Month: January 2024

ATLANTA (AP) — Rapper YFN Lucci has pleaded guilty to a gang-related charge after reaching a deal with prosecutors nearly three years after he was indicted on murder, gang and racketeering charges in Atlanta. The rapper, whose given name is Rayshawn Bennett, was one of a dozen people charged in a wide-ranging indictment targeting alleged

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s government is preparing for the possibility that Donald Trump could reach the White House again. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday at a Cabinet retreat that Trump “represents uncertainty.” But he said that his government was able to manage Trump previously by showing that Canada and

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police sergeant who hurled a plastic cooler at a man fleeing officers on a motorcycle — causing a crash that killed the rider — has been charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault. A judge in the Bronx set Erik Duran’s bail at $150,000 at an

By NOEL SICHALWE Associated Press LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Authorities in Zambia say they are frantically pumping water and mud from a Chinese-owned copper mine where seven miners are trapped underground. The two Chinese workers and five Zambian ones were caught on Monday when water and mud entered the shaft where they worked at the

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Greece for violating the privacy rights of a group of women arrested and publicly identified in 2012 as HIV-positive prostitutes who allegedly endangered public health. The case was brought to the Strasbourg, France-based court by 11 Greek women,

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government is giving Northern Ireland politicians until Feb. 8 to restore their collapsed regional government. The deadline extension was announced Tuesday. A boycott by Northern Ireland’s largest British unionist party has kept the power-sharing administration on ice for almost two years. The British government is

By OMAR FARUK Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The U.S. military says that it conducted airstrikes in Somalia over the weekend that killed three al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants and that there were no civilian casualties. The Germany-based U.S. Africa Command said in a statement Tuesday that the strikes were done at the request of Somalia’s

By KATHLEEN FOODY and KEN MILLER Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — A man suspected of shooting and killing eight people in suburban Chicago fatally shot himself after a confrontation with law enforcement officials at a gas station in Texas, where he had no known ties, authorities said. Police in Joliet, Illinois, said on Facebook that

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Unions commanded big headlines last year, but that didn’t translate into higher membership numbers, according to government data released Tuesday. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said 10% of hourly and salaried workers were members of unions in 2023, or around 14.4 million people. That showed little movement from

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish legislators have scheduled a long-delayed vote on Sweden’s bid to join NATO, in a step that could remove a major hurdle for the previously nonaligned Nordic country’s entry into the military alliance. Turkey, a NATO member, has been dragging its feet on ratifying Sweden’s accession for more than a year,

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The pilot of a small plane was killed when it crashed at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock. Airport officials say the Cirrus SR 22 took off from the airport Sunday afternoon. The pilot declared an emergency, and then crashed north of the airport’s cargo building. The pilot was the

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. regulators have barred TurboTax maker Intuit Inc. from advertising its services as “free” unless they are free for all customers, or if eligibility is clearly disclosed. In an opinion and final order, the Federal Trade Commission ruled that Intuit engaged in deceptive practices by

By LISSETTE ROMERO Associated Press PUEBLA, Mexico (AP) — A four-year-old giraffe named Benito arrived Tuesday at his new home in a large animal park in central Mexico. Now starts the hard part for the gangly post-adolescent: fitting in with the crowd of seven giraffes in his new neighborhood. The 7.5-acre (3-hectare) enclosure at the

ANAMOSA, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa boy has died, days after his sled crossed in front of an SUV and was struck. The Iowa State Patrol says 13-year-old Adam McWherter was injured Jan. 10 while sledding at his home in the eastern Iowa town of Anamosa. He was struck when the sled went into a

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Cue all the “did ‘Barbie’ direct itself” snark. But Greta Gerwig not being among the five best director nominees for this year’s Oscars is one of the biggest shocks in recent memory. Here are some of the other major “snubs” and “surprises” from Oscar nomination morning, including Ava DuVernay’s

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Maldives government has confirmed giving clearance to a Chinese ship to dock in its port, a move which could further irk India with whom the tiny archipelago nation is involved in a diplomatic spat. The Maldives foreign ministry in a statement Tuesday confirms local

PARIS (AP) — France’s privacy watchdog has fined Amazon’s French warehouse business $35 million for using an “excessively intrusive sytem” to monitor worker performance and activity. The regulator said Tuesday that the system allowed managers at Amazon France Logistique to track employees so closely that it resulted in multiple breaches of the European Union’s stringent

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The influx of generative artificial intelligence software is transforming small businesses. Small business owners are using A.I. tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and others to check grammar in emails, punch up marketing copy and research business plans. What’s more, bigger companies are developing tools

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Federal prosecutors are expanding their investigation into a bribery scheme involving two former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supervisors, turning their attention to two Miami defense attorneys suspected of profiting from repeated leaks of confidential DEA information. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan filed court

By PATRICK ORSAGOS and MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Christian church in Ohio filed a federal lawsuit this week after its pastor was charged with violating city ordinances when he opened up the sanctuary around the clock for homeless people and others to find shelter. Police this month filed 18 criminal

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Chanel’s Spring Couture show transformed Paris’ Grand Palais Ephemere into a stage of fashion fantasy. A giant pair of scissors marked the entrance, signaling an evening of surreal elegance. The event centered around the theme of the button, celebrated with a captivating film and a dramatic

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The European Commission chief and the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Croatia have told Bosnia to press on with reforms and seize a chance to begin accession negotiations with the European Union before the 27-nation block holds a parliamentary vote in June. The officials said that while Bosnia has made

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Million-selling author Yuval Noah Harari has another grand theme for his next book: Information. Harari’s “Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI” will be published Sept. 10. Harari is known for such broad and accessible historical works as “Sapiens”

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing chronicle of the besieged Ukrainian city and the international journalists who remained there after Russia’s invasion, has been nominated for best documentary at the Academy Awards, handing The Associated Press its first Oscar nomination in the 178-year-old news

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer WWE’s weekly television show “Raw” will move to Netflix next year as part of a major streaming deal. “Raw,” which debuted in 1993, has produced 1,600 episodes to date and features wrestlers such as Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins and Rhea Ripley. The three-hour program currently airs on

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer The United Airlines CEO says he is “disappointed” in ongoing manufacturing problems at Boeing that have led to the grounding of dozens of United jetliners, and the airline will consider alternatives to buying a future, larger version of the Boeing 737 Max. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — A leading Catholic charity is making a last-minute appeal to the U.S. state of Alabama to halt a planned execution using nitrogen gas. The Sant’Egidio Community says the method is “barbarous” and would bring “indelible shame” to the state. Sant’Egidio has lobbied for decades to abolish the

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Airbnb has donated a total of $10 million to more than 120 nonprofits in 44 countries on six continents. The outlays comes as the short-term rental giant continued its unusual distribution of $100 million through its Airbnb Community Fund. The grantees include Digify Africa, which

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s highest court has ruled that a small far-right party will not get any state funding for the next six years because it’s values and goals are unconstitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court said in its Tuesday ruling that the Die Heimat party “continues to disregard the free

By DALIA RAMIREZ of NerdWallet If you have unpaid or unfiled taxes, the start of a new tax season and the looming reminders of debt might fill you with dread. But it’s best to take care of back taxes sooner rather than later: The longer you put off the task, the more you’ll pay in

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan lawmakers have begun debating a controversial internet safety bill that has been criticized by opposition politicians, journalists and rights groups as a move by the government to stifle freedom of speech. Public Security Minister Tiran Alles introduced the bill in Parliament on Tuesday,

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer It is a name that has become almost synonymous with professional wrestling but its bearer, Dwayne Johnson, has never legally owned “The Rock.” That will change under a new agreement with the WWE under which Johnson will also join the board of TKO Group, the sports and entertainment company

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino fishing boat captain has protested the Chinese coast guard’s aggression in the disputed South China Sea where he says Chinese officers forcibly drove him and his men away from a disputed shoal and ordered them to dump their catch back in the sea. Filipino