Month: February 2024

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer People do not need to wear lead aprons or thyroid collars when getting X-rays at the dentist. That’s according to the American Dental Association. The new recommendation is just that, however. State rules may dictate if people have to wear the aprons, and some states still require them. Experts

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer Meta Platforms Inc. tripled its profit and posted sharply higher revenue in the final quarter of 2023, boosted by a rebound in digital advertising as well cost cutting and layoffs in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the “year of efficiency.” The Menlo Park, California-based company said Thursday that it

Associated Press The storm that pummeled California this week was fueled by an atmospheric river, a plume of moisture that extended over the Pacific to near Hawaii. Atmospheric rivers are long and relatively narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. They occur globally but are especially significant

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press Warm weather has forced the federal officials to suspend the annual wolf-moose count in Isle Royale National Park for the first time in more than six decades. Isle Royale is an island in Lake Superior just south of Thunder Bay, Canada. Researchers have been tracking the island’s wolf and moose

By JOHN ZENOR AP Sports Writer MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu is a hot NFL draft prospect two years after resuming his football career. Latu was medically retired for two seasons at Washington after a neck injury. He was cleared to play for UCLA the past two seasons and emerged as

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly $4 billion in drones and military equipment have been approved for sale to India by the Biden administration. Meant to improve the country’s maritime safety and surveillance, the approval comes at a time when Washington is courting New Delhi to increase its cooperation with the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy, which is largely

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The National Hurricane Center will add inland predictions to its forecast of the location and ferocity of tropical storms. The Miami-based hurricane center said Thursday on the social media platform X that the new, experimental forecast tool will be ready around Aug. 15, just before

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ricky Ian Gordon’s ”This House,” with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and daughter Ruby Aiyo Gerber, will be given its world premiere at the Opera Theater of Saint Louis in June 2025. The commission was first announced in 2022 and was to have premiered this year. Daniela Candillari

By MEG KINNARD and MATT BROWN Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley’s messages on race are sometimes contradictory. Throughout her career, the Republican presidential candidate has generally called out acts of individual prejudice and the people responsible. She has avoided denouncing society or groups of people as racist. As the GOP presidential contest

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Officials from South Africa’s national electoral commission have visited prisons across the country as part of an ambitious project to register at least 100,000 inmates as voters for this year’s national election. The country’s constitution guarantees every adult citizen the right to vote, meaning there

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press The failed campaign and expansive political operation to make Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the Republican nominee for the White House cost $168 million. The sum has been reported in filings to the Federal Election Commission. The pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down is reporting payments of more than $130.6

Associated Press EUDORA, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say the police chief in Eudora, Arkansas, has been arrested and charged with kidnapping. Arkansas State Police say the felony kidnapping charge stems from Police Chief Michael Pitts’ actions in October 2023. Pitts’ lawyer says that his client denies the allegations and intends to plead not guilty. State

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Satellite photos show new demolition along a 1-kilometer-wide path on the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel, according an analysis by The Associated Press and expert reports. The destruction comes as Israel has said it wants to establish a buffer zone there, over international objections, further tearing away

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Dueling Virginia legislative proposals backed by different gambling companies would open the door for an expansion of slot-like betting machines in businesses such as truck stops, restaurants and convenience stores. At the center of the debate are gray machines. The arcade-style games look similar to slot

By SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — President Bernardo Arévalo said Thursday that with his political party suspended, little support in congress and an attorney general in hot pursuit, he will appeal to the Guatemalan people to help him overcome the entrenched old guard and achieve the change he campaigned on. “We

By FAY ABUELGASIM Associated Press RIYAK, Lebanon (AP) — Britain’s top diplomat said Thursday that his country could officially recognize a Palestinian state after a cease-fire in Gaza without waiting for the outcome of what could be yearslong talks between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution. Foreign Secretary David Cameron, speaking to The

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. (AP) — Police say officers responding to shots fired at an Atlanta-area home found numerous women there and are investigating the possibility the residence was used for sex trafficking. South Fulton police detained 19 people at the home Thursday, most of them women between 16 and about 40 years old. South Fulton

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A group of employees and teachers from a Kentucky middle school who bought a $1 million Powerball winning ticket tucked it in a math text book for safekeeping before claiming the prize this week. The group of 30 educators, some retired, met at Rector A. Jones Middle School in northern Kentucky

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s political operation has amassed about $130 million in the final months of last year, but after spending heavily he’s headed into 2024 with more than $42 million. New campaign finance reports filed Wednesday showed that across four committees that make up Trump’s political operation, he ended 2023 having

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A heavily armed man who was found dead at a Colorado mountaintop amusement park last year had researched mass shootings online, but investigators haven’t determined why he amassed such an arsenal or didn’t follow through on “whatever he was planning,” authorities said Thursday. The body of Diego

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Court documents show that Memphis Police Department trainers are prepared to testify in the federal civil rights case against four former Memphis police officers in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols that the officers used force inconsistent with their training and failed to prevent their colleagues

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A California teenager accused of swatting a Florida mosque has been arrested and transported across the country to face felony charges. Court records show that 17-year-old Alan Filion was arrested Jan. 18 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on a warrant from Seminole County, Florida. He was extradited to central

By DIDI TANG Associated Press Washington (AP) — Two U.S. lawmakers have nominated Jimmy Lai, a former Hong Kong publisher now standing trial on national security charges, and three other jailed Chinese dissidents for the Nobel Peace Prize. While hundreds of people are often nominated for the annual prize, this nomination is certain to draw

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Mass street protests have intensified across Slovakia against a plan by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to amend the penal code and eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with major crime and corruption. Thousands were rallying as the protests on Thursday spread to 31 cities and town across