AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has tapped a tech billionaire who performed the first private spacewalk to lead NASA. Trump announced on Wednesday his choice for NASA administrator. Jared Isaacman, CEO and founder of a credit card-processing company, has been a close collaborator with Elon Musk ever since buying
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LONDON (AP) — London’s Royal Albert Hall, the gilded concert venue known for an annual “Rule Britannia” singalong, is preparing to host a different kind of spectacle: Sumo wrestling. Camera shutters clicked furiously and reporters “ahhhed” in delight Wednesday as wrestlers Daisuke Kitanowaka and Akira Fukutsuumi demonstrated a sideways stamp and put on
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals declined to overturn a light jail sentence for a young woman who killed her father by burning him with a dangerous powder when he couldn’t drive her to a hair appointment before her 18th birthday party. Megan Imirowicz, now 21, was sentenced to a year
Continue ReadingAP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The birth of Lauren Mayberry as a solo artist should be marked by something like a wolf cry. And that’s exactly what it sounds like. The vocalist and percussionist from the Scottish pop band Chvrches has punctuated her debut album with a playful howl while telling off an
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors asked Wednesday to review police and bystander video at the heart of the chokehold manslaughter case against Daniel Penny as his lawyers complained that the Marine veteran was being harassed outside the New York City courthouse. On the second day of deliberations, the anonymous jury also asked to
Continue ReadingVIENNA (AP) — An Austrian court has ruled that Ukrainian businessman Dymitro Firtash can’t be extradited to the U.S. in a long-running legal saga that centers on a corruption case related to an alleged plan to pay bribes in India. The Vienna State Court said Tuesday evening it decided on Nov. 7 that an extradition
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State are bringing in the nation’s top recruiting class as high school prospects across the country finalize their college plans. The identity of the No. 1 class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports may not be determined until Friday because of the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ATLANTA (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is trying to get the Georgia election interference case against him dismissed. He asserts that the state’s courts will not have jurisdiction over him once he returns to the White House next month. The Georgia case against Trump and others is mostly on hold pending a pretrial
Continue ReadingAP Technology Writer OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is in a legal dispute with rival Elon Musk, said he is “not that worried” about Musk’s influence in the incoming Trump administration. Altman told a New York Times conference Wednesday that he “may turn out to be wrong” but he strongly believes that Musk will do
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House adviser Peter Navarro, who served prison time related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, will return to serve in Donald Trump’s second administration, the president-elect announced Wednesday. Navarro, a trade adviser during Trump’s first term, will be a senior counselor for trade and manufacturing,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning martial law declaration lasted just hours, but experts say it raised serious questions about his ability to govern for the remaining 2 1/2 years of his term and whether he will abide by democratic principles. Parliament unanimously overturned the edict, and opposition parties
Continue ReadingAP Film Writer “Anora,” Sean Baker’s odyssey of a New York stripper, and Jane Schoenbrun’s psychological horror “I Saw the TV Glow” dominated nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards with six nods each, including best film and best director. The nonprofit organization announced nominations Wednesday on a YouTube livestream. Three actors in “Anora,” which
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgian police have raided the offices of an opposition party and arrested its leader in an apparent attempt to squelch a wave of mass protests over the decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union. During the past six nights, riot police used water cannons and tear gas
Continue ReadingAP Film Writers Break out your “Dune” popcorn bucket: It’s time for the best movies of the year. Associated Press Film Writer Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr name their top films of 2024. Their lists are topped by the sublime Indian drama “All We Imagine As Light” and the WWII drama “Blitz.” Other picks include
Continue ReadingBANGKOK (AP) — A major ethnic rebel group in Myanmar has announced a unilateral ceasefire in its conflict with the ruling military and called for a dialogue under Chinese auspices to help restore peace in the country’s northeast. China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it welcomed the initiative. China is the military government’s most important foreign
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AP Airlines Writer Members of a U.S. Senate subcommittee took aim at airline executives Wednesday for using an expanding menu of fees to charge customers for early boarding, better seats and other comforts that used to be part of the ticket price. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he thinks the federal government should review and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — A judge ruled that a Virginia man accused of killing his wife, whose body has still not been found, will go trial in September. Thirty-seven-year-old Naresh Bhatt of Manassas Park was indicted earlier this week on charges of murder and defiling the body of his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press IZVORANI, Romania (AP) — Presidential front-runner and far-right populist Calin Georgescu says Romania’s Western alliances remain secure providing they “serve the sovereignty of the country and nothing else.” Georgescu unexpectedly topped the polls in the first round of the Romanian presidential vote on Nov. 24, despite being a huge outsider, plunging the European
Continue ReadingAssociated Press It was a history-making event: In a chapel at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, 2nd Lt. Khady Ndiaye stood proudly — wearing a hijab – as she became the first Muslim woman commissioned by the U.S. Army as a chaplain candidate. Presiding over the ceremony in June was Maj. Gen. Bill Green, the Army’s
Continue ReadingPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s military says its troops have raided a militant hideout in the restive northwest, resulting in a shootout in which five insurgents were killed and two others were wounded. In a statement, the military said the raid occurred Wednesday in Lakki Marwat, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It gave
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