South Sudan’s leader wins dubious ‘spoiler of peace’ awardVideo
KAMPALA, Uganda — South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Monday was named the top “spoiler of peace” in a new award that seeks to shame him and others into taking serious steps to end bloody conflict in the world’s youngest country. Kiir and rival leader Riek Machar are under growing...
Chinese military stole masses of Americans’ data, U.S. says
WASHINGTON — Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history to target...
Russia: Youth group members found guilty of plotting attacks
MOSCOW — A Russian military court convicted seven members of a left-wing youth group of terrorism charges Monday and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from six to 18 years, in a case that human rights groups called fabricated. A three-judge panel of the court in Penza in western Russia...
Oh deer!: Man gets trampled in North Carolina parking lotVideo
LOCUST, N.C. — A suspect escaped from a hit and run in a North Carolina McDonald’s parking lot last month. But police aren’t looking for who’s responsible. Ken Worthy was leaving the restaurant in Locust with his wife and a Diet Coke in hand, when he saw something approaching him,...
5 Turkish troops killed in clashes with Syrian armyVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey said it hit back at Syrian government forces on Monday, after “intense” Syrian shelling killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syria’s northern Idlib province. The fighting in Idlib led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire that was brokered by Turkey and...
More than 450 civilians killed in central Mali last year
DAKAR, Senegal — Islamic militants and ethnic-based militias killed more than 450 civilians in central Mali last year, making it the deadliest year in the region since the country’s crisis began in 2012, Human Rights Watch said in a new report Monday. Militants have even begun pulling men off of...
Drugs fail to slow decline in inherited Alzheimer’s disease
Two experimental drugs failed to prevent or slow mental decline in a study of people who are virtually destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease at a relatively young age because of rare gene flaws. The results announced Monday are another disappointment for the approach that scientists have focused on for years...
Death toll rises as storm moves eastwards across Europe
BERLIN — A strong winter storm that has battered Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains has killed several people and caused severe travel disruption on Monday. There were reports of deaths directly linked to the storm with three drivers, one in the southwest of the Czech Republic, one in...
U.K. calls virus ‘serious’ health threat; will detain peopleVideo
LONDON — Britain has declared the new coronavirus that emerged from China a “serious and imminent threat to public health” and announced new measures Monday to combat the spread of the disease. The U.K. Department of Health and Social Care said people with the virus can now be forcibly quarantined...
German leader Merkel’s party in crisis as successor quits
BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s designated successor unexpectedly threw in the towel Monday, plunging her conservative party into deeper crisis as it struggles to agree on its future political direction after losing votes to the far right. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told leading members of the Christian Democratic Union that she...
Puerto Rico governor rejects new deal to cut debt by 70%
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Officials announced a settlement late Sunday with bondholders that would reduce Puerto Rico’s public debt by 70%, but the U.S. territory’s governor swiftly rejected it, saying it puts too heavy a burden on the island’s retirees. The settlement is the biggest one to date since...
Hurricane-force wind pounds U.K. and Europe, upends travel
LONDON — Storm Ciara battered the U.K. and northern Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains Sunday, halting flights and trains and producing heaving seas that closed down ports. Soccer games, farmers’ markets and cultural events were canceled as authorities urged millions of people to stay indoors, away from falling...
Police say homicide suspect hired Uber to take victim to hospital
PHILADELPHIA — A man accused of beating his girlfriend to death and calling an Uber to take her to a hospital was charged with murder, according to police records. Police said Nicholas Forman buckled 22-year-old Sabrina Harooni’s injured body into an Uber on Monday and had the driver take them...
Utah sends employees to Mexico for lower prescription prices
SALT LAKE CITY — Ann Lovell had never owned a passport before last year. Now, the 62-year-old teacher is a frequent flier, traveling every few months to Tijuana, Mexico, to buy medication for rheumatoid arthritis — with tickets paid for by the state of Utah’s public insurer. Lovell is one...
AP Photos: Kids race llamas in Ecuador’s highlands
LLANGANATES, Ecuador — The tiny rider sat — well, was tied — atop the towering steed that would carry him to victory in the annual llama races at Ecuador’s Llanganates National Park. Wellington Barrera, clad in a wool poncho, sheep-leather pants and a cowboy hat, was the only finisher in...
Florida man charged with driving into GOP voter sign-up tentVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man in Florida is under arrest after he deliberately drove a van into a tent where voters were being registered by local Republicans, authorities in Jacksonville said Sunday. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said via social media that 27-year-old Gregory William Loel Timm has been charged with...
Spain, U.K. see new virus cases; French focus on ski resortVideo
LISBON, Portugal — French medical authorities tested scores of children and their families Sunday for the new virus from China, zeroing in on a ski resort in the Alps that appeared linked to new infections in Britain and Spain. The U.K. announced its fourth case of the new virus and...
Police: 3 killed, at least two injured in shooting in YoungstownVideo
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A shooting early Sunday near a club in Ohio left three men dead and at least two other people injured, police said. Officers were called to multiple reports of gunfire on the north side of Youngstown shortly before 4 a.m., police said. The shooting occurred in the...
Officials: Gun discharge at church security office injures 2 in Lancaster County
LEOLA — An accidental discharge of a gun at a Pennsylvania church on Sunday morning injured two people, church officials said. Officials said the firearm “was accidentally discharged” inside the security office at Worship Center in Upper Leacock Township at about 10 a.m. Sunday. LNP newspaper reported. One of the...
Lindsey Graham: DOJ has process to review Giuliani’s Ukraine infoVideo
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a close ally of President Donald Trump, said Sunday that the Justice Department has established a way to review information gathered in Ukraine by Trump personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has targeted Democrat Joe Biden and his son. Sen. Lindsey Graham,...
Trump’s $4.8 trillion budget proposal revisits rejected cuts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is offering a $4.8 trillion election-year budget plan that recycles previously rejected cuts to domestic programs to promise a balanced budget in 15 years — all while boosting the military and leaving Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched. Trump’s fiscal 2021 plan, to be released...
Iran again fails to put satellite into orbit amid U.S. worries
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a program the U.S. claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. The launch happened at 7:15 p.m. local time at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province,...
NH poses a last chance for some struggling 2020 Democrats
PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Bounding onto a stage at a conference center in New Hampshire, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang beamed a smile to a cheering crowd and launched into his pitch for votes heading into Tuesday’s first-in-the nation primary. Yang didn’t mention his poor showing in Iowa, his back-of-the-pack polling in...
Man carrying knife arrested outside White House after threat
WASHINGTON — A man carrying a knife was arrested outside the White House after he told a U.S. Secret Service officer that he was there to kill the president, police said. Roger Hedgpeth, 25, was arrested Saturday afternoon on a charge of making threats to do bodily harm, the Metropolitan...
Police: 2nd officer shot in Bronx hours after ambush
NEW YORK — A gunman walked into a police station in the Bronx and started shooting early Sunday, wounding an officer just hours after a similar unprovoked attack that injured a different officer in a patrol van, according to police officials. Sunday’s shooting happened at the headquarters of the 41st...
