Associated Press stories, Page 1325
Wisconsin Supreme Court justices question ballot drop boxes
MADISON, Wis. — Skeptical Wisconsin Supreme Court justices questioned Wednesday whether state law allows for voters to give their absentee ballot to someone else to return or whether drop boxes can be placed outside municipal clerk offices. The court’s ruling later this spring or summer is expected to establish rules...
Mark Meadows removed as North Carolina registered voter
RALEIGH, N.C. — Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, has been removed from North Carolina’s list of registered voters after documents showed he lived in Virginia and voted in that state’s 2021 election, officials said Wednesday. Questions arose about Meadows last month, when North Carolina...
Giants’ Alyssa Nakken becomes 1st MLB female coach on field
SAN FRANCISCO — Alyssa Nakken was hard at work in the batting cage, just a few steps from the dugout, when suddenly the call came: The San Francisco Giants needed her to coach at first base. She quickly pulled off her sweatshirt, grabbed her No. 92 jersey and found a...
Police find 2 dead children in Miami apartment, mother arrested
MIAMI — Police in Miami arrested a 41-year-old woman in the deaths of her two children, aged 3 and 5, after officers responded to repeated hang-up 911 calls from her apartment where they found their tied-up bodies. “Come get them, I don’t want them anymore,” Odette Lysse Joassaint told officers...
Truck hits tourist bus in Egypt, kills 10
CAIRO — A tourist bus collided with a truck on a highway in southern Egypt and burst into flames on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, including four French and a Belgian, authorities said. The crash happened on a highway about 27 miles south of the city of Aswan, provincial...
Homebuyers stymied by fewer homes, high prices, rising rates
LOS ANGELES — Shortly after moving to South Florida for a new job with the U.S. military, Shannon Kaufman and his wife, Wendy, signed up for a whole other mission: buying a home. For months, they scoured listings, strategizing late into the night on which homes to target and working...
Investigators: Drone that crashed in Croatia carried a bomb
ZAGREB, Croatia — A military drone that apparently flew all the way from the Ukrainian war zone over three European NATO member states before crashing in the Croatian capital was armed with an explosive device, Croatian crash investigators said Wednesday. The 6-ton Soviet-era aircraft apparently drifted uncontrolled out of Ukraine,...
Texas keeping most truck inspections despite border gridlock
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday defied intensifying pressure over his new border policy that has gridlocked trucks entering the U.S. and shut down some of the world’s busiest trade bridges as the Mexican government, businesses and even some allies urge him to relent. The two-term Republican governor,...
Russian embassy in Bosnia warns of destabilization
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The Russian embassy in Bosnia on Wednesday criticized the suspension of a Bosnian Serb property law and warned of potential destabilization in the tense Balkan country unless the decision by the top international official is revoked. The embassy in a statement carried by local media reiterated that...
U.K.’s Johnson rejects calls to resign amid ‘partygate’ fine
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to resign after being fined for breaking his government’s pandemic lockdown rules, saying he would instead redouble efforts to strengthen the economy and combat Russian aggression in Ukraine. London police fined Johnson and other people Tuesday for attending a birthday party...
Japan, U.S. hold navy drills off Koreas amid nuke test worry
TOKYO — U.S. and Japanese warships, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, are conducting their joint naval exercise in waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula for the first time in five years, in a show of their close military alliance amid growing speculation of North Korea’s...
IS supporter given life sentence for murdering U.K. lawmaker
LONDON — An Islamic State supporter was given a whole-life sentence Wednesday for stabbing a British lawmaker to death in revenge for his voting in support for airstrikes on Syria. Ali Harbi Ali, 26, was convicted Monday of murdering Conservative lawmaker David Amess and preparing terrorist acts. A jury deliberated...
Joey Logano watches Ty Gibbs scrap with veteran bemusementVideo
Joey Logano has had his share of conflict during a career that began with his appointment as “Sliced Bread” upon arrival. He was 18 and overhyped, evidenced by a nickname that likened him to the “greatest thing since … sliced bread.” Eager to prove himself and determined not to be...
Yelp to cover travel expenses for workers seeking abortions
SAN FRANCISCO — Yelp will cover the travel expenses of employees who must travel out of state for abortions, joining the ranks of major employers trying to help workers affected by new restrictions in Texas and other states. The benefit announced Tuesday covers all 4,000 employees at the online review...
Biden: Russia war a ‘genocide,’ trying to ‘wipe out’ UkraineVideo
DES MOINES, Iowa — President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Russia’s war in Ukraine amounted to genocide,” accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.” Speaking in Iowa shortly before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden said he meant...
Jimmie Johnson plans to keep driving despite fractured handVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jimmie Johnson doesn’t intend to let a fractured right hand keep him off the track. On Tuesday, the seven-time NASCAR champion who has become an IndyCar Series regular announced on Twitter he had surgery Monday night in Charlotte, N.C., to repair the injury he suffered in a...
Westinghouse, Framatome to supply fuel to Czech nuclear plant
PRAGUE — Westinghouse Electric Co. and France’s Framatome have been selected to deliver fuel supplies for the Czech Republic’s Temelin nuclear plant, easing the country’s dependence on Russia. State-controlled power company CEZ said Tuesday that Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse and Framatome will deliver the nuclear fuel for about 15 years, starting in...
Ukrainian politician close to Putin detained
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials say fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both a pro-Russian opposition leader and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been detained in a special operation carried out by the country’s SBU secret service. Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine’s national security...
Congress tells FTC that Commanders may have broken financial lawsVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday saying it found evidence the NFL’s Washington Commanders engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct for more than a decade by withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans. In the...
Police: 5 children killed, 2 adults injured in Pennsylvania fire
GENESEE — An early morning fire that ripped through a northern Pennsylvania home killed five children and severely injured two adults, authorities said. Fire crews responding to the 3:30 a.m. Monday alarm on Slingerland Road in Genesee Township found the residence engulfed in flames, state police in Potter County said....
Oklahoma governor signs bill to make abortion illegal
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law on Tuesday that makes it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, as part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states across the country to scale back abortion rights. The bill,...
Putin vows to press invasion until Russia’s goals are met
KYIV, Ukraine — Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday that Russia’s bloody offensive in Ukraine would continue until its goals are fulfilled and insisted the campaign was going as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of stiff Ukrainian opposition and significant losses. Russian troops, thwarted in their push toward Ukraine’s...
Potential far-right victory in France seen as threat to EU
MULHOUSE, France — The thought of an extreme-right leader standing at the helm of the European Union would be abhorrent to most in the 27-nation bloc. But if Emmanuel Macron falters in the April 24 French presidential elections, it might be two weeks away. Experts say a win for far-right...
Japan, Italy to lift defense ties amid China, Russia worries
TOKYO — Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said he and his Italian counterpart agreed Tuesday to step up military cooperation as Japan expands security ties with Europe amid concern about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on Asia. Kishi told reporters that he and Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini...
N.Y. Lt. Gov. Benjamin arrested in campaign donation scheme
NEW YORK — New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, whose seven months in that role has been overshadowed by probes into a previous campaign, was arrested Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation. The Democrat was accused in an indictment of participating in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a...
