Month: February 2024

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Officials from South Africa’s national electoral commission have visited prisons across the country as part of an ambitious project to register at least 100,000 inmates as voters for this year’s national election. The country’s constitution guarantees every adult citizen the right to vote, meaning there

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Authorities say gas explosions at an industrial building in Kenya’s capital sent a plume of fiery smoke rising over homes and injured at least 29 people. Nairobi residents who took videos were heard speaking in concerned tones, some of them screaming. A government spokesman said a

By ALBA ALEMÁN Associated Press TLACOTALPAN, Mexico (AP) — For nearly a quarter century, the residents of this riverside town in southeastern Mexico have taunted, slapped, chased and run from bulls as part of a religious festival. It is reminiscent, though at a much smaller scale, of the running of the bulls in northern Spain

PERTH, Australia (AP) — A ship carrying thousands of livestock that has been stranded at sea for almost a month has finally docked in Australia, where welfare concerns mean some of the animals are expected to be offloaded. About 16,500 sheep and cattle have been stowed on the MV Bahijah since Jan. 5, when it

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — For decades, India has focused its defense policy on its land borders with rivals Pakistan and China. Now, as its global ambitions expand, it is beginning to flex its naval power in international waters, including anti-piracy patrols and a widely publicized deployment close to the Red

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan prosecutors are weighing a potential perjury charge against Donald Trump’s former corporate finance chief in connection with testimony he gave at the ex-president’s New York civil fraud trial last October. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Associated

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — When the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl, the question on fans’ minds quickly became: Will Taylor Swift be able to attend to support her partner, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, if she has a concert

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to examine six proposed maps redrawing state legislative districts said Thursday that ones submitted by the Republican Legislature and a conservative law firm are partisan gerrymanders. They stopped short of declaring the other four constitutional. They said only the

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Federal investigators were working Thursday to try to determine what caused a steel airplane hangar that was under construction in Idaho to collapse the previous evening, killing three people and leaving several others badly injured. The Boise Fire Department said in the morning that the scene

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press U.N. experts say the terrorist threat from al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and their affiliates remains high in conflict zones in Africa and in Afghanistan – and threat levels have risen in some regions including Europe. The panel of experts said in a new report to the U.N. Security

BLYTHE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say eight corrections officers and an incarcerated man were injured in a riot involving around 200 inmates in the recreational yard of a Southern California prison. Corrections officials say the violence erupted around 10 a.m. Wednesday as officers were escorting an inmate across the yard as part of a contraband

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Power Co. says vibrations found in a cooling system of its second new nuclear reactor will delay when the unit begins generating power. The subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co. said Thursday that Plant Vogtle’s Unit 4 now will not begin operating until sometime between April 1

MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man has been charged with assaulting two 7-year-old children at an elementary school, two weeks after similar charges were filed against another worker at the school. Manchester Police say witnesses saw the 24-year-old behavior technician at Parker-Varney Elementary School throw a 7-year-old boy to the ground, causing him

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reiterated his focus on strengthening his naval forces as he inspected the construction of new warships. State media said Friday that Kim called such projects crucial to the country’s war preparations as he visited an eastern shipyard. Kim

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The money that Mexican migrants send home to their relatives has grown by 7.6% in 2023, to reach a record $63.3 billion for the year. The money transfers, known as remittances, have been booming since the coronavirus pandemic, but the rate of growth appeared to cool somewhat in 2023. In 2022,

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida House has passed a bill to let 16- and 17-year-olds work longer and later hours. Thursday’s vote comes a year after the state created a law making it harder to hire immigrants in the country illegally. Supporters said teenagers and their parents know how

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Ellen Gilchrist, a National Book Award winner whose short stories and novels drew on the complexities of people and places in the American South, has died. She was 88. An obituary from her family said Gilchrist died Tuesday in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where she had

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages has agreed to pay $70 million as part of a proposed settlement to resolve more than a dozen lawsuits across the country over agent commissions. The agreement was filed Thursday with federal courts overseeing lawsuits in Illinois

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — An American founder of a Haitian orphanage who is accused of forcing four boys to engage in sexual acts more than a decade ago will remain behind bars for now. A magistrate judge in Colorado ruled Thursday that Michael Geilenfeld should be sent to a halfway house

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia, once a self-proclaimed leader in criminal justice reform, is sliding a little further toward its old lock-’em-up ways. State senators voted 30-17 on Thursday to require cash bail for 30 additional crimes. That includes 18 offenses that are always or often misdemeanors. The bill is only

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s Republican leaders in the statehouse have promised to address declining literacy rates with legislation that would hold back thousands more third graders who don’t pass the state’s literacy test. Introduced in Senate Bill 1, the measure cleared one chamber of the General Assembly following a vote

By STEPHEN GROVES, MARY CLARE JALONICK and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate leaders are attempting to push forward a deal to pair new policies at the southern border with wartime aid for Ukraine and other American allies, but they will have to overcome heavy skepticism from Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kris Jenner has a new term: “Twist on it.” The driven matriarch of the Kardashian-Jenner family will bring the phrase to the Super Bowl forefront during her commercial. She will guest star in the ad for Oreo, which will be returning to the NFL’s

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press A Nebraska state lawmaker has introduced a bill to require the state to accept $18 million in federal funding to help feed children who might otherwise go hungry while school is out. The bill by Omaha Sen. Jen Day comes after Republican Gov. Jim Pillen drew national attention in

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the great interspecies love stories of our time has come to an end. Walnut, a white-naped crane and internet celebrity, has passed away at age 42. She is survived by eight chicks, the loving staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Senate has approved a bill that would allow anyone who can legally own a gun to carry their weapon in public. The bill passed Thursday would also provide free gun training that is currently needed to get a concealed weapons permit and create

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After begrudgingly agreeing to tweak Tennessee’s strict abortion ban last year, the Republican-dominant Legislature is once again facing pressure to reconsider when doctors can legally offer the procedure to pregnant patients. The push comes as confusion and fear continues among residents in many GOP-controlled states over

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A new report says inaccurate racial profiling data on traffic stops made by the Connecticut State Police was largely the result of data-entry mistakes and other errors, not intentional efforts by troopers to submit bogus information. Gov. Ned Lamont ordered the independent review after an audit

NEEDLES, Calif. (AP) — Federal authorities say they might have a break in a long-running investigation into the killing of wild burros in California’s Mojave Desert nearly five years ago. Nineteen burros were found shot to death along a Interstate 15 northeast of Los Angeles in August 2019. The Bureau of Land Management says Thursday

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — As tensions grow between Texas officials and the federal government over who can enforce immigration policies and how, some Republican leaders are pledging their support to the Lone Star state. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis deployed hundreds of additional National Guard troops to Texas Thursday as he

By JOSH FUNK and TOM KRISHER Associated Press Residents of eastern Ohio can now get an up-close view in newly released videos of the toxic towers of fire that forced them from their homes last February when officials decided to blow open five tank cars filled with vinyl chloride they worried might explode days after

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Providence health care system is refunding nearly $21 million in medical bills paid by low-income residents of Washington — and it’s erasing $137 million more in outstanding debt for tens of thousands of others — to settle the state’s allegations that it overcharged those patients and then

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Black lawmakers in California are proposing ways to remedy the long-lasting effects of slavery. However, the 14 bills they unveiled Wednesday do not call for direct cash payments to most descendants of enslaved Black people. The only descendants who could expect to see money from the

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney is appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of its free speech lawsuit over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ takeover of Walt Disney World’s governing district. Disney filed its notice of appeal Thursday. The company had said after Wednesday’s decision that it would set a dangerous precedent if left

By KILEY ARMSTRONG and ANDREW DALTON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen’s mother, Adele Zerilli Springsteen, has died at age 98. Bruce Springsteen said in an Instagram post that his mother died on Wednesday. Adele Springsteen captured hearts in her son’s E Street Nation and beyond. Her joyful, spirited charm made her a

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Yarrah Concepcion was a teenaged aspiring R&B singer and rapper when she got an appointment with Jam Master Jay at his New York City recording studio. But just minutes after Concepcion met the Run-DMC star, he was shot dead. Concepcion was brought to tears Thursday as

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A pair of childhood friends who were convicted in the killing of a French tourist in Times Square in 1987 have been cleared of wrongdoing by a New York City judge. Eric Smokes and David Warren are now in their 50s. They were arrested as teenagers

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — An apparent cyberattack that affected government operations in Georgia’s most populous county is creating challenges for the election office as it prepares for the state’s March 12 presidential primary. As a precaution, Secretary of State spokesman Robert Sinners says the county’s access to the state voter