Month: December 2023

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Thousands of homeless people who died this year are being memorialized this week around the U.S. Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day events have become increasingly popular in communities from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Riverside, California. The events are observed with prayers, candles, moments of

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The British filmmaker Andrew Haigh is accustomed to strong responses from his films. But his latest, “All of Us Strangers,” may be his most shattering. Andrew Scott stars as a lonely screenwriter transported back to his childhood home where he finds his long-dead parents. The

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The social media platform Parler, which caters to right-wing voices and was temporarily booted offline following the Jan. 6 insurrection, is relaunching ahead of next year’s presidential elections. The new owners of the company announced this week the platform is preparing for a “powerful resurgence” that emphasizes “a return

SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities have identified a teenage girl slain by the Green River serial killer in Washington state four decades ago. Lori Anne Razpotnik was 15 when she ran away from home in 1982. Her family never saw her again. Her remains were found in 1985 over a road embankment south of Seattle, alongside

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general has filed suit against SiriusXM, accusing the satellite radio service of making it intentionally difficult for its customers to cancel their subscriptions. Attorney General Letitia James’ office said Wednesday that an investigation into complaints from customers found that SiriusXM forced subscribers into often lengthy interactions with agents

By AAMER MADHANI and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — President Joe Biden says it’s “self-evident” that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist but demurs on whether he should be barred from the ballot in next year’s election. He made the comments after landing in Milwaukee on Tuesday, the day after the Colorado Supreme Court

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An Austin, Texas, police officer has been indicted for deadly conduct in the fatal shooting of a man standing on his own front porch. A grand jury indicted Officer Daniel Sanchez on Wednesday in Rajan Moonesinghe’s death. Video and audio show officers arriving at Moonesinghe’s home in November 2022 and telling

By LOLITA C. BALDOR AND JULIE WATSON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Convicted defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis is facing extradition to the United States as part of the Venezuelan prisoner swap. His return to the United States is the latest twist in a decade-long salacious saga and bribery scheme that swept up dozens

By GEROLD ROZENBLAD Associated Press PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — Suriname’s former dictator Desi Bouterse has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murders of 15 opponents of the then-military regime in December 1982, ending a historic, 16-year legal process. Bouterse, 78, was previously sentenced in the case in 2019 and in 2021 but

By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie is outlining his plan for addressing the latest wave of the nation’s drug crisis. With 110,000 people dying of drug overdoses last year, Christie said, during a Wednesday trip to a New Hampshire recovery center, that reducing stigma and providing treatment

DALTON, Mass. (AP) — A U.S. Air Force staff sergeant from Massachusetts who was one of eight service members lost when a CV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Japan is being remembered as a leader and a friend to many. At his funeral on Wednesday in Dalton, Massachusetts, the pastor said the 24-year-old Jake

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union finance ministers have sealed a deal to reform the 27-nation bloc’s fiscal rules after France and Germany finally adhered to a compromise. EU countries had been negotiating for months a reform of the EU’s rules limiting debt and deficits for member states, known as the Stability and Growth Pact. The

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — An investigation has found that the hospital that initially treated a man who later died while being admitted to a Virginia psychiatric facility failed to meet care standards while he was in a mental health crisis. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the state Department of Health led the investigation of Parham

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservative law firm has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the State Bar of Wisconsin’s “diversity clerkship program” unconstitutionally discriminates based on race. The program offers summer internships for first-year law school students at top law firms, private companies and government offices. Past participants have

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Physicians and the former sole abortion provider in North Dakota are asking a state district court judge to temporarily block enforcement of part of a revised law that bans most abortions so doctors can perform the procedure to save patients’ lives or health. They argue a

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Carey Mulligan recently realized that she’s spent much of her professional career holding back. But that changed in the past several years, in no small part because of Bradley Cooper and “Maestro,” an all-encompassing project that would push her out of that comfort zone. In it she plays Felicia

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Zac Efron transformed himself into a mass of muscle and repressed emotion to play professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich in the new film “The Iron Claw.” It was a taxing role and unlike anything he’d done before both physically and psychologically for which he’s getting some of the best

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Challengers are telling a federal judge that Georgia Republican state lawmakers’ new voting districts don’t cure illegal vote dilution and should be rejected. But the state of Georgia told the judge Wednesday that new congressional and state legislative maps comply with a court order to draw new

A Russian politician calling for peace in Ukraine has presented her documents to Russia’s Central Election Commission to register as a candidate for the country’s 2024 presidential election. Regional legislator Yekaterina Duntsova hopes to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin, promoting her vision of a “humane” Russia “that’s peaceful, friendly and ready to cooperate with everyone

FLORENCE, Wis. (AP) — A federal agency wants to fine a northern Wisconsin sawmill more than $1 million after inspectors said they found “egregious” violations at the sawmill following a June accident that killed a teenage worker. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed fining Florence Hardwoods LLC $1.4 million for numerous violations of

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An international astronaut will join U.S. astronauts on the moon by decade’s end under an agreement announced Wednesday by NASA and the White House. The news came as Vice President Kamala Harris prepared to convene a meeting of the National Space Council, the third

PHILADELPHA (AP) — A man accused of slashing people with a large knife while riding a bicycle on a trail in Philadelphia in recent weeks has now been charged in the cold-case rape and slaying of a medical student that occurred among a series of high-profile sexual assaults in a large city park two decades

By ABDUL SATTAR Associated Press QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — The leader of the main insurgent group in southwestern Pakistan has appeared before cameras to say that he has surrendered to authorities with some 70 of his followers and is giving up his yearslong fight for independence. Sarfraz Bungulzai, who was previously known by his nom

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The three men who died in a small plane crash in Oregon over the weekend were Afghan Air Force pilots who had resettled in the U.S. as refugees after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021. Local nonprofit Salem for Refugees said it had helped resettle

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A high-ranking member of Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization has been charged in a New York federal court with terrorism offenses, though he remains at large. Charges contained in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan accuse Samuel Salman El Reda of playing a major role in Hezbollah’s

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — She’s Barbie. He’s just Ken. And now, it’s Christmas. On Wednesday, Ryan Gosling — the Ken to Margot Robbie’s “Barbie” in the film — released the “I’m Just Ken” EP alongside collaborators Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. It features the original Grammy-nominated, ’80s-style power ballad

DELTONA, Fla. (AP) — A deputy in Florida was grazed by a bullet during a gunfight with a suspect who fled after being suspected of shoplifting cigarettes and then took part in an hours-long standoff before he was taken into custody. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office says the deputy who was shot at had non-life-threatening

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s bid to win back the White House is now endangered by two sentences added to the U.S. Constitution 155 years ago. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Forecasters are warning of potential flooding from excessive rainfall as a slow-moving Pacific storm blows into California. The low-pressure system was centered Wednesday about 300 miles west of San Francisco and was expected to gradually drop south along the coast. Forecasters say it is expected to be more powerful than a

By KEN MILLER Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge has exonerated a man who spent nearly 50 years in prison for murder, the longest serving inmate to be declared innocent of the crime. The Oklahoma County judge on Tuesday announced that she found Glynn Simmons is innocent of killing a suburban Oklahoma

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A seventh person in Tennessee has died from injuries she suffered during a string of powerful storms earlier this month that whipped up destructive tornadoes. Police say 78-year-old Penny Scroggins from Clarksville died Saturday after she was injured on Dec. 9 by the tornado that ripped

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Closing arguments are scheduled Wednesday in the final trial of first responders charged in the death of Elijah McClain. The 23-year-old Black man died in 2019 after being stopped and forcibly restrained by police officers in the Denver suburb of Aurora and then injected with an overdose

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican district attorney has appealed a court ruling that determined an 1849 Wisconsin law does not ban consensual abortions, a decision that cleared the way for abortions to resume in the state. Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski on Tuesday appealed the ruling from a

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A boy and a girl have been found guilty of murdering a transgender teenager in northwestern England earlier this year, in a frenzied knife attack. Brianna Ghey, 16, was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back in broad daylight in

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A river that runs through Maine’s capital city has risen to levels not seen in decades in the aftermath of a heavy storm, and the state’s governor urged people in heavily impacted areas to avoid travel Wednesday. People across the northeastern U.S. were still mopping up

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss. The ruling, late Monday, came more than a year

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned the German ambassador to Tehran in protest against a ruling that implicated the Islamic Republic in a plan to attack a synagogue in Germany last year. The state-run IRNA news agency reported that the foreign ministry summoned German Ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel on Wednesday to deliver the

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on alleged violators of its price cap on Russian oil and tightened compliance rules for insurance firms and shippers that move it. Firms from the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong have been identified for economic sanctions. Last year the United

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — An Italian prosecutor has acknowledged that a stalking threat to a 26-year-old pregnant woman found stabbed to death in her home may have been underestimated by authorities who failed to take action against the man now suspected of killing her. Prosecutor Marco Martani said Vanessa Ballan had

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer When Idaho had a rare measles outbreak a few months ago, health officials scrambled to keep it from spreading. In the end, 10 people, all in one family, were infected, all unvaccinated. This time, the state was lucky, said the region’s medical director Dr. Perry Jansen. The family quickly