Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — One by one, the toys that show the wear and tear of love are restored for the holidays: sewed and combed, stuffed and dressed. The Barbie dolls, Kung Fu Panda and many more that have been left behind by children are being prepared to be gifted once more. This
Continue ReadingHARRISON, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities in New York say one person died when a small plane crashed onto an interstate highway in suburban Westchester County. The other of the two people on board was injured in Thursday evening’s crash. It shut down traffic on Interstate 684 in Harrison around 7 p.m. Video shows the damaged
Continue ReadingAssociated Press The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has placed an employee on administrative leave after The Associated Press reported that one of its coaches was accused of sexually abusing a young biathlete, causing her so much distress that she attempted suicide. USOPC officials sent an email to the U.S. Biathlon national team saying it
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Syrian military official who oversaw a prison where alleged human rights abuses took place has been charged with several counts of torture after being arrested in July for visa fraud charges, authorities said Thursday. Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, who oversaw Syria’s infamous Adra Prison from 2005 to 2008
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A slate of six Nevada Republicans have again been charged with submitting a bogus certificate to Congress that declared Donald Trump the winner of the presidential battleground’s 2020 election. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Thursday that the state’s fake electors case had been revived in Carson City, the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico would make new investments in early childhood education, pilot projects to recycle oil-fracking water, and expand treatment for drug addiction and mental health disorders under a new annual spending proposal from Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The budget blueprint would increase general fund spending by about
Continue ReadingAssociated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov.-elect Josh Stein have challenged a portion of a law just enacted by the Republican-dominated General Assembly that erodes Stein’s powers and those of other top Democrats elected last month. The lawsuit filed Thursday in state court focuses on a provision that would
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaiian Airlines flight crew’s decision to fly over a hazardous storm cell instead of deviating around it was the probable cause for hitting severe turbulence that injured passengers and crewmembers in 2022, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a final report Thursday. Three passengers and a crew member
Continue ReadingAssociated Press After Luigi Mangione made the difficult decision to undergo spinal surgery last year for chronic back pain, he became a proponent of the procedure that changed his life for the better. He repeatedly posted on Reddit about his recovery and offered words of encouragement for people with similar conditions, telling them to push
Continue ReadingAssociated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — SpaceX is launching a new mission: making its Starbase site a new Texas city. Billionaire Elon Musk ‘s company on Thursday sent a letter to local officials requesting an election to turn what it calls Starbase — the South Texas site where SpaceX builds and launches its massive Starship
Continue ReadingCHICAGO (AP) — A jury has awarded nearly $80 million to the family of a 10-year-old Chicago girl who was killed during a police chase and crash in 2020. The city of Chicago had acknowledged liability in the death of Da’Karia Spicer. The only issue for the jury was the financial award. Da’Karia was in
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is offering his support for the dockworkers union before their contract expires next month at Eastern and Gulf Coast ports. He posted on social media Thursday that he met with union leaders and that any further “automation” of the ports would harm workers. He wrote that the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Dozens of environmental nonprofits issued a manifesto Thursday condemning new laws in Brazilian states that threaten to dismantle the Amazon soy moratorium. This landmark voluntary agreement stipulates that traders and oil producers do not buy soybeans grown on land cleared after 2008. The soy moratorium gathered strange bedfellows, ranging
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Drones for commercial and recreational use have grown rapidly in popularity, despite restrictions on who can operate them and where they can be flown. No-fly zones are enforced around airports, military installations, nuclear plants, certain landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, and sports stadiums during games. Not everybody follows the rules. Sightings at
Continue ReadingSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy says $365 million is available to install solar and battery storage systems in homes and healthcare centers across Puerto Rico. Up to $190 million is available to Puerto Rico’s Housing Administration and a private company to pay for solar and battery installations in public
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Niger’s ruling junta suspended the BBC for three months over its coverage of an extremist attack that allegedly killed dozens of Nigerien soldiers and civilians. Niger’s ruling junta suspended the BBC for three months over its coverage of an extremist attack that allegedly killed dozens of Nigerien soldiers and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has announced what it called the first-ever national strategy to counter Islamophobia. A proposal released Thursday details more than 100 possible steps to curb hate, violence, bias and discrimination against Muslims and Arab Americans. It follows a similar national plan to battle antisemitism that President Joe Biden
Continue ReadingRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An Argentine tourist has been shot in the head and chest in Rio de Janeiro after he mistakenly drove his car into a low-income community, police said. He was using a GPS device to make his way to the Christ the Redeemer statue, local media reported. Gastón Fernando, 51, was
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams met with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” on Thursday, with the Democratic mayor expressing an enthusiasm to work with the incoming administration to pursue violent criminals in the city while Trump promises mass deportations. The mayor’s meeting with Tom Homan, who will
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic says it hasn’t settled on any future plans to retrieve more artifacts from the shipwreck. Thursday’s announcement could cool down a legal battle with the U.S. government. RMS Titanic Inc. wrote in a court filing that it won’t visit
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