding in years on Thursday as the country’s young Crown Prince Hussein exchanges vows with Rajwa Alseif, daughter of one of Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest and most influential families.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A missing emergency room doctor from Missouri was found dead in Arkansas from an apparent gunshot wound, authorities confirmed Wednesday. But they are still investigating what happened in the week since he was last seen.
TORONTO (AP) — Canada will soon become the first country in the world where warning labels must appear on individual cigarettes.
The move was first announced last year by Health Canada and is aimed at helping people quit the habit.
‘Ted Lasso’ finale proved its whole point — that those who are stuck can overcome (SPOILERS)
June 1, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Roy Kent cries. Nate Shelley apologizes. Rebecca Welton lets her anger go. Trent Crimm finishes his book. Keeley Jones embraces her strength. And the kind-to-a-fault but often lost Ted Lasso finally — after three seasons, but arguably after nearly a lifetime — figures out exactly where he needs to be.
DeSantis plays up his personal side — and swipes at Trump — during campaign blitz across Iowa
June 1, 2023 GMTSALIX, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis blitzed through Iowa during his first full day of presidential campaigning on Wednesday, aiming for the kind of personal connections with voters that critics say have long eluded him while stepping up his verbal swipes at former President Donald Trump.
Judge dismisses criminal charges against California energy company in 2020 fatal wildfire
June 1, 2023 GMTREDDING, Calif. (AP) — A California judge on Wednesday dismissed all charges against Pacific Gas & Electric in connection to a 2020 fatal wildfire sparked by its equipment that destroyed hundreds of homes and killed four people, including an 8-year-old.
Born in a typhoon: Many, including newborns, remain without electricity as Guam recovers from storm
June 1, 2023 GMTHONOLULU (AP) — About a week after Typhoon Mawar tore through Guam as the strongest typhoon to hit the U.S. Pacific territory in over two decades, most of the island remained without electricity and the governor appealed for patience during a recovery process expected to take at least a month.
ATLANTA (AP) — Police on Wednesday arrested three Atlanta organizers who have been aiding protesters against the city's proposed police and fire training center, striking at the structure that supports the fight against what opponents derisively call “Cop City.”
Corporate Amazon workers protest company’s climate impact and return-to-office mandate in walkout
June 1, 2023 GMTSEATTLE (AP) — Telling executives to “strive harder,” hundreds of corporate Amazon workers protested what they decried as the company's lack of progress on climate goals and an inequitable return-to-office mandate during a lunchtime demonstration at its Seattle headquarters Wednesday.
Nikki Haley’s husband to deploy with National Guard to Africa as she seeks 2024 GOP nomination
June 1, 2023 GMTCOLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley's husband will soon begin a yearlong deployment with the South Carolina Army National Guard to Africa, a mission that will encompass most of the remainder of his wife's campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA held its first public meeting on UFOs on Wednesday a year after launching a study into unexplained sightings and insisted it's not hiding anything.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs says in lawsuit that spirits giant Diageo neglected his vodka and tequila brands
May 31, 2023 GMTRapper, producer and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs sued Diageo Wednesday, saying the spirits company didn’t make promised investments in his vodka and tequila brands and treated them as inferior “urban” products.
Iowa judge orders continued probation for teen sex trafficking victim who killed her alleged abuser
May 31, 2023 GMTDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A teenage sex trafficking victim who fatally stabbed the man she accused of abusing her was resentenced Wednesday to probation, telling an Iowa judge that she now has a support system to help keep her on track.
Alex Murdaugh pleads not guilty — for now — to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges
May 31, 2023 GMTCHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Alex Murdaugh was arraigned Wednesday on federal money laundering and wire fraud charges for indictments saying he stole money from his clients, and although he pleaded not guilty for now, his lawyer said that might change soon.
Earth is ‘really quite sick now’ and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says
May 31, 2023 GMTEarth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into “the danger zone,” not just for an overheating planet that's losing its natural areas, but for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study.
The village of Manlius in upstate New York is mourning the loss of Faye, a swan who was stolen from the town's pond over the weekend along with her four cygnets. The cygnets, or baby swans, were recovered, but officials say the mama swan was eaten.
The mayor of Davenport, Iowa, says five people remain unaccounted for including two people who could still be in the wreckage of a partly collapsed apartment building. The announcement followed criticism that the city is moving too quickly toward demolishing the building.
CEOs got smaller raises. It would still take a typical worker two lifetimes to make their annual pay
May 31, 2023 GMTAfter ballooning for years, CEO pay growth is finally slowing.
The typical compensation package for chief executives who run S&P 500 companies rose just 0.9% last year, to a median of $14.8 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar.
Chris Stewart, 6-term Utah Republican, resigning from Congress
May 31, 2023 GMTSALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart on Wednesday announced plans to resign his Utah seat due to his wife’s illness, triggering a special election to replace him in a reliably Republican district.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of Adidas' remaining Yeezy shoes are back on sale — months after the German sportswear company cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
Trapped by Sudan fighting, dozens of infants, toddlers and children died in Khartoum orphanage
May 31, 2023 GMTCAIRO (AP) — At least 60 infants, toddlers and older children perished over the past six weeks while trapped in harrowing conditions in an orphanage in Sudan’s capital as fighting raged outside.
Here’s how to prepare to start paying back your student loans when the pandemic payment freeze ends
May 31, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — A three-year pause on student loan payments will end this summer regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the White House plan to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt.
Efforts to defuse Kosovo crisis intensify amid more protests
May 31, 2023 GMTZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified Wednesday as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a northern town where recent clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers sparked fears of renewed conflict in the troubled region.
NYPD officer cites ‘courtesy cards,’ used by friends and family of cops, as source of corruption
May 31, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer is speaking out against the use of “courtesy cards” by friends and relatives of his colleagues on the force, accusing department leaders of maintaining a sprawling system of impunity that lets people with a connection to law enforcement avoid traffic tickets.
NEW YORK (AP) — Al Pacino, 83, and 29-year-old Noor Alfallah are expecting a baby, the actor's representative confirmed Wednesday.
Pacino's publicist, Stan Rosenfield, verified the news first published by TMZ, but said there would be no statement at this time.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s attempt to put its first spy satellite into space failed Wednesday in a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost his military capabilities as tensions with the United States and South Korea rise.
Twitter may be worth one-third what Musk paid for it last fall
May 31, 2023 GMTTwitter may now be worth one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social media platform just seven months ago.
Financial services company Fidelity has reduced the market value of its equity stake in Twitter for a third time, now putting it at $6.55 billion.
Like a lot of chefs, Aaron Verzosa has been hustling the past three years to get Archipelago, his Filipino restaurant in Seattle, through the pandemic and its ripple effects. Getting a James Beard Award nomination was a validating moment.
Ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie planning to launch GOP presidential campaign next week
May 31, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to launch a Republican presidential campaign next week in New Hampshire.
Christie, who also ran in 2016, is planning to make the announcement at a town hall Tuesday evening at Saint Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm Christie's plans.
North Korea’s failed satellite launch triggers public confusion, security jitters in neighbors
May 31, 2023 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s launch of a spy satellite on Wednesday ended in an embarrassing failure, but still prompted public confusion and security jitters in neighboring South Korea and Japan, which are wary of the North’s growing weapons arsenal.
A consumer class action lawsuit filed Tuesday claims Delta Air Lines inaccurately billed itself as the world's “first carbon-neutral airline” and should pay damages. The complaint in federal court in California alleges the airline relied on carbon offsets that were largely bogus.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada's Joe Lombardo on Tuesday became one of the first Republican governors to enshrine protections for out-of-state abortion patients and in-state providers, adding the western swing state to the list of those passing new laws to solidify their status as safe havens for abortion patients.
Why do Kosovo-Serbia tensions persist?
May 31, 2023 GMTBELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew this week after Kosovo’s police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region’s north and seized local municipality buildings.
China warns of artificial intelligence risks, calls for beefed-up national security measures
May 31, 2023 GMTBEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party has warned of the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence while calling for heightened national security measures.
The statement issued after a meeting Tuesday chaired by party leader and President Xi Jinping underscores the tension between the government's determination to seize global leadership in cutting-edge technology and concerns about the possible social and political harms of such technologies.
KHUZAA, Gaza Strip (AP) — Locals call it “watermelon salad.” But this delicacy popular in the southern Gaza Strip at this time of year is far from the sweet, refreshing taste the name evokes.
“Lasima,” “Ajar,” or “Qursa” are different names for the hot, savory meal that takes hours to prepare.
OYAMA, Japan (AP) — Eri Yoshida sat in the dugout of an all-dirt baseball field in rural Japan, surrounded by rice paddies, narrow roads, and traditional Japanese houses.
The scene recalled instantly the 1989 film “Field of Dreams" — Asian style — and Yoshida certainly has her own.
Victims of violent crime drive legislative change to state programs, pushing against barriers to aid
May 31, 2023 GMTVanessa Martinez was finishing preparations for her daughter’s second birthday in September 2021 when her ex-boyfriend broke into her Mesa, Arizona, condo and shot her in the head as she frantically tried to shield their three young children.
As Supreme Court considers affirmative action, colleges see few other ways to diversity goals
May 31, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — As an alternative to affirmative action, colleges from California to Florida have tried a range of strategies to achieve the diversity they say is essential to their campuses. Many have given greater preference to low-income families.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House Oversight Committee said Tuesday he is moving forward with holding FBI Director Chris Wray in contempt of Congress because the department has not turned over a bureau record that purports to relate to President Joe Biden and his family.
The body of a Missouri emergency room doctor who has been missing for more than a week has been found in northwest Arkansas, his brother told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Dr. John Forsyth was last heard from in text messages around 7 a.m.
Debt limit deal heads to vote in full House while McCarthy scrambles for GOP approval
May 31, 2023 GMTThe Republican speaker urged GOP skeptics to look at “the victories” in the package he negotiated with President Joe Biden. Hard-right conservatives are criticizing the deal, while liberals decry new work requirements for older Americans in the food aid program.
NEW YORK (AP) — A third man has been charged in the 2002 shooting death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, prosecutors said Tuesday, marking the latest movement in a case that languished for years.
Donald Trump’s legal team and Manhattan prosecutors spar over where he will stand trial
May 31, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Ten months before Donald Trump is scheduled to stand trial in his historic New York City criminal case, Manhattan prosecutors are turning the former president’s words against him in a tug of war over precisely where he will be tried.
Uganda’s president signs into law anti-gay legislation with death penalty in some cases
May 31, 2023 GMTKAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda's president has signed into law anti-gay legislation supported by many in this East African country but widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad.
The version of the bill signed by President Yoweri Museveni doesn't criminalize those who identify as LGBTQ+, a key concern for some rights campaigners who condemned an earlier draft of the legislation as an egregious attack on human rights.