Month: May 2024

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer Travelers contended with big crowds and flight delays Friday, which was expected to be the busiest day of the Memorial Day weekend. More than 6,000 U.S. flights were delayed by early evening on the East Coast, continuing a trend that has tested the patience of travelers all week. Cancellations

By HANNAH FINGERHUT and MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — For block after block through the small city of Greenfield, Iowa, the destructive power of a tornado that ripped apart more than 100 homes in just one minute is evident in the muddy, shattered mess left behind. All along the mile-long swath

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — The first attempts to regulate artificial intelligence programs that play a hidden role in hiring, housing and medical decisions for millions of Americans are facing pressure from all sides and floundering in statehouses nationwide. Only one of seven bills aimed at preventing AI’s penchant to

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japanese electronics and entertainment company Sony says it’s focusing on creativity in movies, animation and video games, rather than old-fashioned gadgetry. Its chief executive, Kenichiro Yoshida, outlined the company’s strategy Thursday, saying Sony was helping creative professionals deliver what he called “kando,” or a moving experience.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Ex-President Donald Trump has campaigned in one of the most Democratic counties in the nation, holding a rally in the South Bronx. The Republican was hoping to woo New York minority voters by appearing in one of the most diverse and impoverished

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press TEPATEPEC, Mexico (AP) — She sold snacks in a small town in central Mexico as a girl. She rose to national politics with a biography that could help take her to the heights of power. But polls show Xóchitl Gálvez trailing the ruling party’s candidate ahead of Mexico’s June 2

By KRISTIN M. HALL Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — The smell of wood fire wafting on the breeze is the first sense that gets triggered at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis, where smoke is as essential an ingredient as salt. For the teams that annually compete at the so-called Super Bowl

By ANNIE MA and COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidents of Northwestern and Rutgers universities defended their decisions to end pro-Palestinian encampments through negotiations rather than police force, telling a House committee on Thursday that they defused the danger without ceding ground to protesters. “We had to get the encampment down,”

By FRANKLIN BRICEÑO Associated Press LIMA, Peru (AP) — The crack of bat on ball and the sight of Venezuelan children running the bases on the soccer field turned baseball diamond on the outskirts of Peru’s capital are watched with confusion by locals accustomed to soccer. The questioning looks don’t deter the young Venezuelans for

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — If there are bragging rights associated with Donald Trump praising your legal acumen when he speaks after a day’s testimony at his criminal trial, Fox News analyst Andy McCarthy has already been cited at least a dozen times. The former president and current presidential candidate

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s public university system could soon see its existing diversity programs and jobs drastically cut if its governing board votes as expected to repeal its current diversity policy. The old policy outlines various diversity-related jobs in the University of North Carolina system and the proposed

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. have been knocking down efforts by Democrats to ensure access to various forms of birth control. Former President Donald Trump put contraception in the election year spotlight this week when he said he was open to restrictions on

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. independent investigator says thousands of journalists have fled their home countries in recent years to escape political repression, save their lives and escape conflict. But Irene Khan said that in exile they are often vulnerable to physical, digital and legal threats. She said

By ALBERTO MENDOZA Associated Press SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCIA, Mexico (AP) — The collapse of a stage in heavy winds at a campaign rally in northern Mexico has killed at least nine people, including a child, and injured 121, the governor of Nuevo Leon state said Thursday. The collapse occurred during an event Wednesday evening

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A book presentation about neoclassical economic theory may not sound like a crowd-pleaser. But on Wednesday in Buenos Aires mobs of star-struck fans packed a giant auditorium to hear Argentina’s president, the libertarian economist Javier Milei, lecture on the importance of freeing capital from the

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan says it has scrambled jets and put missile, naval and land units on alert over drills China has announced around the self-governing island democracy. The Defense Ministry said China’s “irrational provocation has jeopardized regional peace and stability.” China’s military said it started two-day exercises surrounding

BEIJING (AP) — State media say an explosion at an apartment building in Harbin, a city in northeastern China, has killed one person and injured three others. Videos on social media showed that parts of a five-story apartment building were damaged, with one apartment’s balcony completely blown off. A local media outlet reported that a

By CARLOS MUREITHI, LUCA BRUNO and SARA LEMLEM Associated Press TRENTO, Italy (AP) — An Italian science museum has created a butterfly forest inside a tropical mountain greenhouse in the city of Trento. The forest is modeled on Udzungwa Mountains National Park in south-central Tanzania. The park is one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots. The purpose of the

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Facing a room of Arab American activists from across the country angry at President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, a well-known adviser to Donald Trump was asked this week what the former president would have done differently had he been in office. Richard Grenell,

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A wind farm in southwest Iowa suffered a direct hit from a powerful tornado that crumpled five of the massive, power-producing towers, including one that burst into flames. But experts say fortunately such incidents are rare. Video of the direct hit on the wind farm near

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The FBI has raided a local prosecutor’s office and his private business in Mississippi’s capital city. Officials declined after Wednesday’s raids to say whether Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens is suspected of wrongdoing. FBI agents also spent hours searching a cigar bar owned by Owens in downtown Jackson. They also

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has released new video footage showing Hamas’ capture of five female Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The video shows several of the young soldiers bloody and wounded. In one scene, a militant tells

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Centrist district attorney candidate Nathan Vasquez has ousted the incumbent progressive prosecutor in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, after running a campaign in which he vowed to be tough on crime. One of District Attorney Mike Schmidt’s deputies, Vasquez was endorsed by several police groups.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ health department has appointed an outspoken anti-abortion OB-GYN to a committee that reviews pregnancy-related deaths as doctors have been warning that the state’s restrictive abortion ban puts women’s lives at risk. Dr. Ingrid Skop was among the new appointees to the Texas Maternal Morality and Morbidity Review Committee announced last