Month: February 2024

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Ostrow, the founder of the Continental Baths, a trailblazing New York City gay bathhouse where Bette Midler, Barry Manilow and other famous artists cut their teeth, has died. He was 91. An obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald says the Brooklyn native died Feb. 4

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has extended his block on enforcement of an Ohio law that would require children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps while a legal challenge proceeds. U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley’s grant of a preliminary injunction Monday

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Businesses in New York will now be required to clearly post how much extra their products will cost if customers pay with a credit card. That’s thanks to a new state law that took effect Sunday. The law means stores can no longer post a sign on a door and at

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s opposition Labour Party on Monday disowned an election candidate who claimed that Israel allowed Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack to happen as a pretext to invade Gaza. Azhar Ali was selected last month to run for Labour in a Feb. 29 special election for the House of

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 50 years ago, Gloria Gaynor released “I Will Survive,” the first disco song to top the Billboard charts and the only one to be awarded a Grammy for best disco recording. Then, 40 years later, she earned another Grammy: for her 2019’s gospel album,

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it’s looking forward to hosting the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs again — and it isn’t ruling out having the team’s most-famous fan, Taylor Swift, tag along this time. Asked at Monday’s press briefing if the pop star could come along as

By JOHN O’CONNOR AP Political Writer SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge has again delayed the wire fraud and money laundering trial of William “Sam” McCann, a former candidate for Illinois governor. McCann was briefly hospitalized last week and told a judge that he was “medically and psychologically” unable to proceed. The judge on

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The level of online betting on the Super Bowl surged this year, according to a company that tracks the physical location of online gamblers. Data from GeoComply shows the number of verification checks it carried out over the weekend increased by more than 22% from

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Parts of the Northeast were preparing Monday for a coastal storm that was expected to pack high winds and dump a foot or more of snow in some areas, leading to school closures, warnings against road travel and the possible disruption of flights. The nation’s largest

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge has ordered Elon Musk to testify for a third time as part of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, now called X, in 2022. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler issued an order Saturday giving Musk, his team and the SEC a week to

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican law enforcement agencies say they seized over 40 tons of methamphetamine at the biggest drug lab found during the current administration. The Mexican navy said Monday that the lab was located in Quiriego, a township in the northern border state of Sonora. It says the 91,000 pounds (41,310 kilograms) of

By TIFFANY STANLEY Associated Press For the second year in a row, a religious Super Bowl ad campaign promised viewers that Jesus “gets us.” Two commercials shown Sunday night centered Jesus’ message to love your neighbors — even across ideological divides. In one, people of different races, classes and gender expressions have their feet washed,

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia lawmakers are pushing to make the state the 12th in the nation to ban smoking in cars with children. The state Senate on Monday passed a bill making it a misdemeanor to smoke in a vehicle with a child under 17. The bill goes

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An Associated Press photographer who took photos of presidents and the pope as well as hurricanes, golf and space shuttle launches has died. Lou Krasky has spent more than 35 years with the wire service. The 86-year-old photographer was born in New York City and joined

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government says it has seized a Boeing 747 cargo plane that officials say was previously sold by a sanctioned Iranian airline to a state-owned Venezuelan firm in violation of American export control laws. The Justice Department said Monday that the American-built plane had arrived in

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police have identified a man arrested after an intense search and charged him with fatally shooting one man, wounding two women and carjacking two vehicles at four different locations in Memphis. Memphis police say 20-year-old Courdarion Craft was arrested Sunday on charges including first-degree murder, especially

WHITEFISH POINT, Mich. (AP) — Shipwreck hunters have discovered a merchant ship that sank in Lake Superior in 1940, taking its captain with it during a storm off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society and shipwreck researcher Dan Fountain announced Monday the discovery of the 244-foot bulk carrier Arlington just north of

U.S. auto safety regulators have closed a seven-year investigation into complaints about power-assisted steering failures in Ford Fusions without seeking additional recalls. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Monday that its testing found only minor steering effort changes if the power-assist failed. It also found a declining failure trend, and a

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press Joel Osteen is one of the most familiar faces in American religion. The pastor who leads the Houston megachurch where a 5-year-old boy was critically wounded in a Sunday shooting that also hit a man in the hip — before the shooter was killed by off-duty police working security —

By ED WHITE Associated Press A Republican lawmaker in Michigan has lost his committee assignment and staff, days after posting an image of a racist ideology on social media. House Speaker Joe Tate, who is Black, said he will not allow the House to be a forum for “racist, hateful and bigoted speech.” State Rep.

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The casts of “ Barbie ” and “ Oppenheimer ” gathered Monday at the annual Academy Award nominees luncheon alongside dozens of less famous and first-time Oscar hopefuls for handshakes, hugs, a huge group picture and instructions on nailing an acceptance speech. The event