AP Basketball Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — After months of planning, it’s time for the U.S. Olympic team — one that will go to the Paris Games later this month seeking a fifth consecutive gold medal — to take the floor. The first practice for the squad is Saturday, the start of a four-day training
Continue ReadingBAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Civil society groups and community members in northern Mali say that Malian soldiers and mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group have killed dozens of civilians during a military operation in the Kidal region. The Malian army says it is unaware of the alleged killings, but says military operations are taking place
Continue ReadingBy Alisha Ebrahimji and Paradise Afshar, CNN (CNN) — What was supposed to be a night of celebrating America’s independence was paused after stray fireworks dispersed into a crowd of people in Utah, causing multiple injuries. Several people were injured Thursday evening by rogue fireworks that landed in the stands of onlookers at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, during the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian election authorities have stripped an ethnic Greek minority mayor of his post after he was imprisoned on charges of vote-buying in municipal elections last year. Fredis Beleris was elected mayor of the Albanian city of Himare, which has a Greek minority presence, in May 2023. He was arrested two
Continue ReadingATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities say the crew of a Greek coast guard patrol boat has exchanged gunfire with a man piloting a speedboat smuggling migrants from neighboring Turkey to a Greek island. No injuries have been reported from the shooting on Friday off the eastern Aegean Sea island of Chios. A coast guard statement
Continue ReadingAP Tennis Writer LONDON (AP) — Wimbledon has started a new tradition of handing out sterling silver plaques to players to commemorate that they played at the Grand Slam tournament. They essentially amount to participation trophies. It’s a relatively well-kept secret at the event that ends next weekend. Even some athletes were completely unaware of
Continue ReadingBy Eugenia Yosef and Tim Lister, CNN (CNN) — A former spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces has sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war against Hamas, in the latest sign of growing tensions between the military and the government. Lt Col. Peter Lerner said that while speaking with the world’s
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will remove all its forces and equipment from a small base in Niger this weekend and fewer than 500 remaining troops will leave a critical drone base in the West African country in August, ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline set in an agreement with the new ruling
Continue ReadingBy Radina Gigova and Christian Edwards, CNN (CNN) — Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition politician serving a lengthy jail sentence for treason, has been transferred to a prison hospital, his wife Evgenia said Friday. Kara-Murza, 42, was moved from the maximum-security IK-6 penal colony in the Siberian city of Omsk to a prison hospital in
Continue ReadingTALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The United States and the European Union are welcoming Belarus’ release of some political prisoners, freed since the country’s authoritarian president earlier this week promised to release those seriously ill who are behind bars and those swept up in connection in the severe crackdown on mass protests in 2020. The number
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that officials can place ballot drop boxes around their communities in this fall’s elections, overturning its own ruling two years ago limiting their use in the presidential swing state. The court limited the use of drop boxes in July 2022, ruling then that
Continue ReadingBERLIN (AP) — German investigators say they have arrested a third suspect in an attempt to blackmail the family of former Formula 1 race driver Michael Schumacher. The 52-year-old man, who was detained on Thursday in a town near Wuppertal in western Germany, had worked for the family as a security officer. That’s according to
Continue ReadingLONDON (AP) — Brad Pitt’s movie about Formula 1 coming to cinemas next year will simply be called “F1.” Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is a co-producer of the project which collected footage at F1 circuits around the world this year and last. Pitt plays a former driver who returns to F1 alongside a rookie
Continue ReadingAP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ highest court strongly reaffirmed Friday that the state constitution protects abortion access, striking down a ban on a common second-trimester procedure and laws regulating abortion providers more strictly than other health care providers. The pair of 5-1 decisions suggests that other restrictions — even ones decades on
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court says Republican legislators are improperly blocking conservation projects. The 6-1 ruling Friday marks a victory for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and environmentalists. Evers maintains that the GOP-run Joint Finance Committee has too much power to kill funding for initiatives. That includes University of Wisconsin employee
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell is mostly recovered from the brutal assaults he endured from Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. But not completely. His shoulder still has limited endurance and there are screws and a metal plate holding his right foot together after bone fusion surgery. Emotional
Continue ReadingMILAN (AP) — Italian fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni will donate at least 1.2 million euros — about $1.3 million — under a deal with Italian antitrust authorities investigating misleading communications that led consumers to believe proceeds from the sale of Easter eggs with her logo were going to a children’s charity. Under the deal announced
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Nashville judge has ruled that the writings of the person who killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville last year cannot be released to the public. Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles ruled Thursday that The Covenant School children and parents hold
Continue ReadingBy Christopher Lamb, CNN (CNN) — Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former papal ambassador to the United States who became an ultra-conservative critic of Pope Francis, has been excommunicated for schism. The Vatican said in a statement that the prelate had refused to “recognize and submit” to the authority of the pope, and had
Continue ReadingSAVANNAH, Mo. (AP) — Residents of a small western Missouri town are saddened and angered after a police dog died in a hot car. The dog named Horus died June 20 following an overnight shift, Police Chief David Vincent said. In a Facebook posting on Wednesday, Vincent said he can’t discuss the circumstances of the
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