Tag Archives: General news

PARIS (AP) — An appeals court in Paris on Wednesday upheld a guilty verdict against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid. Sarkozy was convicted in a lower court in September 2021 and sentenced to a year of house arrest for illegal campaign financing. The court said Sarkozy would be allowed to …

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Powerful winds have killed a man and brought widespread destruction across Australia’s second-most populous state, leaving 530,000 homes and businesses without power and fanning fires that razed homes and injured five firefighters, officials said on Wednesday. Winds of up to 157 kph (98 mph) toppled six electricity transmission towers on Tuesday and caused one of the …

ATLANTA (AP) — Four students were shot and wounded Wednesday afternoon outside an Atlanta high school, officials said. Shortly after dismissal, shots were fired from an unknown vehicle, striking four students in the parking lot of Benjamin E. Mays High School, Atlanta Public Schools said in a news release. Police and fire rescue responded immediately, officials said. The victims were …

NEW YORK (AP) — Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s former White House adviser and his son-in-law, defended on Tuesday his business dealings after leaving government with the Saudi crown prince who was implicated in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Kushner worked on a wide range of issues and policies in the Trump administration, including Middle East peace …

SEREBRYANSKY FOREST, Ukraine (AP) — As the radio crackles with enemy communications that are hard to decipher, one Russian command rings out clear: “Brew five Chinese tea bags on 38 orange.” A Ukrainian soldier known on the battlefield as Mikhass, who has spent months listening to and analyzing such chatter, is able to quickly decode the gibberish. It means: Prepare …

BOSTON (AP) — Dozens of gang members operating mostly out of a public housing development in a Boston neighborhood have been accused of dealing drugs, targeting their rivals in shootings and recruiting young people with the enticement of appearing in their songs and videos, federal authorities said Wednesday. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said the charges against the more than …

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Lawmakers in Greece opened a two-day debate Wednesday on a landmark bill to legalize same-sex marriage. It would be the first Orthodox Christian country to do so. The Valentine’s Day session in parliament follows vocal opposition and protests from the church but also a shift in public opinion which is narrowly supportive of the change. Lawmaker …

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican regulators have recommended that online retailers Amazon and Mercado Libre reveal their algorithms and wall off TV streaming to avoid stifling competition. Mexico’s Federal Commission on Economic Competition, known by its initials as COFECE, said in a preliminary finding late Tuesday that the two firms control 85% of online marketplace sales in Mexico. It said …

NUEVA ORLEANS (AP) — La temporada de Carnaval en Nueva Orleans inició su clímax, el “Martes Gordo”, con los últimos desfiles fastuosos del Mardi Gras listos para recorrer los vecindarios históricos, mientras las estrechas calles del Barrio Francés albergan una estridente y continua fiesta callejera que desborda los bares y restaurantes. El Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club repartió su …

BEND, Oregon (AP) — Public health officials in Oregon have reported a case of bubonic plague in a local resident who they said likely contracted it from a pet cat. All close contacts of the person and the cat have been contacted and provided medication, Dr. Richard Fawcett, the health officer for Deschutes County, said in a statement last week. …