Month: December 2024

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Some residents of seven Louisiana nursing homes who were sent to ride out 2021’s Hurricane Ida in a warehouse are being offered shares of a nearly $9 million settlement. Retired state Judge William “Rusty” Knight says all the 427 former residents who filed legal claims are being sent letters outlining the

Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Nearly 50 survivors of a migrant boat tragedy last month that left 25 people dead in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar have arrived back in Somalia and were received by government officials. The survivors aged 17 to 50 wore outfits Saturday made of fabric with the Somali national flag

Associated Press Syria’s government appears to have fallen after opposition fighters said they entered Damascus following a stunning advance. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government. “I am in my house and I have not

ATLANTA (AP) — The president of Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios has died when the small plane he was piloting crashed on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The studio confirmed on Saturday that Steve Mensch, its 62-year-old president and general manager, had died Friday. The crash happened in Homosassa, about 60 miles north of Tampa. Photos from the

BERWYN, Ill. (AP) — Far-right influencer Nick Fuentes is due in court later this month after a woman accused him of pepper-spraying her when she showed up at his suburban Chicago home following his “Your body, my choice” post on X. According to court documents, the 57-year-old woman approached Fuentes’ home in Berwyn on Nov.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man accused of a hate crime for killing a gay man is asking a judge to dismiss the charges, saying he acted in self-defense. Gerald Radford testified on Friday that he feared for his own life when he shot John “Walt” Lay at a Tampa dog park on Feb.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida prosecutor says he will seek to vacate as many as 2,600 convictions of people who bought crack cocaine manufactured by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for sting operations between 1988 and 1990. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that people couldn’t be charged in cases where the

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis appeared with a significant bruise on his chin Saturday, but presided over a ceremony to install new cardinals without apparent problems. The Vatican said later Saturday that the bruise was caused by a contusion on Friday morning, when Francis his a night stand with his chin. The pontiff, who

BERLIN (AP) — The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland have strongly condemned “the disproportionate use of force” against peaceful protesters and the targeting of the opposition and media representatives in Georgia. Mass protests there fueled by the governing party’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union entered a second week on

Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala presents Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” for its gala season premiere Saturday for the first time in 59 years, seeking to shake the opera’s reputation for bringing bad luck. The premiere is a highlight of the Milan cultural calendar, attracting top figures from the

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian prosecutors have conducted raids linked to an man suspected of illegally financing a campaign to promote Calin Georgescu’s presidential run. It comes after the country’s top court annulled the elections in which the far-right candidate had won the first round. The raids at three properties in the central

LONDON (AP) — A man died and hundreds of thousands of people in Britain and Ireland were left without power Saturday as high winds and heavy rain battered the region. Gusts of up to 93 miles per hour were recorded as officials sent a rare emergency alert by phone to about 3 million households in

Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The far-right Alternative for Germany party has presented its candidate for chancellor in the country’s upcoming election. In practice, Alice Weidel has no chance of taking the chancellery as other parties refuse to work with the populist party. But Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which was founded in 2013, has

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days. Syrian state television aired a video statement by a group of men saying that President Bashar

Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An explosion and fire rocked a neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague on Saturday, killing three people and injuring other people and destroying several apartments, according to authorities. The cause of the disaster was unclear. Mayor Jan van Zanen said investigators were looking into “all possibilities.”

Associated Press ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Voting has officially closed in most polling centres throughout Ghana, bringing to an end the presidential and legislative elections poised to be a litmus test for democracy in a region shaken by extremist violence and coups. The capital, Accra, was almost a ghost town for much of the day

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Howling winds couldn’t stop Notre Dame Cathedral ’s heart from beating again. With three resounding knocks on its doors by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, wielding a specially designed crosier carved from fire-scorched beams, the monument roared back to life Saturday evening. For the first time since a devastating blaze nearly

Associated Press MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan high school choir performs its annual holiday concert not near a Christmas tree, but rather in it. The Mona Shores Singing Christmas Tree is set to wrap up its 40th year with two shows on Saturday at the Frauenthal Center in Muskegon. The 67-foot-tall, tree-shaped structure features

Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday installed 21 new cardinals, many of whom are key figures in his reform agenda: A Dominican preacher who acted as the spiritual father for Francis’ recent gathering of bishops, a Neapolitan “street priest” like himself, and a Peruvian bishop who has strongly backed his crackdown on

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer likely left New York City on a bus soon after the brazen ambush that has shaken corporate America, police officials said. But he left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Nearly four days

AP Health Writers For years, patients in the U.S. health care system have grown frustrated with a bureaucracy they don’t understand. Doctors are included in an insurer’s network one year but not the next. Getting someone on the phone to help can be next to impossible. Coverage of care and prescriptions is often unceremoniously denied.