Month: February 2023

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A U-2 pilot flying high above the Chinese spy balloon took a close-up photo of the large white orb just a day before the Air Force shot the balloon down off the coast of South Carolina. The photo shows the top of the pilot’s helmet inside the

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities say a Haitian man believed to be a member of the gang involved in the recent killings of six Haitian police officers has been arrested in the neighboring Dominican Republic and deported. Police said Wednesday that the man was arrested along with five other Haitians during a police

LONDON (AP) — An off-duty police officer has been shot in Northern Ireland, where paramilitary groups have previously attacked members of the security services. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said the officer was injured in a shooting at a sports complex in Omagh, about 60 miles west of Belfast. The force said the officer

By WILSON RING Associated Press MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Legislature is considering a proposal that would end an exemption to the state’s child abuse and neglect reporting laws for members of the clergy. On Wednesday the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee held the first of what could be several meetings on the subject before

By LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An appeals court has ruled that Fox News, CNN and other news outlets didn’t defame former coal executive Don Blankenship when they referred to him as a “felon.” Fourth Circuit Chief Judge Roger Gregory affirmed a district court’s determination that the 16 outlets sued by Blankenship

By WILSON RING Associated Press BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Officials say a discarded cigarette found near the body of a 24-year-old Vermont school teacher nearly 52 years ago helped lead investigators to an upstairs neighbor who they say strangled her in her apartment. Burlington Police said Tuesday that DNA evidence and dogged investigative work led

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO’s chief says the military alliance has seen “some signs” that China may be planning to support Russia in its war in Ukraine, and strongly urged Beijing to desist from what would be a violation of international law. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also told The

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A New York woman who admitted her role in an ex-convict’s decade-long plot to extort and sexually manipulate schoolmates of his daughter at Sarah Lawrence College has been sentenced to over four years in prison. Federal Judge Lewis J. Liman sentenced Isabella Pollok on Wednesday to

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Early estimates suggest the flu vaccine performed well in a U.S. winter flu season that has already dissipated. Flu vaccines were more than 40% effective in preventing adults from getting sick enough from the flu that they would have to go to a doctor’s office,

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals panel has ruled that West Virginia transgender athletes can compete in female school sports while an appeal is heard on a state law banning their participation. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling Wednesday. It reinstates a preliminary injunction sought

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president says he hopes that former security chief Genaro García Luna will turn state’s evidence in the U.S. and perhaps implicate former Mexican presidents. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday he hoped Garcia Luna will make a deal with prosecutors to reduce his sentence, in exchange for testifying about

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a man with killing a Catholic bishop in a crime that stunned Los Angeles religious and immigrant communities. Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, 69, was fatally shot Saturday in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights, an unincorporated community about 20 miles east

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho could bring back firing squads as a method of execution under legislation introduced by a panel of lawmakers Wednesday. The state eliminated its never-used firing squad option in 2009, but has been unable to secure the drugs needed for lethal injection executions. Only Mississippi, Utah,

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Alcohol sales will soon be allowed in a tiny Nevada town where religious roots led to a decades-long ban on buying beer, wine and liquor. Bars still won’t be allowed, but stores will be able to sell alcohol in Alamo after the Lincoln County Commission on Tuesday unanimously endorsed a local

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As Sen. Tim Scott weighs a potential 2024 presidential candidacy, the South Carolina Republican was in Iowa on Wednesday delivering a message of “a new American sunrise.” It’s a positive vision that sets him apart from some possible rivals who have focused more on railing

CAMBRIDGE, Ohio (AP) — A reserve offensive lineman for the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles will make his initial court appearance in Ohio on rape and kidnapping charges next month after waiving his arraignment in the case. Josh Sills, an undrafted free agent who appeared in just one game this season, was scheduled to appear in

By JILL COLVIN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized the federal response to the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as a “betrayal” during a visit to the village where residents and local leaders are increasingly frustrated more than two weeks after the disaster. The