Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won’t be the top Democrat on a prominent House committee next year. House Democrats on Tuesday picked 74-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly to lead the party on the Oversight Committee, turning aside a bid from Ocasio-Cortez for the job. Connolly has seniority on the committee, having served on
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Outgoing Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is proposing a novel tax on wealth above $100 million in hopes of plugging a budget shortfall and averting cuts to education, mental health services and police. The Democrat said Tuesday that the tax would apply to about 3,400 residents — including Microsoft founder Bill
Continue ReadingCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Amazon Web Services will invest another $10 billion to bolster its data center infrastructure in Ohio. The company and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced the plan Monday. The new investment will boost the amount it has committed to spending in Ohio by the end of 2029 to more than $23 billion.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — An overcrowded boat capsized on a river in central Congo on Tuesday, killing at least 25 people, including children, and leaving dozens missing, officials and local residents said. The vessel was believed to have more than 100 passengers on board after leaving from the town of Inongo, northeast of
Continue ReadingDENVER (AP) — Colorado State and Utah State have filed a lawsuit saying the Mountain West is engaging in “extraordinary and unauthorized actions” to penalize the five schools leaving the conference for the Pac-12. Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State announced in September they planned to join the Pac-12
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism, prosecutors said Tuesday as they worked to bring him to a New York court from a Pennsylvania jail. Luigi Mangione already was charged with murder in the Dec. 4 killing of Brian
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer The College Football Playoff gets started this week with four games on college campuses. The opening round includes first-time participants SMU, Indiana, Penn State and Tennessee. It’s sparked a buzz especially among schools that haven’t been before. SMU fan Will Howard says the playoff game is better than going to Disney World.
Continue ReadingAssociated Pres COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A man expected to be the next inmate scheduled for execution in South Carolina is making a final appeal to the state Supreme Court. Marion Bowman Jr. is on death row for the killing of 21-year-old Kandee Martin in 2001. Martin was shot in the head and her body
Continue ReadingAP Media Writer President-elect Donald Trump sued the Des Moines Register and its pollster for “brazen election interference” in publishing a survey the weekend before the election that showed Democrat Kamala Harris with a surprising lead of three percentage points in the state. The Register’s parent Gannett Co. on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit as meritless
Continue ReadingAP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A yearlong study by Major League Baseball has concluded rising velocities, pitch shaping and emphasis on maximum effort are the likely causes of the vast increase in pitcher injuries and recommended exploring rules changes to address the problem. The 62-page report says the trends extend to high school
Continue ReadingAssociated Press/Report for America DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — The family of an environmental activist shot and killed by state troopers near the site of a planned Atlanta-area police and firefighter training center activists call “Cop City” has filed a lawsuit against three law enforcement officers. Manuel Paez Terán’s family says state troopers used excessive force
Continue ReadingCARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Canada has imposed economic sanctions on five Venezuelan officials, including the head of the country’s high court, accusing them of engaging in electoral fraud during the disputed July presidential election. Tuesday’s announcement from Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly came less than a month before the next presidential term of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NAJHA, Syria (AP) — Bones are visible here and there among the mounds of earth in a field south of Damascus, one of the mass graves around Syria believed to hold the bodies of tens of thousands of people killed under Bashar Assad’s rule. With his ouster, residents, forensic teams and international groups
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing pressure to resign from his own Liberal Party after his top minister abruptly quit and criticized his handling of the budget. Trudeau has become widely unpopular over a wide range of issues, including the high cost of living and rising inflation. There is
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A judge has granted permission to lawyers for Derek Chauvin to have samples from George Floyd examined as part of the former Minneapolis police officer’s efforts to challenge his conviction on a federal civil rights charge stemming from Floyd’s death in 2020. The U.S. district judge agreed Monday to let
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers are raising a new claim in their fight to overturn his hush money conviction, alleging that the historic verdict was tainted by juror misconduct. But prosecutors contend that the allegations in a defense court filing made public Tuesday are “unsworn, unsupported” hearsay and part of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian official says authorities have paused the process of implementing a new, stricter law on women’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab. The legislation, which was approved by the parliament in September 2023, won’t be sent to the government to enact. The surprise development means the legislation was halted, at
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MILAN (AP) — The Stellantis automaker has pledged to invest 2 billion euros or $2.1 billion in Italian production next year and spend another 6 billion euros or $6.3 billion in the supply chain. The head of European operations for the world’s fifth-largest carmaker made the pledge during a meeting with Italian ministers,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — New England shrimp will come back to seafood counters in small amounts next year under a research fishing program. The shrimp have been lost from the marketplace as waters have warmed. For a decade now, the seafood industry has been under a fishing moratorium for the shrimp because of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. is still separating some migrant children from parents while holding them after they cross the border despite broad improvements at detention centers in Texas. That’s according to a court-ordered monitor’s final report that was issued last week. It offers a final glimpse of conditions inside the facilities
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