Month: December 2023

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court has revived a child sexual exploitation lawsuit filed by the man who appeared naked in a pool as a 4-month-old on the cover of Nirvana’s 1991 album “Nevermind.” Spencer Elden’s lawsuit against the grunge rock group was dismissed last year. But a the court in California revived

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has sued the Ralphs supermarket chain, alleging it violated state law by asking job-seekers whether they had criminal records and illegally rejecting hundreds of applicants. The California Civil Rights Department on Thursday said that Ralphs ignored the state’s Fair Chance Act, which took effect in 2018. It bars employers from

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia batter Usman Khawaja has been reprimanded by the International Cricket Council for wearing a black armband in support of Palestinians in Gaza during the first cricket test against Pakistan. ICC regulations prevent cricketers from displaying messages of political, religious or racial causes during international matches. Khawaja was born in Pakistan and

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Republican attorney general in Kansas has urged the state’s most populous county to postpone a legally required destruction of old ballots. Attorney General Kris Kobach told the election commissioner in Johnson County to hold off because the sheriff there says his investigation of possible election

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge hearing a challenge to a transgender health care ban for minors and restrictions for adults noted that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spread false information about doctors mutilating children’s genitals. Judge Robert Hinkle said during the last day of the trial that DeSantis

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys for a woman who was denied emergency contraception in 2019 told the Minnesota Court of Appeals the pharmacist who refused to fill the prescription discriminated against her on the basis of her sex. But an attorney for the central Minnesota pharmacist said Thursday his

By BABA AHMED Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A letter sent to embassy staff and seen by The Associated Press says that France will close its diplomatic mission in Niger following this summer’s coup d’etat in the West African nation and a souring of relations between the two countries. The news that the embassy

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The owner of Pornhub, one of the world’s largest adult content websites, has admitted to profiting from sex trafficking and agreed to make payments to women whose videos were posted without their consent. Federal prosecutors in New York announced Thursday that Aylo Holdings reached a deferred

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press ANAMOSA, Iowa (AP) — Nikki Haley is facing tough questions from voters as she campaigns in Iowa. The former South Carolina governor asked by a voter to label Donald Trump a “grave danger to our country,” but her answer was telling — revealing the state of the GOP primary less

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Cristina Pacheco, the foremost chronicler of street life in Mexico City for half a century, has died at 82. With her newspaper column and television shows, Pacheco shed light on the common, unsung heroes who kept Mexico’s economy and culture alive. Pacheco was most often seen walking the streets of Mexico

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Prosecutors say a New Hampshire man pleaded guilty to threatening public radio journalists and vandalizing their homes. Tucker Cockerline has pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Boston to conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and the use of a facility of interstate commerce. Investigators say the harassment and intimidation

MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A jury has cleared three Washington state police officers of all criminal charges in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was shocked, beaten and restrained face down on a Tacoma sidewalk as he pleaded for breath. Two of the officers — Matthew Collins,

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal jury has convicted former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke on 13 counts of corruption alleging he used his power to win private law business from developers. The jury of nine women and three men deliberated for 23 hours over four days before returning its verdict Thursday after weighing the testimony of

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Fast and Furious” star Vin Diesel has been accused by his former assistant of sexual battery while working for him in 2010. Astra Jonasson filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Thursday alleging that Diesel forced himself onto her in a hotel suite in Atlanta. The lawsuit alleges she tried to

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge who is weighing whether to allow the nation’s first execution by nitrogen hypoxia to go forward next month has urged Alabama to change procedures so the inmate can pray and say final words before the gas mask is placed on his face. U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker

Associated Press OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) — A dispute erupted this week between police officers from the Muscogee Nation and jailers at the Okmulgee County jail that led to one jailer facing a battery charge in tribal court. The confrontation underscored the tension between tribal authorities and some state officials over the limits of tribal sovereignty.

By ZEKE MILLER and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden believes “serious scrutiny” is warranted for the planned acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel. The transaction has drawn alarm from the steelworkers union and others. Lael Brainard, the director of the National Economic Council, said

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Time is running out on a Friday deadline for North Dakota’s Legislature to enact new lines for legislative districts encompassing two tribal nations that successfully challenged the state’s 2021 redistricting map as violating the Voting Rights Act. It’s unclear what a federal judge will do after

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has some of the most strict guns in the country. But that doesn’t mean it has been easy for Democrats to restrict access to guns. Gun rights groups have been aggressively challenging California’s gun laws in court. A judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a law

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A Connecticut man who pleaded guilty to planning to fight for the Islamic State group in Syria has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Former Hamden resident Kevin McCormick was sentenced on Thursday. A judge also ordered McCormick to be placed on supervised release with GPS monitoring for the

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and MARK STEVENSON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Negotiations over how to control migration at the U.S. border with Mexico aren’t just heating up on Capitol Hill. They’re also taking place between U.S. and Mexican officials as an influx of migrants strains enforcement efforts. Top U.S. officials are expected to visit Mexico

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press BEXLEY, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been visiting hospitals and speaking with families helped and harmed by gender-affirming care as he decides what action to take on legislation preventing minors from obtaining such treatments. The Republican told The Associated Press in a year-end interview Thursday that

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s immigration minister says people in the Gaza Strip who have Canadian relatives will now be able to apply for temporary visas to Canada. But Marc Miller said Thursday the federal government cannot guarantee them safe passage out of the besieged Palestinian territory. Miller expects the program to be up and

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Federal prosecutors say a Philadelphia used car dealer took disabled customers’ money but failed to deliver the wheelchair-accessible vehicles they had paid for. Edward Scott Rock is accused of victimizing more than 100 people across the nation. An indictment unsealed Thursday says the 47-year-old defrauded some 120 customers in 36

BOSTON (AP) — Two Rhode Island men have been charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct by Foxborough Police in connection with the recent death of a fan at a New England Patriots game. John Vieira, 59, and Justin Mitchell, 39, both of Warwick, R.I., were charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s teachers union is suing Mayor Eric Adams in an effort to stop his planned budget cuts that will slash spending on the city’s public schools. The United Federation of Teachers filed the lawsuit Thursday, accusing Adams of violating a state law that prevents

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in history. In just over two months, the offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A defense contractor at the center of one of the biggest bribery scandals in U.S. military history is expected to face additional charges following his return to the United States from Venezuela as part of a broader prisoner swap between the two countries, a

By RIO YAMAT and KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — New police video of the deadly shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, shows two officers unknowingly mistook the gunman for a bystander amid the frantic search for the suspect and victims. The shooter appears for only a few moments in the

PARIS (AP) — A wildcat strike by staff at Eurotunnel, which links Britain and the European continent and paralyzed dozens of Eurostar trains, has ended. It ended Thursday, the same day it began, Eurotunnel announced, promising a gradual return to service. Eurostar trains will start transporting passengers on Friday, and the rail navet known as

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Viewers in Poland are waiting for the main evening newscast on the state television TVP to see first signs of change in state media under the country’s new, pro-European Union government. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Cabinet has promised to free public media outlets of the former ruling conservatives’ propaganda and divisive

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer The “Barbie” power ballad “I’m Just Ken” and AP and Frontline’s documentary “20 Days in Mariupol” just got one step closer to an Oscar nomination. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday shortlists in 10 categories, including best original song, documentary feature, international feature, original score,

By ERIC SCICCHITANO/CNHI NEWS and JOSH KELETY/AP A collaboration between The Associated Press and CNHI News has found it’s getting harder for the public to access information at the local government level in many states, including among school districts, townships and county boards. Open government advocates say high fees, delays and outright refusals from local