Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — As he presided over his final Christmas tree lighting at the White House, President Joe Biden on Thursday said his wish for the nation now, and always, was that “we continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency.” Biden spoke briefly to the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press In the final hours before University of Mississippi student Jimmy “Jay” Lee disappeared, sexually explicit Snapchat messages were exchanged between his account and the account of the man now on trial in his killing, an investigator testified Thursday. Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., 24, of Grenada, Mississippi, is charged with capital murder in the
Continue ReadingANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan gave athletic director Warde Manuel a five-year contract extension on the heels of the Wolverines’ upset over rival Ohio State and a strong start to the basketball season. Manuel, who has held the position since 2016, signed through June 30, 2030. The school announced the extension on Thursday. Manuel
Continue ReadingOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Prosecutors have charged an Oklahoma City police officer with felony assault after he slammed a 71-year-old man to the ground, breaking his neck, following an argument over a traffic ticket. Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna said Thursday that her office filed one count of aggravated assault and battery against
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Las Vegas Stadium Authority approved the lease, non-relocation and development documents Thursday to clear the last major hurdles for the Athletics to construct a stadium on the Strip and bring Major League Baseball to the expanding sports market. Other details would still need to be worked out,
Continue ReadingOTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — The Canadian government is outlawing another 324 firearm varieties — guns the public safety minister says belong on the battlefield, not in the hands of hunters or sport shooters. The move follows the May 2020 ban of 1,500 makes and models of firearms, a number that grew to more than 2,000
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. lawmakers and experts warn that the U.S. severely lags behind China in shipbuilding capacity and urge action to build up the country’s ability to develop and produce weapons and other defense supplies to avoid war with China. China’s navy is already the world’s largest, and its shipbuilding capacity dwarfs
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Russian woman with permanent U.S. residency who was returned to the United States after authorities said she sneaked on board a flight from New York to Paris made her first appearance in court Thursday, claiming she has been abused. Svetlana Dali, wearing jeans, seemed agitated as she spoke
Continue ReadingAP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Known across the globe as the stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams hit the six-month mark in space Thursday with two more to go. The pair rocketed into orbit on June 5, the first to ride Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on what was supposed to
Continue ReadingAP National Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There’s more than just school pride and bragging rights to all that bellyaching over who might be in and who might be out of college football’s first 12-team playoff. Try the more than $115 million that will be spread across the conferences at the end of the season, all
Continue ReadingEli Lilly is spending another $3 billion to bulk up manufacturing as the drugmaker seeks to stoke production of some blockbuster drugs and future products. Lilly said Thursday it will expand a Kenosha County, Wisconsin, factory it bought early this year. The investment will help meet growing demand for injectable products like its diabetes and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press/Report for America TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Environmentalists are heading to court to try to stop a plan to drill for oil in the watershed of a vulnerable north Florida river. The challenge brought by the conservation group Apalachicola Riverkeeper against the state’s environmental protection agency comes as the department has faced a wave
Continue ReadingAssociated Press A search for a convicted murderer in a California town has put residents on edge, with schools closing and Christmas events being postponed. Officials say Cesar Hernandez escaped Monday morning after arriving at the Kern County courthouse in Delano, a city of around 50,000 in central California. He was set to appear in
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — As bitcoin reached historic highs, surpassing $100,000 for the first tim e, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele was triumphant on Thursday about his big bet on the cryptocurrency. The adoption of bitcoin — which has been legal tender in the Central American nation since 2021 — never
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House shut down Democrats’ efforts Thursday to release the long-awaited ethics report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, pushing the fate of any resolution to the yearslong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations into further uncertainty. The nearly party-line votes came after Democrats had been pressing for the findings to be
Continue ReadingPHOENIX (AP) — A woman who conspired to kill her two children is competent to stand trial in the Arizona death of her estranged husband as well. The decision about next steps in Lori Vallow Daybell’s case came on Thursday. Vallow Daybell has drawn national attention because of her children’s deaths and her marriage to
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A U.S. Department of Justice investigation found that the Memphis Police Department committed a host of civil rights violations, including using excessive force, making illegal traffic stops and disproportionately targeting Black people in the majority Black city. The 17-month investigation was launched after officers fatally beat Tyre Nichols after
Continue ReadingAP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Shortly before he was to be flogged and imprisoned for eight years, Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran. His weekslong journey would take him from Tehran, through rural Iranian villages, on foot across a mountainous borderland and ultimately to Hamburg, Germany. As arduous and dangerous as the trip was, Rasoulof’s
Continue ReadingAP Health Writer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield says it won’t tie payments to the length of time a patient went under anesthesia. The insurance giant is reversing a stated policy change after widespread outcry. It wasn’t clear how many states would have been affected. The American Society for Anesthesiologists said in a news release
Continue ReadingAP Film Writer Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche became friends while playing lovers in “Wuthering Heights.” A few years later, they would share the screen again in Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient,” that historical epic that would take them all the way to the Oscars. They’ve kept in touch in the years since, but they
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