Month: March 2024

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press Former President Donald Trump has met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a conservative populist whose crackdowns in Hungary have sparked criticism that he’s eroding that country’s democracy. Trump and Orbán have a longstanding relationship, and their meeting Friday comes as Hungary has had conflicts with the

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Friday approved a $460 billion package of spending bills in time to meet a midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown of many key federal agencies, a vote that gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year.

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A Connecticut state trooper who shot a 19-year-old man to death in a stolen car in 2020 has testified that he believed he had to open fire because the man was armed with a knife and made threatening movements toward other officers. Trooper Brian North took the stand Friday at

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Across much of America and especially in the normally chilly north, the country went through the winter months without, well, winter. In parka strongholds Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine, the thermometer never plunged below zero. The state of Minnesota called the last three months “the lost winter,” warmer than

By TAIWO ADEBAYO Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — What seemed like an aberration a decade ago when militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria’s Chibok community has become a recurring horror in the country. Since then, the number of students abducted has risen to more than 1,400. The kidnapping of more than 300 students in

By ARIANA CUBILLOS Associated Press Ariana Cubillos is an Associated Press photojournalist based in Caracas, Venezuela. She was based in Haiti from 2004 to 2009, and also covered the country’s 2010 earthquake and its descent into gang violence. — In June 2023, I was zipping through the bustling streets of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince on the

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted Friday in New York of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers and used his military and national police force to enable tons of cocaine to make it unhindered into the United States. The jury returned its verdict

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Four Missouri prison workers were fired after an investigation into the death of an old inmate whose family is demanding to know what happened. The Missouri Department of Corrections said 38-year-old Othel Moore died Dec. 8 at the Jefferson City Correctional Center after cells in

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon study released Friday that examined reported sightings of UFOs over nearly the last century found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence, a conclusion consistent with past U.S. government efforts to assess the accuracy of claims that have captivated public attention for decades. The study

By MEGAN JANETSKY and DÉBORA REY Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Women across Latin America are bathing their city streets in purple in commemoration of International Women’s Day at a time when gender rights advocates in the region face both historic steps forward and setbacks. Following decades of activism and campaigning by feminist groups,

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The third-party presidential movement No Labels has decided to field a presidential candidate in the 2024 election. Friday’s decision comes after months of weighing the launch of a so-called “unity ticket” and discussions with several prospects. The group says delegates voted in favor of moving

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man on Friday pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of negligent driving with death resulting in the June crash that killed actor Treat Williams. Ryan Koss, 35, who knew Williams, was given a one-year deferred sentence and as part of his probation will have

BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey court has denied an appeal from a high school that lost a state basketball tournament game when referees wrongly overturned a buzzer-beating basket. The state appellate division ruled late Friday that it would not grant Manasquan school officials’ petition stemming from this week’s loss to Camden.

By PETER SMITH Associated Press The status of a federal investigation into a leading Southern Baptist agency’s handling of sexual abuse is unclear. But this much is clear — survivors of abuse and their advocates remain deeply skeptical of leaders’ intentions to address the scandal in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Recent events have deepened