Month: February 2024

By BILL BARROW and JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Donald Trump doubled down Tuesday on comparing his criminal indictments to the circumstances of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the top political opponent of Russia’s autocratic leader Vladimir Putin who died in a remote arctic prison after being jailed by the Kremlin leader.

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press A Colorado man has died after being bitten by his pet Gila monster in what would be a rare death by one of the desert lizards if the creature’s venom turns out to have been the cause. Christopher Ward, 34, was taken to a hospital shortly after being bitten by

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors say an executive at a medical device company has been convicted in Minnesota of insider trading for a scheme involving negotiations for the acquisition of the firm that was valued at $1.6 billion. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Doron Tavlin was a vice president at Mazor Robotics when he

By SARA CLINE Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In an effort to subdue violent crimes, lawmakers have returned to the Capitol for a short special legislative session and are advancing a slew of Republican-authored tough-on-crime policies. The aggressive agenda could reshape parts of the Louisiana’s criminal justice system and public safety sector. Among

NEW YORK (AP) — A man suspected in the death of a woman who was fatally bludgeoned in a New York City hotel room earlier this month has been arrested in Arizona, where police say he is a suspect in two stabbings in recent days. New York City police officials said at a news conference

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia senators are advancing a proposal that would require school libraries to notify parents of every book their child checks out. The state Senate Education and Youth Committee voted 5-4 Tuesday to advance the bill to the full Senate for more debate. A proposal to subject school

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah State Board of Education member who is facing pressure from top state leaders to resign has instead announced that she is running for reelection. Natalie Cline has faced widespread backlash from both Republicans and Democrats after her social media post questioning the gender

TUSTIN, Calif. (AP) — A man has been arrested after allegedly setting off a homemade firework near a Southern California shopping center. Reports of an explosion at The Village at Tustin Legacy prompted authorities to evacuate several businesses on Tuesday afternoon. There were no injuries and there was no damage to the shopping mall. The

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans are planning dueling presidential nominating conventions that will take place March 2. The Republican National Committee last week said that party members had properly removed former chair Kristina Karamo and recognized former Congressman Pete Hoekstra as the party’s new chair. Hoekstra announced Tuesday that

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden ’s lawyers suggested Tuesday that claims made by a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a bribery scheme involving the presidential family may have tainted the case against the president’s son. The gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden are separate from the claims made

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican prosecutor is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide whether state law bans abortions before the case goes through any lower appellate courts. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade reactivated an 1849 law that conservatives argue banned abortion. A

By RIO YAMAT and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with Russian intelligence-affiliated officials, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s First Lady Tammy Murphy, who is running for U.S. Senate, says she opposes construction of a gas-fired backup power plant in a minority neighborhood already heavily burdened with pollution. But she did not say Tuesday whether she has discussed her view with the one

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The attorney for the estranged husband of an American missing in Spain under suspicious circumstances says his client played no part in her disappearance. Attorney Ken Padowitz said Tuesday that David Knezevich was in his native Serbia on Feb. 2 when his wife Ana disappeared

By RALPH D. RUSSO and STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writers The field for the 12-team College Football Playoff beginning next season will comprise five conference champions and seven at-large selections after the university presidents who oversee the CFP voted unanimously Tuesday to tweak the format. The move to decrease the number of spots reserved for

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man charged with killing his wife has been sentenced to more than three years behind bars in an unrelated art fraud case. Forty-nine-year-old Brian Walshe was sentenced to 37 months onTuesday in federal court for selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings. He also was ordered

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The governing body of the world’s most famous sled dog race has disqualified the 2023 Iditarod rookie of the year from this year’s contest by citing a rule but not the specific infraction. After an emergency meeting Monday, the Iditarod Trail Committee announced Eddie Burke Jr.

By MATTHEW BARAKAT and SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Influential labor groups now say they are opposing efforts to move two professional sports franchises from the nation’s capital to northern Virginia, partially due to the apparent inability to reach a satisfactory deal for union workers on the construction projects. The Northern Virginia

By PETER SMITH Associated Press The Southern Baptist Convention’s top administrative body voted Tuesday to oust four congregations — one for having a woman as senior minister, two for what it said were failures related to the denomination’s sexual-abuse policy and one for lack of financial participation. The SBC’s Executive Committee announced the decision after