Associated Press LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Hundreds of Bolivian devotees have arrived at the municipal cemetery of La Paz carrying human skulls adorned with flowers for the Ñatitas festival. It is a custom rooted in the Andean region, but not recognized by the Catholic church. According to Bolivian belief, devotees ask Ñatitas for health,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TORONTO (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people is a top focus for Canada s the country plans to deal with a possible influx north. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-established a special Cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations this week to address his administration’s concerns
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DETROIT (AP) — A jury has awarded more than $12 million to a woman who lost her job at a Michigan insurance company after declining to get a COVID-19 vaccination. Much of the award is for punitive damages against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Lisa Domski worked at Blue Cross for more
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. government has extended avocado import permissions to Guatemala, but don’t expect that to result in cheaper guacamole anytime soon. For nearly 30 years, Mexico has been practically the only source of imported avocados — along with small amounts from South America — because of concerns that plant diseases and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Senate discriminated against a Black attorney by paying her about half of what her white colleagues were paid for the same job. That is according to a lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed Friday. Kristie Metcalfe was a staff attorney from December 2011 to November 2019,
Continue ReadingAssociated Presss WASHINGTON (AP) — A good-governance group is warning of severe consequences if President-elect Donald Trump continues to steer clear of formal transition planning with the Biden administration — inaction that it says is already limiting the federal government’s ability to provide security clearances and briefings to the incoming administration. Without it, says Max
Continue ReadingSAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian police said that unidentified gunmen in a black car killed at least one person and wounded another three Friday afternoon at Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos. Police said the fatal victim is Antônio Vinícius Lopes Gritzbach, who had previously received death threats from the First Command of the Capital,
Continue ReadingHAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Rafael has weakened into a tropical storm as it swirls through the Gulf of Mexico where it is expected to break apart after plowing through Cuba, knocking out the country’s power grid and collapsing hundreds of houses. On Friday night, the tropical storm was located 240 miles (390 kms) north of
Continue ReadingAP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency says Tesla is telling drivers in public statements that its vehicles can drive themselves, conflicting with owners manuals and briefings with the agency saying the electric vehicles need human supervision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking the company to “revisit its
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Women won a majority of seats in the New Mexico Legislature in the general election, stirring expressions of vindication and joy. New Mexico now joins a small cadre of states that have achieved gender parity or elected female majorities. Nevada voters were the first in 2018 to elect
Continue ReadingLOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky police officer has been reprimanded for firing non-lethal rounds at a TV camera crew during street protests over Breonna Taylor’s death in 2020. A crew from WAVE-TV was filming live as Louisville Police Officer Dustin Dean fired pepper rounds at them in May 2020. The first protests over Taylor’s
Continue ReadingAssociated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Chinese national was ordered held Friday on trespassing charges after police say he tried to enter President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in violation of a court order that he stay away following previous attempts. Zijie Li, 39, is being held without bond at the Palm Beach County
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the Pentagon is easing restrictions to allow a small number of private American defense contactors to work inside Ukraine, helping repair and maintain equipment. The officials say the contractors will be far away from the front lines during Russia’s invasion and will not be taking part in
Continue ReadingAssociated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump put billionaire Elon Musk on the line with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the Ukrainian leader called to congratulate the incoming U.S. president, according to a Ukrainian official with direct knowledge of the phone call. The person, who was not authorized to comment on the matter publicly,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has filed a new request for bail, saying changed circumstances, along with new evidence, mean he should be allowed to prepare for a May trial from outside jail. Lawyers for Combs filed the request in Manhattan federal court on Friday. His requests for bail have been
Continue ReadingMADISON, Wis. (AP) — Former first lady Michelle Obama’s brother and his wife have settled a lawsuit they filed in 2022 alleging a private school in Milwaukee refused to reenroll their children after the couple raised concerns about racism. Craig and Kelly Robinson alleged in the lawsuit that the University School of Milwaukee terminated their
Continue ReadingNEW BROCKTON, Ala (AP) — Officials say a 14-year-old football player who collapsed during practice this summer died from congestive heart failure. Coffee County Coroner Arnold Woodham announced the cause of death Thursday following a state-conducted autopsy. Semaj Wilkins was a freshman at New Brockton High School. He died in August after collapsing during afternoon
Continue ReadingAP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Three NASA astronauts whose prolonged space station mission ended with a trip to the hospital last month declined to say Friday which one of them was sick. Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps publicly discussed their spaceflight for the first time since returning from the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man has been charged with staging a car accident for insurance fraud purposes last month in a case that received wide publicity after the victim shared dashboard camera footage of the crash. Prosecutors say the 28-year-old Brooklyn man was in a car whose driver cut
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Nearly two dozen retired research chimpanzees will be relocated from New Mexico to a sanctuary in Louisiana. The decision announced Friday by the National Institutes of Health follows a long battle with animal advocates over the fate of the remaining chimps at a facility at Holloman Air Force Base
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