By JESSICA DAMIANO Associated Press The best holiday gifts for gardeners will sow the seeds of anticipation for greener days ahead, and spread a little sunshine in the off season. For instance, consider a smart video camera bird feeder that not only feeds the birds but identifies and records them as they visit. Or a
Continue ReadingBy COURTNEY BONNELL and MATT O’BRIEN AP Business Writers Microsoft snapped up Sam Altman and another architect of OpenAI for a new venture after their sudden departures shocked the artificial intelligence world, leaving the newly installed CEO of the ChatGPT maker to paper over tensions by vowing to investigate Altman’s firing. The developments Monday come
Continue ReadingBy COURTNEY BONNELL and MATT O’BRIEN AP Business Writers Microsoft snapped up Sam Altman and another architect of OpenAI for a new venture after their sudden departures shocked the artificial intelligence world, leaving the newly installed CEO of the ChatGPT maker to paper over tensions by vowing to investigate Altman’s firing. The developments Monday come
Continue ReadingBy MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Jordan Fisher is going to hell this winter and he’s very happy about it. The actor and singer star enters Broadway’s “Hadestown,” the brooding 2019 Tony Award-winning musical about the underworld, which intertwines the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone. Fisher starts
Continue ReadingBy LEANNE ITALIE AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A good book packs power. A good book thoughtfully chosen as a gift can add a layer of joy. The holidays are a great time to track down just the right coffee table reads. This year’s crop doesn’t disappoint. There’s an overview of the work
Continue ReadingBy GIADA ZAMPANO and PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press LAMEZIA TERME, Italy (AP) — An Italian tribunal has convicted 207 people and sentenced them to a combined 2,100 years in prison on charges related to their membership in Italy’s ’ndrangheta organized crime syndicate. It took over an hour and 40 minutes to read aloud the court’s
Continue ReadingBy LEANNE ITALIE AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Staring down a hefty holiday gift list? There’s something for everybody out there. Artisan gifts can be a hit. Head to Etsy to tap into the global handmade marketplace’s trends for the season. This year, they include “grandpa chic,” a counterpoint to the “granny chic”
Continue ReadingBy Eleni Giokos, CNN (CNN) — When Rami Mahmoud left his family’s home to buy food, his wife, Elham Maged, stayed behind to pray. When he made his way back through the narrow, tightly packed nearby streets of northern Gaza’s Jabalya Refugee Camp, he returned to a scene of complete chaos. An Israeli airstrike had smashed into the center of
Continue ReadingBy ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump urged a federal appeals court on Monday to revoke a gag order in the federal case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. “The order is unprecedented and it
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal of his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd. The justices did not comment Monday in leaving in place state court rulings affirming Chauvin’s conviction and 22 1/2-year sentence. Chauvin’s lawyers argued that their client was denied
Continue ReadingBy RUSS BYNUM Associated Press When Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge fatally shot Leonard Cure during a roadside struggle after pulling him over for speeding, it wasn’t the first time a traffic stop involving the Camden County sheriff’s deputy had spiraled into violence. Last year, Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing
Continue ReadingBy PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A former chief scientific adviser says Boris Johnson struggled as British prime minister to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic. In keenly awaited testimony to the country’s public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick Vallance said on Monday that he and
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting to begin a holiday-shortened week, hanging near its highest level in three months. The S&P 500 was little changed early Monday, coming off its third straight winning week. The Dow was also flat, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.3%. Microsoft rose 1.1% after bringing on Sam
Continue ReadingBy KEN MILLER Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The founder of a former megachurch in Oklahoma who fell from favor and was branded a heretic after he embraced the idea that there is no hell and supported gay rights has died, his agent said Monday. Bishop Carlton Pearson died Sunday night in hospice care
Continue ReadingBy DAVID SHARP Associated Press Carriers like the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and United Parcel Service have capacity to meet projected demand this holiday season, which is cheery news for shoppers and shippers alike. Like last year, there’s expected to be little drama compared to struggles during the pandemic when people hunkered down at home
Continue ReadingBy SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer A new United Nations report calculates that the globe is speeding to 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.5 to 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming since pre-industrial times, set to blow well past the agreed upon international climate threshold. Monday’s Emissions Gap report from the United Nations Environment Programme
Continue ReadingBy ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong Disneyland opened its first Frozen-themed attraction on Monday, with thousands of eager visitors turning up to experience the new rides, some lining up for hours to get an early start. Based on Disney’s wildly popular Frozen animation film, the new section of the park
Continue ReadingBy TARA COPP and FELIPE DANA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday in a high-profile push to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as U.S. and international resources are stretched by the new global risks raised by the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BIGFORK, Mont. (AP) — After 17 years in the U.S. Senate, Democrat Jon Tester is a well-known commodity in Montana — a plain-spoken grain farmer with a flattop and a carefully cultivated reputation as a moderate. The 67-year-old lawmaker smiled and laughed his way through the crowd at a Veterans
Continue ReadingBy MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The morning after Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion, right-wing activist and film producer Eduardo Verástegui dressed up in a black suit to register as an independent candidate for the 2024 presidential campaign. “Mourning is a reminder for me to recall why I’m doing this,” the
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