Month: September 2023

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Several Catholic priests have held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples outside Cologne cathedral in a protest against the city’s conservative archbishop Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. Their protest service on Wednesday night was triggered by Cologne church officials’ criticism of a priest from the town of Mettmann near

By BRIAN WITTE Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A man wrongly convicted of two separate violent crimes will be compensated by the state of Maryland after spending years behind bars, including over a year after he had been proven innocent. A Maryland board approved more than $340,000 for a settlement on Wednesday in compensation

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press The influential abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America has changed its name to Reproductive Freedom for All. The group says the rebrand better reflects how people think about abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure last year. The group said Wednesday that Reproductive Freedom

By ALEXANDRA OLSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A venture capital firm that has backed buzzy new companies has become symbolic of the fight over corporate diversity policies. Fearless Fund has become a target of a lawsuit over a grant program for Black women. But it is a tiny player in the approximately

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s debate over abortion access is heating up the governor’s race. Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear continues to criticize Republican Daniel Cameron’s support for the state’s existing abortion ban. But this week Cameron signaled new willingness to accept abortion exceptions for rape and incest. Beshear’s campaign is

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A white 84-year-old homeowner who is accused of shooting a Black teenager after the high-schooler mistakenly came to his Kansas City home entered a not guilty plea Wednesday. Andrew Lester is charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the April 13 shooting of Ralph

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — New court documents show Oscar Pistorius was eligible for parole in March under South African law. The double-amputee Olympic and Paralympic runner may have been wrongly denied early release from prison due to a miscalculation over when he began serving his sentence for murder.

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and George R.R. Martin are among 17 authors suing OpenAI for “systematic theft on a mass scale.” Their suit was filed Tuesday in New York and is the latest in a wave of legal action by writers concerned that AI programs

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington’s revolving door kept spinning this week as the Drug Enforcement Administration’s recently departed second-in-command returned for another stint with a high-powered consulting firm where he previously advised OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. Louis Milione had retired from the DEA this summer for a second

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s state Senate wants to move up the state’s 2024 primary election by five weeks to March 19. Lawmakers touted the move as a way to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover and to give voters more of a say in deciding presidential

STROUD, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper fatally shot the driver of a semi truck during a traffic stop on Interstate 44. OHP spokesperson Sarah Stewart says the trooper shot the man Wednesday morning near a toll booth east of Stroud, about 55 miles east of Oklahoma City. The names of the trooper

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man charged with murder in the ambush killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Officials say Kevin Cataneo Salazar fatally shot 30-year-old Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer on Saturday in Palmdale as the deputy sat

By ABBY SEWELL Associated Press SEBLINE, Lebanon (AP) — Nearly a week after a cease-fire agreement between warring factions in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp brought a fragile peace, hundreds of displaced residents see no immediate prospects of return. Some have lost their houses while others do not trust that the calm will hold. For

By STEPHEN GROVES and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With no clear strategy, no sure support and not much time left to prevent a government shutdown, Speaker Kevin McCarthy nevertheless vowed on Wednesday he would not give up trying to convince his colleagues to pass a temporary funding bill through the House. But

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer Planet Earth is about to receive a special delivery — the biggest sample yet from an asteroid. A NASA spacecraft will fly by Earth on Sunday and drop off what is expected to be at least a cupful of rubble it grabbed from the asteroid Bennu, closing out a

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In a story published September 20, 2023, about an abortion-related ballot question in Ohio, The Associated Press erroneously reported the name of an Ohio Supreme Court Justice. He is Michael Donnelly not John Donnelly.

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he’s delaying by five years a ban on new gas and diesel cars that had been due to take effect in 2030. The move is among measures that water down green pledges the U.K. has made. Sunak says Britain remains committed to

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is beginning a new effort to contact former service members who may have been forced out of the military and deprived of years of benefits due to policies targeting their sexual orientation, starting with those who served under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Under that policy,

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — UNESCO added World War I funerary and memorial locations across the Western Front to its prestigious World Heritage registry, expanding its list of landmarks of monumental importance. The World Heritage Committee announced the decision Wednesday during its ongoing meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The list includes sites

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — A hush fell over the Fendi runway as the front-row filled with supermodels signaling the show was about to begin: Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss had taken their seats. Backstage, was still a murmur of activity. Kim Jones’ Spring-Summer 2024 collection for Fendi unveiled

By PAT EATON-ROBB Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut’s attorney general has agreed to a $25.2 million settlement with two men who spent decades in prison for murder, based partly on evidence presented by famed forensic scientist Henry Lee that a judge later found was fabricated. Ralph “Ricky” Birch and Shawn Henning were convicted

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama high school band director says he was just “doing my job” when police officers arrested him and shocked him with a stun gun after he refused to immediately stop the band as it played in the bleachers following a football game. Johnny Mims, the band director at Minor High

PERRY, Ga. (AP) — A 91-year-old Georgia sheriff says he will hand in his badge after more than 50 years as the county’s chief lawman. Houston County Sheriff Cullen Talton has told WMAZ-TV that he won’t seek reelection in 2024 and will step down at the end of his term. Houston County commissioners called Talton

The Associated Press Vanna White will remain with “Wheel of Fortune” for two additional seasons. Followig the announcement earlier this year that Pat Sajak would make season 41 of “Wheel of Fortune” his last, White’s future with the show was uncertain. Her current contract was set to expire at the end of this season when

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Feb. 5 retrial date has been set for the man who gunned down former New Orleans Saints defensive star Will Smith in 2016. Cardell Hayes had been convicted of manslaughter months after the killing. But the jury’s 10-2 verdict was thrown out after the U.S.

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A new exhibition is opening in London to chart for the first time the contributions Black British culture made to U.K. fashion and design history and to celebrate Black designers who haven’t received public recognition. “The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion” at central London’s