Month: December 2024

ALPINE, Texas (AP) — A U.S. attorney in Texas says three U.S. Army soldiers have been arrested on human smuggling charges. U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said in a Thursday news release that Fort Cavazos soldiers Emilio Mendoza Lopez, Angel Palma and Enrique Jauregui were arrested after a vehicle carrying

Associated Press LUANDA, Angola (AP) — President Joe Biden’s long-delayed trip to Africa was overshadowed by his controversial pardon of his son Hunter. The visit had many of the hallmarks of a traditional state visit, including a cannon salute, celebratory music and photo opportunities. But outroar over the pardon back in Washington ensured that the

Associated Press Swaths of Pennsylvania and many other states are honeycombed with old, unstable mines that can cause the earth to suddenly give way. The phenomenon is known as “mine subsidence” — and it poses a threat to people and property alike. That’s what officials near Pittsburgh fear happened Monday evening when 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard

Associated Press Security cameras captured video of a University of Mississippi student leaving his campus apartment twice on the morning he was last seen alive. That’s according to testimony Wednesday from University Police Department Capt. Jan Mahan. Jimmy “Jay” Lee was a 20-year-old gay man well known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and

Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The new Los Angeles police chief says in an interview with The Associated Press that his department is working with consulate offices for Mexico and other Central American countries to draft a plan to protect immigrants ahead of the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations. Jim McDonnell says his

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court heard the most high-profile case of its term on Wednesday, weighing Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. Similar laws have been passed by other conservative-leaning states. Challengers say they deprive kids of treatment they need, while the states defend them as protecting minors from

Associated Press The FBI is investigating reports about several mysterious nighttime drone flights that have recently occurred across central New Jersey and has asked the public for help. Witnesses have spotted a cluster of what appears to be drones — larger than those typically used by hobbyists — as well as a possible fixed-wing aircraft

Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has repaid about $1,900 for a trip to a conference in Florida after ethics officials found he shouldn’t have relied on an outside group to cover the travel. The Tennessee Ethics Commission released the opinion Tuesday. It ruled the payment violated a state law banning

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Police say a stabbing suspect is dead after being shot by police in the Canadian city of Vancouver in a convenience store. Vancouver Police say the suspect has died in hospital. Authorities say two people suffered injuries that are not thought to be life threatening. Vancouver Police Constable Tania Visintin

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A top White House official on Wednesday said at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger offered new details about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of a Hawaii woman who vanished after landing in Los Angeles three weeks ago have expressed frustration with investigators and say they haven’t seen the surveillance footage that shows her walking across the border into Mexico. LA’s police chief says the video shows Hannah Kobayashi walking alone at the

Associated Press The man accused of killing the head of one of the biggest U.S. health insurance companies has been charged in New York with murder as an act of terrorism. Prosecutors announced the new charge against Luigi Mangione on Tuesday. The 26-year-old suspect is being held without bail in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested

Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s upcoming Supreme Court election already had high stakes, with majority control on the line. But a judge’s ruling this week restoring collective bargaining rights to roughly 200,000 teachers and other public workers in Wisconsin further intensifies the contest. The liberal-controlled court had already delivered a major win to

Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — One of Venezuela’s most popular bands has canceled its homecoming tour after President Nicolas Maduro criticized the group for what he said were sexist lyrics. Many saw the lashing out as an attack by the leftist leader over the band’s embrace of his political opponents. Rawayana, a 2025 Grammy nominee,

Associated Press A prosecutor in Ohio is seeking to exonerate four men convicted three decades ago in the beating death of a woman. Two of the men have remained in prison since the mid-1990s while the other two spent more than 25 years behind bars before being released on parole. The prosecutor in Lorain County

Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Republican Austin Theriault has ended a recount, conceding to Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in Maine. The announcement Wednesday brings to an end a closely watched congressional race a month after Election Day. Theriault decided to end the recount after early results didn’t show a significant change in the

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Senate has voted to charge cruise ship passengers $42 per head for port calls, drawing sharp criticism from the tourism industry. Mexican business chambers say the immigration charge — from which cruise passengers used to be exempt — may hurt the country’s half-billion-dollar-per-year cruise industry. The measure will go into

LONDON (AP) — British authorities say they have dismantled two massive money laundering operations linked to Russia that were used by oligarchs, organized crime groups, cybercriminals and drug dealers. The international sting known as Operation Destabilize seized 20 million British pounds in cash and cryptocurrency and arrested 84 suspects. It was revealed on the same

AP Golf Writer The LPGA and the USGA have updated gender policies that will require players to be assigned female at birth or to have transitioned to female before going through male puberty. The policies begin in 2025 and follow more than a year of study. The groups concluded that going through male puberty allows

AP Golf Writer Kevin Kisner is the next lead analyst for NBC Sports. The four-time PGA Tour winner was coming off his worst season in 2023 when he was asked to try out broadcasting at the start of this year. Now he’s the main analyst for NBC’s portfolio of PGA Tour events that include two

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says he’s selected a former soldier and Iraq War veteran to serve as secretary of the Army. Trump said on Wednesday that Daniel P. Driscoll had completed Army Ranger school and deployed with the 10th Mountain Division to Iraq. Driscoll had been recently serving as a senior adviser

Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A court in Kenya has found the housemate of an LBGTQ activist guilty of murder in the killing of the activist, whose body was discovered stashed in a metal box two years ago. A High Court judge in the western city of Eldoret said Wednesday that the prosecution had

AP Business Writer WWE will perform on a stage next month that could be vastly larger than its current home on cable television when “Raw,” its weekly live show, makes its debut on Netflix. The sports entertainment company is moving to a platform with about 283 million subscribers worldwide as it departs its current home

Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The wife of an investigative journalist in Guinea says her husband had been abducted in Guinea’s capital, as the military regime continues to tighten its grip on independent media. Habib Marouane Kamara, the editor-in-chief of an online investigative outlet lerevelateur224.com, was headed to meet a businessman and a friend

Associated Press Keira Knightley starred in one of the most popular Christmas films of the 21st century, the 2003 romantic comedy “Love Actually.” Her new Netflix series “Black Doves” is also set during the holidays, but in this, she plays a spy alongside Ben Whishaw’s assassin. Knightley says the show debuting Thursday falls under the

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday’s targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was

Associated Press KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes tore through a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza on Wednesday, sparking fires and killing at least 21 people, according to the head of a nearby hospital, in the latest assault on a sprawling tent city that Israel designated a humanitarian safe zone

Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — A newly released audit says Maryland has failed to properly manage contracts with private companies that provide medical and mental health care to prisoners in state-run detention facilities. State auditors looking into the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services found hundreds of missed evaluations for suicide risk and mental

AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The birth of Lauren Mayberry as a solo artist should be marked by something like a wolf cry. And that’s exactly what it sounds like. The vocalist and percussionist from the Scottish pop band Chvrches has punctuated her debut album with a playful howl while telling off an

VIENNA (AP) — An Austrian court has ruled that Ukrainian businessman Dymitro Firtash can’t be extradited to the U.S. in a long-running legal saga that centers on a corruption case related to an alleged plan to pay bribes in India. The Vienna State Court said Tuesday evening it decided on Nov. 7 that an extradition

Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is trying to get the Georgia election interference case against him dismissed. He asserts that the state’s courts will not have jurisdiction over him once he returns to the White House next month. The Georgia case against Trump and others is mostly on hold pending a pretrial

NEW YORK (AP) — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is locked in a legal dispute with rival Elon Musk, said said he is “not that worried” about Musk’s influence in the incoming Trump administration. Altman told a New York Times conference Wednesday that he “may turn out to be wrong” but he believes strongly that

AP Film Writer “Anora,” Sean Baker’s odyssey of a New York stripper, and Jane Schoenbrun’s psychological horror “I Saw the TV Glow” dominated nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards with six nods each, including best feature and best director. The nonprofit organization announced nominations Wednesday on a YouTube livestream. Sometimes the Spirit Awards overlap