Month: May 2023

By MARK SHERMAN and EMILY SWANSON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Confidence in the Supreme Court sank to its lowest point in at least 50 years in 2022, after the Dobbs decision that overturned the right to abortion and which led to state bans and other abortion restrictions. That’s according to the General Social Survey,

By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press A man has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” federal prosecutors in North Dakota say. The shoes were stolen in 2005 and recovered in a 2018 FBI sting operation, but no

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — A U.S. Navy commander says there is “no significant change” in the conduct of Russian aircraft and warships toward Western naval and air assets in the eastern Mediterranean as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds on. Cmdr. Peter C. Flynn told The Associated Press on Wednesday that

HONOLULU (AP) — An energy storage farm could replace Hawaii’s last coal-fired power plant that closed in 2022 after 30 years. The AES Corporation coal plant produced up to one-fifth of the electricity on Oahu, the state’s most populous island. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the company’s plans for the property include battery storage, solar and

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors say a woman has agreed to a 52-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in the 2021 death of her boyfriend’s 5-year-old Houston son. The boy’s body had been kept hidden in a storage unit before it was discovered in an East Texas hotel. During a

By ELAINE GANLEY Associated Press AUBERVILLIERS, France (AP) — Renowned actor Forest Whitaker, who has portrayed a dictator, a Mafia hitman, a butler, has taken on what for some may be his most inspirational role. Whitaker officially inaugurated on Wednesday his Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in Seine-Saint-Denis, meant to bring business, communication and conflict

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has asked a federal judge to allow her to remain free through the Memorial Day weekend before surrendering to authorities on May 30. That would be the start of her more than 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in a

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Many patients in Nigeria are left without health care as the association of doctors in government hospitals began a five-day strike to demand better conditions for their members. The president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the strike

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — CNN said Kaitlan Collins will host a new hourlong show at the center of the prime-time lineup, filling a slot left vacant since the firing of Chris Cuomo and as the network’s ratings are at a low ebb. Collins will begin regularly hosting the 9

MEXICO CITY (AP) — About 50 migrants have been kidnapped by a gang in northern Mexico, the latest in a series of mass abductions. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday that National Guard troops were searching for the migrants in an area around the northern city of Matehuala. He confirmed that gangs have been

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A senior South African government minister denied Wednesday there was extensive corruption within the ruling African Nations Congress party in relation to the country’s financially-crippled power utility. But Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gorhan did concede a “few” in the ANC might have engaged in “naughty activity.” Gordhan

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening a rule aimed at controlling and cleaning up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. A proposed rule announced Wednesday would require safe management of so-called coal ash dumped in areas that currently are unregulated at the federal level. EPA Administrator Michael

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk who brought a touch of the wild to swanky Manhattan as he nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades, has died. Pale Male died late Tuesday after being found ill and grounded in Central Park, wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath posted on

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — More than 5,000 soldiers and 500 police have encircled a small town in northern El Salvador after President Nayib Bukele said gang members had killed a member of the national police there. Bukele said Wednesday via Twitter that the deployment in Nueva Concepción, about 43 miles (70 kilometers), north

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors in Minnesota have dropped sex abuse charges against R. Kelly. They alleged that the disgraced R&B superstar invited a 17-year-old to his hotel room and paid her $200 to dance naked with him in 2001. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says prosecutors still believe her and

ATLANTA (AP) — A former state House member and a former South Fulton city council member are heading to a runoff in Georgia House District 68. Former councilman Mark Baker won nearly a third of the vote in a five-candidate field on Tuesday. Running close behind was Derrick Jackson. He held the seat for three

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June. Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish court has convicted nine people, including two former activists of the governing Law and Justice party, of using donations to the regional Red Cross to fund an election campaign. The court in the city of Wroclaw estimated the scam cost the Red Cross some 3 million zlotys ($660,000). The

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Writers’ group PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House sued a Florida school district Wednesday over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities, the latest opposition to a policy central to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda as he prepares to run for president. The federal

By SEUNG MIN KIM and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An optimistic President Joe Biden declared Wednesday he is confident the U.S. will avoid an unprecedented and potentially catastrophic debt default, saying talks with congressional Republicans have been productive. He left for a G-7 summit in Japan but planned to return by the

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were trailed in their car by photographers as they left a New York City charity event Tuesday night, briefly taking refuge at a police station before being whisked away in a yellow taxicab.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Wednesday that Illinois can, for now, keep in place a new law that bars the sale of certain semiautomatic guns and large-capacity magazines. The high court denied an emergency request from people challenging the law, which bans so-called assault weapons. The law’s opponents had asked the court to

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, LINDSAY WHITEHURST and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, who has announced her resignation, tried to use her position to influence the outcome of a race for Boston’s district attorney by leaking information aimed at sabotaging the campaign of her preferred candidate’s rival, the

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed bills Wednesday that ban gender-affirming care for minors, target drag shows, restrict discussion of personal pronouns in schools and force people to use certain bathrooms. DeSantis has made anti-LGBTQ+ legislation a large part of his agenda as he prepares to seek