Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Leaders of the main opposition parties in Congo have called for nationwide protests against President Felix Tshisekedi’s plans to draft a new constitution. Last month, he announced that a national commission will be set up next year to draft a new constitution for the Central African country, raising concern
Continue Reading Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur has won another term in the U.S. House after defeating a Republican state lawmaker endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. Kaptur’s winning margin in final results certified Wednesday averted an automatic recount in her northwest Ohio race. Fourth-term state Rep. Derek Merrin had been endorsed by
Continue Reading Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Ohio on Wednesday. Kaptur, who was first sworn in to the House in 1983, is the longest-serving woman in congressional history. The Ohio Legislature under Republican control redrew the Toledo-based district’s boundaries in decennial redistricting to include more rural communities, turning it from
Continue Reading Russia has sent a gift of more than 70 animals to North Korea for the Pyongyang Zoo, including bears, yaks, ducks and cockatoos. A Russian government statement says the animals were flown to Pyongyang aboard a government plane, and escorted by a group of officials and experts from the Moscow Zoo. Russia’s Natural Resources Minister
Continue Reading WOLO, CNN By Chris Boyette, CNN (CNN) — Susan Smith, who has served 30 years of a life sentence for drowning her two young sons in 1994, was unanimously denied parole by the South Carolina Board of Paroles and Pardons during an emotional hearing Wednesday. Smith testified on her own behalf, pleading for her release
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The driver of a moped that crashed nearly two weeks ago in Columbia has died, police said Wednesday.
Continue Reading LONDON (AP) — The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, says he will wrap up his official duties in early January amid an abuse scandal in the Church of England. Welby resigned last week after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial
Continue Reading Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s plan to make all public school classrooms in the state post the Ten Commandments next year remains on hold under a federal appeals court ruling in New Orleans. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to pause an order by U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton
Continue Reading TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) — The parents of an 18-year-old who was killed in a hail of gunfire at Tuskegee University are suing the school in a wrongful death lawsuit. Tamika and Larry Johnson’s son, La’Tavion Johnson, was shot and killed while attending a party on campus Nov. 10. At least 16 others were injured. The
Continue Reading NEW YORK (AP) — A piece of conceptual art consisting of a simple banana, duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.2 million at an auction in New York on Wednesday, with the winning bid coming from a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur. “Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a phenomenon when it debuted in 2019 at
Continue Reading HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Finnish authorities say they have opened an investigation into the rupture of a data cable under the Baltic Sea, adding to a Swedish probe into the possible sabotage of that link and another cable. The C-Lion1 cable, which runs between Finland and Germany, and a cable that crosses the Baltic between
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Ethics Committee Republicans voted Wednesday against releasing the panel’s long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the top Democrat on the panel said. The outcome, however, is only a temporary reprieve for Gaetz, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct, as he works
Continue Reading Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A human rights report says hundreds of people in Belarus who have shown solidarity with Ukraine have been arrested in a sweeping crackdown under authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Viasna human rights center says 1,671 Belarusians were detained for their anti-war stance or for expressing solidarity with Ukraine, with
Continue Reading Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — As prosecutors push to preserve President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction, his lawyers are urging a judge to ignore them and scrap the case before he takes office in January. Trump’s lawyers said in a letter Wednesday that continuing with the case will interfere with the former and future
Continue Reading LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) — Freddie Freeman’s historic walk-off grand slam ball from Game 1 of the World Series is hitting the auction block. The Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman homered in the 10th inning against the New York Yankees last month, giving the Dodgers a 6-3 victory. They went on to win the Series
Continue Reading Associated Press A second teenager has been charged with intentionally setting a wildfire in a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia. Meanwhile a storm is blowing into the region, bringing “significant” rainfall that should help douse a stubborn wildfire burning on the New Jersey-New York border. Police in Evesham Township arrested a 14-year-old from Marlton in
Continue Reading NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA has ordered Kosovo to forfeit a Nations League game in Romania after its team refused to play on in second-half stoppage time, with the score 0-0, after hearing pro-Serbia chants. Romania was awarded a 3-0 win by default for the game in Bucharest last Friday. However, UEFA also ordered Romania
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he’s chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United
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Associated Press ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The Venezuelan man convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration. Jose Ibarra was charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s February death,
Continue Reading MEXICO CITY (AP) — Three state police officers and four drug cartel suspects are dead following a running series of shootouts in the northern Mexico border state of Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas. Another five police officers were wounded in a series of confrontations along highways around the town of San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Drug
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