By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer Maggie Steffens asked for more support for the U.S. women’s water polo team, and the captain received one particularly surprising response. From a clock-wearing rap icon. Moved by Steffens’ Instagram post, Flavor Flav has stepped forward to help the U.S. team as it goes for an unprecedented fourth consecutive
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money case say they expect to call just two more witnesses, laying the ground to possibly rest their case next week. The announcement came after witness testimony concluded for the day, capping a feverish week in court. Madeleine Westerhout, a former Trump White House aide, was
Continue ReadingFULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — Jon Urbanchek, an International Swimming Hall of Famer who was an assistant for several United States Olympic teams and led Michigan to a national championship, has died. He was 87. Urbanchek died Thursday surrounded by family. No cause of death was given. Urbanchek was born in Hungary. After Soviet troops attacked
Continue ReadingISLAMABAD (AP) — Flash floods from seasonal rains in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan killed at least 50 people on Friday, a Taliban official said. The floods also caused losses to homes and property in several districts, according to Edayatullah Hamdard, the provincial director of Natural Disaster Management in Baghlan. He said that the death
Continue ReadingBy JAKE OFFENHARTZ, JENNIFER PELTZ, MICHAEL R. SISAK and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — In the wake of salacious testimony from porn actor Stormy Daniels, prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial narrowed their focus to checks and phone records Friday as they laid the groundwork for jurors to hear from
Continue ReadingBy LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — Rosemary Ketchum became West Virginia’s first openly transgender lawmaker when she was elected to the Wheeling City Council in 2020. Now, she’s running for mayor of the city of around 26,000 in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Ketchum says her time in local politics has
Continue ReadingBy ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — At least 90 people were injured in Argentina’s capital when a passenger train struck an empty boxcar on the tracks and derailed Friday, authorities said, a rare collision that fueled questions about basic safety. The train was on its way from Buenos Aires to the
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money case say they expect to call just two more witnesses, laying the ground to possibly rest their case next week. The announcement came after witness testimony concluded for the day, capping a feverish week in court. Madeleine Westerhout, a former Trump White House aide, was
Continue ReadingTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Powerful storms left thousands without electricity Friday in Florida and other Southeastern states, where damaging winds toppled trees onto homes and power lines following days of deadly severe weather that produced tornadoes in Michigan, Tennessee and other states. The National Weather Service said wind gusts of 71 mph (114 kph), just
Continue ReadingBY STEPHEN McGRATH and NICOLAE DUMITRACHE Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A court in Romania’s capital has extended geographical restrictions against online influencer Andrew Tate. He’s awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The Bucharest Tribunal extended by 60 days the restrictions stipulating that Tate,
Continue ReadingROME (AP) — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a $500 million fundraising campaign Friday to ensure long-term, global support for its Oscar prizes, museum and educational programming in view of its 100th anniversary in 2028. Academy officials announced the campaign at a press conference in Rome alongside the leadership of Cinecitta,
Continue ReadingROME (AP) — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a $500 million fundraising campaign Friday to ensure long-term, global support for its Oscar prizes, museum and educational programming in view of its 100th anniversary in 2028. Academy officials announced the campaign at a press conference in Rome alongside the leadership of Cinecitta,
Continue ReadingBy Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The US announced on Friday a new $400 million military aid package to Ukraine. The package includes weapons Ukraine has been asking for, including Patriot missile system munitions, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMAR) systems and ammunition, Stinger anti-air missiles, 155mm artillery rounds, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Mine Resistant
Continue ReadingBy Victoria Butenko, Olga Voitovych, Andrew Carey, Daria Tarasova-Markina, Nick Paton Walsh and Zahid Mahmood, y (CNN) — Russian forces have made two cross-border assaults inside northern Ukraine, according to information from Ukrainian sources and officials, in what President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling a “new wave of counteroffensive actions” by Russia. In the first development, Russian
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press A Virginia school board voted Friday to restore the names of Confederate military leaders to a high school and an elementary school, four years after the names were removed amid nationwide protests calling for a reckoning over racial injustice. In a reversal experts believe was the first of its kind,
Continue ReadingBy JONEL ALECCIA and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press U.S. health and agriculture officials pledged nearly $200 million in new spending and other efforts Friday to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nation’s dairy cows that has spread to more than 40 herds in nine states. The new funds include $101
Continue ReadingBy PATRICK ORSAGOS Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Bidders will fight with their dollars next week at an Ohio auction house for the sword of the Civil War Union general who led a scorched-earth campaign across Georgia and coined the phrase “War is hell.” General William Tecumseh Sherman’s wartime sword, likely used between 1861
Continue ReadingBy JOHN HANNA and TOM MURPHY Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A cyberattack on the Ascension health system across the U.S. diverted ambulances, caused patients to miss medical visits and blocked online access to their records. A spokesperson for Ascension says it detected what it called unusual activity Wednesday on its computer network systems,
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — A long stretch of Los Angeles coastal waters was under a closure order Friday after a large spill of untreated sewage into a creek that empties into the ocean. The spill began Wednesday and about 14,400 gallons flowed into Ballona Creek before it was stopped at midday Thursday, the Los Angeles
Continue ReadingBy John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Louisiana officials asked the Supreme Court on Friday to intervene in the ongoing legal fight over the state’s congressional districts, urging the high court to quickly resolve a dispute that has essentially left the state without a viable map for this year’s election. The emergency appeal came days after civil rights
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