April 30, 2022 10:19 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Thousands of firefighters are battling destructive wildfires in the Southwest as more residents are preparing to evacuate into the weekend in northern New Mexico. Strong winds in bone-dry conditions have made the blazes especially difficult to contain. The biggest fire in the U.S. grew Friday east of Santa Fe to more than 117 square miles. Gusty winds grounded aircraft and crews lost some of the containment they had established in recent days. About 1,000 firefighters on the lines, and officials say more air and ground support is on the way. Experts say some of the wildland timber is drier than kiln-dried wood.
April 30, 2022 10:14 am
BEIJING (AP) – China’s manufacturing activity fell to a six-month low in April as lockdowns continued in Shanghai and other manufacturing hubs in an attempt to stem COVID-19 outbreaks. The monthly purchasing managers’ index, released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, fell to 47.4 in April, down from 49.5 in March on a 100-point scale. Numbers below 50 show activity contracting. The statistics bureau says the domestic COVID-19 outbreaks have impacted China’s factory activities and market demand. Some enterprises have reduced or stopped production, with disruptions in logistics as well as the supply or raw materials and components. The construction industry continued to expand, especially the civil engineering construction sector, offering hope for economic recovery.
April 30, 2022 4:06 am
HONESDALE, Pa. (AP) – A candidate in next month’s Republican primary for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor has been ordered to stay away from his home after his wife made claims of physical and mental abuse. Teddy Daniels was accused of making threats, saying he would kill the family dog and grabbing his wife by the shirt. A Wayne County judge granted a temporary protection from abuse order to Daniels’ wife on Tuesday. Daniels claims he has been “swatted,” or targeted with bogus calls leading state police to his home. He is vowing to stay in the race. Daniels is one of nine candidates seeking the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor.
April 30, 2022 4:05 am
Child welfare officials in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the cradle of Mister Rogers’ TV neighborhood and the icon’s child-centric innovations, are using an algorithm to support agency workers as they make decisions meant to protect children from neglect. The AP identified several concerns about the technology, including questions about its reliability and its potential to harden racial disparities in the child welfare system. Related issues have already torpedoed some jurisdictions’ plans to use predictive models, such as the tool notably dropped by the state of Illinois.
April 29, 2022 3:40 pm
(AP) – Relatives say a 22-year-old former U.S. Marine has been killed alongside Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia in what’s the first known death of an American citizen fighting in Ukraine. Rebecca Cabrera tells CNN her son Willy Joseph Cancel was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine. His widow, Brittany Cancel, tells Fox News he leaves behind a young son and that she sees her husband as a hero. The U.S. government has not confirmed the reports. On Friday, the State Department said it was aware of the reports and is “closely monitoring the situation” but could not comment further “due to privacy considerations.”
April 29, 2022 4:27 am
LONDON (AP) – Tennis great Boris Becker has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for illicitly transferring large amounts of money and hiding assets after he was declared bankrupt. The three-time Wimbledon champion was convicted earlier this month on four charges under the Insolvency Act and had faced a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. The 54-year-old German was found to have transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars after his June 2017 bankruptcy from his business account to other accounts. Becker was also convicted of failing to declare a property in Germany and hiding an $871,000 bank loan and shares in a tech firm.
April 29, 2022 4:25 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The Oklahoma House has given final approval to a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. The bill passed Thursday by the GOP-led House now heads to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt. He’s expected to sign it within days. The bill was immediately challenged in court by abortion rights advocates. The measure prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo. Experts say that’s typically about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Like Texas, the bill allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for up to $10,000. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a similar law in Texas to stand.
April 29, 2022 4:24 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The head of the United Nations said Ukraine has become “an epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain.” That description was underscored a short time later by the first Russian strike on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago. Russia pounded targets all over Ukraine on Thursday, including the attack on Kyiv that struck a residential high-rise and another building and wounded 10 people, including at least one who lost a leg. The bombardment came barely an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a news conference with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The U.N. chief toured some of the destruction in and around Kyiv and condemned the attacks on civilians.
April 29, 2022 4:21 am
Google has expanded options for keeping personal information private from online searches. The company said Friday it will let people request that more types of information be removed from search results. These include personal contact information like phone numbers and email and physical addresses. The new policy also allows the removal of other information that may pose a risk for identity theft, such as confidential log-in credentials. The company said in a statement that open access to information is vital, “but so is empowering people with the tools they need to protect themselves and keep their sensitive, personally identifiable information private.”
April 29, 2022 4:20 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Thousands of firefighters have continued to slow the advance of destructive wildfires in the Southwest. But they’re bracing for the return of the same dangerous conditions Friday that sparked and spread the wind-fueled blazes a week ago. At least 166 residences have been destroyed in one rural county in northeast New Mexico since the biggest U.S. fire started racing through small towns northeast of Santa Fe last Friday. Winds gusting up to 50 mph are forecast Friday in the drought-stricken region. Fire behavior experts say it’s a recipe for disaster where timber the size of a 4-by-4 piece of lumber has a fuel moisture drier than kiln-dried wood.
