Month: February 2024

LONDON (AP) — A proof copy of the first Harry Potter novel that was bought for pennies in a second-hand bookshop almost 30 years ago has sold at auction for 11,000 pounds, or $13,900. British auctioneers Hanson’s said Monday that the first-edition copy of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” which states “uncorrected proof copy”

By ISABELLA O’MALLEY Associated Press A powerful winter storm was dumping deep snow in parts of the West on Monday and much of the central U.S. was unseasonably warm: People played golf in Wisconsin and comfortably walked their dogs in Iowa, where some bulbs were starting to flower. And high winds hiked fire risks in

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is sending the nation’s top health official to meet with patients and doctors in Alabama on Tuesday to discuss a controversial court ruling that upended in vitro fertilization treatment in the state. The ruling by the Republican-controlled Alabama Supreme Court has unexpectedly propelled the

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Authorities say an Alabama judge remains hospitalized after a weekend shooting at his home, and his son has been arrested in connection with the shooting. Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham told news outlets that Johnny Hardwick, the presiding judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit in that county, underwent surgery after Saturday’s

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press VIENNA (AP) — According to a report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press, Iran has further increased its total stockpile of uranium and continues to bar several of the most experienced inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program. Monday’s IAEA report estimated that as of Feb.

By BERT WILKINSON Associated Press GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The U.S. government has reiterated its support to help restore peace and calm to Haiti and says it will provide money, equipment and logistical support to a multinational force whose deployment remains uncertain. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who is in Guyana

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge has set a trial date for Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from the 2021 deadly shooting on the set of the Western movie “Rust.” The scheduling order entered Monday calls for jury selection to begin July 9, with the trial starting the following

By ELISE MORTON Vadim Krasikov’s name has come up in recent weeks in relation to prisoner swaps involving now deceased Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Krasikov is serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing in Berlin of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Almost 50 years after the novel “Shogun” became a massive hit, the James Clavell fictional saga makes its way to FX. Set in Japan in 1600, it’s rooted in the real history of the period, a dangerous time when several warlords jockeyed for ultimate power

By JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister announced his government’s resignation on Monday, seen as the first step in a reform process urged by the United States as part of its latest ambitious plans to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But it will do little to address the authority’s longstanding lack of legitimacy

LONDON (AP) — Financier and philanthropist Jacob Rothschild, of the renowned Rothschild banking dynasty, has died at 87, his family said Monday. Rothschild began his career in the family bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, in 1963, before breaking away to start businesses and charitable organizations. His family paid tribute to him in a statement. “Our

By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON Associated Press/Report For America COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio commission has awarded bids to frack oil and gas under state parks despite statewide backlash and an ongoing investigation into possibly fraudulent support. The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission granted the mineral rights to several out-of-state oil and gas companies.

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Organizers of the longest sled dog race in the eastern United States say they are canceling the event due to a lack of snow on the ground. The Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races have taken place in northern Maine for more than three decades, and

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Rev. Steve Bland Jr. remembers the massive get-out-the-vote effort he helped mobilize four years ago, when pastors and community leaders spread out across Detroit neighborhoods, made phone calls and worked around the clock to encourage people to vote. He’s not seeing that kind of enthusiasm this

SEATTLE (AP) — Former NFL star Richard Sherman’s bail has been set at $5,000 following his weekend arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence. The Washington State Patrol says Sherman was pulled over early Saturday for driving 79 mph  in a 60 mph  zone on Interstate 405 south of Seattle, and that his eyes

HAWLEY, Minn. (AP) — Residents of a small Minnesota town were asked to go without water as firefighters from 17 departments battled a huge blaze that destroyed a grain elevator. School also was canceled in Hawley, Minnesota, for lack of spare water. The fire was reported around 11 p.m. Sunday, and it took about eight

MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man who pleaded guilty in the starvation death of his disabled brother was sentenced Monday to a minimum of 30 years in prison. Twenty-one-year-old Paul Ferguson had pleaded guilty in December to first-degree child abuse in the death of 15-year-old Timothy Ferguson. He was sentenced Monday to a minimum

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s first new license plate in a quarter century gives homage to an old flag that’s growing in popularity and reappearing on hats, totes and T-shirts. The plate unveiled Monday features a simple pine tree and the North Star, both featured on the state’s first official flag in 1901. Maine residents

BY FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — An Australian tourist reported missing late last week in Zimbabwe near Victoria Falls already had been missing for nearly a week before that. That’s according to new information released Monday by national park officials. The 67-year-old tourist, whose name has not been released, was reported missing

BOONEVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Officials are honoring two Mississippi National Guardsmen who died Friday in a helicopter crash. A Monday procession ceremony began at a hospital in Booneville, Mississippi, near where the helicopter plummeted into a wooded area during a training flight. The procession continued south along Highway 45 to Pearl, where autopsies will be