HONG KONG (AP) — China’s economy for the October-December quarter grew at a quicker rate, allowing the Chinese government to hit its target of about 5% annual growth for 2023 even though trade data and the economic recovery remain uneven.

Official data released Wednesday showed that the Chinese economy grew 5.2% for 2023, surpassing the that the government had set.

The growth for 2023 is likely helped by 2022’s GDP of just

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — What’s expected to be an expensive and bitter fight over multiple Missouri abortion-rights ballot measures so far has not attracted much money.

An abortion-rights campaign called had no money on hand as of Dec. 31, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday. The group received $25,000 in nonmonetary aid from the American Civil Liberties Union last year.

The campaign has not yet announced which of 11 versions of its proposal it intends to

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the oldest member of the U.S. Senate, has been hospitalized in the Washington area with an infection and is receiving antibiotic infusions, his office said Tuesday.

Grassley, 90, will return to work “as soon as possible following doctors’ orders,” his office said in a statement, and he is in good spirits. The statement did not give any additional details about his condition.

The Iowa Republican had hip surgery last year and briefly used

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s Republican legislative leaders took aim at social media companies on the opening day of the state’s 2024 legislative session, pledging to reinforce laws they passed last year to for kids to access social media apps.

The two laws, signed last March by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, have been hit with multiple lawsuits challenging their constitutionality. They require age verification for anyone in the state who wants to create a social media account, which critics say could compromise users

Nonfiction

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

2. MeatEater’s American History: The Long Hunters (1761-1775) by Steven Rinella and Clay Newcomb, narrated by the authors (Random House Audio)

3. Oath and Honor by Liz Cheney, narrated by the author (Little, Brown & Company )

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

5. 48 Laws of

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia’s intense missile and drone attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks sharply increased civilian casualties in December with over 100 killed and nearly 500 injured, the United Nations said in a new report Tuesday.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said there was a 26.5% increase in civilian casualties last month – from 468 in November to 592 in December. With some reports still pending verification, it said, the increase was likely

NEW YORK (AP) — Two New York City police officers were shot as they struggled with a domestic violence suspect who grabbed one officer’s gun, officials said Tuesday. The suspect also was wounded.

All were hospitalized after a shooting that revived memories of the almost exactly two years earlier. But the officers who were wounded Tuesday — one in the left hand and the other in the left thigh — were expected to recover fully, Police Chief Edward Caban said. Police said the suspect, shot multiple times, was

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A woman whose body was found in the water near where a small plane crashed into the ocean off the California coast was identified Tuesday as a 27-year-old San Francisco resident. Federal officials now say it’s believed four people were on board the plane.

The crash was reported around 7 p.m. Sunday by a 911 caller who said the single-engine plane was in obvious distress and appeared to go down toward the water near

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man accused of faking his death and fleeing the U.S. to avoid rape charges in Utah denied at a court appearance Tuesday that he is the suspect and, in an apparent British accent, called allegations that he wasn’t giving his true name “complete hearsay.”

, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is charged with the rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, in 2008, prosecutors said. He wasn