Month: February 2024

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The staggering civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump was finalized by a New York county clerk on Friday. The procedural step makes official a verdict that put the former president on the hook for more than $454 million in fines and interest.

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Undergraduate student workers at California State University have voted to join a union to negotiate better pay, sick time, and other benefits with the university, creating the largest such union in the country. The California Public Employment Relations Board said 7,252 student workers submitted electronic

WARREN, R.I. (AP) — A nearly 150-year-old stained-glass church window in Rhode Island that depicts a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has found a new home at a museum in Tennessee. The window installed at the long-closed St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Warren in 1878 is the oldest known public

By JACK DURA and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press South Dakota’s Legislature has made it easier for the city of Sioux Falls to find new homes for more than 150 taxidermy animals of its arsenic-contaminated collection. A bill headed to Gov. Kristi Noem’s desk would allow the city to donate the collection to an out-of-state nonprofit.

By TERRY SPENCER Associate Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s controversial surgeon general is drawing criticism for his handling of an elementary school’s measles outbreak, telling parents of unvaccinated children it is their choice whether their student attends class. Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s statement is a direct contravention of federal guidelines that call for those

By TERESA M. WALKER and RALPH D. RUSSO AP Sports Writers A federal judge has barred the NCAA from enforcing its rules prohibiting name, image and likeness compensation from being used to recruit athletes. The judge granted a preliminary injunction requested by the states of Tennessee and Virginia. The ruling undercuts what has been a

KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Two U.S. senators looking to crack down on the number of packages from China that enter the country duty-free are calling on President Joe Biden to take executive action. Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, and Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, are calling on Biden to

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — Hundreds of migrants were dropped off Friday at a San Diego bus stop instead of at a reception center that had been serving as a staging area because it ran out of local funding sooner than expected, showing how even the largest city on the country’s

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukraine’s foreign minister is telling skeptics who believe Ukraine can’t win the war with Russia that they will be proven wrong. Dmytro Kuleba insists that “Ukraine will win the war.” He is speaking at the United Nations on the eve of the second anniversary of

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces have downed a Russian early warning and control aircraft in a major win for the country as it fights back persistent Russian attacks along the front line. Friday’s development comes as the war enters its third year. Ukraine’s air force chief, Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk,

By NICOLE WINFIELD and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press ROME (AP) — A delegation of German bishops is expected in Rome soon after the Vatican insisted they scrap a planned vote on a controversial proposal to let laypeople participate in a decision-making council alongside bishops. The aborted vote was the latest in years of efforts by

By BRIAN WITTE Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland House has voted for a measure to enable people to buy health insurance through the state’s health care exchange regardless of their immigration status, with the approval of a federal waiver. The House voted 101-34 on Friday for the bill, which now goes to

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers have advanced legislation aimed at prohibiting universities, schools and public entities from maintaining diversity and inclusion offices or funding initiatives that teach what Republicans labeled as “divisive concepts.” The multi-pronged proposal is one of dozens of bills introduced by Republican lawmakers across the country that would restrict initiatives on

By ZEKE MILLER and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told the nation’s governors on Friday that he’s exploring what executive actions he can take to curb migration across the southern border after a bipartisan deal collapsed in Congress this month. He seemed to express frustration at the legal limits

By KEN MILLER, PHILIP MARCELO and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A 16-year-old Oklahoma student who died the day after a fight in a high school bathroom was conscious and alert when telling police about the attack by three girls that occurred after the teen squirted them with water, according to police

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Lawmakers began scrambling for ways to protect Alabama in vitro fertilization services after multiple providers paused treatment in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under a state law. Facing a wave of shock and anger from the

By HOLLY RAMER and KEVIN McGILL Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Orleans magician says a Democratic consultant who worked for Dean Phillips’ presidential campaign hired him to create the audio for what authorities say may be the first known attempt to use artificial intelligence to interfere with a U.S. election. Paul Carpenter

CHICAGO (AP) — Now it’s United Airlines’ turn to raise fees for checking bags. United said Friday it will raise fees beginning with tickets booked on Saturday. The fee for checking a bag on a domestic flight will rise $5 — to $35 if paid in advance, or $40 if paid at the airport. The

BROOKFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Zoo officials say a grey seal found stranded and blind more than a decade ago on an island in Maine has given birth at a Chicago-area zoo and is now “a very attentive mother” to her newborn. Brookfield Zoo officials said Friday that the 11-year-old grey seal, named “Georgie,” gave birth

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A court filing Friday uses cellphone location data to try to raise questions about the testimony given by a special prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump who had a romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The analysis of

Associated Press Powered by big stadium tours from artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, ticket sales are booming and it appears likely that live acts will continue to draw massive crowds this year after the pandemic closed down concert venues globally for close to two years. Concert and event producer Live Nation confirmed this week

By CHRISTINA LARSON AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The moon count in our solar system just went up by three. Astronomers have found two previously unknown moons circling Neptune and one around Uranus. The distant tiny moons were spotted using powerful land-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. The discovery was announced Friday by the

Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — The embattled superintendent overseeing public schools in the Las Vegas area stepped down Friday after more than five years at the helm of the nation’s fifth-largest school district. The Clark County School District has around 380 schools. Superintendent Jesus Jara turned in his resignation last month after the school

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, JOSH BOAK and EMMA BURROWS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States, United Kingdom and European Union are once again hitting Russia with new waves of sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. This time, they also come in response to the death of noted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last week. With

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The explanation given for the source of 13 pages of drafts of lyrics to the Eagles’ “Hotel California” raised red flags to a prominent auction house, a former executive testified Friday at a criminal trial surrounding the handwritten pages. Former Christie’s manuscripts chief Tom Lecky was

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has restored a U.S. legal finding dating back nearly 50 years that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are “illegitimate” under international law. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the U.S. believes settlements are inconsistent with Israel’s obligations. His predecessor,

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, JAMES POLLARD, MEG KINNARD and BILL BARROW Associated Press ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says he would “strongly support the availability” of in vitro fertilization for couples and women who are trying to have a baby. And he’s calling on lawmakers in Alabama “to act quickly to