Month: May 2023

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — Authorities in a central New Jersey town say they’re no longer noodling over the mystery of how hundreds of pounds of pasta were dumped near a stream. Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry said Friday that the spaghetti, noodles and macaroni was cleaned up last week by public works crews, shortly

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Legislature has passed a bill that requires a 72-hour waiting period for the purchase of guns, as well as other provisions aimed at reducing suicides and community violence. The Vermont House concurred with a Senate amendment on Friday. The legislation also creates a crime of negligent firearms storage. And

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Moscow court has ordered pretrial detention for a theater director facing charges of justifying terrorism,. Friday’s decision was the latest move in a relentless crackdown on dissent in Russia that spiked to unprecedented levels since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine. Prominent independent theater director and playwright

By KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A historical marker dedicated to a New Hampshire labor activist who championed women’s rights and was a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union — but who also joined the Communist Party and was sent to prison — has draw objections from Republican officials and scrutiny

By TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — A 21-year-old former college student pleaded not guilty to murder charges in connection with a series of stabbings that rocked a Northern California university town. Carlos Dominguez was arraigned in Yolo County Friday. The judge denied him bail, citing the seriousness of the crimes and danger

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization downgraded its assessment of the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, saying it no longer qualifies as a global emergency. The action reverses a declaration that was first made on January 30, 2020, when the disease had not even been named COVID-19 and when

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — The National Weather Service says a record May snowfall buried parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula under more than 2 feet of snow this week. The weather service says about 28.7 inches of snow fell between Sunday morning and Tuesday afternoon at its Marquette office. Meteorologist Don Rolfson tells The Detroit News

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The popular television western “Yellowstone” with Kevin Costner will end this fall and be replaced almost immediately by a sequel. But like any good drama, there’s some mystery involved. The sequel, still untitled, will premiere December on the Paramount cable network, which also televises “Yellowstone,”

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is expected to announce Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown is a history-making fighter pilot with years of experience in shaping U.S. defenses to meet China’s rise.

PARIS (AP) — Lionel Messi has apologized to Paris Saint-Germain and his teammates for going to Saudi Arabia on an unauthorized trip that resulted in his suspension. Messi posted a short video on Instagram to ask for forgiveness and chalk up the controversy to a scheduling misunderstanding. The 35-year-old Messi says he thought the team

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador in protest after a former Russian official suggested that it would be acceptable to assassinate Poland’s ambassador to Russia. Pavel Astakhov, Russia’s children’s ombudsman from 2009 to 2016, argued that murdering an ambassador in retaliation “for unfriendly actions

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer Stargazers in Asia and Australia had the best seats for the year’s first lunar eclipse. The four-hour eclipse got underway late Friday or early Saturday, depending on the location, as the moon slipped into the fringes of Earth’s shadow. In what’s known as a penumbral lunar eclipse, the full

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Tens of thousands of spectators have turned out to watch the opening ceremony for the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, which marks the first time Cambodia has been able to host the regional competition. The 32nd SEA Games brings together more than 12,000 participants from 11

Ford Motor Co. is recalling certain 2004 to 2006 Ranger vehicles because replacement front passenger air bag inflators may have been installed incorrectly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a letter that the recall includes 231,942 vehicles. The vehicles had received replacement front passenger air bag inflators under a previous recall. The NHTSA

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts pharmaceutical plant where a powerful blast killed a worker is in the cleanup phase. Firefighters paused work overnight at the Newburyport plant, where a hazardous materials call went to seven alarms Thursday. The search for the man who died was initially hampered by concern about the plant’s structural integrity.

By MARIA CHENG and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency. The announcement on Friday marks a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide. WHO said that the pandemic

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Rebels fighting against Indian rule in disputed Kashmir have triggered an explosive device during an encounter with the Indian army, killing five soldiers who were trying to flush them out of a forested area. The army says the rebels were hiding in a cave in an

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — When Greg Brockman, the president and co-founder of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, was recently extolling the capabilities of artificial intelligence, he turned to “Game of Thrones.” Imagine, he said, if you could use AI to rewrite the ending of that not-so-popular finale. Maybe even put yourself

By JENNIFER O’MAHONY and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Record-breaking April temperatures in Spain, Portugal and northern Africa were made 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change, a new flash study found, and would have been almost impossible in the past. A group of international scientists did a rapid computer and statistical