Year: 2024

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s House was tense Friday morning as the Democratic majority pushed two bills through the chamber that would protect transgender people’s chosen names: one allowing those convicted of a felony to change their name to conform with their gender identity and another requiring school staff

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense officials say Gen. Eric Smith is taking steps to return to full duty as commandant of the Marine Corps, about four months after being sidelined due to a heart attack. Smith quietly returned to the Pentagon on one occasion a few weeks ago and was

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s economy grew 2.9% in 2023, beating expectations in the first year of the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The number announced Friday by the country’s statistics institute impressed many economists. Early last year, the forecast was for only 0.8% growth. Brazil’s economy grew 3% in 2022, partly

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Officials say a United Airlines flight from London to Newark, New Jersey, had to divert to Bangor International Airport because of unruly passengers. An airline spokesperson says two passengers who appeared to be intoxicated became disruptive, and both were removed from United Airlines Flight 883 upon landing late Friday morning in

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed what would have been one of the most far-reaching social media bans for minors. After Friday’s veto, lawmakers proposed new language that seeks to keep children under 14 off of addictive platforms. The original bill would have banned social media

By RUSS BYNUM and FRANK BAJAK Associated Press Georgia’s largest county is still repairing damage inflicted on its government offices by a cyberattack a month ago. Hackers in late January shut down online systems and phone service in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta. The attack left clerks unable to register vehicles or issue

By RANDALL CHASE AP Business Writer DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware judge has declared a mistrial in the latest lawsuit alleging that exposure to the popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Friday’s ruling came about two hours after jurors sent a note saying they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict after three days of

By SEAN MURPHY and JIM VERTUNO Associated Press SKELLYTOWN, Texas (AP) — First, the flames came storming across the vistas of the Texas Panhandle, burning through the grassy plains and scrub land of the region’s cattle ranches. By Friday, ranchers faced a grim task: Search miles of scorched earth to dispose of the burned corpses

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The first rioter to enter the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack was convicted on Friday of charges that he interfered with police and obstructed Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Michael Sparks, 46, of Kentucky, jumped through a shattered window

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — As mourners prepare for the funeral of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, who was killed near Houston, the community wants answers about how the suspect in her death was allowed to remain free despite a long criminal history of violence. Nearly two decades years before Don McDougal was

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is demanding that a county on Long Island rescind its ban on transgender athletes competing in female sports. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order on Feb. 22 banning sports organizations from county-run facilities if they allow transgender girls and women to compete

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press The University of Florida is eliminating its chief diversity officer position, scrapping the program’s staff jobs and halting any contracts involving the subject because of a new law passed last year that was pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The university in Gainesville, Florida, said in a memo released Friday

By The Associated Press Thousands of mourners gathered in Moscow to bid farewell to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny two weeks after his still-unexplained death in an Arctic penal colony. Crowds faced a heavy police presence as they thronged the church where Navalny’s funeral was held, and the cemetery in the snowy suburb where he

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University has begun sending documents from its investigation into convicted sexual abuser Larry Nassar to state Attorney General Dana Nessel. School spokesperson Emily Guerrant says a group of 2,000 documents was being transferred Friday, but the transfer of all 9,000 documents will take about a month. She says

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The latest rail layoffs this week, combined with an investment fund’s ongoing campaign for control of Norfolk Southern, are renewing concerns among unions and regulators about the effects all the cuts might have on safety and service. The worries about the lean operating model the

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Democratic lawsuit that sought to throw out the battleground state’s congressional maps, marking a victory for Republicans who argued against the court taking up the case. The decision not to hear the congressional challenge comes after the

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has begun airdrops of emergency humanitarian assistance into Gaza. President Joe Biden, who announced the operation on Friday, said the U.S. was looking into additional ways to help Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled territory as the Israel-Hamas war goes on. The White House

By BIANCA VÁZQUEZ TONESS and MORIAH BALINGIT AP Education Writers BOSTON (AP) — Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and upended child care, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses. Gone are mandated isolation periods and masking. But will schools and child care centers agree? In case

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers have passed legislation that would legalize skill games, the slots-like betting machines that proliferated in businesses around the state before an on-again, off-again ban took effect. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. It would tax and regulate the devices, which are

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man has been exonerated and released after spending nearly 30 years on death row in connection with a fatal arson fire at a Philadelphia apartment building. Daniel Gwynn was released Wednesday from the state prison in Montgomery County after a judge dismissed first-degree murder, arson and

NEW YORK (AP) — A firetruck has plowed through the facade of a furniture store on New York’s Long Island. A Rockville Centre Police Department spokesperson said the Friday morning crash injured four people. Video shared on social media shows the truck careening into the corner of the furniture repair shop after swerving to avoid

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that the Pentagon will lift the ban on flights by the grounded V-22 Osprey next week. The decision follows a high-level meeting where Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin endorsed the military services’ plans for a safe and measured

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A sport-utility vehicle has crashed into a Walmart in suburban Detroit, injuring several people. The Canton Township police chief says at least five people were hurt. They include a 2- or 3-year-old child. Video of the aftermath that was posted on social media shows a black SUV well inside the

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press Nebraska’s top election official has ruled voters will get to decide whether to repeal a law that pays for private school tuition scholarships with taxpayer money. But Secretary of State Bob Evnen acknowledges the courts will likely ultimately decide if the repeal question makes it onto November’s ballot. His

By KATIE MARIE DAVIES Associated Press The final images of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are tinged with deep despair for many of his compatrios. Navalny was in an open casket with red and white flowers heaped around him. The politician bade his final farewell Friday to those who believed in his vision of a