Month: March 2024

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted Friday in New York of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers and used his military and national police force to enable tons of cocaine to make it unhindered into the United States. The jury returned its verdict

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Across much of America and especially in the normally chilly north, the country went through the winter months without, well, winter. In parka strongholds Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine, the thermometer never plunged below zero. The state of Minnesota called the last three months “the lost winter,” warmer than

By ARIANA CUBILLOS Associated Press Ariana Cubillos is an Associated Press photojournalist based in Caracas, Venezuela. She was based in Haiti from 2004 to 2009, and also covered the country’s 2010 earthquake and its descent into gang violence. — In June 2023, I was zipping through the bustling streets of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince on the

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon study released Friday that examined reported sightings of UFOs over nearly the last century found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence, a conclusion consistent with past U.S. government efforts to assess the accuracy of claims that have captivated public attention for decades. The study

MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Women across Latin America are bathing their city streets in purple in commemoration of International Women’s Day at a time when gender rights advocates in the region face both historic steps forward and setbacks. Following decades of activism and campaigning by feminist groups, access to things like

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The third-party presidential movement No Labels has decided to field a presidential candidate in the 2024 election. Friday’s decision comes after months of weighing the launch of a so-called “unity ticket” and discussions with several prospects. The group says delegates voted in favor of moving

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in the June crash that killed actor Treat Williams. Under the plea deal, Ryan Koss, who knew Williams, was given a one-year deferred sentence and as part of his probation will have his driving license revoked

By ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A gun shop employee has testified in the trial of the father of a Michigan school shooter. Cammy Back recalled how James Crumbley bought a handgun while accompanied by his son in 2021. The gun was used by Ethan Crumbley four days later to kill four

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey high school that lost a state basketball tournament game when referees wrongly overturned a buzzer-beating basket has asked the state’s education commissioner to intervene. Manasquan initially was declared the winner over Camden in Tuesday’s Group 2 semifinal game. But the call was soon overturned after the referees discussed

By PETER SMITH Associated Press The status of a federal investigation into a leading Southern Baptist agency’s handling of sexual abuse is unclear. But this much is clear — survivors of abuse and their advocates remain deeply skeptical of leaders’ intentions to address the scandal in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Recent events have deepened

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press The Justice Department says a former Oklahoma police officer convicted in the sexual assault of a woman during a traffic stop will become the first to face a heftier penalty under the 2022 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Thirty-five-year-old Jeffrey Scott Smith Jr. is facing up to 40

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The first “NYPD: Most Wanted” video was meant to be intimidating. Over a pounding soundtrack, the montage cuts among stock images and body-camera footage of actual police raids. A fake gun discharges. Real officers break down a door, barking orders at a man asleep on a

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis appears to be in good form as he made his first parish visit outside the Vatican this year. He delivered his homily and heard confessions on Friday after a lingering bout of the flu sent him to the hospital for tests and forced him to cancel some appointments. Francis read

By TAIWO ADEBAYO Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The kidnapping of 287 grade school students by gunmen in northwestern Nigeria this week was only the latest in a slew of such raids since the infamous Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram a decade ago. Around 1500 students have been kidnapped

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is all-in on calling out “shrinkflation.” The term applies to a seemingly covert way for companies to raise prices by ever so slightly reducing the size of their products. There’s suddenly fewer pretzels in the bag, less toothpaste in the tube and shorter candy

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge has indefinitely postponed the state court trial of four former Memphis officers charged with second-degree murder in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols until after the conclusion of a federal court trial on civil rights violations. Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. made the

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A student from a rural Mexican teachers’ college where 43 youths disappeared in 2014 has died in a confrontation with police. Prosecutors in the southern state of Guerrero said Friday that the confrontation occurred late Thursday on a roadway near the teachers’ college. The college said the dead student, and another

Two former Texas deputies have been found not guilty in the death of a Black motorist who was shot several times with a stun gun following a police chase. A Travis County jury on Thursday found former Williamson County deputies Zach Camden and J.J. Johnson not guilty on manslaughter charges in the 2019 death of

MIAMI (AP) — The NXXT Golf mini tour for women has updated its eligibility policy to require all players to be a biological female at birth. The decision follows Hailey Davidson winning once and finishing runner-up three times this season. Davidson underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2021. Stu McKinnon is the CEO of the circuit.

By STEVE PEOPLES and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — GOP officials have voted to install Donald Trump’s handpicked chair of the Republican National Committee. Party members on Friday in Houston elected North Carolina Republican Michael Whatley as party chairman. Whatley is part of a leadership slate that will include the former president’s

HOUSTON (AP) — Passengers had to be evacuated from a United Airlines plane after it rolled off a runway in Houston and ended up stuck in a grassy area. United Airlines says no injuries were reported among the 160 passengers and six crew members. Flight 2477 from Memphis, Tennessee, had landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — At least one fertility clinic in Alabama has resumed in vitro fertilization treatments. News outlets report that Alabama Fertility Specialists performed several embryo transfers Thursday. Alabama Fertility was among three clinics that paused their services after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last month that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for Donald Trump says the former president has secured a bond sufficient to support an $83.3 million jury award granted to writer E. Jean Carroll during a January defamation trial. Attorney Alina Habba filed papers on Friday with the New York trial judge to

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The maker of a much-debated drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease said it failed to help patients with the fatal disease. The results from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals announced Friday raise the likelihood that the drug will be pulled from the U.S. market. But company executives stopped short of

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press Mass shootings at schools have prompted a growing number of states to encourage digital mapping to aid emergency responders. An Associated Press analysis found lawmakers in more than 20 states have enacted or proposed measures setting standards for digital school mapping. The AP found companies specializing in such mapping

By SUMMER BALLENTINE and NICK INGRAM Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Celebrities, artists and tens of thousands of fans proud to call themselves nerds are converging in Kansas City for the Missouri city’s 25th annual Planet Comicon. Devotees ranging from Harry Potter lovers to furries can compete test niche trivia skills, compete in

NEW YORK (AP) — Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied have divorced after 11 years of marriage and two children. The Oscar-winning actor and Millepied, a choreographer and director, finalized the divorce last month in France, where they live. People magazine reported the news, citing a representative for Portman. A representative for Portman declined comment on

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Matt Dolan has landed the endorsement of former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman in the three-way primary to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall. The Cincinnati Republican’s backing Friday could provide an important boost to Dolan, a Cleveland-area state senator, particularly in southwest

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer As WWE gears up for its biggest annual premium live event next month, the company continues to harness the power of its social media presence to reach its fans. A key component of that strategy is YouTube, where WWE has hit an important milestone: reaching 100 million subscribers. WWE,

By JOSH BOAK, SEUNG MIN KIM and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh off his defiant State of the Union address, President Joe Biden and his senior aides will barnstorm the country starting Friday to aggressively sell his vision for a second term to voters. He’s also warning of the Republican alternative. The

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Friday marched to the country’s embassy in Lithuania, holding a photo of her imprisoned husband and demanding information about him after a year of being incommunicado. Siarhei Tsikhanouski is among several prominent imprisoned opposition figures whom relatives say have not been heard from in

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has reinstated bribery and fraud charges against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin. The decision Friday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed a December 2022 ruling by a lower-court judge that wiped out the bulk of

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The younger brother of Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been sentenced to six months’ probation. That came after he pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of battery in a case where prosecutors said he assaulted a woman. Twenty-three-year-old Jackson Mahomes’ sentencing Thursday came more than

By ADRIANA MORGA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Tax season is underway in the U.S. Filing taxes can be a daunting task that’s often left until the last minute. But if you want to avoid the stress of the looming deadline, start getting organized as soon as possible. Whether you do your taxes yourself,

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Business Writer MILAN (AP) — A new survey says one-third of Italians have reduced their consumption of extra virgin olive oil due to skyrocketing prices. But Italian producers are pushing back against the data released Friday, saying the snapshot of consumer sentiment doesn’t give a full picture. They say sales of

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Authorities say a suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set off explosions ahead of a vessel in the Gulf of Aden. No one was hurt in the suspected attack on Friday on the ship, which continued on its way. That’s according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Operations

By BASSEM MROUE and GHAITH AL-SAYED Associated Press IDLIB, Syria (AP) — A powerful al-Qaida-linked group that dominates much of rebel-held northwest Syria has released one of its founders after he spent months in jail on suspicion of having links with forces outside the country. But despite the release, hundreds marched on Friday in the

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer Kirk Cousins will be a free agent for the first time since the Vikings gave him the first fully-guaranteed quarterback deal in the NFL. Baker Mayfield is expected to stay put in Tampa Bay. Russell Wilson has to make another move. Joe Flacco could find a new home,

By MELINA WALLING Associated Press DEERBROOK, Wis. (AP) — This year’s warmer winter temperatures have allowed some maple syrup producers across the U.S. to begin tapping their trees as much as two months early. In Wisconsin, the fourth-largest maple syrup producing state, many farmers started production in January and February, earlier than they can ever

By MELINA WALLING Associated Press EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — For several years now, students have been tracking sap production of maple trees in a class on maple syrup and climate change, taught by Northwestern instructor Eli Suzukovich III. Students say it’s an exciting opportunity to generate their own data as they pursue sustainability studies. Suzukovich

By JEFF MARTIN Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — With an unscripted clash between President Joe Biden and a Georgia congresswoman at Thursday night’s State of the Union speech, the killing of a Georgia nursing student was further cemented as a political rallying point in the 2024 race for president. Twenty-two-year-old Laken Riley has become the

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has his hopes set that Republican voters in Mississippi and three other states will push him over the top Tuesday night in his quest to clinch his party’s presidential nomination for the third election in a row. President Joe Biden is the only

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s top prosecutor has taken over the investigation into an alleged arson attack on the power supply of the electric car company Tesla near Berlin. A spokeswoman said there is an initial suspicion that a terrorist organization may have been involved in the attack. In such cases,

By MARIA SHERMAN and GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Throughout the billion-dollar “Barbie” film, an instrumental version of Billie Eilish’s hit “What Was I Made For” weaves in and out, soundtracking the famous doll’s existential crisis. In the final scene — no spoilers! — Eilish’s crackling, saccharine falsetto is finally heard