Month: March 2024

MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says a land mine exploded in central Mexico, killing four soldiers in what he called a trap likely set by a drug cartel. The soldiers were killed Thursday on the outskirts of the city of Aguililla in the embattled Mexican state of Michoacán, López Obrador said

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press Prosecutors charged a man with two counts of first-degree murder for the killing of a court employee who tried to serve an eviction notice at a home in Independence, Missouri and an officer who responded. Larry Acree was also charged with first-degree assault in the wounding of the other officer

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials says Americans with COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its longstanding guidance on Friday. People can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving

By The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Singer Marian Anderson is getting new recognition 30 years after her death. The pioneering Black contralto’s name will now replace Verizon’s on the Philadelphia Orchestra hall, a key cultural institution in the city she was born in in 1897. Anderson repeatedly experienced racism throughout her storied career, which

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is pushing back against a new set of subpoenas quietly sent out by House Republicans related the Hunter Biden criminal investigation in another brewing faceoff in the impeachment inquiry. In the letter obtained Friday by The Associated Press, the department says it has already

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The Duke men’s basketball program is in its second year of honoring patients of the nearby children’s hospital. That has come through the Scheyer Family Kid Captain Program launched last year. Marcelle Scheyer is the wife of Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer. She said the

By MARK STEVENSON and FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press IRAPUATO, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s presidential campaigns have officially begun with underdog opposition coalition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez leveraging the country’s ongoing security problems to differentiate herself from Claudia Sheinbaum, the choice of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Gálvez got the early jump on the campaign, holding an

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A former researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has pleaded guilty to the 2021 killing of a Yale graduate student found shot outside his car in Connecticut. Qinxuan Pan faces 35 years in prison following his guilty plea Thursday in a New Haven, Connecticut, court. The 32-year-old will be

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Zigman’s ”Émigré,” an oratorio portraying Jews who fled Nazi Germany for Shanghai, was given its U.S. premiere by the New York Philharmonic on Thursday. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai music director Long Yu, ”Émigré” was given its world premiere

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The success of the African American Film Critics Association didn’t happen overnight. It took time over 20 years of showing its worth in Hollywood while creating a platform to highlight the work from the industry’s best Black actors and filmmakers from Oprah Winfrey, Ava

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The man who launched New Jersey to years of national leadership in internet gambling and sports betting is retiring. David Rebuck stepped down Friday as director of the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, the state’s top gambling regulator. He led the team that wrote rules

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press A judge in Montana ruled against restrictions in one of several developments this week on how abortion works in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was overturned. New data showed that the number of abortions is holding steady, but there have been changes in how and where they’re provided. Meanwhile,

By EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A national police spokesman says Haitian police were overwhelmed by a series of coordinated violent attacks by gang members across the capital in which four officers were killed. The attacks Thursday in Port-au-Prince were led by gunmen who opened fire on targets including Haiti’s international airport

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Vice President Han Zheng has pledged to provide more opportunities for foreign companies in China as the government tries to restore confidence in the world’s second largest economy. Han told an audience of American business people in Beijing on Friday that the government would continue to

BERLIN (AP) — German investigators say a 66-year-old man accused of killing a woman when he was stationed in Germany as a U.S. soldier nearly 46 years ago has been arrested in the United States. The man is accused of stabbing a 35-year-old woman more than 30 times at her apartment on June 11, 1978.

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A woman was convicted Friday of conspiring to murder missing mother-of-five Jennifer Dulos, who vanished from a wealthy Connecticut enclave in 2019 and was never found. Michelle Troconis, 49, sat with her head down and cried as the jurors were polled as to whether they agreed with the verdict. She

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says she raised $12 million in February. That’s a haul that will likely allow her to remain in the Republican primary against former President Donald Trump past next week’s Super Tuesday — even though she can’t point to an upcoming state where

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish media are reporting that a car struck a crowd of people waiting at a tram stop in the northwestern city of Szczecin and then collided with three other vehicles. The all-news station TVN24 reported Friday that about 19 people were injured including three children. Two people were reported to be

AARON HEMENS, IndigiNEWS KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP) — Just below the fog line hanging over the central Okanagan Valley, rows of saplings for a cherry orchard expansion span the eastern stretch above Highway 33 on the outskirts of Kelowna in Canada’s wine country. New cherry varieties and climate change in British Columbia’s interior have enabled

By MATT BROWN Associated Pres WASHINGTON (AP) — Black Americans have endured considerable injustices and barriers to prosperity and equality throughout U.S. history. But their social, economic and political advances in the past 60 years have been unsatisfactory. That’s according to a new annual study on racial progress, called the “State of Black America.” The

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian singer who won a Grammy presented by U.S. first lady Jill Biden has been sentenced to more than three years in prison over his anthem supporting the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini. Shervin Hajipour posted on Instagram on Friday

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man has been exonerated and released after spending nearly 30 years on death row in connection with a fatal arson fire at a Philadelphia apartment building. Daniel Gwynn was released Thursday from the state prison in Montgomery County a day after a judge dismissed first-degree murder, arson and aggravated assault charges

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The recent ruling in Alabama that frozen embryos are legally considered children has created a political firestorm after the decision halted treatment for many couples trying to have families through fertility treatments. It’s also turned the spotlight on the importance of state supreme courts, which are poised

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s tradition of piling garbage bags on the sidewalk for pickup is going the way of the dinosaur. As of Friday, all 200,000 businesses in the Big Apple are required to put their bags of trash in garbage bins. That’s something communities across the county and world have long

By NICK PERRY Associated Press MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — Authorities were searching Friday for a father and his two young children after the children’s mother was found dead in a New Hampshire apartment. Authorities issued an Amber Alert just after 4 a.m. for the abduction of 4-year-old Elowyn Duren and 1-year-old Vaelyn Duren from the

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says it will pay $54 million to the main provider of aid in Gaza next week. It says the cash-strapped U.N. agency has agreed to allow EU-appointed experts to audit the way it screens staff to identify extremists. The UNRWA agency is reeling from

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer After some rough patches, the Oscars may have finally met the moment with a diverse, global membership and a batch of best picture nominees that reflect global cinema. But that comes as no surprise to the academy’s leadership, CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang, who have been working

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The 2024 presidential campaign rolls through Alabama on Tuesday as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump look to continue their streak of lopsided primary victories in anticipation of an expected general election rematch. Alabama will also hold its state primary on Tuesday, with voters deciding

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will compete for votes in Arkansas on Tuesday but not against each other. At least not yet. Both front-runners are already eyeing a rematch of the 2020 presidential election, and the race in Arkansas as well as 15 other

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek police say that a yearslong, multinational investigation into feuding Balkan criminal gangs behind multiple killings across Europe has led to the arrests of 10 suspects. Police officers in Greece, Serbia and Spain, assisted by police agencies Interpol and Europol were involved in

By WAFAA SHURAFA and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The head of a Gaza City hospital that treated some of those wounded in the bloodshed surrounding an aid convoy said Friday that more than 80% had been struck by gunfire, suggesting there had been heavy shooting by Israeli troops. At least

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — America’s lobster fishing business dipped in catch while grappling with challenges including a changing ocean environment and new rules designed to protect rare whales. Members of the industry say they face existential threats from proposed rules intended to protect the North Atlantic right whale and climate

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — An official says that a bomb scare has shut down Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Airport that forced the country’s president to cancel a planned address at a conference on renewable energy. Zimbabwean President Edson Mnangagwa was due to address the conference Friday morning. But the president’s spokesman

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer A commission charged with reviewing the Olympic system in the United States recommended Congress rework key facets of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, including making it completely independent of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and reimagining the way it deals with cases in the grassroots. The commission also

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Judges some places don’t grant divorces when one of the parties is pregnant — and one Missouri lawmaker is trying to change that, at least in her state. For state Rep. Ashley Aune and others, the practice is an antiquated way to control women and possibly trap them in abusive

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya and Haiti have signed agreements to try to salvage a plan for the African country to deploy 1,000 police officers to the troubled Caribbean nation to help combat gang violence that has surged to unprecedented levels. Kenya agreed in October to lead a U.N.-authorized international

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With Super Tuesday fast approaching, presidential campaigns are eyeing the California primary, which is the biggest prize of the day. Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican front-runner Donald Trump are hoping that California and 15 other Super Tuesday states can help them turn the corner toward the

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian police say they are investigating 17 people on suspicion of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl over a period of several months. Most of the suspects are minors. Police said Friday that 12 of the suspects are minors  between the ages of 14 and 18. One is 19 and two are below

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, who has been suffering from the flu, asked an aide to read out his prepared speech at a conference in the Vatican Friday, saying he was not yet well and becomes fatigued. The 87-year-old Pontiff was taken to a Roman hospital on Wednesday for diagnostic testing after having to

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With contests in 16 states and American Samoa, the Super Tuesday primaries next week will be the largest day of voting of the year outside of the November election. Just how “super” it is may be a matter of perspective. Both Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian state media and online accounts tied to the Kremlin have begun pushing misleading and incendiary claims about U.S. immigration. It’s an apparent effort to target American voters before the 2024 election. Experts who track Russian disinformation say that by focusing on immigration, Russia is trying to

Associated Press (AP) — Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over what he says is a betrayal of the ChatGPT maker’s founding aims of benefiting humanity rather than pursuing profits. In a lawsuit filed at San Francisco Superior Court, billionaire Musk said that when he bankrolled OpenAI’s creation, he secured an