Associated Press/Report for America ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia House Republicans will keep their leadership team for the next two years. They gathered Tuesday inside the state Capitol and renominated Jon Burns of Newington as speaker, a position that is traditionally the second-most influential post in state government behind the governor. Burns said he would prioritize
Continue ReadingAssociated Press The Northeast is keeping a wary eye on dozens of fires that killed at least one person and continue to burn amid very dry weather. Much larger and more destructive fires have come under relative control in California. Firefighters in Massachusetts worked Tuesday to contain several fires as strong winds and drought conditions
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PARIS (AP) — French farmers have protested against a trade deal that would increase agricultural imports from South America, saying it hurt their livelihoods. The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc reached an initial agreement in 2019, but negotiations stumbled amid concern about the use of pesticides in South American produce and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A U.S. jury on Tuesday awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago. The decision from the eight-person jury came after a different jury earlier this year couldn’t
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog will travel to Iran this week to meet with officials including its new president. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says he hopes the meetings can lead to a breakthrough in monitoring the country’s nuclear program.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — A dozen students at Salisbury University on Maryland’s Eastern Shore have been charged with hate crimes after police say they assaulted a gay man. Charging documents say one of the defendants made a fake account on a dating app and lured the man to an apartment by promising him sex
Continue ReadingMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s most populous county will pay $3.4 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged jail workers ignored the pleas of a 41-year-old man who died of a perforated bowel after spending days begging to be taken to a hospital. Lucas Bellamy died while in custody at the Hennepin County jail in Minneapolis
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A writer for a conservative media outlet has pleaded guilty to joining a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol nearly years ago. Steve Baker, who has written articles about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot for Blaze News, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6. But the judge who accepted
Continue ReadingAP Media Writer Chris Wallace says he’s leaving CNN after three years and, at age 77, is eager to see what a transformed media environment has to offer. “When I look at the media landscape right now, the people who are going independent, whether it’s podcasting or streaming, that seems to be where the action
Continue ReadingAssociated Press After a tumultuous year filled with anxiety and a legal fight about its future in the U.S., TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline by the man who was once its biggest foe. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged during his most recent campaign to oppose a ban on the short-form video
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is already making big bets on what take two for a White House led by Donald Trump will mean for the economy. Since Election Day, investors have sent prices zooming for stocks of banks, fossil-fuel producers and other companies expected to benefit from Trump’s preference for lower tax rates
Continue ReadingAssociated Press STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — In 1965, a Norwegian woman gave birth to a baby girl in a private hospital. Seven days later she returned home with a baby. When the baby developed dark curls that made her look different from herself, Karen Rafteseth Dokken assumed she just took after her husband’s mother. It
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Small Business Saturday — the Saturday after Thanksgiving — is coming up. But it doesn’t always translate to big sales for small businesses. There are some things small business owners should keep in mind when marketing themselves for the big holiday shopping weekend. American Express introduced a marketing
Continue ReadingAP Technology Writer Waymo on Tuesday opened its robotaxi service to anyone who wants a ride around Los Angeles, marking another milestone in the evolution of self-driving car technology since the company began as a secret project at Google 15 years ago. The expansion comes eight months after Waymo began offering rides in Los Angeles
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SALEM, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey judge has granted prosecutors a 30-day extension in which to bring formal charges against the driver accused of killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, while they were cycling in August. The judge granted the extension for prosecutors to indict Sean M. Higgins
Continue ReadingST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Authorities in Minnesota say a man shot and killed by police was being sought in the fatal shooting of his pregnant wife. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man killed as 36-year-old Mychel Allan Stowers. He was shot Saturday in St. Paul. Two officers involved in the shooting
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Percival Everett’s “James” has received yet another literary nomination. Everett’s reworking of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is among the finalists for an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, $5,000 honors for fiction and nonfiction presented by the American Library Association. “James” already is a finalist for the National Book
Continue ReadingAP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists can’t know precisely when a volcano is about to erupt, but they can sometimes pick up telltale warning signs. That’s what happened two years ago with the world’s largest active volcano in Hawaii. About two months before Mauna Loa spewed lava, geologists detected small earthquakes nearby and other
Continue ReadingAP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. syphilis epidemic slowed dramatically last year, gonorrhea cases fell and chlamydia cases remained below prepandemic levels, according to federal data released Tuesday. The numbers represented some good news about sexually transmitted diseases, which experienced some alarming increases in past years due to declining condom use, inadequate
Continue ReadingMANSEHRA, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say a bus carrying wedding guests fell into the Indus River in northern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 18 people. Government spokesman Faizullah Farqan says it happened in the Gilgit Baltistan region as the bus was heading to Chakwal, a city in Punjab province. He says a search for
Continue Reading