By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ed Dwight grew up in segregated 1930s Kansas on a farm on the edge of town. An airfield was within walking distance, and, as a boy, he’d often go to marvel at the planes and gawk at the pilots. Most were flying back from hunting
Continue ReadingROME (AP) — Pope Francis has met with Argentine pilgrims who are in town for this weekend’s canonization of the first female saint from his home country. Francis blasted what he called the “radical individualism” infecting today’s society during the audience Friday. Francis held up as a model instead the 18th-century Argentine laywoman lovingly known
Continue ReadingBy STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging near record heights Friday, on track to close another winning week in their stunning rally since Halloween. The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in afternoon trading and could finish the day above the 5,000 level for the first time after briefly
Continue ReadingBy JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Holding the Olympic Games in bustling, compact Paris is riling and worrying some residents. Games organizers and City Hall officials are finding that out for themselves as they embark on a concerted campaign to win Parisians’ hearts and minds and get people in the Olympic mood or,
Continue ReadingBy NAJIB JOBAIN, WAFAA SHURAFA and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered the military to prepare a plan to evacuate the population of Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza town. Netanyahu made the announcement Friday following international criticism
Continue ReadingBy KEN MILLER Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge agreed to step down Friday after she was caught sending hundreds of texts from the bench while overseeing a murder trial in the killing of a 2-year-old boy, including messages that mocked prosecutors and were sprinkled with emojis. District Judge Traci Soderstrom also
Continue ReadingBy JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Meta has removed Instagram and Facebook accounts run on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after criticism over his support for Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the monthslong war still raging in the Gaza Strip, the company
Continue ReadingMADISON, Wis. (AP) — The National Weather Service has confirmed the first-ever February tornado in the state of Wisconsin. The tornado was spotted Thursday just south of Madison. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports it is the first time a tornado was confirmed during the second month of the year in the state since records have
Continue ReadingBy EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s top court has struck down Shariah-based criminal laws in an opposition-run state, saying they encroached on federal authority. Islamists denounced Friday’s decision and said it could undermine religious courts across the Muslim-majority nation. In an 8-1 ruling, the nine-member Federal Court panel invalidated 16
Continue ReadingBy YURI KAGEYAMA and MATT OTT AP Business Writers Wall Street inched higher before the bell Friday, with the S&P 500 above 5,000 which, if it holds, would be the first time that it has closed at such heights. Futures for the S&P 500 rose close to 0.2% to 5,025.50 and the Dow Jones Industrial
Continue ReadingBy MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a private three-week mission to the International Space Station. The trio were accompanied by a retired NASA astronaut who now works for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the chartered flight.
Continue ReadingBy JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — In a short film shown at the end of the Super Bowl halftime performer news conference, the show’s headliner Usher comes up missing. The singer’s sudden absence prompts instant panic from his friends including Ludacris, Lil Jon and Taraji P. Henson, sparking a search
Continue ReadingBy PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Thousands of doctors in the early years of their careers in England are to go on strike later this month for another five-day stretch as their long-standing pay dispute with the British government remains in stasis. The British Medical Association, the union that represents the so-called junior
Continue ReadingBy RIAZAT BUTT and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Independent candidates backed by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan were leading in Pakistan’s national election results on Friday, a surprise given claims by his supporters and a national rights body that the balloting was manipulated to favor his rival. Khan, a former
Continue ReadingMADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Elections Commission has complied with court orders and voted to tell the more than 1,800 local clerks who run elections in the battleground state that they can accept absentee ballots that are missing parts of a witness’s address. The Wisconsin State Journal reports the commission voted 5-1 Thursday to
Continue ReadingBy DAVID CRARY AP National Writer For decades, the plotline for LGBTQ+ activism in the U.S. was one of advances — often slow-paced and hard-fought but inexorably moving forward. Now, faced with unprecedented attacks in state legislatures, transgender rights leaders acknowledge they are playing defense — and two of the biggest groups are joining forces
Continue ReadingBy ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives hangs in the balance in a special election in the Philadelphia suburbs. Tuesday’s election there is the fourth time in a year a vacancy has put the Democratic majority at risk. The candidates are Democrat Jim Prokopiak and Republican Candace
Continue ReadingBy Clare Foran, Ted Barrett and Morgan Rimmer, CNN The Senate is working to pass a $95.3 billion foreign aid bill with assistance for Ukraine and Israel, but it may be days until a final vote as GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is using arcane and complex chamber rules to slow down the process
Continue ReadingBy ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in New York’s third congressional district will decide who will complete the remaining 11 months of George Santos’ unfinished term. The epilogue to Santos’ short and tumultuous congressional career will be written Tuesday as two candidates vie to replace him. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, the
Continue ReadingBy JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A British newspaper publisher has agreed to pay Prince Harry a “substantial” sum in costs and damages for invading his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping, Harry’s lawyer said Friday. Attorney David Sherborne said Mirror Group Newspapers had agreed to pay all of Harry’s legal
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