By FARES AKRAM, NINIEK KARMINI, ABBY SEWELL, MARIAM FAM and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press This year’s Hajj is a landmark: the first full pilgrimage after a daunting three-year period when the COVID-19 pandemic sharply reduced the scale of one of Islam’s holiest and most beloved rites. Millions of Muslims from around the world will start
Continue Reading By GRAHAM DUNBAR and STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writers Sweden is moving closer to a bid to host the Winter Olympics for the first time in what is shaping up to be a race for the 2030 Games with only one obvious candidate. Swedish sports officials say there is a desire for the Nordic country
Continue ReadingBy Tina Burnside, CNN (CNN) — A Montana man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after his conviction on federal hate crime and firearm charges related to a “self-described mission to rid the town of Basin of its lesbian, queer and gay community,” officials said. John Russell Howald was convicted in February for
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LOCKWOOD, Mo. (AP) — An investigation continues after a man found hiding in a Missouri barn died in an exchange of gunfire with deputies. The shooting happened Wednesday near the small town of Lockwood in southwestern Missouri. Deputies from Barton and Cedar counties responded to a home as part of an investigation of a stolen
Continue Reading By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — All major social media platforms do poorly at protecting LGBTQ+ users from hate speech and harassment — especially those who are transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming, the advocacy group GLAAD said on Thursday. But Twitter is the worst. In its annual Social Media Safety Index,
Continue Reading By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer CHICAGO (AP) — When it comes to baseball and LGBTQ+ inclusivity, Billy Bean often flashes back to his playing days. Ending his career without telling his parents about his life as a closeted gay ballplayer. Shielding his secret from teammates like Brad Ausmus and Torey Lovullo. The regret of
Continue Reading By DEREK GATOPOULOS and NICHOLAS PAPHITIS Associated Press KALAMATA, Greece (AP) — Rescue workers transferred the bodies of dead migrants to refrigerated trucks as a major search continued Thursday for possible survivors of a sea disaster in southern Greece. Hundreds of people are still feared missing. At least 78 bodies have been recovered after a
Continue ReadingBy Sabrina Souza and Eric Levenson, CNN (CNN) — A federal jury began deliberating Thursday in the trial of the man accused of killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. Deliberations began around 2:30 p.m. and ended by 5 p.m. The jurors will continue deliberations Friday morning. In closing arguments, prosecutors
Continue Reading By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remained elevated last week, a possible sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes over the past year may taking hold in what’s been a resilient job market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that U.S. applications for jobless claims were 262,000
Continue Reading By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has pressed ahead with another interest rate hike. The quarter-percentage point increase Thursday aims to crush inflation that’s driving up the cost of groceries, utility bills and summer vacations. It comes a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve took a break
Continue Reading By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The leader of the Pacific island nation of Palau says it needs U.S. help to deter China’s “unwanted activities” around its coasts. Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. also repeated on Thursday his government’s determination to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The president said in Tokyo that three
Continue Reading By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press The European Union’s ambition to lead the way on ecological issues has avoided a major setback. The environment committee of the European Parliament voted by the thinnest margin on Thursday to reject a proposal that would have killed a draft law on restoring nature and lost species across the continent.
Continue Reading By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans increased their spending at retailers last month despite pressure from still-high inflation and rising borrowing costs. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that retail sales rose 0.3% from April to May, , helped by stronger sales of auto dealers. Economists were expecting a
Continue ReadingBy Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN Atlanta (CNN) — Rashal Bilal and Troy Millings sat on a blue leather couch in a swanky tapas lounge in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hills neighborhood. Famed Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz, who owns the place, sat across them as a female bartender walked over with their drinks. Around them, a swarm of
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) City of Columbia Utilities has agreed to help fund the Central Missouri Community Action’s (CMCA) Weatherization Assistance Program for Columbia Water & Light electric customers. The city made the announcement in a press release on Wednesday. It says CMCA provides assistance to income-eligible households to make energy efficiency improvements. Columbia has pledged
Continue ReadingBy Tina Burnside, CNN (CNN) — A 28-year-old woman in Louisiana posed as a teenager and enrolled in high school because she wanted to learn English, officials said. Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano, 28, enrolled in Hahnville High School in June 2022 and attended the entire 2022-2023 school year, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office said in
Continue ReadingBy Aya Elamroussi, Mallika Kallingal, Celina Tebor and Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN (CNN) — The demolition of the damaged section of Interstate 95 that crumbled last weekend after a tanker truck hauling gasoline crashed and burst into flames is now complete and construction is underway to rebuild the section of road, Pennsylvania’s governor announced Thursday evening.
Continue ReadingBy Aya Elamroussi, Alicia Johnson and Leah Abucayan, CNN (CNN) — Leslie Estrada worried she and her husband might never be able to start a family. Strapped with student loan debt, the couple felt IVF was financially out of reach after they received an infertility diagnosis. But three years ago, their life changed. The couple began saving
Continue Reading By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Glenda Jackson, a two-time Academy Award-winning performer who had a second career in politics as a British lawmaker before an acclaimed late-life return to stage and screen, has died at age 87. Jackson’s agent Lionel Larner said she died Thursday at her home in London after a
Continue ReadingBy Alexandra Meeks, CNN (CNN) — America’s top-selling beer is no longer American. Bud Light has been knocked out of the top spot it’s held for two decades by Modelo Especial, the popular Mexican lager brewed near Mexico City. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your
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