AP 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 ReadingBy Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — UK and US authorities on Wednesday announced a major crackdown on a pair of billion-dollar money laundering rings that officials say has cleaned money for Russia’s elite, cybercriminals and drug-runners around the world. The US Treasury Department sanctioned alleged senior members of one of the money-laundering rings, while the
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
Continue ReadingSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Police in Trinidad and Tobago said they have confiscated more than $6 million worth of drugs, one of the biggest seizures in the history of the twin-island Caribbean nation. The seizure included more than 500 pounds (230 kilograms) of marijuana and more than 28 pounds, or 13 kilograms, of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The Venezuelan man convicted of murder in the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and sentenced to serve life in prison without parole is asking for a new trial. Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard found Jose Ibarra guilty of all 10 counts against him in the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After more than 150 shows across five continents over nearly two years, the global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to an end. There is no simple way to encapsulate the effects of Swift’s decision to put on a 3 ½-hour concert, showcasing 44 songs representing
Continue ReadingBy Helen Regan and Eunseo Jeong, CNN Seoul (CNN) — Candle-lit vigils and rallies were held across South Korea on Wednesday, a nation outraged and frustrated by the president’s surprise declaration of martial law the night before called for his resignation. Outside the National Assembly Hall in the capital Seoul, hundreds of people gathered on
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, says he’ll run for Michigan governor in 2026 as an independent because “there are a lot of people in this country who are tired of both” the Democratic and Republican parties. Duggan made the announcement on Wednesday. The decision comes amid a reckoning
Continue ReadingCNN By John Miller, Amanda Musa, Rebekah Riess, David Goldman and Brynn Gingras, CNN New York (CNN) — UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning in a “brazen, targeted attack” as he walked toward the hotel hosting the company’s annual investor conference, New York police said. The gunman remains
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has decided to increase its still strikingly low daily minimum wage by 12% next year. But because the Mexican peso has dropped by 18% in value over the last year, the increase actually marks a slight drop in constant dollar terms. The three-party minimum wage commission, made up of government,
Continue ReadingBy Christian Edwards, CNN (CNN) — A leader of one of Georgia’s opposition parties has been detained by police after he was beaten unconscious by officers in the capital Tbilisi, his party said Wednesday, in the wake of fierce protests in the former Soviet republic. The Coalition for Change party – which comprises four opposition
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A gunman killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive search for the fleeing assailant hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting nearby. Brian Thompson, 50,
Continue ReadingBy John Miller, Amanda Musa, Rebekah Riess, David Goldman and Brynn Gingras, CNN New York (CNN) — UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning in a “brazen, targeted attack” as he walked toward the hotel hosting the company’s annual investor conference, New York police said. The gunman is on
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A defiant Pete Hegseth fought to save his nomination to be Donald Trump’s defense secretary Wednesday as the president-elect considered possible replacements in the face of growing questions about the former Fox News host’s personal conduct and ability to win Senate confirmation. Hegseth met with legislators on Capitol Hill, conducted
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican soldiers and marines have seized over a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north in what officials are calling the biggest catch of the synthetic opioid in the country’s history. The raids came after a sharp drop in fentanyl seizures in Mexico earlier this year, and days
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