By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer Longtime NFL kicker Robbie Gould is retiring following an 18-year career that established him as one of the game’s best in the clutch. Gould announced his retirement on The Player’s Tribune on Thursday. Gould had been a free agent after the San Francisco 49ers opted not to bring
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — A box-shaped cloud of opaque dust that lies at the center of our galaxy has long perplexed scientists, and observations that reveal a new detail about its composition are deepening the mystery — possibly upending what’s known about how stars form. The cloud, nicknamed “the Brick” for its visual
Continue ReadingBy Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The US Justice Department on Thursday announced charges against one Russian intelligence officer and one Russian IT worker for conducting a years-long cyber-espionage campaign against current and former US government officials, and interfering in a national election in the United Kingdom. In the UK, the two Russian operatives were part of “sustained unsuccessful
Continue ReadingBy MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The stage musical “How to Dance in Ohio” opens on Broadway on Sunday, celebrating those on the autism spectrum and opening a window about autism’s highs and lows for the neurotypical. The musical is based on the Peabody Award-winning documentary of the same name. It
Continue ReadingA woman sentenced to life in an Idaho prison for murdering her two youngest children and another woman has pleaded not guilty to charges in Arizona of conspiring to kill her estranged husband and her niece’s ex-husband. Lori Vallow Daybell, dressed in an orange jail uniform, stated her name and birthdate when a judge asked
Continue ReadingBy CARLOS MUREITHI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An international team of climate scientists says the ongoing catastrophic rains in East Africa have been made worse by human-induced climate change. An analysis by World Weather Attribution found that the magnitude of the rainfall had nearly doubled due to global warming. The researchers found the
Continue ReadingBy GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Reports from Myanmar say its military government has been freeing soldiers and police who had been jailed for desertion and absence without leave as authorities seek to get them to return to active duty. A police officer and an army officer on Thursday confirmed independent media reports
Continue ReadingBy FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to censure Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for triggering a fire alarm in a U.S. Capitol office building when the chamber was in session. The New York congressman Thursday became the third Democrat in the House to be admonished this year through the process.
Continue ReadingBy CNN Staff (CNN) — CNN will host two Republican presidential primary debates next month in Iowa and New Hampshire – states that hold the first contests in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination, the network announced Thursday. The events will provide Republican voters an opportunity to hear the governing philosophies of the leading candidates seeking to challenge the likely Democratic
Continue ReadingBy KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed his unwavering support for the Jewish people as he lit the first Hanukkah candle on a huge menorah in front of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate. Scholz. He wore a black velvet skullcap and said in the center of the German capital
Continue ReadingBy PETER SMITH Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — In the years following the deadly 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack, relatives of those slain have gone through their own private grief, public memorial services and the trial and death sentence of the perpetrator. They’ve also been deliberating, slowly and methodically, on what kind of permanent memorial should
Continue ReadingBy JOSEF FEDERMAN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States has offered strong support to Israel in its war against the Hamas militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. But the allies are increasingly at odds over what will happen to Gaza once the war winds down. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin
Continue ReadingBy CURT ANDERSON Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Police say a 14-year-old is now facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of a 20-year-old during a Halloween weekend mass shooting that left two people dead and 16 injured in Tampa’s Ybor City. Tampa police say bullets and shell casings connected the teen to
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Meta is rolling out end-to-end encryption for calls and messages across its Facebook and Messenger platforms, the company announced Thursday. Such encryption means that no one other than the sender and the recipient — not even Meta — can decipher people’s messages. Encrypted chats, first introduced as an optional feature in
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Meta is rolling out end-to-end encryption for calls and messages across its Facebook and Messenger platforms, the company announced Thursday. Such encryption means that no one other than the sender and the recipient — not even Meta — can decipher people’s messages. Encrypted chats, first introduced as an optional feature in
Continue ReadingBy Ashley Killough, Ed Lavandera and Andy Rose, CNN (CNN) — A Texas judge ruled Thursday that a pregnant woman who sued the state seeking a court-ordered abortion can legally terminate her pregnancy. The decision marks a significant development in the ongoing debate over the state’s medical exception to its controversial ban on abortions after six
Continue ReadingBy FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In response to increasing attacks against ships in the southern Red Sea by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the U.S. has announced sanctions against 13 people and firms alleged to be providing tens of millions of dollars to the Houthis in Yemen. Money lenders in Lebanon, Turkey and Dubai
Continue ReadingMIAMI (AP) — Defending champion Argentina, Brazil, the United States and Mexico will learn their first-round opponents in next year’s Copa América when a draw is held Thursday night. The 16-nation tournament will be played in 14 U.S. cities starting with Argentina’s opener at Atlanta on June 20 and ending with the final on July
Continue ReadingMOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the Kremlin. That meetings continues a blitz round of Middle East diplomacy a day after he visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Putin has cast the Israel-Hamas war as a failure of U.S. diplomacy and suggested Moscow could be
Continue ReadingBy PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge has given a pregnant woman whose fetus had a fatal diagnosis permission to get an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to the state’s ban that took effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. It was unclear Thursday how quickly or
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