Tag Archives: associated press

Malta’s former prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and other former top officials pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday to charges in a hospital corruption scandal that is roiling the Mediterranean island nation as it prepares for European Parliament elections. The case involves a deal, originally struck in 2015, in which the management of three of the country’s hospitals was handed over …

You don’t initially see a full elephant at the Broadway musical “Water for Elephants.” It’s more like a tease. First come a pair of enormous ears. Then a trunk. And then the legs. The execution is by director Jessica Stone, who wanted to make it extra special for the audience when they finally get to see the big reveal at …

Hundreds of people packed into a sweltering church in Haiti’s capital on Tuesday to mourn Judes Montis, a mission director killed by gang members who also fatally shot an American couple that worked with him. Wails filled the crowded church during the early morning service as tears streamed down the face of Montis’ wife. The service also honored the lives …

Congolese authorities have released a Polish man who was sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges, Poland’s top diplomat said Tuesday. Mariusz Majewski is back in Europe, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said on X. Sikorski posted a brief video of himself apparently talking to Majewski over the phone to welcome him back. He didn’t say where exactly Majewski was. …

Russia and Uzbekistan signed an accord Monday for Moscow to build a small nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country, as Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Uzbek capital with Uzbekistan leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Mirziyoyev hailed the project as “vital” in remarks after the talks, noting that Uzbekistan has “its own large reserves of uranium.” Putin, in …

Hong Kong police on Tuesday arrested six people, including a former organizer of the city’s decades-long annual vigil that commemorated China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown, for allegedly publishing seditious social media posts, in what were the first publicly known arrests under the city’s new national security law. Secretary for Security Chris Tang said Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the group …

All Spix’s macaws are majestically blue in the blazing sun of Brazil’s Northeast, but each bird is distinct to Candice and Cromwell Purchase. As the parrots soar squawking past their home, the couple can readily identify bird No. 17 by its smooth feathers and can tell No. 16 from No. 22, which has two beads attached to its radio collar. …

An unusual weather phenomenon called a “gustnado,” which looks like a small tornado but is actually a type of whirlwind kicked up by thunderstorm winds, brought some dramatic moments to a western Michigan lake over the weekend. Video posted on social media shows the gustnado churning across Gun Lake south of Grand Rapids on Sunday, the clouds rolling rapidly as …

Italy on Tuesday celebrated the return of around 600 antiquities from the U.S., including ancient bronze statues, gold coins, mosaics and manuscripts valued at $65 million, that were looted years ago, sold to U.S. museums, galleries and collectors and recovered as a result of criminal investigations. U.S. Ambassador Jack Markell, Matthew Bogdanos, the head of the antiquities trafficking unit of …

Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature passed changes on Tuesday that are seen as favoring China and diminishing the power of the island’s president. The changes pushed by the opposition Nationalist Party and its allies give the body greater power to control budgets, including defense spending that the party has blocked in what many see as a concession to China. The Nationalists officially …