Month: December 2023

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comedian Kathy Griffin has filed for divorce from longtime partner Randy Bick just shy of the couple’s fourth wedding anniversary. Los Angeles Superior Court records show Griffin filed for divorce Thursday, citing irreconcilable differences. The pair dated for several years before marrying on New Year’s Day 2020. They have no children

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Six people are dead after a trio of gunmen pulled up to a party in northern Mexico and opened fire on partygoers. The attack also wounded 26 people, and four of them were reported to be in critical condition. Prosecutors in the border state of Sonora said the killings in the

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time this month, the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel. The State Department said Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had told Congress that he had made a second emergency determination covering a $147.5 million

By MARCIO SANCHEZ and JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Bulldozers built giant sand berms Friday to protect beachfront homes in one of California’s coastal cities hit hard this week by extraordinary waves generated by powerful swells from Pacific storms. Dozens of people watched construction of the emergency barriers in the Pierpont area

By ELOGE WILLY KANEZA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Burundi’s president has accused Rwanda of funding and training rebels behind an attack last week on the village of Gatumba, close to Burundi’s border with Congo, that killed at least 20 people. A Burundian armed rebel group known as RED-Tabara and based in South Kivu,

By RIO YAMAT Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities on Friday said a total of five officers from two law enforcement agencies opened fire on a man who fatally shot his mother two days after Christmas and then led officers on a chase through the suburbs of Las Vegas. Police say that along the

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s onetime personal lawyer and fixer, says he unwittingly passed along to his attorney bogus artificial intelligence-generated legal case citations he got online before they were submitted to a judge. Cohen made the admission in a court filing unsealed Friday in Manhattan federal

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Argentina has formally announced it won’t join the BRICS bloc of developing economies. Friday’s announcement is just the latest in a dramatic shift in economic policy triggered by Argentina’s new far-right President Javier Milei. The move comes as the South American country has been left reeling by deepening economic crisis, making

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — What to do about smoking in the casinos, and how to keep gamblers coming to the resort are among the challenges that Atlantic City faces in the new year. State lawmakers, backed by many casino workers, will renew a push to ban smoking in the

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is “concerned” about a border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana that intensified this week following Britain’s decision to send a warship to Guyana’s shores. Brazil’s foreign ministry is urging both countries to return to dialogue and says third countries

By MARIA VERZA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president is trying to end the woes of patients throughout the country, who are often told they need a specific medicine _ but the hospital in question doesn’t have it. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s solution was to outfit a big warehouse on the outskirts

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO and ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The 2024 elections will be dominated by the presidential contest and the battle for control of Congress, but another series of races is shaping up to be just as consequential. Crucial battles over abortion, gerrymandering, voting rights and other issues will take center stage

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — South Africa has launched a case at the United Nations’ top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to halt its attacks. South Africa’s submission filed Friday at the International Court of Justice alleges that “acts and omissions by Israel …

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has declared a statewide emergency because of an ice storm that felled power poles and lines, leaving more than 20,000 without power. In a news release Friday, the governor’s office said Burgum will ask President Joe Biden to declare a disaster so that the state can

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A spate of false reports of shooters at the homes of public officials in recent days could be setting the stage for stricter penalties against so-called swatting in more states. Swatting is the act of making a prank call to emergency services to prompt a response at

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press A civil rights leader was escorted by police out of a North Carolina movie theater after he insisted on using his own chair for medical reasons. The incident in Greenville involved the Rev. William Barber II and has prompted an apology from AMC Theatres. The dispute happened Tuesday during a

BAUDETTE, Minn. (AP) — A passenger died after a commercial transport vehicle crashed through the ice on a Minnesota lake. Meanwhile, state officials are warning people to be wary of ice that is unusually thin for this time of the winter. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the transport vehicle, commonly known as a “bomber,”

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer Boeing is asking airlines to inspect its 737 Max jets for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system, the airplane maker and Federal Aviation Administration confirmed this week. The agency said Boeing issued its inspection guidance to airlines after an international operator found a bolt with a

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The deadliest mass shooting in Maine history propelled homicides to a new high in the state in 2023. The Maine Department of Public Safety says there have been 50 homicides as the countdown begins to year’s end, with several active death investigations still underway. The previous

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican lawmakers have asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to stay and reconsider its finding that the state’s legislative district boundaries are unconstitutional. Attorneys representing the GOP legislators filed a motion with the court Thursday saying they can’t meet the court’s Jan. 12 deadline for new maps. The high court’s liberal majority

By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON Associated Press/Report For America COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a measure Friday that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes’ participation in girls and women’s sports, in a break from members of his party who championed the legislation. GOP lawmakers hold enough seats to override

By JOVANA GEC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A group of university students have launched a 24-hour blockade of a key traffic alley in Serbia’s capital during a New Year holiday rush, as part of days of protests against reported widespread irregularities that marred a recent election. The students on Friday set up small

KYIV, Ukriane (AP) — Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian military has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences. One of the biggest attacks occurred on Friday when Russia launched more than 100 missiles and dozens of drones. The attack killed

JENKINSVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Federal regulators have lessened the severity of their warning about cracks discovered in a backup emergency fuel line at a South Carolina nuclear plant northwest of the state capital. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday downgraded its preliminary “yellow” warning issued this October to a final “white” one. The commission

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas police chief says investigators hope surveillance video will lead to answers in the killings of an 18-year-old pregnant woman who disappeared before Christmas and her boyfriend, both of whom were found with gunshot wounds in a car and may have been dead for days. Police on Friday had not

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — At least 20 people have died following landslides caused by torrential rains that hit the South Kivu region in eastern Congo. Officials said Friday. that the landslides swallowed up houses and dwellings in the locality of Burhiny in the Mwenga territory, bringing to more than 60

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting on the final trading day of a year of surprisingly robust gains for Wall Street. The benchmark S&P 500 index is sitting just below the all-time high Friday and is up 24.6% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another record Thursday and is

By ASHOK SHARMA and WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — A rebel group that fought for decades to free India’s northeastern state of Assam from New Delhi’s rule has signed a peace accord with the government pledging to end the insurgency in the region. The United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, led by Arabinda Rajkhowa, concluded