By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Biden administration leaders, top Pentagon officials and members of Congress were unaware for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized since Monday, U.S. officials said Saturday, as questions swirled about his condition and the secrecy surrounding it. The Pentagon did not inform the
Continue ReadingBy BASSEM MROUE, SAMY MAGDY and NAJIB JOBAIN Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah traded fire Saturday in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks, a day after the militia’s leader urged retaliation for the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon’s capital.
Continue ReadingBy NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The mother of an 11-year-old who was killed in a school shooting in Iowa this week remembers the boy as a friendly child who exuded happiness. Ahmir Jolliff’s family called him “Smiley.” He was killed on Thursday when a teenager opened fire in the cafeteria
Continue ReadingBy AUDREY McAVOY and DAVID KOENIG Associated Press Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage. The required inspections take around four to eight hours per
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The Palm Springs International Film Festival hosted another eventful night drawing film fanatics from across the globe. Our crews stopped by the Opening Night Screening at Palm Springs High School, featuring the U.S. premier of Wicked Little Letters. That screening was then followed by the Retro Revival Opening Night Party at the Palm Springs Air
Continue ReadingBy AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage. The required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft and will affect about 171 airplanes
Continue ReadingBy Xiaofei Xu, CNN Paris (CNN) — A couple from the French-speaking part of Belgium wanted to become naturalized French citizens but found themselves with the most French of problems – a bureaucratic struggle to prove they speak their mother tongue. The documents they provided to their local prefecture were deemed insufficient to demonstrate that they speak French. “I am the commercial director of
Continue ReadingBy Olga Voitovych, CNN Kyiv (CNN) — Eleven people including five children were killed in Russian S-300 missile strikes on Saturday in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to the local military administration. “Eleven dead, including five children – these are the preliminary results of the strikes on Pokrovsk district. Russians hit the area with S-300 missiles, killing 11 people and wounding 8 others. The main hit was on
Continue ReadingBy SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will give his annual State of the Union address on March 7. The invitation came Saturday from House Speaker Mike Johnson for the president to speak to a joint session of Congress. Johnson said he was inviting Biden “in this moment of great
Continue ReadingBy DARREN SANDS Associated Press Over its 215-year history, the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City has earned a reputation as the flagship of the Black church in America. Based in Harlem, it became a famous megachurch with the political rise of the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. perhaps the most influential of the
Continue ReadingBy TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Three Florida residents are in FBI custody on charges that they assaulted officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the nation’s Capitol. The FBI said it arrested 24-year-old Jonathan D. Pollock, his 33-year-old sister, Olivia M. Pollock and 27-year-old Joseph D. Hutchinson at a
Continue ReadingCNN By Cheri Mossburg, CNN (CNN) — The family of a woman who was shot and killed by a responding deputy after calling for help in a domestic violence incident is seeking $30 million in a claim filed Thursday against Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Niani Finlayson died on December 4 after
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer CHANIA, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the leaders of Turkey and Greece on Saturday during the opening stops of his latest Mideast diplomatic mission as fears grow that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza may expand into a broader conflict. Blinken’s fourth visit
Continue ReadingKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Eleven people were killed Saturday in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk province, according to regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin. Five children were among the dead and eight further people were wounded in the attack on the Pokrovsk district, he said. Ukraine’s military claimed Saturday it successfully attacked the Saki military
Continue ReadingBy THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The rivalry between GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley has become a leading storyline before the leadoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15. The two candidates are in an increasingly testy contest to emerge in Iowa as the preferred alternative to former President Donald Trump
Continue ReadingISLAMABAD (AP) — A minibus exploded in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others, a Taliban official said Saturday. It was the first attack in the country in 2024. Police spokesman Khalid Zadran said the explosion happened in the western part of the
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer CHANIA, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkey’s leaders Saturday during the first stop of his latest Mideast diplomatic mission as fears grow that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza may expand into a broader conflict. Blinken’s fourth visit in three months comes as
Continue ReadingBy Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Dinosaurs are all around us, figuratively and literally speaking. Most of these diverse creatures went extinct 66 million years ago, but the ancient ancestors of modern birds are ingrained in the fabric of both scientific intrigue and pop culture. Colorful dinos romp around in animated shows — and their
Continue ReadingBy STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Residents across the eastern U.S. — particularly in New England — are gassing up their snow blowers and dusting off their shovels as they gear up for a storm expected to bring snow, freezing rain and ice to the region. The system was expected to track along
Continue ReadingBy Jay Croft, CNN (CNN) — It happened in a moment: The Boeing 737 Max-9 was gaining altitude after taking off from Portland. Then a loud boom – an explosion – then a rush of air and screams as a refrigerator-sized hole was left in the side of the 220-passenger plane. A boy’s shirt was
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