By ISABELLA O’MALLEY Associated Press Wildfires raging in the Texas Panhandle have been growing at a staggering rate, resulting in widespread evacuations. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties late Tuesday. The blaze grew to 1,300 square miles on Wednesday, rivaling the largest in state history. The fast-moving fires are rare,
Continue ReadingBy PAOLO SANTALUCIA VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, who recently had the flu, was brought to a hospital in Rome for diagnostic testing after the papal audience Wednesday, the Vatican said, without giving further details. The pope arrived at the Gemelli Hospital on Tiber Island in a small white Fiat 500, leaving again under
Continue ReadingCNN By Clare Foran, Morgan Rimmer and Ted Barrett, CNN Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will step down as GOP leader in November, the Kentucky Republican announced on the Senate floor Wednesday, marking the end of an era on Capitol Hill and setting up a high-stakes race for his successor. He will continue to serve
Continue ReadingBy REBECCA BOONE Associated Press KUNA, Idaho (AP) — Idaho on Wednesday delayed the execution of serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech, one of the longest-serving death row inmates in the U.S., after a failed attempt at lethal injection. Creech, 73, was imprisoned in 1974 and has been convicted of five murders in three states and
Continue ReadingTAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A sheriff’s aviation unit used thermal imaging to guide deputies to a missing 5-year-old who had gone missing in a swamp near Tampa. The autistic girl wandered away from her home Monday evening and was quickly reported missing, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. The thermal camera captured images of the
Continue ReadingBy David McKenzie, CNN Johannesburg (CNN) — Ghana’s parliament on Wednesday unanimously passed a controversial anti-homosexuality bill that has drawn international condemnation. “After three long years, we have finally passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act,” said Sam George, one of the main sponsors of the bill on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Continue ReadingBy John Fritze and Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court’s conservatives pressed the Biden administration Wednesday to justify a federal ban on bump stocks, a device that can convert a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire far more rapidly. But after 90 minutes of argument in the high-profile dispute, it appeared
Continue ReadingBy JOEY CAPPELLETTI and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press LANSING, Michigan (AP) — The “uncommitted” campaign protesting President Joe Biden in Michigan has enough primary election votes to win two delegates. That’s according to Associated Press tabulations of Tuesday’s Democratic vote. While Biden won the state with more than 618,000 votes, more than 100,000 Michigan Democratic
Continue ReadingBy Christian Edwards, Radina Gigova and Anna Chernova, CNN (CNN) — Pro-Russian rebels in a separatist sliver of Moldova have asked President Vladimir Putin to protect their region from what they claim are threats from Moldova’s government. Transnistria, which illegally split from Moldova as the Soviet Union crumbled, has remained firmly within the Kremlin’s orbit
Continue ReadingBy LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer The Oscars just got an infusion of Kenergy. Ryan Gosling will sing the pop power ballad “ I’m Just Ken ” at the show on March 10, the show’s producers announced Wednesday. Others set to perform their nominated original songs include Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, Jon Batiste, Scott
Continue ReadingBy JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The parents of hundreds of thousands of U.S. children with physical or intellectual disabilities are waiting for state-covered services designed to foster independence and job skills for adulthood. While parents struggle to find services for toddlers, they also must think years ahead while their families are
Continue ReadingBy THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Paris Fashion Week’s fall shows offered a journey through time, blending historical influences with futuristic designs. Designers revisited archives to inspire new collections that mixed traditional elegance with modern innovation, evident in Dries Van Noten’s whimsical blend of historic and contemporary styles. The collection featured regal
Continue ReadingBUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Hundreds of flights have been canceled and dozens more rescheduled in Argentina as unionized air travel workers go on a 24-hour strike nationwide to demand better wages, in the latest sign of social unrest in the South American country. The strike, which started Wednesday morning, is expected to impact nearly
Continue ReadingBy RUSS BYNUM Associated Press When gun accessories known as bump stocks first hit the market more than a decade ago, the U.S. government initially concluded the devices did not violate federal law despite enabling semi-automatic weapons to spray bullets at the rapid-fire rate of a machine gun. That changed after a gunman with bump
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Actor Hunter Schafer was among dozens of war protestors arrested at NBC’s headquarters in Manhattan during President Joe Biden’s appearance on “Late Night with Seth Myers” earlier this week. Protest organizers confirmed Wednesday the 25-year-old “Euphoria” star was among more than 100 demonstrators who packed the lobby at 30 Rockefeller Plaza
Continue ReadingBy FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden appeared Wednesday on Capitol Hill for a defiant, closed-door deposition with lawmakers, a critical moment for Republicans as their impeachment inquiry into his father and the family’s business affairs teeters on the brink of collapse. “I am here today to provide the committees with the
Continue ReadingBy BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Antisemitism would be defined in Florida law under a bill whose sponsor warned that an increase in acts against Jewish people will lead to extremism against other groups. The Senate unanimously passed the bill Wednesday. The bill language was taken from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Continue ReadingBy DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are planning an $800 million renovation to Arrowhead Stadium that would begin after the team plays host to games for the 2026 World Cup and take about four years to complete. The plan is to bring the third-oldest stadium in
Continue ReadingBy SEAN MURPHY and JIM VERTUNO Associated Press CANADIAN, Texas (AP) — A cluster of wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, including a blaze that grew into one of the largest in state history, as flames blackened the landscape across a vast stretch of small towns and cattle ranches. Authorities warned that the damage
Continue ReadingCNN By Dakin Andone, Ed Lavandera and Ashley Killough, CNN Huntsville, Texas (CNN) — The state of Texas on Wednesday executed death row inmate Ivan Cantu, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2000 murders of his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée – though he insisted until his death that he was innocent. Cantu,
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