Month: May 2024

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An international law enforcement team has arrested a Chinese national and disrupted a major botnet that officials said he ran for nearly a decade, amassing at least $99 million in profits by reselling access to criminals who used it for identity theft, child exploitation, and financial fraud, including pandemic relief

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities say a human skull found padlocked to an exercise dumbbell has been fished out of a New Orleans waterway, leaving police with a mystery on their hands. Police said in a report that the skull was found on May 18. A man using a rope and a magnet the size

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — When Achyut Ethiraj’s final appearance in the Scripps National Spelling Bee ended far earlier than he anticipated, the 14-year-old grimaced at the microphone, walked off the stage quietly and exited the ballroom with his mother’s arm draped around his back. Achyut had plenty of company

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Despite a long string of recalls that began more than two decades ago, about 6.2 million vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators remain on U.S. roads today. On Wednesday, Nissan warned drivers of about 84,000 older Nissan and Infiniti vehicles not to drive them

Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A criminal court in Argentina has postponed to Oct. 1 the start of a trial in a criminal negligence case brought against eight people allegedly involved in the death of soccer star Diego Maradona. The 1986 World Cup winner died at age 60 on Nov. 25, 2020 due

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Buck Leonard. Charlie “Chino” Smith. Turkey Stearnes. Baseball players and fans alike are learning more about the Negro Leagues after the statistics for more than 2,300 players — historic figures like Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige and Mule Suttles — were incorporated into the major

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A nurse was fired by a New York City hospital after she referred to Israel’s war in Gaza as a “genocide” during a speech accepting an award. Labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was being honored by NYU Langone Health for her

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After nearly two dozen witnesses, 16 days of testimony and hours of lawyers’ closing arguments, it’s time for jurors to have their say in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial. Jury deliberations began Wednesday in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. Jurors

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants, saying his wife hoisted the two controversial flags that flew above their homes. “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” Alito wrote

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball said Tuesday that it has incorporated records for more than 2,300 Negro Leagues players following a three-year research project. Players like Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Satchel Paige now hold significant standing on MLB’s career and season leaderboards. Here’s a look at some of the stats most affected.

By DYLAN LOVAN Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Criminal charges against Scottie Scheffler have been dismissed, ending a legal saga that began with images of the world’s top golfer being arrested and handcuffed in Louisville during the PGA Championship. Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell asked a judge Wednesday afternoon to drop the four charges

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press Yale University has named its 24th president. Maurie McInnis will take over on July 1 and succeed Peter Salovey, who is retiring to take a faculty position after leading the New Haven, Connecticut, school for the past decade. McInnis is the first woman to be appointed permanently as Yale’s president.

By LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore are assessing the country’s bridges after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The team includes students and faculty. They hope to determine whether other structures are similarly vulnerable. University officials say they hope policymakers will use the findings

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Heat-related howler monkeys deaths in Mexico have been recorded in a total of four states, environmental authorities said. The Environment Department said late Tuesday that monkey deaths have now been recorded in a total of four states, mostly on the Gulf of Mexico. The department also said tests confirmed the primates

NEW YORK (AP) — Three Black men are suing American Airlines, claiming they were discriminated against when ordered to leave a plane in January. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in New York. The men say they were told to leave a plane waiting to take off in Phoenix, and then noticed that

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Jacqueline Stewart is leaving her post leading the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to return to the University of Chicago. Academy Museum veteran Amy Homma will succeed her as director and president. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, announced Wednesday several more

By MATTHEW LEE and VADIM GHIRDA Associated Press CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pledged $135 million in aid to Moldova for energy security and to counter Russian disinformation. The Western-leaning nation is struggling to blunt Russia’s push for influence that’s been buoyed by recent successes in its war in

MIDDLETON, Wis. (AP) — Authorities say two people died when a house exploded and caught fire in southern Wisconsin. One person was found dead in the home’s ruins after it exploded around 11 p.m. Tuesday just outside the city of Middleton. And Middleton Fire Chief Aaron Harris says a second body was found Wednesday. He

By TIA GOLDENBERG, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Wednesday it seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war now in its eighth month. The capture of the

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say a massive explosion killed a bank employee, injured several other people and left an apartment building uninhabitable in Youngstown, Ohio. Police and emergency officials initially blamed natural gas, but the fire chief later said the cause is under investigation. The blast blew out part of the ground floor of

By ELÉONORE HUGHES Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday after months of tensions between the two countries over the war in Gaza, the latest repercussion from a South American nation over Israel’s military campaign in the Palestinian territory. The move was announced in Brazil’s official gazette.

BERLIN (AP) — A court says a prominent member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party who was fined for knowingly using a Nazi slogan in a speech will go on trial again next month for allegedly using the slogan a second time. The state court in Halle on Wednesday scheduled the proceedings against Björn

By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN AP Science Writer DALLAS (AP) — Six planets will link up before dawn on June 3 in what’s known as a planetary parade. But the spectacle won’t be as eye-catching as expected: Only two planets will be visible to the naked eye. Here’s what to know about this fairly common celestial event.