Month: October 2021

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Amid a national debate over the use of pandemic relief funds, Alabama lawmakers swiftly approved a plan to tap $400 million to help build two super-size prisons. In a bipartisan vote that brought little dissent, senators approved the $1.3 billion construction plan that will use $400

By KAREN MATTHEWS and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — An environmental lawyer who waged a years-long campaign against Chevron over pollution in Ecuador has been sentenced to six months in jail for violating a federal judge’s orders. U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska said Friday that Steven Donziger’s commitment to his Ecuadorian

By CHRISTINA LARSON AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Letters from the last queen of France to her rumored lover contain redacted phrases that scientists have been able to read by studying the composition of different inks. The letters between Marie Antoinette and Swedish count Axel von Fersen were exchanged between June 1791 and August

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York health officials have revoked the medical license of a doctor with the cult-like group NXIVM who branded 17 women with the initials of the group’s leader, Keith Raniere. A health department hearing committee sustained multiple of counts of professional misconduct against Danielle Roberts, who belonged to a secret women’s

By AMY FORLITI and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The United States has reached its latest heartbreaking pandemic milestone, eclipsing 700,000 deaths from COVID-19 just as the surge from the delta variant is starting to slow down and give overwhelmed hospitals some relief. It took 3 ½ months for the U.S. to

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge has ruled that Ahmaud Arbery’s mental health records can’t be used as trial evidence by the men who chased and killed him. The decision Friday by Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley further limits defense attorneys’ efforts to portray Arbery as an aggressive young

By EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A top U.S. official has apologized for how Haitian migrants were treated along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying it’s not how border officials or the Department of Homeland Security behave. The comments Friday from Juan Gonzalez, the U.S. National Security Council’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere,

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Libyan officials say security forces have rounded up and detained at least 500 African migrants, including women and children, in a town in western Libya. The Interior Ministry says the arrests are part of a crackdown on illegal migration in the town of Gargaresh. However, the ministry

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico wants to declare lithium a “strategic mineral” and reserve any future exploration and mining for the government. The changes are contained in a bill that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to congress. The bill also changes the Constitution to give the government control over electricity production and distribution. The

By TARIK EL-BARAKAH Associated Presss RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Millions of Moroccan students have returned to school for in-person classes after a prolonged summer vacation. The government had planned to reopen schools back in September but postponed the start date amid virus concerns. Morocco has the highest vaccinate rate in Africa and infections are now

By NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY Associated Press PARIS (AP) — One of France’s biggest unsolved criminal cases appears to have been cracked. The decades-long hunt for a suspect in at least six rapes and four killings during the 1980s and 1990s led to a former police officer. Prosecutors announced that DNA from a 59-year-old former gendarme who

BERLIN (AP) — A joint European-Japanese spacecraft is set to fly by Mercury for the first time on its path to deliver two probes into the planet’s orbit in 2025. The BepiColombo mission will make the first of six flybys of Mercury at about 2334 GMT on Friday, using the planet’s gravity to slow itself

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has called for the “humane” treatment of migrants at the European Union’s external border with Belarus. Thousands of people from Syria, Iraq and other conflict-ridden countries have traveled to Belarus in recent months in the hope of crossing into Poland. The 27-nation bloc has accused Belarus of helping the

HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities say a former student of a Houston public charter school shot and wounded the campus principal before quickly surrendering to police. The shooting happened at about 11:45 a.m. Friday at YES Prep Southwest Secondary, a charter school that serves students in sixth through 12th grades. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A Texas judge has found Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones liable for damages in three defamation lawsuits related to his claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin entered default judgments against Jones and other defendants this week for

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and ADAM BEAM Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California is poised to impose the nation’s first coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that the requirement won’t take effect for all children until the U.S. government has finished fully vetting the vaccine for two age groups —

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charlamagne tha God made a living on radio calling out popular figures like Kanye West and Floyd Mayweather Jr., but now he’s taking his talents to a new late-night talk show to focus on political and social issues. The shoot-from-the-hip radio host enters into

DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Britney Spears’ fight to end the conservatorship that controlled vast aspects of her life is putting the spotlight on ongoing efforts in the states to reform laws that advocates say too often harm the very people they were meant to protect. Already this year, New Jersey cracked

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A lack of answers from Hungary’s government about alleged spying on journalists, politicians and business figures has raised questions for a fact-finding committee of the European Union’s legislature. The head of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs said Friday that her

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief has informed Ethiopia that it has no legal right to expel seven U.N. officials whom it accused of “meddling” in the country’s affairs. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that severe restrictions on desperately needed aid to the conflict-wracked Tigray region have created

By The Associated Press This week’s new entertainment releases feature music from Grammy-winning songwriter Natalie Hemby and two pop star documentaries — “Justin Bieber: Our World” and the concert film “Madonna: Madame X.” Staying with documentaries, “Fauci” is the first big-screen documentary of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. And on the

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Christian Broadcasting Network says Pat Robertson is stepping down as host of the long-running daily television show the “700 Club.” The 91-year-old televangelist says Friday was his last show as host of the weekday program, and his son, Gordon, is taking over as full-time host.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The giant Powerball jackpot has grown even bigger, with officials raising the estimated payout to $635 million ahead of Saturday night’s drawing. The grand prize was raised Friday from an earlier estimate of $620 million, reflecting a surge in sales from players attracted by the potential payoff. While the jackpot

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Grammy-winning bluegrass musician Billy Strings won entertainer of the year at the genre’s top awards show, a major feat for the 28-year-old guitarist who beat out veteran performers. The Bluegrass Music Awards were handed out Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina, where Strings was also named guitar player of the year. Also

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After being vaulted into the New York governor’s office two months ago, Democrat Kathy Hochul is preparing to run for the job in her own right next year. But as Hochul works to carve out her reputation, a cohort of rising New York Democrats are