Associated Press stories, Page 33
Indonesia intensifies search for victims after floods and landslides kill 69 people
MEDAN, Indonesia — Rescuers searched Thursday in rivers and the rubble of villages for bodies and possible survivors after flash floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island left 69 people dead and 59 missing. Monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks in North Sumatra province...
What to know about the Hong Kong apartment fire, which has killed at least 94
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s worst fire in memory was still smoldering in several apartment towers Thursday as firefighters struggled to rescue dozens of people who remained unaccounted for. At least 94 people were known to have died in the blaze that broke out Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court in...
Afghan national charged in Guard ambush shooting drove across U.S. to carry out attack, officials say
WASHINGTON — An Afghan national who worked with the CIA in his native country and immigrated to the U.S. in 2021 drove from Washington state to the nation’s capital where he shot two West Virginia National Guard members deployed in Washington, D.C., U.S. officials said Thursday. The suspect had worked...
Telescope in Chile captures stunning new picture of a cosmic butterfly
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new picture of a grand and graceful cosmic butterfly. The National Science Foundation’s NoirLab released the picture Wednesday. Snapped last month by the Gemini South telescope, the aptly named Butterfly Nebula is 2,500 to 3,800 light-years away in...
Trump says he’s barring South Africa from participating in next year’s G20 summit near Miami
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is barring South Africa from participating in the Group of 20 summit next year at his Miami-area club and will stop all payments and subsidies to the country over its treatment of a U.S. government representative at this...
2 Virginia brothers allegedly plotted to kill ICE agents, Homeland Security says
Two brothers in Virginia have been arrested after an off-duty police officer overheard the men allegedly discussing plans to kill immigration officers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. John Wilson Bennett and Mark Booth Bennett, both U.S. citizens, were arrested late last week on allegations they were planning...
Utah death row inmate with dementia dies 3 months after court blocked his execution
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man who was spared execution this fall after developing dementia during his 37 years on death row died Wednesday of apparent natural causes, according to the state’s Department of Corrections. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was set to die by firing squad in September, but...
Penn State plays waiting game as coaching decision, possible player exodus loom
STATE COLLEGE — Since he became Penn State’s interim coach, Terry Smith has put things bluntly. After this weekend’s regular-season finale at Rutgers, Smith admits he’s not sure what comes next for a program still seeking a permanent coach. “We’re encouraging our guys to keep an open mind,” Smith said....
LSU confirms Kelly was fired ‘without cause’ and is owed his full $54 million buyout
Former LSU coach Brian Kelly received a letter from LSU on Wednesday confirming that he was fired without cause and is owed “liquidated damages as required” under his contract of about $54 million. The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, clears the way for Kelly to withdraw a Nov. 10...
Blue Jays and free-agent pitcher Dylan Cease agree to $210 million, 7-year deal, AP source says
Free-agent pitcher Dylan Cease and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a $210 million, seven-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical and had not...
A welcome form of inflation: Balloons take shape for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
NEW YORK — Giant balloons got into shape Wednesday for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as crews inflated the giant characters on the streets of New York City. The parade kicks off Thursday morning, with dozens of huge balloons set to take to the skies. Floats, entertainers, marching bands and...
Canada’s prime minister announces supports for lumber, steel sectors hit by U.S. tariffs
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday new supports for the steel and lumber industries hit hard by U.S. tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on steel and softwood lumber, long subject to U.S. tariffs, is currently taxed at 45% after the Trump administration’s hike...
Under a cloud, the Olympic flame begins its journey to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — The Olympic flame began its journey Wednesday to the Milan Cortina Winter Games — missing a little of its usual magic. Bad weather lashing western Greece forced organizers to move the torch-lighting ceremony indoors, from Olympia’s ancient stadium and temples to a nearby museum. The flame...
2 National Guard members shot in an ambush attack just blocks from the White HouseVideo
WASHINGTON — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence that the mayor described as a targeted attack. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said they were hospitalized...
Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appear on state TV saying they have seized power
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appeared on state television saying they have seized power in the country, following reports of gunshots near the presidential palace on Wednesday, three days after national elections were held. “The High Military Command for the reestablishment of national and public order decides to immediately...
New prosecutor won’t pursue charges against Trump and others in Georgia election interference case
ATLANTA — A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who recently took over the case said he would not pursue the charges. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case...
Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently
NEW YORK — It’s a tough time to be looking for a job. Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the...
Sellers in other countries struggle to maintain U.S. customers as holiday shopping season starts
NEW YORK — At Fleece & Harmony, a woolen mill and yarn shop in bucolic Belfast, Prince Edward Island, in Canada, owner Kim Doherty used to be able to send yarn skeins to U.S. customers across the border with little fanfare. The yarn orders usually met an import tax exemption...
3 arrested in Hong Kong, as a high-rise fire leaves at least 44 dead and 279 reported missing
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years burned through the night, leaving at least 44 people dead and 279 reported missing with rescuers still pulling residents from blazing high-rise apartment buildings into the morning. Several local media outlets reported that police had arrested three men on suspicion of...
Health care plan circulated by the White House runs into familiar GOP divisions
WASHINGTON — A health care proposal circulated by the White House in recent days is running into the reality of Republican divisions on the issue — a familiar struggle for a party that has been trying to scrap or overhaul the Affordable Care Act for the past 15 years. The...
DACA recipients are being arrested despite deportation protection
McALLEN, Texas — Yaakub Vijandre was preparing to go to work as a mechanic when six vehicles appeared outside his Dallas-area home. Federal agents jumped out, one pointed a weapon at him, and they took him into custody. Vijandre is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era...
Kilauea displays lava fountains for the 37th time since its eruption began last year
HONOLULU — The on-and-off eruption that’s been dazzling residents and visitors on Hawaii’s Big Island for nearly a year resumed Tuesday as Kilauea volcano sent fountains of lava soaring 400 feet into the air. The molten rock was confined within Kilauea’s summit caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the U.S....
Kremlin confirms U.S. envoy’s visit as talks on ending war in Ukraine gain momentum
A senior Kremlin official confirmed Wednesday that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow next week as efforts to find a consensus on ending the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine pick up speed. But Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, insisted that...
Israel returns 15 more Palestinian bodies to Gaza as first phase of ceasefire nears end
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hospital officials in Gaza said Wednesday that Israel handed over 15 more Palestinian bodies, completing the latest swap of the ceasefire as the first phase of the agreement nears a conclusion and officials convened to discuss moving to the second. It came a day after...
Frustrated by missing mail, one American took the Postal Service to court
HARTFORD, Conn. — As a general rule, it’s difficult to sue the U.S. Postal Service for lost, delayed or mishandled mail. But a case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a Texas landlord who alleges her mail was deliberately withheld for two years is looking to challenge that, in a...
