Month: December 2024

At least one Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, a ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing Friday night. The California Lottery said the winning

Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A boldly patterned BMW stands at the entrance of the Wits Arts Museum in the vibrant Johannesburg neighborhood of Braamfontein. Its bright geometric shapes are part of 89-year-old South African artist Esther Mahlangu ’s unmistakable style. The car is the centerpiece of an exhibition honoring her and her work. The

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk, a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all. Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian

AP Sports Writer Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney to Hobart line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations on the yacht this year when defending champion LawConnect won the race in the early hours of Saturday morning,

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — California authorities say state Justice Department officials are investigating the death of a man who was shot by his parole officer. The state corrections department said Friday in a statement that 26-year-old Jeremy Sanchez was being visited by the agent at his home in Fresno on Christmas Eve when a “physical

PLYMOUTH, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in Northern California say a man has been fatally shot during an encounter with a highway patrol officer. The shooting occurred in Plymouth, a small town east of Sacramento. Authorities did not say specifically whether the officer shot the man, only that it it was officer-involved. California Highway Patrol officials

Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Court documents show a Colorado man is facing possible bias-motivated charges for allegedly attacking a television news reporter after demanding to know whether he was a citizen, saying “This is Trump’s America now.” Police say 39-year-old Patrick Thomas Egan was arrested Dec. 18 in Grand Junction, Colorado, in the alleged

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s main airport as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers on board was landing and a U.N. delegation was waiting to leave, the U.N.’s top humanitarian official in Yemen said Friday. Julien Harneis told U.N. reporters that the most frightening thing about the two

Associated Press CAMACARI, Brazil (AP) — Dozens of Chinese workers have been taken and put up in hotels in Brazil’s tropical northeastern region after local labor authorities found them at a construction site for electric vehicle automaker BYD. Local prosecutors say they were living in “slavery-like conditions” under contractor Jinjiang Group and raised allegation of

Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Two Canadian Cabinet ministers left a meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Friday without assurances President-elect Donald Trump will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. The Canadians called the talks “productive” and said there would be further discussions but one official said the Americans

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge is signaling that Rudy Giuliani’s contempt hearing next Friday might not end so well for the former New York City mayor and onetime personal lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump as two Georgia election poll workers try to collect a $148 million defamation award they won against

Associated Press Greg Gumbel, a longtime CBS sportscaster who broke barriers during his career calling some of the biggest sporting events, has died from cancer, according to a statement from his family released by the network on Friday. He was 78. “He leaves behind a legacy of love, inspiration and dedication to over 50 extraordinary

Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general is dismissing a felony assault charge against a police officer who slammed a 71-year-old man to the ground, breaking his neck. The use of force came during an argument over a traffic ticket in late October. Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced late Friday that he

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A former top New York City police official has admitted through his lawyer that he had a “consensual, adult relationship” with a subordinate. But he denied her claims that he demanded sex in exchange for extra pay. Jeffrey Maddrey stood silently Friday as his lawyer, Lambros Lambrou, addressed allegations

NEW YORK (AP) — The last of the crystal triangles that make up this year’s Times Square New Year’s Eve ball were installed on Friday morning, marking the first time in 10 years that all 2,688 were replaced at once. Rapper Pitbull and inventor Joy Mangano were among those on hand to help the organizers

Associated Press/Report for America NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana authorities say a 93-year-old former Catholic priest sentenced to life in prison for raping a teenage boy has died. Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections communications director Ken Pastorick says Lawrence Hecker died of natural causes early Thursday at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. After

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state government agencies will have to conduct reviews and publish reports that detail how they’re using artificial intelligence software, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The Democrat signed the bill last week after it was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year. The law requires state

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man has admitted to using gasoline to set several fires around the exterior of a predominantly Black church earlier this year. According to a plea agreement filed in federal court last week, Kevin Colantonio set several fires around the exterior of the Shiloh Gospel Temple in North Providence

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has imposed sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgia’s ruling political party. The State and Treasury departments said Friday that Ivanishvili has steered the country away from a pro-Western stance and towards Russia. The designation of Ivanishvili is the latest in a series of sanctions the U.S. has

WHARTON, N.J. (AP) — Road crews were repairing a short stretch of Interstate 80 in northern New Jersey on Friday where a sinkhole forced the eastbound lanes to shut down, but it was still unknown when they will reopen. The highway’s guardrail still hung suspended in the air across the gaping 40-foot-wide (12-meter) hole, which