NEW YORK (AP) — The oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sold for more than $5 million at an auction on Wednesday. Sotheby’s said the 155-pound (52-kilogram) marble slab was acquired by an anonymous buyer who plans to donate it to an Israeli institution. The New York-based auction house said the final
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — During the transition period between President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, there has been at least some coordination on West Wing affairs. But there hasn’t been any word yet on the fate of Biden’s Gender Policy Council, which has worked to defend reproductive health care in the face of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press/Report for America NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A judge sentenced a 93-year-old former Catholic priest Wednesday to spend the rest of his life behind bars for raping a teenage boy decades ago. Lawrence Hecker had pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree rape and aggravated kidnapping moments before jury selection was scheduled to begin in
Continue ReadingBy Christiane Amanpour, Claire Calzonetti, Jaya Sharma and Lauren Kent, CNN (CNN) — Iran’s most prominent human rights activist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Narges Mohammadi, said she will never stop fighting for democracy and equality, and she doesn’t fear retribution by the Iranian regime. Speaking exclusively to CNN while on a three-week medical
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The City of Palm Desert hosted a special event Wednesday, featuring the Traveling 9/11 Memorial Painting, a tribute to the lives lost and heroic efforts of Sept. 11, 2001. The event included a live demonstration by the painting’s custodian, who delivered the artwork to Fire Station 33. Fire Chief Beverlin, city leaders, local first responders, and community
Continue ReadingCalMatters California’s community colleges are experimenting with a radical new model of education, but some professors are pushing back. Faculty at Madera Community College have become the most vocal opposition, though issues with the new education model have popped up across the state. In the new model, known as competency-based education, students don’t receive grades
Continue ReadingCHICAGO (AP) — Demolition has begun on a historic downtown building two decades after a stampede at the dance club it housed left 21 dead and nearly five dozen injured. A crew moved in Tuesday after last week’s emergency demolition order by the Chicago Department of Buildings. That followed a Nov. 7 ruling by the
Continue ReadingBy Clare Foran and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — The Senate voted on Wednesday to pass a critical defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a ban against gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members – a provision pushed by Republicans that sparked anger from Democrats. The legislation will
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Two endangered whales have been spotted entangled in fishing gear off Massachusetts, and one is likely to die from its injuries, the federal government said. They are North Atlantic right whales, which number less than 400 and face existential threats from entanglement in gear and collisions with ships. An aerial survey found the
Continue ReadingCAIRO (AP) — A government spokesperson says Egypt’s prime minister was forced to briefly pause a news conference after experiencing some dizziness. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly was speaking during his weekly televised Cabinet briefing when he felt unwell, grabbed the microphone stand tightly and asked for a pause. Cabinet spokesperson Mohamed el-Homsani says the 58-year-old
Continue ReadingBURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Vermont military contractor will pay nearly half a million dollars to settle allegations that it used some foreign-sourced materials in certain protective eyewear it sold. The U.S. attorney’s office for Vermont says Revision Military Ltd. used a foreign source of carrying pouches, cases and straps for particular
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jacob Elordi is suddenly everywhere in Hollywood, so much so that he thinks he must be dreaming. Amid a remarkable streak of high-profile projects with respected filmmakers, the 27-year-old isn’t taking his success for granted. He stars in Paul Schrader’s most recent movie, “Oh, Canada,” in theaters now. In
Continue ReadingBy John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to wade into a years-old legal battle over South Carolina’s failed bid to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. At issue is an executive order from South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, that he signed in 2018 that pulled funding for Planned Parenthood.
Continue ReadingStory by Reuters Mamoudzou, Mayotte (Reuters) — Authorities in the French overseas territory of Mayotte could still confirm only 31 deaths on Wednesday from Cyclone Chido, more than four days after it swept through the Indian Ocean archipelago, causing mayhem and killing possibly thousands. Mayotte, France’s poorest overseas territory, is home to large numbers of
Continue ReadingMIAMI (AP) — A grand jury in Washington has returned an indictment against former Congressman David Rivera for failing to register as a foreign agent of a sanctioned Venezuelan media tycoon on whose behalf the Miami Republican allegedly lobbied the Trump administration. The indictment is the second criminal complaint to examine Rivera’s relationship to Raúl
Continue ReadingIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 will be retired in a ceremony Feb. 2 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Clark finished her college career last season as the all-time leading men’s or women’s scorer in NCAA Division I history and is widely regarded as a transformational figure in the women’s game.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said he will go to the European Court of Human Rights, after his conviction in a corruption case was made definitive by France’s highest court, has been involved in a series of legal proceedings. He was convicted by an appeals court for illegal campaign
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BEIJING, China (AP) — China and India have agreed to work toward a solution to their long-running border dispute in the Himalayas after a military standoff there that began with a deadly clash in 2020. Wednesday’s development follows a pact on border patrols from October, which finally broke a stalemate that started with
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee voted in secret to release the long-awaited ethics report into ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz, raising the possibility that the allegations against the Florida Republican who was President-elect Donald Trump’s first choice for attorney general could be made public in the coming days. The decision by the bipartisan
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans will still be in charge when the Wisconsin Legislature returns to work in January but will have the narrowest majorities in years. That’s giving Democrats optimism that both sides will be able to work together better than they have in the six years since their party’s Tony Evers
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