AP National News

By KHADIJA KOTHIA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Families of four young gay men slain by a sex predator have demanded that the Metropolitan Police be held to account after an inquest concluded that bungled investigations into the slayings probably cost lives. Relatives of the victims called for the police watchdog to reopen its case

By BRYAN ANDERSON Associated Press/Report for America RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and ex-Rep. Mark Walker are urging U.S. Rep. Ted Budd to agree to participate in a U.S. Senate debate. Budd’s campaign says it considers any conversations premature and “foolish” since candidate filing was recently suspended. The state Supreme

Denver finally saw its first snowfall of the season on Friday, shattering an 87-year-old record for the latest first snow. It wasn’t much: The official measurement at Denver International Airport was just three-tenths of an inch. Jim Kalina is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. He says the Denver metro region is

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Stocks are higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Friday as investors weigh the latest government reading on consumer prices, which shows inflation is at a four-decade high. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% after briefly shedding most of an early gain. The benchmark index has now recovered most

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Tesla allows drivers to play video games on dashboard touch screens while vehicles are moving. Now Mercedes-Benz has issued a U.S. recall for a simliar issue. The German automaker said in documents posted Friday by U.S. regulators that the issue

CAIRO (AP) — A Sudanese medical group says renewed tribal clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs in Sudan’s Darfur region this week have killed at least 33 more people. The statement, released on Thursday, says that fighting in the the town of Jebel Moon and the adjacent Tanjeki village in West Darfur province also left at

DAMARISCOTTA, Maine (AP) — Humans aren’t the only species packing on extra pounds during the pandemic. Some squirrels are letting themselves go, too. One portly critter in Damariscotta doesn’t scamper or scoot. It lumbers and waddles after supplementing nature’s bounty by helping himself to seeds that fall to the ground from bird feeders. Wildlife biologist

By WILL WEISSERT and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Bob Dole has been honored at a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral as top leaders from both parties gathered to display the kind of bipartisanship now rare in modern government. Dole’s flag-draped casket was carried in by a military honor guard as the

By RENÉE RODEN Religion News Service In a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York Wednesday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan gave a formal sendoff to the 17 boxes filled with evidence attesting to Catholic radical Dorothy Day’s cause for sainthood. The more than 50,000 pages of newspaper articles, diary entries and other documents — even

By AMY FORLITI and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A police sergeant at the scene when Daunte Wright was shot says he was holding Wright’s right arm with both hands in the moments before he was shot. Mychal Johnson, who was a patrol sergeant in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center at the

ROME (AP) — A Roman Catholic diocese in Sicily has apologized to outraged parents after its bishop told a group of children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. In a Facebook post and subsequent comments Friday, the diocese of Noto insisted that Bishop Antonio Stagliano didn’t mean to dash the dreams of the youngsters two weeks

By MANUEL DE LA CRUZ and EDGAR H. CLEMENTE Associated Press TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) — A truck jammed with as many as 200 migrants has crashed into the base of a steel pedestrian bridge in southern Mexico, killing 55 and injuring dozens. The migrants inside the tractor-trailer were tossed and crushed in a pile

By BEN FOX Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has announced financial sanctions and other restrictions on 15 people and 10 entities in China, Myanmar, North Korea and Bangladesh to coincide with International Human Rights Day. The actions announced Friday by the Treasury Department also include investment restrictions on a Chinese company connected

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Another key accuser at the sex-abuse trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has testified Maxwell and Epstein forced themselves on her during a 1996 visit to the financier’s New Mexico ranch when she was just 16. Annie Farmer testified Maxwell fondled her breasts

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press GOLEM, Albania (AP) — Women who were evacuated to Albania after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan are urging the international community to pay attention to the plight of the Afghan women and girls who were left behind. Some 550 evacuated Afghans are in the Albanian coastal town of

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Stocks are mixed on Wall Street Friday as investors weigh the latest government reading on consumer prices, which shows inflation is at a four-decade high. The S&P 500 was up 0.3%, shedding most of an early gain. The benchmark index has now recovered most of the losses incurred after

MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian diplomat has warned the United States and its NATO allies that their own security would suffer if they “torpedo” providing Russia with certain military guarantees. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the West to provide guarantees that would preclude NATO from expanding to Ukraine or deploying troops and weapons

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — A Florida aquarium has created a legacy for its famed Winter the Dolphin following her recent death, including virtual reality encounters with the star of the Dolphin Tale movies. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium announced Friday that Winter’s legacy will include an ongoing memorial, a funding endowment,