Sugar prices are rising worldwide after bad weather tied to El Nino damaged crops in Asia
Skyrocketing sugar prices left Ishaq Abdulraheem with few choices. Increasing the cost of bread would mean declining sales, so the Nigerian baker decided to cut his production by half. For scores of other bakers struggling to stay afloat while enduring higher costs for fuel and flour, the stratospheric sugar prices...
41 workers remain trapped in tunnel in India for 7th day as drilling operations face challenges
LUCKNOW, India — Forty-one workers remained trapped in a collapsed road tunnel in northern India for a seventh day Saturday as a new drilling machine arrived on site to replace the damaged one. The nature of the exceptionally hard rock formation in the area coupled with the clearing of debris...
31 premature babies are evacuated from Gaza’s largest hospital, but scores of trauma patients remain
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Health officials said 31 premature babies in “extremely critical condition” were transferred safely Sunday from Gaza’s main hospital and will go to Egypt, while over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained stranded days after Israeli forces entered the compound to...
More than a foot of snow, 100 mph winds possible in Sierra Nevada storm
RENO, Nev. — The National Weather Service issued advisories Saturday along the California-Nevada line ahead of an early winter storm that could bring more than a foot of snow to the upper elevations of the Sierra and winds gusting up to 100 mph over ridgetops. The winter weather advisories, in...
Biden: ‘Revitalized Palestinian Authority’ should govern Gaza, West Bank
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden says achieving a cease-fire amid Israel’s war with Hamas “is not peace” and that an important key to lasting stability is a reunited Gaza Strip and West Bank that can be governed under “a revitalized Palestinian Authority.” In an op-ed published Saturday in the...
Man fatally shot while hunting in western New York state
SAVANNAH, N.Y. — A man on a hunting trip was shot and killed in Western New York on Saturday, the first day of the state’s regular deer and bear hunting seasons, authorities said. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said it responded about 7 a.m. to a report a hunter had...
IBM, EU, Disney pull ads from Elon Musk’s X over concerns about hate speech
Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with billionaire owner Elon Musk inflaming tensions with his posts endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory. IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast said this...
Ford, Stellantis workers join those at GM in approving contract settlement that ended UAW strikes
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union overwhelmingly ratified new contracts with Ford and Stellantis, that along with a similar deal with General Motors will raise pay across the industry, force automakers to absorb higher costs and help reshape the auto business as it shifts away from gasoline-fueled vehicles. Workers...
Patients, staff leave Gaza’s biggest hospital; dozens killed at crowded refugee camp
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Patients, staff and displaced people left Gaza’s largest hospital Saturday, with one describing a panicked and chaotic evacuation as Israeli forces searched and face-scanned men among the evacuees and took some away. Israel’s military has been searching the hospital for a Hamas command center it...
Suspect identified in fatal New Hampshire psychiatric hospital shooting
CONCORD, N.H. — A man killed by a state police trooper after he shot a security guard to death at a New Hampshire psychiatric hospital has been identified, authorities said Saturday. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said 33-year-old John Madore entered New Hampshire Hospital on Friday afternoon and killed...
SpaceX launched its giant new rocket but explosions end the second test flight
SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship but lost both the booster and the spacecraft in a pair of explosions minutes into Saturday’s test flight. The rocketship reached space following liftoff from South Texas before communication suddenly was lost. SpaceX officials said it appears the ship’s self-destruct system blew it up...
Political violence threatens to intensify as the 2024 campaign heats up, experts on extremism warn
The man who bludgeoned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer last year consumed a steady diet of right-wing conspiracy theories before an attack that took place with the midterm elections less than two weeks away. As the 2024 presidential campaign heats up, experts on extremism fear the...
Officials stock up on overdose antidote naloxone after fentanyl-laced letters disrupt vote counting
SEATTLE — The suspicious letters sent to vote centers and government buildings in six states this month were undeniably scary, some containing traces of fentanyl or white powder, accompanied by not-so-veiled threats and dubious political symbols. Harkening back to the anthrax attacks that killed five people in 2001, the mailings...
Tempers flare and bills languish as Speaker Johnson confronts the same problems that vexed McCarthy
WASHINGTON — By most accounts, Speaker Mike Johnson inherited a House Republican majority in disarray after the sudden ouster of his predecessor last month. But as Johnson, R-La., tries to rebuild that slim majority, he’s fast running into the same hard-right factions and divisions that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was...
Panicked people leave Shifa Hospital, while dozens are killed at a school elsewhere in northern Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Patients, staff and displaced people fled Gaza’s largest hospital Saturday, with one describing a panicked and chaotic evacuation as Israeli forces searched and face-scanned men among the evacuees and took some away. Israel’s military has been searching Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for traces of...
Satanic Temple after-school club wins $200k settlement from Pennsylvania school district
PHILADELPHIA — The Lehigh Valley school district that tried to ban an after-school Satan Club from meeting on its property this year has agreed to pay $200,000 to cover attorney fees. The school also will give the club the same access to school facilities as “comparable groups.” In the settlement...
Convicted sex offender found guilty of hacking jumbotron at Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A convicted child molester was found guilty Friday of hacking the jumbotron at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium after the team learned he was a registered sex offender and fired him. A federal jury found 53-year-old Samuel Arthur Thompson, of St. Augustine, guilty of producing, receiving and possessing...
Bill Cosby accuser files new lawsuit under expiring New York survivors law
A woman who said Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her when she was a young comedy writer more than 50 years ago filed a lawsuit against the actor Thursday under a soon-to-expire New York law that gave victims of sexual abuse a one-year window for claims that would otherwise be barred...
Grand Canyon hiker, 65, dies on popular trail, rangers say
A hiker died while trying to trek across a popular but notoriously dangerous trail in Grand Canyon National Park, rangers said. The hiker’s personal locator beacon alerted dispatchers to the unresponsive hiker on Bright Angel Trail, about 1.5 miles north of Havasupai Gardens, on Thursday, officials said in a news...
Colorado judge keeps Trump on ballot, rejects insurrection argument
DENVER — A Colorado judge on Friday rejected an effort to keep former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s primary ballot, the latest blow to groups seeking to block his run for another term using a Civil War-era Constitutional amendment that prevents anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from...
Dogs coming down with an unusual respiratory illness in several states
Veterinary laboratories in several states are investigating an unusual respiratory illness in dogs and encouraging people to take basic precautions to keep their pets healthy as veterinarians try to pin down what’s making the animals sick. Oregon, Colorado and New Hampshire are among the states that have seen cases of...
FDA screens cinnamon imports after more kids sickened by lead-tainted applesauce
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is screening imports of cinnamon from multiple countries for toxic lead contamination after growing reports of children who were sickened after eating pouches of applesauce and apple puree. Cinnamon from a manufacturer in Ecuador is the “likely source” of high levels of lead found...
Judge rejects Trump’s request for a mistrial in civil fraud case
NEW YORK — The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud case denied his bid for a mistrial Friday, rejecting claims from the former president’s lawyers that the proceedings are poisoned by political bias. Trump’s lawyers had argued Judge Arthur Engoron irreparably harmed Trump’s right to a fair trial through “astonishing...
Victim identified in New Hampshire psychiatric hospital shooting
CONCORD, N.H. — A shooter killed a security guard in the lobby of New Hampshire’s state psychiatric hospital on Friday before being fatally shot by a state trooper, officials said. The shooting happened about 3:30 p.m. at New Hampshire Hospital and was contained to the front lobby of the 185-bed...
Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to financial crimes in deal that gives him more prison time
BEAUFORT, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh pleaded guilty Friday to stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable legal clients in schemes lasting over a decade under an agreement that all but ensures more prison time for the longtime lawyer who was convicted of killing his wife and younger son. Murdaugh agreed to...
