Yoon, Kishida vow better Seoul-Tokyo ties following summit
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday called for officials to map out specific steps to hasten security and economic cooperation with Japan following his weekend summit in Seoul with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Kishida during Sunday’s meeting expressed sympathy toward Koreans forced into industrial slavery during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as the leaders vowed to overcome historical grievances and strengthen cooperation in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat and other challenges.
DAVIS, Calif. — A former UC Davis student, Carlos Reales Dominguez, is charged in a series of seemingly random stabbings that left two men dead and critically injured a homeless woman in the Northern California college town.
The Atlanta Braves have activated catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the injured list, one month after he sustained a concussion in a collision at home plate. D’Arnaud played three games on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett, going hitless in eight at-bats with two walks. That was good enough for the Braves to bring him back ahead of a two-game series against the Boston Red Sox. Catcher Chadwick Tromp was optioned to Gwinnett. D'Arnaud was a first-time All-Star last season. He was injured April 8 when he was hit in the head by San Diego’s Rougned Odor.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
The Indianapolis Colts want other NFL teams to know they consider contacting former quarterback Andrew Luck to be tampering. Team owner Jim Irsay made that clear late Sunday night in a Twitter post. Luck abruptly retired in August 2019 at age 29 with three years left on his contract. He's shown no indication he wants to return and appears to have slimmed down significantly from his listed playing weight of 240 pounds. ESPN reported Saturday the Washington Commanders attempted in 2022 to learn whether Luck would consider a comeback. That prompted Irsay's response.
Maine lawmakers are set to consider a raft of potential changes to the state constitution that would have major ramifications for politics and government in the state. A proposal to create a commission to study the state constitution came before a committee of the Maine Legislature on Monday. The commission would recommend changes and amendments to the constitution, such as the creation of a lieutenant governor, a post the state does not currently have. The proposal was the subject of a public hearing on Monday and it will face votes in committee in the coming weeks. It would then need to head to the full legislature.
Feb. 17 — NextEra Energy 250 (Zane Smith)
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland announced Monday that the Diocese of Oakland has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in light of about 330 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse under a recent California statute that allowed decades-old cases to be re-opened.
The COVID virus has been found in a deer in the Sierra Nevada, representing the first detection of the pathogen in California’s free-ranging wildlife.
Top U.N. officials and health industry leaders are trying to tackle an alarming surge in tuberculosis, which is now killing more people worldwide than COVID-19 or AIDS. Among the problems: a high number of cases in conflict zones, including Ukraine and Sudan, where it’s difficult to track down people with the disease and diagnose new sufferers. Tuberculosis is the biggest infectious disease killer in the world today, taking the lives of around 4,400 people every day, including 700 children. That's according to Dr. Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership. She spoke before Monday’s hearing to prepare for a high-level meeting in late September during the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
Mississippi sheriff's deputies already being investigated for possible civil rights violations after shooting a Black man are now being accused of attempting to sexually assault him. The allegations are contained in a letter that Michael Corey Jenkins' attorney wrote to the Justice Department and provided a copy of to The Associated Press. Attorney Malik Shabazz is asking federal prosecutors to file civil rights charges against the Rankin County deputies and to open a broader investigation into what he calls the “unconstitutional customs and practices” of the entire sheriff's department. Neither the sheriff’s office nor an attorney representing the office has responded to calls or an emailed list of questions about the allegations.
At the meeting place of racial tension, social media and guns, the outcome almost always is bad. In “The Lost Sons of Omaha,” Joe Sexton details how the lives of two men, one Black and one white, intersected tragically in the tumult that seized Omaha and other American cities after a white Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on his neck. Associated Press reviewer Jeff Rowe says ultimately, it was social media falsehoods and Americans’ penchant for guns as the final arbiter that killed James Scurlock and later, Jake Gardner. “The Lost Sons of Omaha” publishes Tuesday.
Police in Kansas have arrested and charged a man in a 2007 sexual assault by matching a DNA sample to data submitted to genealogy websites. Fifty-two-year-old Ted Foy, of Augusta, is jailed on $500,000 bond. Foy was charged last week with rape, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated criminal sodomy. His attorney, public defender Sonya Strickland, hasn't responded to an Associated Press email seeking comment Monday. The Wichita Eagle reports that it was the Wichita police department’s first arrest using investigative genetic genealogy. The process received widespread attention in 2018 after it was used to track down a California serial killer.
An Indiana judge has ruled that downloading the free social media app TikTok doesn’t amount to a consumer transaction under state law. That ruling deals a blow to the Indiana attorney general’s lawsuit claiming the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform misleads its users about the level of inappropriate content and security of consumer information. The decision issued last week denied the request from Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita for a court order against TikTok for stating on online app stores that it has “none” or “infrequent/mild” inappropriate content for children as young as 12. The Allen County judge also ruled that state courts don’t have authority over TikTok’s statements to Apple’s app store as both companies are based in California.
The White House and Congress could strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for budget cuts. Or they could agree to a stopgap measure to keep paying the nation’s bills while negotiations continue. They could also do nothing, sending the economy into a tailspin. As President Joe Biden prepares to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and leaders of Congress, the options for easing the debt ceiling standoff are many. But the political incentive for compromise is harder to come by. There's no easy endgame ahead of a June 1 deadline to raise the debt ceiling or risk default.
Florida may study whether a radioactive waste byproduct of fertilizer production can be used to help build roads. The proposal awaits a signature from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. It would task the state with conducting a study about the use of phosphogypsum in road construction aggregate materials. The federal Environmental Protection Agency in 2020 approved the use of the material in government road construction projects but reversed its decision after President Joe Biden took office. The EPA regulates phosphogypsum because the material contains the presence of radium-226. The agency requires the waste product to be placed in stacks that resemble enormous ponds.
Kansas State and Chris Klieman are finalizing a new contract that would give the Wildcats’ football coach a substantial pay raise while keeping him tied to the program for the next eight seasons. A person familiar with the deal tells the AP the contract will have a total value of $44 million. Klieman led the Wildcats to the Big 12 title last season before losing to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Ross Chastain used to be known as the driver with the quirky family roots in watermelon farming. Now, he’s fast becoming known for rubbing others the wrong way. On Sunday at Kansas, his driving style led to a fist-fight with Noah Gragson on pit road. The two had to be separate by security. Last week, Chastain put Brennan Poole into the wall at Dover and took Kyle Larson out in the process. The aggressive driving style may create the drama that NASCAR has too often been lacking.
Fans of sexy revisionist romance, rejoice!
A man charged with providing banned substances to Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare and another athlete has pleaded guilty, marking the first conviction under a landmark law designed to target wide-ranging doping schemes. Eric Lira pleaded guilty Monday for his role in helping Olympic athletes obtain performance-enhancing substances before the Tokyo Olympics. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan called the plea “a watershed moment for international sport.” His office did not provide any information about the terms of the plea by Lira, a 43-year-old from El Paso, Texas. Violations of the Rodchenkov Act carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
It was almost automatic in every game this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Either Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Auston Matthews or John Tavares was going to score a goal. That was the case until the Eastern Conference semifinals. Three games against the Florida Panthers in this series, and that fearsome foursome has only flailed and failed so far. After scoring at least once in 81 of Toronto’s 88 games this season entering this series, Marner, Nylander, Matthews and Tavares have combined for exactly zero goals so far in their matchup with the Panthers.
DALLAS — After any massive tragedy, it’s common for bad actors to take advantage of a void in verified information to spread falsehoods — and for well-meaning yet unwitting members of the public to amplify that false information.
Americans have bet over $220 billion on sports with legal gambling outlets in the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for all 50 states to offer it. The industry shows few signs of slowing despite some recent scandals that have put a spotlight on wagering safeguards. When Sunday’s anniversary of the court ruling in a case brought by New Jersey arrives, two-thirds of the country will offer legal sports betting, with additional states likely to join in coming months or years. Taxes on sports betting operators have generated $3.6 billion: $3 billion for state and local governments, and $570 million for the federal government.
The Arab League’s decision to re-admit Syria after 12 years of ostracization was a large symbolic victory for Damascus. Analysts said the decision is part of a larger regional realignment and an indication of the waning role of the United States. Syria’s return to the regional organization was approved at a closed-door meeting in Cairo on Sunday, following recent bilateral deals to restore relations between Damascus and other Arab countries, notably Saudi Arabia. However, analysts said Syria’s return to the Arab fold may not immediately produce the reconstruction dollars that Syria’s long-ostracized president, Bashar Assad, is likely hoping for. It may also not bring agreements on refugee returns and reducing drug trafficking.
NEUCHATEL, Suiza--(BUSINESS WIRE)--may. 8, 2023--
A convoy including diplomats representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a mission to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced people in strife-torn Myanmar has been ambushed. State-run television MRTV reported that the attack on the convoy with delegates from the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance and the Indonesian and Singaporean embassies occurred in eastern Shan state and was carried out by “terrorists.” The military government uses the term “terrorists” for a wide range of forces opposed to military rule. The report said a security vehicle was damaged, but no one in the convoy was injured. A representative of Myanmar's resistance movement against military rule denied any involvement.
Postal carriers have more worries than snow, rain or the gloom of night keeping them from their appointed rounds. These days, they’re increasingly being robbed, often at gunpoint, from Maine to California. Carriers suffered nearly 500 such robberies last year, according to data provided by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. That's up 78% from the year before. Letter carriers are demanding action from the U.S. Postal Service. One leader of the letter carriers' union calls the attacks “completely unacceptable.” A spokesperson for the postal inspectors says every postal employee deserves to work in safety.
Donald Trump’s most infamous words about being able to molest women when you’re a “star” were used against him Monday as a Manhattan jury was asked to hold him legally accountable for raping E. Jean Carroll 25 years ago and defaming her when she spoke out.
Wildfires have raged in Russia’s Ural mountains and in Siberia this week, with authorities promising to swiftly contain them. Blazes engulfed thousands of hectares in Sverdlovsk and Kurgan, as well as Tyumen and Omsk regions. A state of emergency has been declared in the latter two, while in Sverdlovsk and Kurgan officials vowed to contain the flames. In recent years, Russia has experienced especially widespread forest fires, which experts blame on unusually dry summers and high temperatures. The experts also blame a 2007 decision to disband a federal aviation network tasked with spotting and combating fires. Its assets were turned over to regional authorities, a move the government later reversed, but the agency's resources remain limited.
Absent a host and amid industrywide labor unrest, MTV forged ahead Sunday with its Movie & TV Awards honoring the year’s most popular titles and stars of the big and small screens.
