DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Bashar Barhoum woke in his dungeon prison cell in Damascus at dawn Sunday, thinking it would be the last day of his life. The 63-year-old writer was supposed to have been executed after being imprisoned for seven months. But he soon realized the men at the door weren’t from former Syrian […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Bahamas’ police commissioner has resigned after a sergeant and two officers were recently indicted in the U.S. in what federal authorities describe as a case of massive drug trafficking. The Bahamas’ prime minister, Philip Brave Davis, announced on Wednesday that Clayton Fernander was stepping down, noting that he […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday offered a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, his embattled choice to lead the Defense Department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat. Hegseth, a former Fox […]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The outgoing head of Ohio’s troubled teachers retirement system said that she is leaving the fund in strong fiscal condition, despite the turmoil at the top that her successor will inherit. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Acting Executive Director and CFO Lynn Hoover said that the $94 billion […]

Financial regulators say they’re looking into allegations of high-pressure sales practices in Canadian bank branches. The Ontario Securities Commission and the Canadian Investment Regulation Organization say the co-ordinated review will first focus on information gathering over the coming months into early 2025. The regulators say they aim to better understand the sales culture and environment […]

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that state Attorney General Ken Paxton testify in a whistleblower lawsuit at the heart of impeachment charges brought against him in 2023. The court on Friday said Paxton’s office does not dispute any issue in the lawsuit by four former Paxton employees and agreed […]

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Ephrem Yalike-Ngonzo was first approached in 2019 by a Russian who suggested he help promote the activities of the Central African Republic’s army and Russian forces in the country, the journalist believed that he was doing the right thing. But he soon realized that he was recruited by Kremlin-backed Wagner […]

Tallyman tensions boiled over on the second day of Waswanipi’s annual general assembly October 23. In the Cree community most impacted by industrial development, several tallymen delivered passionate statements following Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty’s presentation on wildlife directives. Frustrated by Quebec’s failure to implement wildlife habitat directives in 2002’s Paix des Braves agreement, Cree land […]

The Blue Mountains council had delayed the approval and implementation of a new staff code of conduct. At its committee of the whole meeting on Nov. 18, council considered the new employee code of conduct that has been in development since late 2023. Staff recommended approval of the new code of conduct at the committee […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two companies agreed to pay the U.S. government $2 million each to settle a lawsuit that alleged the businesses fraudulently inflated the price of computers and other hardware sold to the U.S. Army, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday. Both Iron Bow — a company that resells technology products to the […]

Spear points, hammer stones and picks lost to history under layers of leaves, roots and rocks — it was the evidence Scott Ashcraft was looking for. The ancient tools were inadvertently unearthed in 2021 by a bulldozer fighting a wildfire along a steep slope in western North Carolina. Ashcraft, a career U.S. Forest Service archaeologist, […]

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A ship suspected of carrying a large amount of hazardous waste was allowed to dock on Friday at Albania’s main port, where its cargo was being unloaded for inspection on the orders of the prosecutor, officials said. Albania had prevented the Turkish-flagged Moliva XA443A from docking early last week at the […]