Month: December 2021

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A former boyfriend of a woman who says she was paid to give sexual favors to Jeffrey Epstein starting at age 14 corroborated parts of her account at the sex trafficking trial of the millionaire’s longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell. The man said Wednesday

RIVERVIEW, Fla. (AP) — A body camera video shows that a Florida deputy who fatally shot an 88-year-old man while checking on his welfare repeatedly identified herself, telling him to put his gun down and firing only after he advanced on her and threatened to shoot her. The video released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is convening global leaders determined to show the world that democracy can still deliver. But as the president launches the administration’s inaugural Democracy Summit on Thursday the United States is facing some of the gravest threats in years to its democratic traditions and

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says he’s tested positive for the coronavirus while traveling in Washington D.C. Joyce, who is fully vaccinated, said in a Facebook post that he’d been experiencing mild symptoms and decided to get tested. He says he’ll remain in isolation

By GRANT SCHULTE Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Researchers at the University of Nebraska smashed an 80,000-pound tractor-tanker into a concrete barrier in a test that could lead to safer, more cost-effective barriers throughout the United States. The high-speed safety experiment was part of an effort by the university’s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility to

ROMEO, Mich. (AP) — A 41-year-old Michigan man has been arrested and accused of using chemical spray on law enforcement officers as part of a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., says Tim Boughner was charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building

By BRIAN SLODYSKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Progressive Democrats are ratcheting up pressure on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to punish firebrand conservative Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado for her recent comments likening a Muslim member of Congress to a bomb-carrying terrorist. Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley appeared with roughly a dozen other progressives at a news

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jurors at the manslaughter trial for the former suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she mistakenly drew her handgun when she fatally shot Daunte Wright will hear testimony about the kind of person he was – within limits. Prosecutors at the trial of Kim Potter intend to

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — Diplomatic boycotts of the Olympics aim to snub host nations while keeping athletes free to compete. A small cascade of government boycotts hit China on Wednesday, less than two months before the Beijing Olympics open. Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada followed the United States in

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Native corporations face a year-end deadline to use federal coronavirus relief funds that the U.S. Supreme Court in late June ruled they were entitled to. But an official with the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association says some corporations have yet to receive funds and others

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — The billionaire daughter of the Publix Super Markets founder has died after having early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 65. Publix announced Wednesday that Carol Jenkins Barnett died Tuesday night at her home in Lakeland, Florida. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016. Barnett was one of seven children of Publix founder

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia library has removed a display that placed the Bible alongside two books activists have sought to remove from school libraries as pornographic and obscene. The library display in McLean included “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison and “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe alongside the

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is isolating after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday that Guterres has shown no symptoms and tested negative for the virus Tuesday afternoon. The spokesman says Guterres canceled his Wednesday engagements out of caution and

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials have authorized a new COVID-19 antibody drug for people with serious health problems or allergies who can’t get adequate protection from vaccination. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use Wednesday to the drug combo made by AstraZeneca. The drug could benefit cancer patients,

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Outrage is spreading on social media in Myanmar over images and accounts of the alleged killing and burning of 11 villagers captured by government troops in the country’s northwest. Photos and a video of charred corpses in a village in Sagaing region have circulated widely. They are

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s highest court has delayed the state’s planned March 8 primary until May so state courts can review lawsuits claiming illegal gerrymandering. Wednesday’s decision by the state Supreme Court comes after a state Court of Appeals panel initially blocked filing for legislative and congressional

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Attorneys for entertainer Flavor Flav say he’s working to stay sober following dismissal of a misdemeanor domestic battery charge stemming from a scuffle with his girlfriend at home in suburban Las Vegas. The 62-year-old former rapper and reality TV star’s legal name is William Drayton Jr.

By AUDREY McAVOY and MARK THIESSEN Associated Press PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The U.S. Navy has commissioned the USS Daniel Inouye, naming its newest ship after the long-serving U.S. senator from Hawaii and decorated World War II veteran. The military restricted attendance at the event due to COVID-19 mitigation efforts and streamed the ceremony

COUSHATTA, La. (AP) — Louisiana authorities say a police officer is accused of using a patrol car while off duty to illegally hunt deer at night without a hunting license. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says 28-year-old Javarrea Pouncy’s three companions included a convicted felon who was illegally carrying a firearm and also didn’t

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — More than six months after the wife and son of a prominent South Carolina lawyer were gunned down at the family’s estate, their killings remain unsolved. But while little is said about the deaths, the legal drama around Alex Murdaugh continues, from lawsuits demanding tens of

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of debate, Congress is on track to change how the U.S. military handles sexual assault cases, by taking some authority out of the hands of commanders and instead using independent prosecutors. The changes were spurred on by a growing number of sexual misconduct cases

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer ATLANTA (AP) — The chief of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 40 people in the country have been found to be infected with the omicron variant so far and more than three-quarters of them had been vaccinated. But Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A new report by a Norwegian watchdog group documents Chinese squid vessels using wide nets to illegally catch already overfished tuna as part of a surge in unregulated activity in the Indian Ocean. The report published Wednesday by Trygg Mat Tracking highlights growing concerns about the lack

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. (AP) — A shootout during a traffic stop at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park wounded a ranger and one of two suspects who were involved in an earlier pursuit with law enforcement. A park spokeswoman says the shooting happened after the ranger stopped a driver on the east side of

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida ethics panel says it has found probable cause that Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried violated state law for failing to properly disclose her income on financial forms. Fried is also a Democratic candidate for governor. The Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Fried did not correctly disclose lobbying

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer In a blog post titled “No Dollar Signs This Time,” billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott said she won’t reveal how much she has given to charity since her last round of donations earlier this year, in an effort to reduce the attention she draws. Scott, whose fortunes is estimated by

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Pivotal Sen. Joe Manchin says he’d vote to uphold the Senate parliamentarian’s decision if she rules that immigration or other provisions should fall from Democrats’ huge social and environment bill. The remark by the moderate West Virginia Democrat underscores the uphill fight his party faces in keeping

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The editor of a popular Belarusian media outlet has been arrested following a raid of his apartment, the latest target in a sweeping crackdown on independent media by the Belarusian authorities. Siarhei Satsuk, the editor of Yezhednevnik, or ej.by, online outlet, was detained after a raid

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to make the federal government carbon-neutral by 2050, with a 65% reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an all-electric fleet of cars and trucks five years later. The White House says the order shows how the