China and U.S. start working group to combat fentanyl
Chinese and American officials held the first meeting of a working group that aims to curb the flow of illegal drugs like fentanyl to the U.S. and the chemicals used to make them. “We reached common understanding,” China’s Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong said Tuesday, describing the talks in...
Are insects drawn to light? New research shows it’s confusion, not fatal attraction
WASHINGTON — Like a moth to flame, many scientists and poets have long assumed that flying insects were simply, inexorably drawn to bright lights. But that’s not exactly what’s going on, a new study suggests. Rather than being attracted to light, researchers believe artificial lights at night may actually scramble...
Nearly 400 Ethiopians have died of starvation recently. Millions more need food aid
KAMPALA, Uganda — Nearly 400 people have died of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, the national ombudsman said Tuesday, a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body. Local officials previously have reported starvation deaths in their districts, but Ethiopia’s federal government has insisted...
Protesting farmers have France’s government in a bind
PARIS — Farmers have captured France’s attention by showering government offices with manure and besieging Paris with traffic-snarling barricades of tractors and hay bales. The farmers say their protests aren’t a moment too soon. Grievances have long been brewing in the European Union’s leading agricultural power. The Russian invasion of...
London police fatally shoot a suspect reportedly armed with a crossbow as he broke into a home
LONDON — A man reportedly armed with a crossbow was fatally shot by an officer in London on Tuesday as he broke into a home where he had threatened the occupants, the Metropolitan Police said. The suspect, believed to be in his 30s, was reportedly armed and threatened people in...
France’s National Assembly approves bill meant to enshrine right to abortion in French Constitution
PARIS — France’s National Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill meant to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French Constitution, the first key step in a legislative process that also requires a vote in the Senate. The measure has been promised by President Emmanuel Macron following...
Trump lawyer drops attack on E. Jean Carroll counsel’s ties to judge
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyer backtracked from her suggestion that a new trial may be warranted in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit against the former president because the presiding judge in the case worked at the same law firm as the New York writer’s attorney three decades ago....
Sen. Joe Manchin’s wife, Gayle, hospitalized after car crash
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Gayle Manchin, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s wife, who leads an economic development partnership of the federal government and 13 state governments, and a colleague of hers have been hospitalized following a car crash in Alabama. Gayle Manchin, 76, and Guy Land were injured Monday in the accident...
Jean Carnahan, first woman to represent Missouri in Senate, dies at 90
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday. She was 90. Carnahan was appointed to the Senate in 2001 after the posthumous election of her husband, Gov....
Colorado police chief on leave pending criminal case after reported rapes during party at his house
OURAY, Colo. — A southwestern Colorado police chief has been placed on paid administrative leave after charges were filed against three men in the case of a 17-year-old girl who reported being raped by more than one person during a party at the chief’s house. The city of Ouray announced...
NYPD officers will have to record race of people they question after council overrides mayor’s veto
New York City police officers will be required to record the apparent race, gender and ages of most people they stop for questioning under a law passed by the City Council, which overrode a veto by Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday. The issue was thrust into the national spotlight in...
Tropicana Las Vegas, a Sin City landmark since 1957, will be demolished to make way for MLB baseball
LAS VEGAS — The Tropicana Las Vegas, a Sin City landmark for more than six decades, is shutting its doors in the spring to make room for a $1.5 billion Major League Baseball stadium that will be home to the relocating Oakland Athletics. Bally’s Corp. made the announcement Monday, saying...
Rock band critical of Putin is detained in Thailand, fearful of deportation to Russia
BANGKOK — Members of a rock band that has been critical of Moscow’s war in Ukraine remained locked up Tuesday in a Thai immigration jail, fearful they could be deported to Russia as a reported plan to let them fly to safety in Israel was apparently suspended. The progressive rock...
Florida to prohibit gender changes on driver licenses, will only allow birth sex
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued a memo last Friday telling county tax collectors to no longer allow people to update their gender identities on driver licenses and to prove that the gender on the license is the person’s biological sex using a “primary identification document,”...
The U.S. hasn’t seen syphilis numbers this high since 1950. Other STD rates are down or flat
NEW YORK — The U.S. syphilis epidemic isn’t abating, with the rate of infectious cases rising 9% in 2022, according to a new federal government report on sexually transmitted diseases in adults. But there’s some unexpected good news: The rate of new gonorrhea cases fell for the first time in...
Burned remnants of prized Jackie Robinson statue found after theft from public park in KansasVideo
Fire crews found the burned remnants Tuesday of a prized bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that was stolen last week from a public park in Kansas, authorities said. The Wichita fire department received a call around 8:40 a.m. about a trash can on fire at Garvey Park in the southern...
New York expands the legal definition of rape to include many forms of nonconsensual sexual contact
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York will expand its legal definition of rape to include various forms of nonconsensual sexual contact, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday. The state’s current limited definition was a factor in writer E. Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse and defamation case...
Biden says he has decided on response to attack on U.S. troops
U.S. President Joe Biden said he had made a decision on how to respond to an attack by Iranian-backed militants that killed three American troops in the Middle East, although he did not reveal his plans as he spoke to reporters Tuesday. Biden said Iran was responsible for providing the...
Philadelphia police release video in corner store shooting that killed suspect, wounded officerVideo
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two Philadelphia police officers had their weapons holstered before a scuffle with a man inside a corner deli when one of the officers was shot by a suspect who was then fatally shot by the wounded officer’s partner, the city’s police commissioner said Tuesday. The department promised...
An auction of Nelson Mandela’s possessions is suspended as South Africa fights to keep them
JOHANNESBURG — The planned auction of dozens of artifacts belonging to Nelson Mandela has been suspended pending a court application to completely halt it, the body that protects South Africa’s cultural heritage said Tuesday. The online auction had been scheduled by New York-based Guernsey’s auction house on Feb. 24, in...
Viral ‘sleepy girl mocktail’ promises improved night’s rest. Does it work?
If you’re having trouble falling asleep, some TikTok users argue there’s an elixir called the “sleepy girl mocktail” that could provide a solution. The drink is a combination of tart cherry juice, magnesium powder and a fizzy drink like sparkling water or prebiotic soda that allegedly promises a better night’s...
Report highlights ongoing racism at 10 Pa. State System universities
More than one Black university student recalled being compared to an animal. Another found a Confederate flag on his dormitory door. Others spoke of white peers saying, “I hate Black people.” And there was this anecdote which, like the others, was shared with a Pennsylvania senator traveling the State System...
ChatGPT violated European privacy laws, Italy tells chatbot maker OpenAI
LONDON — Italian regulators said they told OpenAI that its ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot has violated European Union’s stringent data privacy rules. The country’s data protection authority, known as Garante, said Monday that it notified San Francisco-based OpenAI of breaches of the EU rules, known as General Data Protection Regulation....
Shock, grief and mourning for 3 Georgia-based U.S. soldiers killed in Middle East drone strike
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Described by their parents as bubbly and constantly laughing, Spc. Kennedy Sanders and Spc. Breonna Moffett became close friends soon after enlisting in the Army Reserve five years ago. Sgt. William Jerome Rivers served a tour in Iraq before joining the same company of Army engineers. The...
Israeli undercover forces dressed as women and medics storm West Bank hospital, killing 3 militants
JENIN, West Bank — Israeli forces disguised as civilian women and medical workers stormed a hospital Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, killing three Palestinian militants in a dramatic raid that underscored how deadly violence has spilled into the territory from the war in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry said...
