Month: May 2024

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Actor Bernard Hill who starred in “Titanic,” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy has died. Hill’s agent Lou Coulson says he died Sunday at age 79. Hill delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in “The Return of the King,” the third in

BEL AIR, Md. (AP) — Police say one person was killed and 23 others were injured when a bus crashed on Interstate 95 in northern Maryland. State police say the bus was carrying 24 people when it lost control on Sunday. It hit a guardrail in Harford County at around 6 a.m. One bus passenger

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “The Fall Guy,” the Ryan Gosling-led, action-comedy ode to stunt performers, opened with a below-expectations $28.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, providing a lukewarm start to a summer movie season that’s very much to be determined for Hollywood. The Universal Pictures release opened on

By ERICK KAGLAN Associated Press LOME, Togo (AP) — Togo’s ruling party has won a majority of seats in the West African nation’s parliamentary election. Provisional results announced late Saturday show the ruling Union for the Republic party won 108 out of the 113 parliamentary seats. The vote was rejected by the opposition as part

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press DEBRECEN, Hungary (AP) — A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has held what he called the largest countryside political demonstration in the country’s recent history. It’s the latest stop on his campaign tour that has mobilized thousands across Hungary’s rural heartland. Some 10,000 people gathered Sunday in

By ELÉONORE HUGHES RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Massive floods in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state killed at least 60 people and another 101 were reported missing, according to Sunday’s toll from local authorities. At least 155 people were injured, while damage from the rains forced more than 80,000 people from their homes.

By STEVE PEOPLES and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — It’s six months before Election Day, and Joe Biden and Donald Trump are locked in a presidential rematch. The race is highly in flux as many voters are only just beginning to embrace the reality of the 2024 contest. Wars, trials, the independent

PARIS (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping is kicking off a three-country trip to Europe with the continent divided over how to deal with Beijing’s growing power and the U.S.-China rivalry. European carmakers are losing ground to subsidized Chinese electric vehicles. Diplomats fret about alleged Chinese spies in European capitals. And China’s continued defense trade

The Associated Press The fight to allow same-sex marriage and gay clergy has defined much of the last half-century for major mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S., mirroring in many ways the broader fight for LGBTQ+ inclusion in civic life. Within these theologically moderate-to-progressive Protestant groups, the decades of wrestling over whether to reaffirm or

By PETER SMITH Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — It took just a few days for United Methodist delegates to remove a half-century’s worth of denominational bans on gay clergy and same-sex marriages. But when asked at a news conference about the lightning speed of the changes, the Rev. Effie McAvoy took a longer view.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel says a major crossing point used to deliver humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip has come under fire, forcing it to close. The Israeli military reported 10 launches at the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday. It gave no details on the source of the fire, but said it had come from

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial is full of terms you don’t typically hear in a courtroom. The case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his company’s records to conceal the nature of hush money reimbursements. It’s the first ever criminal trial of a former

BERLIN (AP) — A teenager has surrendered to police over an attack on a candidate from the party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz that has fueled concern about intimidation and violence in the run-up to next month’s election for the European Parliament. The 17-year-old turned himself in at a police station in the eastern city of

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Virtually every day of his hush money criminal trial, Donald Trump talks about how he can’t talk about it. He’s told reporters outside the courtroom that a gag order in the case is  “totally unconstitutional” and “a disgrace.” The order bars him

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The American refugee program long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world. Today, it’s rebounding from dwindling arrivals under the Trump administration. President Joe Biden’s administration has worked to streamline the process of screening and placing people in America, and resettlement agencies

By PHILIP MARCELO and DENISE LAVOIE Associated Press Police surrounded a pro-Palestinian encampment early Sunday at the University of Southern California, days before commencement events are set to begin on the Los Angeles campus. The university said campus safety officers assisted by the Los Angeles Police Department were clearing the area. “If you are in

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Police say a shooting in the Los Angeles area injured seven people, including four who were listed in critical condition. The Long Beach Police Department says officers responded to a reported shooting around 11:15 p.m. Saturday in the area of South Street and Paramount Boulevard. At least seven victims suffered

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government has voted unanimously to shutter the offices of the Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera in Israel. Netanyahu announced the decision on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. Details on when it would go into effect or whether it was permanent or temporary were not

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Ukraine marked its third Easter at war, Russia launched a barrage of drones concentrated in Ukraine’s east where the situation on the front line is worsening. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians in an Easter address to be united in prayer and called God an “ally” in the war with Russia.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Law enforcement authorities say a driver has died after crashing a vehicle into a gate at the White House. The U.S. Secret Service says in a statement that the driver was found dead in the vehicle following the crash shortly before 10:30 p.m. Saturday at an outer perimeter gate of the White

By MAKIYA SEMINERA and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Since Florida enacted a six-week abortion ban, clinics in several other Southern and mid-Atlantic states have sprung into action. They know women impacted by the Florida change last week will look to them for services no longer available where they live. In North

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood is notorious for its open-air drug use and congested sidewalks. But it’s also home to thousands of laughing, playful school children and parents working toward a better life. Mothers in 2008 launched a program to safely shepherd their children from school through

By DEEPTI HAJELA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — They’re hallmarks of American history: protests, rallies, sit-ins, marches, disruptions. They date from the early days of what would become the United States to the sights and sounds echoing across the landscapes of the nation’s colleges and universities during this activist spring. And just as much

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press Just a few months short of a quarter-century as Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will put his hand on a copy of the constitution and begin another six-year term as president wielding extraordinary power. Since becoming acting president on the last day of 1999, Putin has shaped Russia into

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press KIBBUTZ MEFLASIM, Israel (AP) — When Hamas fighters invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip perpetrated the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. So this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It was a frigid winter morning when authorities found a Native American man dead on a remote gravel road in western New Mexico. He was lying on his side, with only one sock on, his clothes gone and his shoes tossed in the snow. There

By JUAN ZAMORANO Associated Press PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panamanians head to the polls to vote in an election that has been consumed by unfolding drama surrounding the country’s ex-president, despite not even being on the ballot. Voters in the Central American nation on Sunday will weigh promises of economic prosperity and migratory crackdowns with

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Millions of voters in England have voted in local elections, the last big test before a looming U.K. general election. All indicators suggest the Labour Party will then return to power after 14 years in the wilderness. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was barely able to point to

By JUAN A. LOZANO and LEKAN OYEKANMI Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — High waters flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that resulted in crews rescuing more than 400 people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water. Others prepared to evacuate their properties. A flood watch remained in effect through Sunday

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — King Charles III’s decision to be open about his cancer diagnosis has helped the new monarch connect with the people of Britain and strengthened the monarchy in the year since his dazzling coronation at Westminster Abbey. Charles has used his illness to highlight the need for early

By ZELIPHA KIROBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Students at a school next to Kenya’s largest dumpsite are on a mission to try to purify the air with bamboo. They have planted more than 100 seedlings along the wall that separates the school from the trash dump that was declared full 23 years ago.

By ROD McGUIRK Asspciated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian officials say a 16-year-old boy armed with a knife has been shot dead by police after he stabbed a man in the west coast city of Perth. The incident occurred in the parking lot of a hardware store in suburban Willetton on Saturday night. Western

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Juro Kara, who helped shape Japan’s postwar avant-garde theater, defiantly yet playfully transforming the essence of Kabuki aesthetics into modern storytelling, has died. He was 84. The playwright, director and troupe leader died Saturday from a blood clot in the brain, according to his theater group, Karagumi.

NEW YORK (AP) — Frank Stella, a painter, sculptor and printmaker whose constantly evolving works served as landmarks of the minimalist and post-painterly abstraction art movements, has died. He was 87.  Gallery owner Jeffrey Deitch spoke with Stella’s family and says he died Saturday at at his home in New York City. Stella’s wife, Harriet

By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Attorneys for a New Hampshire man who prevailed in a landmark lawsuit over abuse at a state-run youth detention center are asking for a hearing after the jury foreperson expressed dismay that the $38 million award could be slashed to $475,000. Jurors on Friday awarded $38

MOSCOW (AP) — Worshippers including President Vladimir Putin have packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral for a night-time Easter service. The traditional sung service began late on Saturday with an address from Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an outspoken Kremlin supporter. It was set to last well into the

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Several thousand Georgians have marked Orthodox Easter with a candlelight vigil outside Parliament in the capital, Tbilisi. Daily protests are continuing against a proposed bill that critics say would stifle media freedom and obstruct the country’s bid to join the European Union. The law would require media, NGOs and other nonprofits

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Shareholder proposals are usually uneventful at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, but Warren Buffett and the company are now facing a lawsuit over the way one presenter was treated last year. Peter Flaherty with the National Legal and Policy Center came back with another proposal this

By NICK PERRY Associated Press MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — Burt Rutan was alarmed to see the plane he had designed was so loaded with fuel that the wing tips started dragging along the ground as it taxied down the runway. He grabbed the radio to warn the pilot, his older brother Dick Rutan. But Dick

By CLAIRE GALOFARO AP National Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When Lori Hennesy imagined her outfit for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, she wanted to create something deserving of that monumental anniversary, a celebration of Kentucky’s greatness and history. So she got a bucket of chicken, red and white striped with Colonel Sanders’

By SELLO MOTSETA Associated Press MOLEPOLOLE, Botswana (AP) — At least 44 people who died in a horrific bus crash during Easter weekend in South Africa were laid to rest in Botswana on Saturday. About 5,000 mourners clad in black gathered in the Botswana village of Molepolole to pay their last respects nearly a month

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The state prosecutor’s office says three bodies recovered in an area of Mexico’s Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip. While there has not yet been confirmation based on forensic examination, physical characteristics

By The Associated Press The WNBA debuts of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso were widely watched on a social media livestream from a fan who stepped in when the league’s app couldn’t broadcast the game. Reese and Cardoso played in their first preseason game for the Chicago Sky on Friday night in a 92-81 loss

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — Workers have demolished a bridge over a Connecticut highway that was damaged in a fiery crash involving a gasoline tanker truck. The demolition that began Friday is expected to keep both sides of Interstate 95 in Norwalk closed through the weekend and extend a traffic nightmare on the major artery linking

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan and India have decried remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden describing them as “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants while he was speaking during a campaign fundraising event earlier in the week. Japan said Biden’s judgment was not based on an accurate understanding of its

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway says its first quarter profit plummeted on the paper value of its investments. At the same time, the company said Saturday that most of the businesses it owns outright did well. A few hours before shareholders got the chance to hear from CEO