Authorities have dismantled a drug-smuggling operation they say involved large quantities of narcotics coming into Los Angeles from Mexico before being distributed in the U.S. and brought into Canada by long-haul truckers.

The cross-border operation dubbed “Operation Dead Hand” saw 19 people charged in two U.S. federal indictments for their alleged roles in the organized crime syndicate, including Roberto Scoppa, a Montrealer alleged by authorities to be a large-scale Canadian trafficker and Italian Mafia figure.

“This conspiracy spanned

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday ordered the to implement his allowing election clerks to accept absentee ballots that have partial witness addresses, a decision that is expected to expand the number of ballots that will be counted in the battleground state.

Each of the last two presidential elections in Wisconsin was decided by fewer than 23,000 votes. Polls show another razor-tight race this year between and former .

Ever since Trump’s defeat in Wisconsin in 2020,

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s economy barely eked out a 0.1% increase in the fourth quarter, bringing estimated growth for 2023 to 3.1%, according to preliminary figures published Tuesday by Mexico’s National Statistics Institute.

The institute said that services advanced 0.1% in the fourth quarter, agricultural output declined by the same amount and manufacturing remained unchanged.

Inflation declined to 4.66% by the end of 2023, but domestic interest rates

PARIS (AP) — Farmers have captured France’s attention by showering government offices with manure and with traffic-snarling barricades of tractors and hay bales.

The farmers say their protests aren’t a moment too soon. Grievances have long been brewing in .

The has caused painful economic shocks, including higher costs, bringing farmers’ anger to a head in France and other European countries. Climate change and pressure for more sustainable and more productive agriculture are also squeezing the 500,000 or so French

LAS VEGAS (AP) — When the Tropicana Las Vegas opened in 1957, Nevada’s lieutenant governor unlocked the door to what would become a Sin City landmark for more than a half-century. Then he threw away the key.

“This was to signify that the Tropicana would always stay open,” said historian Michael Green.

Six decades later, the storied hotel-casino that once had ties to the mob and was nicknamed the “Tiffany of the Strip,” is set to shut its

Nonfiction

1. Atomic Habits by James Clear, narrated by the author (Penguin Audio)

2. Plan Your Year Like a Millionaire by Rachel Rodgers, narrated by the author (Audible Originals)

3. 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, narrated by Richard Poe (HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books)

4. The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest, narrated by Stacey Glemboski (Thought Catalog Books)

5. A Quiet Life in 7 Steps by Susan Cain, narrated by the author (Audible Originals)

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Republican Joe Fraser, a U.S. Navy veteran and political newcomer, launched a longshot campaign Tuesday to oust three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota.

Fraser, 50, of Minnetrista, on the western edge of the Twin Cities area, kicked off his campaign with a media tour that included a stop in Duluth on Tuesday and planned stops Wednesday in Moorhead, Rochester and Mankato.

“We must work to put an end to

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Evan Bates sat on a table at the U.S. figure skating championships last weekend, feeling lousy despite having just won a fifth ice dance because of a flu bug that nearly kept him from performing with partner Madison Chock.

He felt a lot better — in a lot of ways — by Tuesday morning.

That’s when Bates and Chock awoke to learn they were suddenly Olympic champions. The Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled a day earlier that Kamilia Valieva of

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina election officials are trying to fine-tune the way the state handles same-day voter registration as Republican legislators seek to make it easier to toss out ballots and critics argue they’re making it too hard for voters to access the polls.

On Tuesday, lawyers for state election officials unveiled amended rules for verifying the addresses of people who register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day. The changes came in response to that said people need a