Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A medieval statue of the Virgin Mary and Child, known as the “Virgin of Paris,” has returned to Notre Dame cathedral, five years after surviving the devastating fire of 2019. A torchlit procession drew thousands of Parisians Friday as Archbishop Laurent Ulrich blessed the intact 14th-century sculpture, now a symbol
Continue ReadingA New York judge has rejected an effort by state regulators to shutter a bitcoin mine over concerns about its greenhouse gas emissions. The decision will allow the Greenidge power plant to continue operating in the Finger Lakes region of the state. The state had previously found the gas-powered crypto mine ran afoul of a
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — A newborn boy was found dead in a Los Angeles alleyway after police say he was dropped from the fourth-floor window of a building. The baby was found early Thursday morning in the Skid Row neighborhood of downtown LA, also home to one of the largest stable homeless populations in the
Continue ReadingLONDON (AP) — A white military horse that galloped through central London drenched in blood this spring after bolting with other horses from routine exercises has returned home after more than six months of recovery. The Horse Trust said Friday that Vida had returned to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, the ceremonial guard of the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Ben & Jerry’s has sued its parent company Unilever accusing it of silencing the ice cream maker from making statements in support of Palestinians in the war in Gaza. The complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in New York says multi-national conglomerate Unilever has failed to adhere to its contractural obligations in merger
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Efforts to free a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter have received a significant boost. A judge has concluded that Melissa Lucio is “actually innocent” of capital murder and her conviction and death sentence should be overturned. Senior State District Judge
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of California, Los Angeles should develop clear plans and policies, communication lines and decision-making authority in advance of major protests such as the large student protests against the Israel-Hamas war that shook the campus this spring, according to an outside review. The report released Thursday by 21st Century Policing
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Friday called on the diocese of Rome to respond to a growing housing crisis in the Eternal City, wading into the debate about rising rental prices that has only grown more acute with Holy Year celebrations in 2025. Francis has written to the city’s church leaders and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African government says it has put together a team including mine rescue experts to come up with a plan to bring to surface illegal miners who remain under a disused gold mine. The move signaled the government was taking a more conciliatory approach compared to earlier this week.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, his choice to head the Interior Department, will also lead a newly created National Energy Council that will seek to establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world. Burgum, in his new role, will oversee a panel that crosses all
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani has relinquished dozens of watches and a Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall to two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him. Giuliani’s lawyer says in a letter filed Friday in Manhattan federal court that the watches and a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A battery manufacturer has selected Kentucky for a nearly $712 million project to produce industrial-sized batteries used to store and distribute energy. It is a process officials say is important to help secure a reliable electric grid for the country. Gov. Andy Beshear said Friday the Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing
Continue ReadingOTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A stolen portrait of Winston Churchill that was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic has returned to its rightful place, after two Ottawa police detectives traveled to Rome to retrieve it. Police said ”The Roaring Lion” was stolen from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa, sometime between Christmas Day
Continue ReadingBANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military has consistently targeted civilians and their communities as a form of collective punishment in the country’s southeast since the army seized power in early 2021. That’s according to a rights group’s new report Friday. Documented airstrikes on villages examined by researchers from the Karen Human Rights Group are emblematic of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs had hoped fellow Democrats would make enough gains during this month’s election to flip one or both chambers of a state Legislature Republicans narrowly controlled, easing the path for her policy agenda ahead of a 2026 reelection campaign. Instead, the opposite happened. Rather than lose their
Continue ReadingPALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California city will pay $5.9 million to compensate Black and Latino families who were displaced from a neighborhood in the 1960s and decades later led a fight for restitution. The Palm Springs City Council approved the deal in a unanimous vote Thursday. The council also approved $10 million
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Utility regulators in North Dakota have approved part of a carbon dioxide pipeline that would span five Midwestern states. Friday’s decision by the state’s Public Service Commission is a key victory for Summit Carbon Solutions, a company that has faced vociferous landowner objections and various setbacks in its plans.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press VIENNA (AP) — Austria’s chancellor says Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazrom will cut off supplies early Saturday to Austrian utility OMV. Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Friday that his country’s underground gas storage is full and that it has alternative non-Russia supplies. The cutoff follows OMV’s announcement that it would stop paying for
Continue ReadingAssociated Press GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A Guatemalan appeals court has overturned the order freeing journalist José Rubén Zamora and ordered his return to jail. Zamora, founder of El Periódico newspaper, had spent more than two years in jail awaiting trial before a judge granted him house arrest in October. Prosecutors appealed the order and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two Missouri police officers were indicted separately this week and accused of similar crimes — pulling over women and searching their phones to find nude photos. The indictments of former Missouri State Highway Patrol officer David McKnight on Tuesday and former Florissant, Missouri, officer Julian Alcala on Wednesday were
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