News

By MIKE SCHNEIDER – Associated Press The world population increased by more than 71 million people in 2024 and will be 8.09 billion people on New Year’s Day, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Monday. The 0.9% increase in 2024 was a slight slowdown from 2023, when the world population grew by 75 million

By AP KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates, officials said Monday. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and

By ELLIOT SPAGAT – Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — Arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico in December are little changed from a month earlier, a U.S. official said Monday, hovering near the lowest levels since July 2020 and indicating that an anticipated surge ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president hasn’t happened.

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA – Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine judge confirmed charges against five people in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of musical group One Direction, and ordered preventive prison for two of them for having supplied him with drugs. A judicial officer confirmed Monday the

By BILL BARROW – Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Jimmy Carter already had drawn months of media scrutiny as a devout Southern Baptist running for president. Then the 1976 Democratic nominee brought up sex and sin as he explained his religious faith to Playboy magazine. Carter was not misquoted. But he was certainly misunderstood,

By NICOLE WINFIELD – Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis kicked off the 2025 Holy Year on Tuesday, inaugurating a celebration of the Catholic Church that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome in a test of the pope’s stamina and the ability of the Eternal City to welcome them.

By JOHN LEICESTER – Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot won’t appeal his 20-year prison sentence for drugging and raping her and allowing dozens of other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in a case that revolted France, his lawyer said Monday. Dominique Pelicot wants to spare his ex-wife

By MARIA CHENG – AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — As the new year dawns, so too does the opportunity for change. Experts say January can be a good time to reflect on self-improvement, but acknowledge it takes work to make resolutions stick. Studies have shown that up to 70% of people who make New

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY – Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to push through long-sought changes that include voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are

By MAKIYA SEMINERA and JAMIE STENGLE – Associated Press Officials assessed the damage on Sunday after a strong storm system moved across the southern U.S. over the weekend, spawning tornadoes and killing at least four people. There were at least 45 reports of tornado damage across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, said Brian Hurley,

By AP HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Finnish investigators probing the damage to a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables said they found an anchor drag mark on the seabed, apparently from a Russia-linked vessel that has already been seized. The discovery heightened concerns about suspected sabotage by Russia’s “shadow fleet” of fuel tankers

By SAHATTHAYA KRAIKHUNTHOT – Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A fire broke out at a hotel near Bangkok’s Khao San Road, a popular tourist destination, killing three foreigners and injuring several other people, Thai police said Monday. The three who died in the fire on Sunday night were all foreign tourists, Police Colonel Sanong Saengmanee

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and DEE-ANN DURBIN – AP Business Writers Value was in vogue in 2024. Shoppers and restaurant patrons in the U.S. were choosy about where and how to spend their money as they wrestled with high housing and food prices. Well-heeled customers traded down to Walmart and Aldi. Diners opted for fast food

By MATT O’BRIEN and SARAH PARVINI – AP Technology Writers If 2023 was a year of wonder about artificial intelligence, 2024 was the year to try to get that wonder to do something useful without breaking the bank. There was a “shift from putting out models to actually building products,” said Arvind Narayanan, a Princeton