Month: April 2024

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden met Wednesday with Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old American girl who was held hostage in Gaza for several weeks at the start of the war. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the White House meeting with Abigail and her family was “a reminder

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A judge has declined to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits filed against rap star Travis Scott over his role in the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge. State District Judge Kristen Hawkins issued a one-page order denying Scott’s request

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — When Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign, she refused to endorse Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination — and apparently so did some of her supporters in Pennsylvania. Haley won almost 17% of Pennsylvania’s primary vote Tuesday, to Trump’s 83%, despite not campaigning for president

By JACK JEFFERY and JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas released a hostage video on Wednesday showing a well-known Israeli-American man who was among scores of people abducted by the militants in the attack that ignited the war in Gaza. The video was the first sign of life of Hersh Goldberg-Polin since Hamas’

By TARA COPP Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A top U.S. military official says there’s been no final decision on whether or not all U.S. troops will leave Niger and Chad. Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement last month that allows U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm.

BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Attorney’s office says a Chinese former student at Boston’s Berklee College of Music has been sentenced to nine months in prison for stalking and threatening a person who posted a flyer in support of democracy in the Asian country. The leaflet that was posted on campus Oct. 22 read, “Stand

CAMERON, La. (AP) — Up to $20,000 is being offered for information leading to a criminal conviction or civil penalty involving a dolphin that was found shot to death in southwest Louisiana. Federal wildlife officials say a juvenile bottlenose dolphin was found shot to death March 13 along the coast of Cameron Parish. The National

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A former senior U.S. official who until recently helped oversee human-rights compliance by foreign militaries receiving American military assistance said Wednesday that he repeatedly observed Israel receiving “special treatment” from U.S. officials when it came to scrutiny of allegations of Israeli military abuses of Palestinian civilians. The

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — The longtime boyfriend of a central Florida mother whose teenage daughter was reported missing in February has been charged with the 13-year-old girl’s murder. Court records show Stephan Sterns was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Madeline Soto. She was reported missing in February after her mother, Jennifer Soto,

By JONEL ALECCIA and LAURA UNGAR Associated Press U.S. health and agriculture officials are ramping up testing and tracking of bird flu in dairy cows in an urgent effort to understand and stop the growing outbreak. Officials say the risk to humans remains low. Scientists fear that the virus that’s been detected in cattle in

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer The No. 1 pick in the NFL draft already has traded hands, with Carolina sending it more than a year ago to Chicago in a trade to move up to take Bryce Young first overall in 2023. Based on recent history, plenty more first-round picks should change hands

By The Associated Press Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up at many college campuses after being inspired by demonstrators at Columbia University. The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from companies advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza and in some cases from Israel itself. Police have arrested hundreds nationwide since

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer A new study finds little change in the number of people taking a key medicine for opioid addiction even though it’s now easier for doctors to prescribe it. The findings were published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers looked at what happened after the U.S.

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ and MAE ANDERSON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — For millions of American workers, the federal government took two actions this week that could bestow potentially far-reaching benefits. In one move, the Federal Trade Commission voted to ban noncompete agreements, which bar millions of workers from leaving their employers to join a

GUYMON, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma prosecutors have charged a fifth member of an anti-government group with killing and kidnapping two Kansas women. Thirty-one-year-old Paul Jeremiah Grice was charged Wednesday in Texas County. He faces two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. An Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has granted clemency to 16 people who were convicted of non-violent drug crimes. Biden used his clemency powers under the Constitution to issue pardons to 11 men and women. The Democratic president shortened the sentences of five others. Biden says he acted because April

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A woman who sued Mississippi’s capital city over the death of her brother is rejecting a settlement after officials publicly disclosed how much the city would pay his survivors. George Robinson died in January 2019, days after three Jackson police officers pulled him from a

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Prosecutors on Wednesday urged jurors to convict a former Colorado sheriff’s deputy of murder and other charges for shooting and killing a 22-year-old man in distress after they say the deputy needlessly escalated a standoff with him. The 2022 death of Christian Glass in a small mountain

By ERICK KAGLAN Associated Press LOME, Togo (AP) — Amnesty International says authorities in Togo have repressed the media and prevented civilians from gathering to protest peacefully. In its an annual report published Wednesday, ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled to take place at the end of this month, the rights group said two newspapers in

By AMANDA SEITZ, REBECCA BOONE and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard its first test on Wednesday of state abortion bans that have been enacted since the court upended the Roe v. Wade constitutional right to abortion. While the current case involves an Idaho abortion ban, the court’s ruling

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bears unveiled a nearly $5 billion proposal for an enclosed stadium next door to their current home at Soldier Field as part of a major project that would transform the city’s lakefront, and they are asking for public funding to help make it happen.

DALLAS (AP) — Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines have ratified a contract that includes pay raises totaling more than 33% over four years, as airline workers continue to benefit from the industry’s recovery since the pandemic. The Transport Workers Union said Wednesday that members of Local 556 approved the contract by a margin of 81%

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Democratic governor in Kansas has vetoed a broad package of tax cuts for the second time in three months. Gov. Laura Kelly described the tax plan Wednesday as too expensive despite the bipartisan support it enjoyed in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The cuts in income,

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has used the launch of the Wounded Warrior Project’s annual Soldier Ride from the White House lawn, a multiday bike ride, to stress the importance of supporting service members. The first lady sounded a red horn to start the ride on Wednesday and also used

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Connecticut city alderman has been sentenced to 10 days behind bars for joining a mob’s assault on the U.S. Capitol over three years ago, court records show. Chief Judge James Boasberg also ordered Gene DiGiovanni Jr. to perform 50 hours of community service for his role in the Jan. 6,