Month: August 2023

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press A federal appeals court on Friday ordered a new sentence for a North Carolina man who pleaded guilty to a petty offense in the Capitol riot — a ruling that could impact dozens of low-level cases in the massive Jan. 6, 2021 prosecution. The appeals court in Washington said

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mississippi is asking a federal appeals court for a second hearing on whether it can permanently strip voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies. A divided panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled that the practice amounted to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The founder of Project Veritas, a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings, is under investigation by a suburban New York prosecutor’s office in the latest fallout after his ouster from the group over allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent organization funds. The

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — New documents released in the impeachment case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton allege that he used multiple cellphones and an alias on a ride-sharing app to help conceal an affair. They also accuse him of pressuring top aides who later reported Paxton to the

By TERRY CHEA Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — First came the robotaxis. Then the driverless buses arrived. San Francisco has launched an autonomous shuttle service — less than a week after California regulators approved the expansion of robotaxis despite traffic and safety concerns. The free shuttle will run daily in a fixed route called

By LAURA UNGAR AP Science Writer Phil Durst recalled clawing at his face after a chemical from a commercial dishwashing machine squirted into his eyes, causing “the most indescribable pain I’ve ever felt — ever, ever, ever.” His left eye bore the brunt of the 2017 work accident, which stole his vision, left him unable

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina was ground zero in the nationwide fight over transgender rights with the passage of its 2016 “bathroom bill.” But the public pushback against three new laws passed this week has been light in comparison. Republicans on Wednesday enacted a law

BERLIN (AP) — The archbishop of Cologne, one of Germany’s most important Catholic dioceses, expressed disappointment Friday that employees used work computers to try to access pornographic websites. The statement from Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki came after the city’s Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper reported that a list from the archdiocese showed more than 1,000 attempts to

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The new administrator of Walt Disney World’s governing district can’t continue to work in his new job and be chair of Florida’s ethics commission at the same time. That’s according to a legal opinion issued this week. Glen Gilzean can’t continue in both positions because state law prohibits public employees

BEL AIR, Md. (AP) — Authorities say DNA has linked the killing of a Maryland woman found near a hiking trail to a home invasion and assault in Los Angeles earlier this year. Officials announced the connection at a Thursday evening news conference in Harford County. Rachel Morin was a mother of five from suburban

By MARK PRATT and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press A rare Rhode Island tornado lifted a car off a highway Friday as severe weather swept already storm-weary New England, damaging homes, flooding roads and toppling trees. Tornadoes were reported in several spots in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts. The National Weather Service said there were at

By BASSEM MROUE and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese Shiite cleric who has angered politicians and religious leaders in Lebanon and Iraq says that groups including Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah are trying to silence voices of dissent within the sect — including his own. Sheikh Yasser Auda’s comments on Friday come days

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities are searching for a member of the Proud Boys extremist group who disappeared days before his sentencing in a U.S. Capitol riot case, where prosecutors are seeking more than a decade in prison, according to a warrant made public Friday. Christopher Worrell, 52, of Naples, Florida,

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The ex-wife of a Microsoft executive who was gunned down by a triggerman in front of his young daughter has been charged with first-degree murder, and prosecutors in Florida plan to seek the death penalty. A grand jury indicted Shanna Lee Gardner in the ambush-style death of Jared Bridegan, State Attorney

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — A top global chess official is calling for more research into whether factors like hormone levels and physical endurance might have an impact on players’ abilities at the game, which remains overwhelmingly a preserve of men. The world chess federation FIDE stirred controversy with its decision, announced

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez claimed on Friday that he has qualified for next week’s Republican presidential debate and would become the ninth White House hopeful to meet the fundraising and polling thresholds required to participate in the opening face-off of the 2024 campaign. But

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow judge has formally arrested and detained one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on charges of being involved with an “undesirable” organization. The case against Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia’s leading election watchdog Golos, is the latest in the monthslong crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish police have detained a woman who sprayed an anti-Islam activist with a fire extinguisher as he staged a Quran-burning protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm. Video of the scene Friday showed the woman rushing up to Salwan Momika and spraying him with white powder before she was intercepted by plainclothes