Month: December 2023

BERLIN Gaston Glock, the Austrian developer of the handgun that bears his name, has died. He was 94. The Austria Press Agency reports that the Glock company announced his death on Wednesday. Glock was a reclusive engineer who founded the company in 1963 near Vienna. The company has since expanded around the world, including a

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A judge has ordered a woman who set fire to Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution, the full amount sought by prosecutors. Lorna Green is serving five years in prison for burning Wellspring Health Access weeks before the clinic was set

Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The National Weather Service has issued high surf warnings for much of the West Coast and parts of Hawaii. Warnings were in place Wednesday for parts of Oregon and Hawaii, where waves could reach roughly 30 feet. The National Weather Service warned of “extremely large breaking waves” in southern

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and HALELUYA HADERO AP Technology Writers A study from Harvard says social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year. The researchers say the findings show a need for government regulation of social media since the companies that stand to make money from children who

MOSCOW (AP) — India’s foreign minister has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said relations between the countries are progressing even amid turbulent times. Subramanyam Jaishankar’s meeting was part of a five-day visit. Putin said he would inform the Indian diplomat about the fighting in Ukraine, on which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Police say the dead bodies that Texas investigators believe to have been a pregnant woman and her boyfriend were found with gunshot wounds days after they were reported missing. A medical examiner has yet to confirm that it was the bodies of 18-year-old Savanah Nicole Soto and 22-year-old Matthew Guerra that

By JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Jacques Delors, who transformed Europe in his momentous decade as chief executive of the European Union’s executive branch, has died in Paris. He was 98. The Delors Institute think tank confirmed his death to The Associated Press. Under his tenure from 1985 to 1995, member countries agreed

By RONITA CHOUDHURI-WADE of NerdWallet Semaglutide medications like Ozempic have been a breakthrough for health and diabetes management, but the medications require a prescription and can be expensive. Some insurance plans cover the use of Ozempic for Type 2 diabetes, but not the entire cost. Those wanting to use Ozempic may have to pay for

Associated Press CLEBURNE, Texas (AP) — Six people are dead and three others critically injured after a head-on crash on a north Texas highway. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says the crash happened late Tuesday near the town of Cleburne. Investigators believe a southbound pickup truck driven by a 17-year-old entered the northbound lanes in

By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Kicking up a cloud of dust, the men riding bareback were in a rowdy scramble to be the first to lean down from atop their horses and grab hold of the chicken that was buried up to its neck in the ground. The competition is rarely

By The Associated Press Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers and the co-host of one of the most socially conscious and groundbreaking television shows in the history of the medium, has died at 86. The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family, said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died Tuesday at home

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man has been charged with hate crimes following the Christmas Day stabbing of two teenage tourists from Paraguay at a restaurant inside Grand Central Terminal, authorities said. Esteban Esono-Asue, 36, also known as Steven Hutcherson, made derogatory comments about white people shortly before the unprovoked attack on

LARGO, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a Florida woman holding her 11-month-old son in a baby carrier was fatally shot by her 14-year-old brother while trying to diffuse an argument over Christmas gifts he was having with their 15-year-old brother. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says the 15-year-old brother then shot and injured his 14-year-old

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A man charged with killing his parents and two of their friends days after being released from prison in Maine no longer intends to use an insanity defense. Joseph Eaton’s lawyer withdrew an earlier plea of “not criminally responsible” because of mental illness but maintained a plea of not guilty. His

PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — A 27-year-old man survived for six days on only rainwater while pinned tightly inside his crashed pickup truck beneath a highway bridge in northwest Indiana, police said. His ordeal ended when two men scouting for fishing spots on Tuesday afternoon noticed the badly damaged vehicle, its white airbag deployed, and reached

By MIKE SILVERMAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Aigul Akhmetshina says she’s a fighter — and she’s had to be to make it to the Metropolitan Opera, where she leads a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen” opening on New Year’s Eve. The Russian mezzo has overcome multiple setbacks, including failures in vocal competitions, an

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Basketball Writer When it was introduced 75 years ago, the purpose of the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll was to foster discussion and debate. That has not changed. Whether the controversy is over which team a national panel of 63 voters installs at No. 1 each Monday, or whether

GIBBSTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Two neighboring New Jersey towns may feel even closer next year when they’re governed by two brothers. Sixty-one-year-old John Giovannitti will be sworn in Jan. 2 as mayor of Paulsboro, one day before his newly reelected 57-year-old brother Vince Giovannitti is sworn in to a second term as mayor of Gibbstown.

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith is asking a judge to bar Donald Trump’s lawyers from injecting politics into the former president’s trial on charges that he schemed to overturn the 2020 election. Smith’s office says in a court filing Wednesday that Trump’s lawyers should be prevented from “raising

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The Golden Globe Awards are back on the first Sunday in January with plenty of behind-the-scenes changes aimed at cementing a yearslong comeback effort. The show is known for its boozy celebration of film and television and as an early stop for awards season contenders. Scandals have led to a

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is facing criticism for repeatedly harnessing rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Trump insists he had no idea that one of the world’s most reviled and infamous figures once

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in more than two decades, the top three movies at the box office this year didn’t include a sequel or a remake. “Barbie,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Oppenheimer” led all movies in ticket sales in 2023, potentially signaling that

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft seeking to end the practice of using its stories to train chatbots. In the suit filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, the Times said OpenAI and Microsoft are advancing their technology through the “unlawful

By ISABELLA O’MALLEY, JENNIFER McDERMOTT and ALEXA ST. JOHN Associated Press Led by new solar power, the world added renewable energy at breakneck speed in 2023, a trend that if amplified will help Earth turn away from fossil fuels and prevent severe warming and its effects. China, Europe, and the U.S. each set records for

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Supreme Court is keeping former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary election ballot. The court said Wednesday it will not hear an appeal of a lower court’s ruling from groups seeking to keep Trump from appearing on the ballot. The state’s high court said in an order that the

By MAURICIO SAVARESE Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Heat exhaustion is the cause of death of a Brazilian fan who attended a concert of singer Taylor Swift in November, according to a forensics report obtained by The Associated Press. 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides passed out during Swift’s second song in the Nov. 17

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run news agency says the former president of a top division soccer team who was jailed for punching a referee has been released on bail. Faruk Koca resigned as president of MKE Ankaragucu after punching referee Halil Umut Meler. Koca attacked Meler after the final whistle of a 1-1 draw

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel has praised Japan’s contribution to their military alliance, particularly a decision to allow Japanese-made Patriot guided missiles to be shipped to the United States to make up for its decreasing inventory. In a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara on

By LOUISE DIXON Associated Press LONDON (AP) — It’s a festive old English drink that you can have fun experimenting with. Sloe gin can be used in New Year’s Eve cocktails hot and cold, from a Hot Sloe Gin Punch or a spiked hot chocolate to the classic Sloe Gin Fizz, on ice. You can

PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — Police say a man who had been trapped for days in his crashed pickup truck has been rescued in northwest Indiana. State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield says two men were scouting fishing locations when they found the man in his badly damaged vehicle Tuesday. The pickup had wrecked along Interstate 94

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A main opposition candidate in Congo accused police of using live bullets to break up a protest in the capital as demonstrators demanded a re-do of last week’s presidential election. Martin Fayulu told The Associated Press that the bullet landed near him while he was barricaded

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s political battle over state media continues as the president has filed a revised spending bill in defiance of the new pro-European Union government’s goal of freeing the media from political control. President Andrzej Duda is an ally of the previous right-wing government. He had vetoed the new government’s bill that

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Health authorities say a Greek riot police officer who was shot with a flare during fan violence in Athens three weeks ago has died in the hospital of his injuries. During the Dec. 7 clash, 31-year-old Giorgos Lyggeridis was shot in the thigh, suffering severe arterial damage. The event prompted a