Month: March 2024

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, who fronted the power-pop 1970s band the Raspberries and later had soaring pop hits like “All by Myself” and “Hungry Eyes” from the hit “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack, has died. He was 74. His death was announced on his website by his wife,

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer has asked a federal appeals court to toss out her sex trafficking conviction and 20-year prison sentence, saying Jeffrey Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution deal with a U.S. attorney in Florida should have prevented her prosecution. The argument by attorney Diana Fabi Samson was repeatedly

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Karl Wallinger, the multi-instrumentalist and solo force behind the band World Party and former member of The Waterboys, has died at age 66. His publicist says Wallinger passed away Sunday. No cause of death was announced. Wallinger had worked as musical director for a production of “The

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas is no longer allowing residents to use “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards. The Department of Finance and Administration on Tuesday announced the changes that reverse a practice that’s been in place since 2010. The move also

By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Legislation that would ban some citizens of China from owning farmland in Georgia is advancing at the state Capitol despite criticism that it promotes xenophobia and could face legal hurdles. Supporters say the ban is needed to protect the country’s food supply from a nation hostile to

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers failed to garner the 30 votes needed Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Pillen’s veto of a bill that would have allowed needle exchange programs. The bill had garnered wide bipartisan support before the veto, leading several lawmakers to accuse those who refused to

By The Associated Press Haiti’s future is being planned on two tracks — one involving traditional political power, the other focused on the power of gangs. After an intense session of international diplomacy in Jamaica, a group of Caribbean nations and the United States announced Tuesday that Haiti’s best hope for calming violence rests with

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Associates of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny reported on Tuesday night that the politician’s close ally and top strategist was attacked near his home in Lithuania. Navalny’s spokesman Kira Yarmysh said the assailant smashed a window of Leonid Volkov’s car, sprayed tear gas into his eyes and started hitting him

BY MAYSOON KHAN and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s budget season has begun. Democrats who control the state Senate and Assembly have released their budget proposals for the year, setting up potential battles with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office over education funding and income taxes. The spending plans mark the start

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers, meet your latest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok. The platform is once again bringing influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a fast-moving bill that would force TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company to sell or be banned in the United States.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — Scott Peterson appeared virtually in court, nearly 20 years after he was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body into San Francisco Bay in 2002. The Los Angeles Innocence Project has taken up Peterson’s case and has asked a court to order new DNA tests and

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Advocates for some 200 wild horses roaming North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park are hoping a signal of support from Congress will prevent the removal of the beloved animals. A National Park Service decision is expected around April as to the horses’ future in the park’s

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer U.S. lawmakers are threatening to ban TikTok but also say they are giving its Chinese parent company a chance to keep it running. The premise of a bipartisan bill headed for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives is that TikTok fans in the U.S. can keep scrolling

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer The sun is about to pull another disappearing act across North America, turning day into night during a total solar eclipse. The peak spectacle on April 8 will last up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds in the path of total darkness — twice as long as the total solar

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police say several passengers are being held hostage in a bus in Rio de Janeiro, and two were injured from gunshots. A police statement released Tuesday afternoon said an elite police team is currently negotiating at the scene. The bus is parked inside the Sao Cristovao terminal, in the

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former Las Vegas-area elected official accused of killing an investigative journalist will not go on trial next week. A Nevada judge on Tuesday postponed Robert Telles’ trial but did not immediately set a new date. Telles has pleaded not guilty in the September 2022 stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan official says his government is halting plans to deploy at least 1,000 police officers to Haiti following the unprecedented violence that erupted in the Caribbean nation and the announcement by its Prime Minister Ariel Henry that he would resign once a presidential council is

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States is spearheading the first United Nations resolution on artificial intelligence, aimed at ensuring the new technology is “safe, secure and trustworthy” and that all countries, especially those in the developing world, have equal access. The draft General Assembly resolution aims to close

By SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has met with the powerful International Brotherhood of Teamsters and reminded its leaders and members of his record on unions as likely Republican challenger Donald Trump tries to make gains among blue-collar workers. Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said after Tuesday’s meeting that

By ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a now-familiar ritual in Washington: a federal prosecutor being summoned to Capitol Hill to discuss the findings of a politically explosive investigation. Tuesday’s hearing with special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated President Joe Biden’s handling of classified information, broke little

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Republican Rep. Ken Buck has announced that he’ll resign next week, narrowing his party’s razor-thin House majority and scrambling the already heated GOP primary to fill his Colorado seat. Buck, a staunch conservative who already declined to run for reelection as he became increasingly critical of his

By JEFF McMILLAN, ANDREW DeMILLO and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Florida’s state government and LGBTQ+ advocates have settled a lawsuit challenging a law that bars teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. Under the deal, the 2022 law often derided as “Don’t Say Gay” remains in place. But the resolution clarifies that

NEW YORK (AP) — David Mixner, a longtime LGBTQ+ activist who was an adviser to Bill Clinton during his presidential campaign and later called him out over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gays in the military, has died. He was 77. LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President and CEO Annise Parker says Mixner died Monday

By LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — More than three dozen people allege in lawsuits filed this week that they were sexually abused as children inside a Maryland residential program for youths that closed in 2017. Attorneys filed two separate lawsuits Tuesday alleging decades of abuse by staff members of the Good Shepherd Services

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Uvalde police chief who was on vacation during the Robb Elementary School shooting has resigned. The announcement Tuesday came less than a week after a report ordered by the city defended the department’s response to the attack but outraged some family members of the 19

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities have barred visitors to the country’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan after receiving intelligence about a possible attack on the prison where he is held. Under a government order, no visitors will be allowed to meet with Khan or other inmates at the Adiala

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina trial judges have struck down portions of a new law that would have changed how elections board members are chosen. The decision Monday from the three-judge panel handed a significant setback to legislative Republicans seeking to wrest those decisions from the governor. Democratic

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two top Kansas Republican Party officials are facing internal calls to resign over a viral online video showing people at a fundraiser kicking and beating a mannequin wearing a mask of President Joe Biden. Kansas GOP State Chair Mike Brown and Johnson County GOP Chair

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Rights groups in Belarus say that authorities there have detained at least 12 lawyers during mass raids late last month targeting people who have been helping those who have been imprisoned for political reasons. Belarus was rocked in 2020 by mass protests against what critics called

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Attention on Princess Kate has reached levels not seen since she married Prince William in a fairy-tale wedding in 2011. An admission from Kate that she altered an official family photo triggered a backlash. The photo was supposed to reassure the public that she was doing well

By ANDREW DALTON and TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Labor strife remains an issue in Hollywood after two major strikes were resolved, and the Academy Awards didn’t sidestep that. Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel devoted part of his opening monologue toward vowing to union members and those working behind the scenes that Hollywood’s

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency is expanding a program that tests international travelers for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently operates the program at six U.S. airports. It asks passengers from international flights to agree to nose

RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont day care provider convicted of manslaughter in the death of an infant in her care was sentenced on Tuesday to three to 10 years in prison. A jury in December found Stacey Vaillancourt guilty of manslaughter and child cruelty in the 2019 death of Harper Rose Briar. The 6-month-old

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé is full of surprises — and on Tuesday, dropped yet another one. Her forthcoming album has a name: ‘Act II: Cowboy Carter.’ The title was revealed on Bey’s official website, along with details on a few limited edition CD, vinyl and box set releases.

By DEEPTI HAJELA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been a common refrain when seeking proof that someone’s story or some event actually took place: “Pics, or it didn’t happen.” But in a world where the spread of technology makes photo manipulation as easy as a tap on your phone, the idea that a

CHICAGO (AP) — Enrique Mazzola extended his contract as music director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago through 2030-31 as the company announced a 2024-25 season that opens with him conducting Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in September. A pair of contemporary works highlight the season. They include Jeanine Tesori’s “Blue” starting Nov. 16 and Missy Mazzoli’s “The

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A prominent journalist in western Mexico has been abducted by armed men and hasn’t been seen since, prosecutors said Tuesday. The fate of radio and television anchor Jaime Barrera gained national prominence in part because his daughter sits on the leadership council of the ruling Morena party. Barrera vanished Monday after

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon will rush about $300 million in weapons to Ukraine after finding some cost savings in its contracts, even though the military remains deeply overdrawn and needs at least $10 billion to replenish all the weapons it has pulled from its stocks

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s Supreme Court has ordered prosecutors to resume an investigation into the killing of a protester in an anti government rally in 2011. Four Socialist Party supporters were killed in January 2011 while they were protesting against alleged corruption and vote-rigging by then-Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — It’s been nearly 13 years since two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed in a crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Although the grieving process has not stopped for his widow, Susie Wheldon gave unprecedented access to filmmaker Laura Brownson. Together they