LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California further shook up its commencement plans Friday, announcing the cancelation of a keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu just days after making the controversial choice to disallow the student valedictorian from speaking. The private university in Los Angeles on Monday said it was canceling valedictorian
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California further shook up its commencement plans Friday, announcing the cancelation of a keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu just days after making the controversial choice to disallow the student valedictorian from speaking. The private university in Los Angeles on Monday said it was canceling valedictorian
Continue ReadingBy ELLEN KNICKMEYER and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.N. World Food Program has agreed to help deliver aid for the starving civilians of Gaza once the U.S. military completes a pier for transporting the humanitarian assistance by sea. That’s according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. The involvement of
Continue ReadingBy WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The “miners” who chisel bitcoins out of complex mathematics are taking a 50% pay cut — effectively reducing new production of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, again. Bitcoin’s latest “halving” occurred Friday night. Soon after the highly anticipated event, the price of bitcoin held steady at
Continue ReadingLeaders across the state are working to reduce crime and homelessness. The Californians for Safer Communities Coalition submitted over 900,000 signatures Thursday to get a new measure on the November ballot, which makes changes to Prop 47. Supporters say the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act” would create harsher penalties for repeat offenders and
Continue ReadingBy SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has tentatively sided with state Attorney General Rob Bonta in a dispute over the title of a proposed ballot measure that would require school staff to notify parents if their child asks to change gender identification at schools. A group backing
Continue ReadingBy SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has tentatively sided with state Attorney General Rob Bonta in a dispute over the title of a proposed ballot measure that would require school staff to notify parents if their child asks to change gender identification at schools. A group backing
Continue ReadingBy ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — A jury in southern Arizona is still deliberating in the trial of a rancher charged with fatally shooting an unarmed migrant on his property near the U.S.-Mexico border. Judge Thomas Fink sent jurors home for the weekend after they failed to reach a verdict Friday. They will
Continue ReadingBy Eva Roytburg, CNN (CNN) — After watching her older sister float through the lazy river, 4-year-old Demi Williams wanted in. The lazy river loop at the Myrtle Beach resort was about three feet deep; Demi was 3-and-a-half feet tall. Her mother, Destiny Morgan, granted permission for the toddler to go in, then patiently waited for
Continue ReadingBy KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it tested a “super-large” cruise missile warhead and a new anti-aircraft missile in a western coastal area as it expands its military capabilities in the face of deepening tensions with the United States and South Korea. North Korean state media says the
Continue ReadingBy Raja Razek and Emma Tucker, CNN (CNN) — Five teenagers were injured, including one who remains in critical condition, after gunfire erupted at a park in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Friday afternoon where hundreds of high school students gathered for senior skip day. Police said they do not have a suspect in custody or a
Continue ReadingBy BEN FINLEY Associated Press Authorities in Ohio say a man fatally shot an Uber driver because he wrongly assumed she was part of a scam to extract $12,000 in supposed bond money for a nephew. The Uber driver was a victim of the same con. She was summoned by the grifters to the man’s
Continue ReadingBy JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Reigning Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire will make his IndyCar debut on the streets of Long Beach with Arrow McLaren as the 20-year-old Frenchman becomes the latest replacement for injured driver David Malukas. Pourchaire said Friday that he was initially contacted about driving
Continue ReadingBy Alex Marquardt and Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — Hours before Israel launched a drone strike against Iran on Thursday night, Israeli officials gave a heads up to their US counterparts in Washington: an attack was in the works, they said, and without sharing specifics, indicated it would be carried out in the next
Continue ReadingBy DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A man who set himself on fire outside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump was on trial tested news organizations on how quickly they could respond to an incident and what to show viewers. CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC were all live on the
Continue ReadingDENVER (AP) — Federal transportation officials are investigating an unauthorized inflight cockpit visit by a coach for the Colorado Rockies during a United Airlines charter flight last week from Denver to Toronto. Video surfaced this week that appears to show Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens sitting in a pilot’s seat while the April 10 flight
Continue ReadingBy Jeremy Herb and Lauren del Valle, CNN (CNN) — The historic first criminal trial of a former US president begins with opening statements on Monday. Judge Juan Merchan swiftly moved through consideration of roughly 200 potential jurors to find a jury pool of 18 by midday Friday, swearing in 12 jurors and six alternates
Continue ReadingBy Aqeel Najim and Hamdi Alkhshali, CNN (CNN) — The Iraqi army said on Saturday that a command post at Kalsu military base, south of the capital Baghdad, had been hit by an explosion overnight, killing one member of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and injuring eight other people. The PMU, also known as the
Continue ReadingBy KRISTIN M. HALL and TOM KRISHER Associated Press CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Ballots are being counted at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the United Auto Workers union is optimistic it will win a vote to decide whether it will represent the factory’s 4,300 production workers. Union observers watching Friday night’s vote count
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Two mayoral candidates in Mexico have been killed, bringing to 17 the number of contenders slain in the lead-up to the June 2 elections. One candidate was killed Friday in the northern Mexico border state of Tamaulipas. Noé Ramos Ferretiz was running for a coalition of the opposition National Action Party
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