Month: November 2023

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials are reporting more cases of children sickened by fruit puree pouches that were recalled due to lead contamination. The Food and Drug Administration says it has received 52 reports of elevated lead levels among children who consumed the products. That’s up from 34

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s governmental human rights agency says soldiers opened fire “without reason” a year ago in the violent border city of Nuevo Laredo, killing a man. The National Human Rights Commission says soldiers argued that the occupants of a pickup truck had opened fire first. But the commission said no gunshot residue

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been quite a week for ChatGPT-maker OpenAI — and co-founder Sam Altman. Altman, who helped start OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab back in 2015, was fired as CEO Friday in a sudden and mostly unexplained exit that stunned the industry. And while his chief executive title was reinstated with

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press A Vermont religious school that withdrew its girls basketball team from a playoff game because a transgender student was playing on the opposing team is suing Vermont. The lawsuit comes after the state banned the Mid Vermont Christian School from competing in state tournaments, saying it violated policies on race,

By JONATHAN MATTISE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A panel of judges has ruled that a Republican-drawn map for Tennessee’s Senate seats violates the state Constitution because lawmakers incorrectly numbered the legislative districts in left-leaning Nashville. The numbering matters because the four-year Senate terms are staggered, putting some districts on the

By BECKY BOHRER and MARK THIESSEN Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Three people are dead and three others remain missing after a landslide ripped through a remote Alaskan fishing community this week. The landslide slammed into three homes in the Alaska Panhandle town of Wrangell on Monday night. The state Department of Public Safety

By JONATHAN MATTISE and REBECCA REYNOLDS Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say a man accused of child sex charges who has been on the run for over a month after escaping custody in Tennessee has been captured in Florida. The FBI in Knoxville said on social media that 52-year-old Sean Williams was arrested

MOBLE, Ala. (AP) — Records show that a suspended Alabama priest recently married the teenager he fled to Italy with this summer. A marriage certificate filed Monday in Mobile County shows that 30-year-old Catholic priest Alex Crow married the 18-year-old. Crow left the country in late July with the teen. She is a recent graduate

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and KEN SWEET Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — While the scandals in the cryptocurrency industry seem to never end, Washington policymakers appear to have little interest in pushing through legislation to codify the structure of the industry. The latest shoe to drop is Binance’s multibillion dollar settlement with U.S. authorities this week.

By KATE BRUMBACK and SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Body camera video shows an Atlanta police officer responding to a minor car crash deployed a Taser on a church deacon after the man repeatedly said he could not breathe. In the video released Wednesday, Johnny Hollman Sr. disregards multiple commands by Officer Kiran

WINSTED, Conn. (AP) — A small Connecticut newspaper that began publishing in February with the help of Ralph Nader has been saved from a planned shutdown after a national media company swooped in to buy it. American Business Media said Wednesday that it had closed on a deal to acquire the Winsted Citizen. Terms were

By JAMEY KEATEN and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — International aid groups that have lined up thousands of aid trucks for Gaza say they’re ready to move quickly to send in food, water and other supplies if a pause in the fighting between Hamas and Israel takes hold. Some hail an important first

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Lawyers for a once-powerful cardinal have accused Vatican prosecutors of being “prisoners to their completely shattered theory” in closing arguments of a trial that has raised fundamental questions about the rule of law in the city state. Attorneys for Cardinal Angelo Becciu told the court the

BOSTON (AP) — A former college track and field coach accused of setting up sham social media and email accounts in an attempt to trick women into sending him nude or semi-nude photos of themselves has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston. Prosecutors say 30-year-old Steve Waithe, of Chicago, pleaded guilty Tuesday to 12

By The Associated Press NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A border crossing between the U.S. and Canada has been closed after a vehicle exploded at a checkpoint on a bridge in Niagara Falls, authorities said. The blast happened on the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge, which connects the two countries across the Niagara River.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia police are investigating a shooting that left two men dead and five wounded, but no arrests have been made. Authorities said Wednesday the two men who died were 31 and 38. The others are between the ages of 19 and 30 and are considered to be in critical or stable condition.

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Finnish border guards and soldiers have begun erecting barriers including concrete obstacles topped with barbed-wire at some crossing points on the Nordic country’s lengthy border with Russia. Finnish authorities said Wednesday it’s to better control an influx of migrants. Finland said later it will close three more

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer The Student Academy Awards may not be as glitzy or high profile as the Oscars, but in its 50 years it has proven to be a vital launching ground for emerging filmmakers. Inclusion and access may sound like recent buzzwords, but the film academy has been striving to break

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi prosecutors have dismissed indictments against a man in the shooting death of a former state lawmaker and the earlier burning of a building. They say they need more time to investigate. The murder and arson charges against Billy Lamar Brooks were dismissed without prejudice.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany and Italy have agreed to work closer together in the fields of energy, technology, climate protection, security and cultural cooperation among other issues. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni signed a joint “action plan” in Berlin on Wednesday after a meeting of top officials from both countries and

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon and “Scream” star Melissa Barrera were each dropped by Hollywood companies after making comments on the Israel-Hamas war that some deemed antisemitic. Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the upcoming “Scream VII,” acknowledged Barrera’s exit from the horror franchise. The Mexican-born actress

NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say a pair of multicolored briefs peeking out above a robbery suspect’s low-slung trousers helped police arrest him. The robbery happened at a tobacco shop in Queens on Sept. 14, 2022. Three masked men robbed the store at gunpoint, according to a federal complaint. Surveillance video showed one of the

DENVER (AP) — Police say investigators believe four men found dead inside a suburban Denver home on Tuesday died as the result of a murder-suicide. A spokesperson for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that all of the men had all been shot and three of the four are believed to be related. He

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani officials say suspected militants have targeted security forces and a pro-government elder in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing five people, including two soldiers. Wednesday’s first attack occurred in North Waziristan district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing two soldiers. In the second attack, a bomb

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker has selected longtime police official Kevin J. Bethel to become the next police commissioner of the nation’s sixth most populous city. Parker announced the decision Wednesday. Bethel is a former deputy police commissioner in Philadelphia who since 2019 has served as the chief of safety in the city’s

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A government official says the U.S. has thwarted a plot to kill Sikh separatist leader  Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. First reported by the Financial Times, the official says U.S. authorities are concerned that the Indian government may have had prior knowledge of the plot against

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state say 25 people have been killed and dozens of others injured after a truck overloaded with food items and people crashed. Authorities said Wednesday that the crash happened on Tuesday while the trailer was on its way to Nigeria’s economic

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania school board that’s banned books, Pride flags and transgender athletes has awarded their superintendent a $700,000 severance package before power changes hands next month. But Democrats taking over the Central Bucks School District from the conservative Moms For Liberty slate hope to block the unusual

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, nearly killed by Russian bombs while reporting in Ukraine less than two years ago, returned to the country this week to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Hall has endured dozens of surgeries since the March 14, 2022, blast. He lost his right leg below his knee

PARIS (AP) — Olympic organizers will release 400,000 extra tickets for next year’s Paris Games and the Paralympics at the end of the month. Organizers say the sale will start on Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. on the official ticketing website. Seats will available for all sports except surfing. Tickets will be sold on a

PRAGUE (AP) — The presidents of four Central European countries found some common ground Wednesday on Ukraine despite their governments’ diverging views on military support for its fight against Russia’s invasion. The Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, all four post-communist European Union and NATO members, form an informal collective known as the Visegrad Group.

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The historic South Carolina city of Charleston has elected its first Republican mayor since the Reconstruction Era. Results from the South Carolina Election Commission show William Cogswell defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor John Tecklenburg by about 2 percentage points in Tuesday’s runoff. Charleston’s municipal elections are technically

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The new president and CEO of Philanthropy Roundtable says she plans to fight for the principles the advocacy organization has always prized. But Christie Herrera recognizes that battle is getting tougher and more complicated than ever. Challenges to the Roundtable’s values abound – even from