Month: January 2024

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — American consumers bought 15.6 million new vehicles last year. The numbers indicate car buyers were undeterred by high prices, rising interest rates, autoworker strikes and a computer-chip shortage that slowed assembly lines. The tally is 12% more than in 2022, and the biggest increase in more

By SUMMER BALLENTINE and TRISHA AHMED Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A decade-old cold case of a veteran who went missing without a trace in rural Missouri has a new start after an amateur sleuth and YouTube creator found the man’s car. Camden County deputies say they’re once again investigating the December 2013

HILLBURN, N.Y. (AP) — New York state troopers have killed a person in a shootout on a major highway, after stopping a vehicle identified in a shooting investigation. State police say two troopers stopped the vehicle on the New York State Thruway in Hillburn near the New Jersey line just before 3 p.m. Wednesday.  Authorities

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A court in Argentina has delivered a blow to labor rule changes announced by President Javier Milei as part of sweeping deregulation and austerity measures aimed at reviving the country’s struggling economy. The court on Wednesday ordered the suspension of a provision in a decree issued by Milei in December.

By ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and 12 allies has given what amounts to a final warning to Houthi rebels, telling the militants to cease their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea or face potential targeted military action. The Yemen-based militants have carried out at least

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A Department of Education policy adviser has resigned to protest the administration’s military support of Israel’s war in Gaza, as well as its handling of fallout from the war at home and abroad. Biden appointee Tariq Habash’s action on Wednesday makes him at least

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department is suing Texas over a new law that would allow police in the state to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally. The lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses Texas of violating the U.S. government’s authority over immigration enforcement. Under the Texas law, migrants could

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has coordinated with Israel, Egypt and others in rescuing the mother of a U.S. serviceman and her American brother-in-law who were pinned down during heavy fighting in Gaza City. News of the rescue, in the only known operation of its kind, came

LOS ANGELES (AP) — While Black people make up 5.4% of California’s population, law enforcement agencies reported that they accounted for 12.5% of traffic stops in 2022. That’s according to a report released Wednesday by California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board. The data for the first time includes information from every law enforcement agency

By NICK PERRY Associated Press MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — Flooding from a burst water main at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital has disrupted services for about 200 patients seeking to have children through in vitro fertilization. Alexis Goulette runs a private IVF support group on Facebook. She said Wednesday that a lot of the women

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature has returned to the Capitol in Lincoln to kick off the 2024 legislative session. If actions taken on the session’s first day Wednesday are any indication, it could end up as contentious as last year’s historically combative session. Conservative Omaha state Sen.

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to determine whether former President Donald Trump can keep running for the White House. Trump on Wednesday appealed a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that he’s ineligible for the presidency because he violated a rarely used constitutional prohibition on those

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Colorado ruling that bars him from the state’s ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The Republican presidential candidate on Wednesday appealed the Colorado Supreme Court’s finding that an insurrection

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists have found a way to help Alzheimer’s drugs seep inside the brain faster — using sound waves to jiggle a temporary opening in its protective shield. Some new drugs modestly slow Alzheimer’s worsening by attacking brain-clogging amyloid plaque, with doses every few weeks for well

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has recovered the flight data recorder from the Air Force CV-22B Osprey that crashed off the coast of Japan in late November, and the data is intact — which could provide valuable clues for investigators as to what caused the crash. Eight Air Force

By HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is criticizing House Republicans on the campaign trail, lamenting to a crowd in southwestern Iowa that he has “not noticed much of a difference” since they edged into the majority after the 2022 midterm elections. “I’m sick of Republicans always

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Republicans want to unseat Maine’s secretary of state for barring former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot. However, they will face long odds impeaching Shenna Bellows, a stalwart and influential Democrat whose party holds firm control over both Legislative houses. Bellows is the first secretary

By CLAIRE SAVAGE Associated Press/Report for America JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord charged with murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in an October attack on a Palestinian American mother and her young son has appeared for a pretrial hearing. The court appearance came Wednesday as a few dozen members of the Chicago-area

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kevin Hines regretted jumping off San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge the moment his hands released the rail and he plunged the equivalent of 25 stories into the Pacific Ocean, breaking his back. Hines miraculously survived his suicide attempt at age 19 in September 2000 as

By JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri city will pay nearly $3 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it and six other St. Louis suburbs of violating the constitutional rights of residents by jailing them and forcing them to pay fees, often for minor traffic violations. The $2.9 million settlement was

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped the last remaining charge against a northern Virginia elections official who had been accused of misconduct related to the 2020 elections. A judge on Monday formally dismissed a misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty against Michele White, the former registrar in Prince

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University is trying to move past the firestorm brought on by the plagiarism allegations, congressional testimony and resignation of Claudine Gay, the school’s first Black president. The elite Ivy League School is aiming to heal divisions as it seeks a new leader. The school’s governing

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer The runway fire in Tokyo is providing a key test of the safety of carbon-composite material on planes. Composite materials reinforced with carbon fibers make planes lighter, which helps them save fuel — a major cost consideration for airlines. But safety experts say there has always been concern about

By The Associated Press Iranian officials said that at least 95 people were killed Wednesday after back-to-back explosions at an event commemorating the 2020 slaying of a prominent general by the United States. More than 200 people were wounded in the attack, for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack came on

By MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA Associated Press SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dominican prosecutors investigating Wander Franco amid allegations that the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop had a relationship with a minor have delivered evidence to a judge in the Dominican Republic. The judge is scheduled to analyze the evidence that was collected during a monthslong

By RISDEL KASASIRA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A well-known gay rights activist in Uganda has been stabbed by unknown assailants, and police say he has been hospitalized in critical condition. A video posted on the social media platform X shows Steven Kabuye lying on the ground writhing in pain with a deep and

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A California man accused of firing dozens of gunshots from a high-rise condo near the Las Vegas Strip the morning before New Year’s Eve is being held on $500,000 bail. A Las Vegas judge who set bail Wednesday said it appears Jon Letzkus is mentally unstable

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Hamas and Hezbollah have accused Israel of carrying out an airstrike that killed a top Hamas leader in Beirut. While Israel has not claimed responsibility, Tuesday’s airstrike had the hallmarks of an Israeli attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have repeatedly threatened

By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — The New Jersey man charged with stabbing author Salman Rushdie is allowed to seek material related to Rushdie’s upcoming memoir about the 2022 attack before standing trial. Jury selection in Hadi Matar’s attempted murder and assault trial had been scheduled to start Jan. 8. Instead, a

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The lethal injection of an Oklahoma man set to die next month has been paused for 100 days so that a hearing can be held to determine if he’s mentally competent enough to be executed. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals issued a 100-day stay of

LONDON (AP) — A sign directed the animals to line up to be counted and several of the 74 Humboldt penguins did just that, waiting patiently Wednesday to be tallied in the London Zoo’s annual census. Not all the animals were as obedient. Crispin, an endangered Sumatran tiger cub, treated a chalk board like cat

By JOSH FUNK Associated Press BLAIR, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska judge has agreed that the fact that the suspect was found lying on top of a badly wounded priest covered in blood stains last month inside the home where the priest lived next door to his small-town church suggests Kierre Williams was responsible for

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina has arrested three men under suspicion of belonging to a terror cell as the country hosts a major Jewish sporting event. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich did not disclose the identity of the men — who were detained over the weekend — but released images of the suspects with their

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Firefighters were battling a fire at the home of Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill on Wednesday afternoon, according to WSVN News in South Florida. The house, which is located in Southwest Ranches in South Florida, was shown with a large amount of smoke coming out of the roof as firefighters

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press Michigan state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet has announced that she will seek a U.S. House seat in Michigan being left vacant after U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee’s retirement this year. McDonald Rivet becomes the fifth candidate, and third Democrat, to enter the competitive race. Democrats are hoping to defend the seat

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press Authorities in western Michigan are looking into missing persons cases and unsolved homicides after interviewing a convicted murderer and long-haul truck driver with terminal cancer who died last week in a prison hospital. Kent County sheriff’s detectives questioned Garry Artman on three occasions before his death Thursday at a state

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she will push for schools to reemphasize phonics in literacy education programs, a potential overhaul that comes as many states are revamping curriculums amid low reading scores. Hochul, a Democrat, debuted the proposal on Wednesday. If approved by the state

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s policymakers concluded last month that inflationary pressures were easing and that the job market was cooling. In response, the officials chose to leave their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight time and signaled that they expected to cut rates three times

By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press Forest rangers have rescued an upstate New York hiker who survived a wet wintry night trapped above a cliff on a rugged Adirondack mountain peak. Hope Lloyd was solo hiking the day after Christmas when she slipped hundreds of feet down South Dix Mountain. The 46-year-old was sliding straight toward

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge has squashed an attempt to release more records involving a sexual harassment complaint against a former state lawmaker, including information about how tax dollars may have been spent as part of the investigation. Davidson County Chancellor Russell Perkins’ ruling was

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The killing of a top Hamas commander in an apparent Israeli airstrike on a Beirut apartment has given Israel an important symbolic achievement in its 3-month-old war against the Islamic militant group. But history has shown the benefits of such dramatic operations are often short-lived,

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has once again renewed taxpayer-funded protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and one of his top aides, who have been the target of persistent threats from Iran. The State Department notified Congress late last month that the threats against Pompeo and