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AP’s top albums of 2023: Music from Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, the Rolling Stones and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ten of the top albums of the year, as chosen by Associated Press Music Writer Maria Sherman.It was a blockbuster year across genres, but only a few could make AP’s list. (SZA’s “SOS” released in December 2022, Ice Spice’s “Like…?” isn’t a full-length release, and the 11 Grammy nominations for “Barbie the Album” is recognition enough.) Instead of embracing the antiquated practice of ranking very different albums against one another, we’re celebrating the best next to the best. Enjoy.“Génesis,” Peso PlumaThe year belongs to regional Mexican artists, who brought their banda, norteño, mariachi, sierreño and more to geographies well beyond Mexico and the southwest U.S. As Carín León told The Associated Press earlier this year, it is no longer “regional,” but “global” music. Leading the charge is Peso Pluma, whose third studio album, “Génesis,” became the highest-charting regional Mexican album of all time. Across 14 tracks, Pluma mar...

Payment technology firm Nuvei signs partnership deal with Microsoft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

MONTREAL — Payment technology company Nuvei Corp. has signed a partnership agreement with Microsoft Corp. Financial terms were not immediately available.Under the deal, Microsoft will start using Nuvei’s payments technology in the Middle East and the Africa.Nuvei says Microsoft will benefit from its knowledge of local markets to optimize its payments for recurring billing and individual transactions across its Office and Xbox products.The companies also said they are committed to extending the partnership to additional markets, as well as exploring new use cases.Nuvei chair and chief executive Philip Fayer says it makes sense to explore how they can work more co-operatively as they grow their commercial relationship.Nuvei shares were up $1.30 or nearly five per cent at $29.86 in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:NVEI)The Canadian Press

Berlin police investigate a suspected arson attempt at Iran opposition group’s office

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Police in Berlin are investigating a suspected arson attempt early Monday at the office of an Iranian opposition group. Members of the group noticed flames at a window of the building in Berlin’s Schmargendorf district at about 2:15 a.m. and were able to extinguish them before they spread inside, police said in a statement. No one was hurt, and a police investigation was under way. The statement didn’t give further details or say who might have been responsible.The group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, claimed that assailants affiliated with the Iranian government “initiated the attack by throwing incendiary materials towards the building.”The NCRI is the political wing of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, which is considered a terror organization by Iran and was once designated as such by the United States until it was delisted in 2012. The EU removed the group from its terrorism list in 2009.The Associated Press

5 critical following crash involving semi in Joliet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. — Five people were critically injured following a crash involving a semi-truck early Monday in Joliet.Just before 5:15 a.m., officers responded to the intersection of South Chicago Street and McDonough Street on the report of a crash with injuries.Police believe a Volkswagen Passat went through a red light and struck a semi-truck heading southbound on Chicago.The Volkswagen contained two males and three females. They were transported in critical condition.The driver of the semi was not injured.The roadway continues to be closed as police investigate.Anyone with information is asked to call police at 815-724-3010.

Man fatally shot by passengers while driving in Austin ID'd

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

CHICAGO -- A man was shot and killed by passengers while driving on the city's West Side Sunday evening, police said.The man was identified as 39-year-old Muhammad Al Hajoj of Jefferson Park. Al Hajoj was driving near the 1700 block of North Lotus Street around 5:36 p.m. in Jefferson Park when he witnessed four additional individuals in the vehicle. Police said witnesses said shots were heard then the individuals left the vehicle and fled the scene.The man sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was transported to Loyola Hospital in critical condition. He was later pronounced dead.A handgun was recovered a few feet away from the vehicle where the man was shot. There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

Woman, 60, shot inside Portage Park apartment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

CHICAGO — A 60-year-old woman is in critical condition after being shot inside her apartment in the city's Portage Park neighborhood.The shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. Sunday in the 5200 block of West Cullom. Police said the woman was inside her residence when a known man fired shots into her apartment.The woman was shot once in the pelvis and two in the abdomen. She was transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital in critical condition. Attempted crash and grab at Neiman Marcus on Michigan Avenue No one is in custody. Area Five detectives are investigating.

Israel continues attacks, vows to hit the south as forceful as north

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel has vowed to hit south Gaza with “no less strength” than the fight that has reduced large parts of north Gaza to a moonscape.Heavy bombardment followed the evacuation orders, and Palestinians in the sealed-off territory bordering Israel and Egypt said they were running out of places to go.Many of Gaza's 2.3 million people fled to the south after Israel ordered civilians to leave the north in the early days of the war, which was sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack in Israel that killed about 1,200, mostly civilians.After dark, gunfire and shelling were heard in the central town of Deir al-Balah as flares lit the sky. Israeli drones buzzed overhead in Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis. U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk urged an end to the war, saying civilian suffering was “too much to bear.”Halima Abdel-Rahman, a widow and mother of four, said she's stopped heeding such orders. She fled her home in October to an area outside ...

US has warned Israel of concerns over the death toll in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – U.S. officials say while ceasefire and hostage negotiations are on pause, the U.S. has publicly began offering stark warnings to Israel about the consequences of the rising civilian death toll in Gaza. And the White House says that Israel is listening.On ABC’s “This Week,” National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said, “We’ve urged them as they go south, we have said publicly, we don’t want to see them move into the south unless or until they have accounted for that additional civilian population.” He went on to say that Israel “publishing this map online and dropping leaflets and telling people where not to go, that is a step in the right direction.”On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned that Israel risked “strategic defeat” in Gaza if it doesn’t do more to protect civilians.“I have repeatedly made clear to Israel's leaders that protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative,” Austin sai...

Barbie doll honoring Cherokee leader met with mixed emotions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An iconic chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, inspired countless Native American children as a powerful but humble leader who expanded early education and rural healthcare.Her reach is now broadening with a quintessential American honor: a Barbie doll in the late Mankiller's likeness as part of toymaker Mattel's “Inspiring Women” series.This photo provided by Mattel shows a Barbie doll of Wilma Mankiller. Toy maker Mattel is honoring the late legendary Cherokee leade with a Barbie doll as part of its "Inspiring Women" series. A ceremony honoring Mankiller's legacy is set for Dec. 5, 2023 in Tahlequah, where the tribe is based. Mankiller, who died in 2010, was the first female chief of a major Native American tribe and led the Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995. (Mattel via AP)FILE - Wilma Mankiller, who was chief of the Cherokee from 1985 to 1995, put much of her focus on education, health and housing. Toy maker Mattel is honoring the late legendary C...

Tourist flights over national parks face new rules. None are stricter than at Mount Rushmore

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:11 GMT

Fewer planes and helicopters will be flying tourists over Mount Rushmore and other national monuments and parks as new regulations take effect that are intended to protect the serenity of some of the most beloved natural areas in the United States.The air tours have pitted tour operators against visitors frustrated with the noise for decades, but it has come to a head as new management plans are rolled out at nearly two dozen national parks and monuments.One of the strictest yet was recently announced at Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park, where tour flights will essentially be banned from getting within a half mile of the South Dakota sites starting in April.Visitors take in the massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in, Keystone, S.D. Fewer planes and helicopters will be flying tourists over Mount Rushmore and other national monuments and parks as new regulations take effect that are intended to protect...