QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The Ecuadorian presidential candidate who was fatally shot at a political rally was unafraid to take on criminal networks and a political elite he accused of corruption at the hands of organized crime.Fernando Villavicencio, who was a journalist before entering politics, waged a yearslong battle against the forces that he saw
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fired most of the governors in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, responding to long-standing demands for a political shake-up as frustration grows with the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority.Abbas issued a decree dismissing the governors of eight provinces under Palestinian administration in the occupied territory. The upheaval
LONDON (AP) — United States goalkeeper Gaga Slonina joined Belgian team K.A.S. Eupen on a season-long loan deal from Chelsea on Thursday.The 19-year-old Slonina didn’t play a competitive match for Chelsea in his first season at the club following his move from the Chicago Fire. But he made his senior international debut for the United
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Customs authorities in Rotterdam have confiscated more than 8,000 kilograms (17,600 pounds) of cocaine, the largest seizure of the drug in the Netherlands, prosecutors said Thursday.The drugs had an estimated street value of 600 million euros ($662 million), the Rotterdam Public Prosecution Service said in a statement. No arrests have
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.The flight window opens Thursday morning at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert for a ride
LUDLOW, Vermont (AP) — The crack of a summer thunderstorm once comforted people in Ludlow, Vermont. But that was before a storm dropped eight inches of rain on the village of 2,200 in two days last month. And it was before the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Now a coming rainstorm can stir
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s government and residents say the country’s military recaptured several areas in the embattled Amhara region from local militia fighters as details of dozens of civilian deaths began to emerge from the region amid an internet shutdown.The military reclaimed control of six towns, including the regional capital, Bahir Dar, and Amhara’s
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Swift closed the 2023 U.S. leg of her landmark Eras Tour at the Los Angeles SoFi Stadium in a big way by announcing the fourth edition of her re-recording project: “1989 (Taylor’s Version.)” After playing a few tracks from her “1989” era live, the pop star approached the center of
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government said Thursday that all Swatch products that contain lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer elements — including watches, wrappers and boxes — were banned, warning that anyone found with one could be jailed for up to three years.The ban has been published in the Federal Gazette — which
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — West African heads of state are scheduled to meet Thursday after Niger’s military junta defied their deadline to reinstate the nation’s deposed president, but analysts say the Economic Community of West African States may be running out of options as support fades for a military intervention.As Niger’s junta turns away most
