Month: February 2024

By JAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese authorities say at least 18 people were killed Friday when the bus they were traveling on collided with a truck in the capital, Kinshasa. A government official said the bus collided with the truck as it was making a turn along a highway. Two passengers

CHICAGO (AP) — An overnight fire caused extensive damage to an iconic Chicago restaurant that’s known for its breakfasts and is filled with decades of memorabilia, authorities said. Firefighters were called to the Palace Grill around 10 p.m. Thursday, Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said on X, formerly known as Twitter, in a post

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump told thousands of members of the National Rifle Association that “no one will lay a finger on your firearms” if he returns to the White House, and bragged that during his time as president he “did nothing” to curb guns. “During my

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A former TV news reporter is getting into New Jersey’s U.S. Senate race as a Republican. Alex Zdan worked for News 12 New Jersey. He announced his candidacy for the seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez in an online video filmed at the U.S.-Mexico

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ed Dwight grew up in segregated 1930s Kansas on a farm on the edge of town. An airfield was within walking distance, and, as a boy, he’d often go to marvel at the planes and gawk at the pilots. Most were flying back from hunting

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has met with Argentine pilgrims who are in town for this weekend’s canonization of the first female saint from his home country. Francis blasted what he called the “radical individualism” infecting today’s society during the audience Friday. Francis held up as a model instead the 18th-century Argentine laywoman lovingly known

BEIRIUT (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister has vowed after arriving in Beirut to keep supporting the militant Hezbollah group, saying Lebanon’s security affects that of Iran and the region. Hossein Amirabdollahian was welcomed Friday by representatives of Lebanon’s Hezbollah as well as the militant Palestinian group Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran, a main

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Holding the Olympic Games in bustling, compact Paris is riling and worrying some residents. Games organizers and City Hall officials are finding that out for themselves as they embark on a concerted campaign to win Parisians’ hearts and minds and get people in the Olympic mood or,

By KEN MILLER Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge agreed to step down Friday after she was caught sending hundreds of texts from the bench while overseeing a murder trial in the killing of a 2-year-old boy, including messages that mocked prosecutors and were sprinkled with emojis. District Judge Traci Soderstrom also

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A 15-year-old accused of shooting a Brazilian tourist in the leg Thursday night then firing at a police officer while fleeing through Times Square has been arrested just outside of New York City. Police say the teenager was taken into custody Friday

BERLIN (AP) — A court says one of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party will go on trial in April on charges related to his alleged use in a 2021 speech of a slogan used by the Nazis’ SA stormtroopers. Björn Höcke is the party’s leader in the eastern state

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Meta has removed Instagram and Facebook accounts run on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after criticism over his support for Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the monthslong war still raging in the Gaza Strip, the company

By TODD RICHMOND and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press EVANSVILLE, Wis. (AP) — The first tornadoes ever recorded in Wisconsin in the usually frigid month of February came on a day that broke records for warmth, the type of severe weather normally seen in the late spring and summer. The storms left a swath of destruction

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s new King Frederik X and his Australian-born wife Queen Mary will visit Sweden and Norway in May in their first foreign state visit. Frederik was proclaimed Danish monarch on Jan. 14. The Danish royal household said on Friday the royal couple will first visit Sweden and then Norway. Frederik’s solo visit

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — In a short film shown at the end of the Super Bowl halftime performer news conference, the show’s headliner Usher comes up missing. The singer’s sudden absence prompts instant panic from his friends including Ludacris, Lil Jon and Taraji P. Henson, sparking a search

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Thousands of doctors in the early years of their careers in England are to go on strike later this month for another five-day stretch as their long-standing pay dispute with the British government remains in stasis. The British Medical Association, the union that represents the so-called junior

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a private three-week mission to the International Space Station. The trio were accompanied by a retired NASA astronaut who now works for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the chartered flight.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Elections Commission has complied with court orders and voted to tell the more than 1,800 local clerks who run elections in the battleground state that they can accept absentee ballots that are missing parts of a witness’s address. The Wisconsin State Journal reports the commission voted 5-1 Thursday to

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer For decades, the plotline for LGBTQ+ activism in the U.S. was one of advances — often slow-paced and hard-fought but inexorably moving forward. Now, faced with unprecedented attacks in state legislatures, transgender rights leaders acknowledge they are playing defense — and two of the biggest groups are joining forces

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in New York’s third congressional district will decide who will complete the remaining 11 months of George Santos’ unfinished term. The epilogue to Santos’ short and tumultuous congressional career will be written Tuesday as two candidates vie to replace him. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, the

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry said Friday that his “mission” to rein in the British media continues, after he accepted costs and damages from a tabloid publisher that invaded his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping. Harry’s attorney, David Sherborne, said at a court hearing that Mirror Group

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press KENNEBUNK, Maine (AP) — As long as they still have each other, they’re still going to go to every Super Bowl. That’s the sentiment shared by three friends who say they are the final fans who can claim membership in the exclusive “never missed a Super Bowl” club. And they’re

By SAMYA KULLAB and ALEX BABENKO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s new military chief signaled Friday that he wants to build new momentum, saying his immediate goals are to improve troop rotation at the front lines and harness the power of new technology, at a time when Kyiv’s forces are largely on the

By AIDA SULTANOVA Associated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has officially won another term in office with 92.12% of the vote, according to the country’s Central Election Commission. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says Azerbaijan’s presidential election took place in a “restrictive” environment and that critical voices