Police: Louisville man planned bank shootings, placed phone in pocket to livestream
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The man who killed five co-workers at a Kentucky bank last month had made plans for the shooting and placed his phone in a front shirt pocket to livestream the killings, according to police records recently released. The shooter, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, had also attempted suicide around...
Sen. John Cornyn says Trump can’t win in 2024, GOP needs someone else as presidential nominee
WASHINGTON — Sen. John Cornyn has joined the anyone-but-Trump caucus, becoming the most prominent Texas Republican to shun the former president’s 2024 comeback bid. “We need to come up with an alternative,” Cornyn said. “I think President Trump’s time has passed him by and what’s the most important thing to...
Lake Erie on its way to becoming national marine sanctuary
HARRISBURG — President Joe Biden’s administration took the first step Thursday toward designating the Pennsylvania-owned section of Lake Erie as the state’s first national marine sanctuary. A formal designation could take several years, and it wouldn’t change existing regulations around the use of the lake. The announcement sets up a...
RSV vaccine for pregnant women protects their newborns but is it ready for U.S. sale?
WASHINGTON — A first-of-its-kind RSV vaccine for pregnant women guards their newborns against the scary respiratory virus —- and federal health advisers debated Thursday if Pfizer’s shot is ready to roll out. RSV fills hospitals with wheezing babies each fall and winter, and the virus struck earlier than usual and...
Deutsche Bank to pay $75 million to settle lawsuit from Epstein victims, lawyers sayVideo
LONDON — Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that the German lender should have seen evidence of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein when he was a client, according to lawyers for women who say they were abused by the late financier. A woman...
Woman had ‘booze-filled day’ at bars before killing bride in crash, groom’s lawsuit says
A woman’s “drunken escapade” ended when she got behind the wheel and crashed into a newlywed couple, killing the bride the evening of their wedding in South Carolina, according to a new lawsuit. Aric Hutchinson and Samatha Miller were leaving their wedding reception in a golf cart driven by Hutchinson’s...
Will dashboard AM radio be saved? Bipartisan bill would require automakers to keep it in new cars
NEW YORK — Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to keep AM radio in the nation’s cars. A bipartisan group in Congress on Wednesday introduced the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.” The bill calls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require automakers to keep AM radio in new...
ChatGPT makes its debut as a smartphone app on iPhones
ChatGPT is now a smartphone app, which could be good news for people who like to use the artificial intelligence chatbot and bad news for all the clone apps that have tried to profit off the technology. The free app started to become available on iPhones in the U.S. on...
1st full-size 3D scan of Titanic shows shipwreck in new lightVideo
LONDON — Deep-sea researchers have completed the first full-size digital scan of the Titanic, showing the entire wreck in unprecedented detail and clarity, the companies behind a new documentary on the wreck said Thursday. Using two remotely operated submersibles, a team of researchers spent six weeks last summer in the...
5 IUP executives fired in move to cut costs, streamline operations
Five executives at Indiana University of Pennsylvania have lost their jobs in a move the university says is designed to cut costs and streamline operations. “IUP, like colleges and universities across the nation, is facing dramatic challenges both internally and externally (and) must accelerate its progress toward student-centeredness and financial...
Ohio board approves August ballot question meant to thwart abortion rights push
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A ballot question seeking to make it more difficult to amend the Ohio Constitution was cleared for an August ballot on Thursday, and teams of Republican and Democratic lawmakers assigned to write pro and con arguments, respectively, to be presented to voters. The process before the Ohio...
Anti-migration operation on French African island of Mayotte stirs tensions, exposes inequalities
CHIRONGUI, Mayotte — Facing a migration quagmire on the French island territory of Mayotte, off Africa’s east coast, France’s government has mobilized 2,000 troops and police to carry out mass expulsions, destroy slums and eradicate violent gangs. But the operation has raised concerns of abuse, and aggravated tensions between local...
Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral cost U.K. government $200 million
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and lying-in-state last year cost Britain’s government an estimated 162 million pounds (around $200 million), the treasury revealed Thursday. The state funeral for the late monarch, held on Sept. 19, was the first in the U.K. since that of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill...
Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral cost UK government $200 million
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and lying-in-state last year cost Britain’s government an estimated 162 million pounds (around $200 million), the treasury said Thursday. The state funeral for the late monarch, held on Sept. 19, was the first in the U.K. since that of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill...
Supreme Court sides with Google, Twitter; avoids ruling on broad protections from lawsuits
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Google, Twitter and Facebook in lawsuits seeking to hold them liable for terrorist attacks. But the justices sidestepped the big issue hovering over the cases, the federal law that shields social media companies from being sued over content posted by others....
Myanmar raises death toll from Cyclone Mocha to 54, but full extent of damage still unknown
BANGKOK — At least 54 people were killed and more than 185,000 buildings damaged in Myanmar by a powerful cyclone last weekend, state television MRTV reported Thursday. Communication difficulties in the affected areas, where infrastructure was already poor, and the military government’s tight control over information leave the actual extent...
The pandemic widened gaps in reading. Can 1 teacher ‘do something about that’?
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Richard Evans makes his way through rows of his students in his third grade classroom, stooping to pick up an errant pencil and answering questions above the din of chairs sliding on hardwood floors. The desks, once spread apart to fight covid-19, are back together. But...
Check your artificial intelligence ‘bossware’ tools for bias, says U.S. agency head
The head of the U.S. agency charged with enforcing civil rights in the workplace says artificial intelligence-driven “bossware” tools that closely track the whereabouts, keystrokes and productivity of workers can also run afoul of discrimination laws. Charlotte Burrows, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, told The Associated Press that...
Supreme Court rules against Andy Warhol in copyright case with Prince photo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the 2016 publication of an Andy Warhol image of the singer Prince violated a photographer’s copyright, a decision a dissenting justice said would stifle the creation of art. The high court ruled 7-2 for photographer Lynn Goldsmith. “Lynn Goldsmith’s original works, like...
New Alzheimer’s drugs raise hopes and questions
The Alzheimer’s Association is stepping up public pressure on the Biden administration, hoping to convince the government to pay for a new class of promising but expensive Alzheimer’s drugs. To date, the advocacy group’s campaign has been intense but low-tech, featuring everything from critical statements in the media to a...
San Francisco to name 1st-in-nation drag laureate
SAN FRANCISCO — Anti-trans legislation is roiling the nation. Bills prohibiting drag performances are cropping up in statehouses. Violence and vitriol are turning children’s drag story hour events into headline-news protests. San Francisco is fighting back Thursday by naming the nation’s first drag laureate, an ambassador-style position designed to represent...
Egg prices have fallen after record highs left consumers scrambling
After a bird flu outbreak last year caused egg prices to skyrocket across the country, consumers are getting some relief. After significant drops over the previous four weeks, the average price for a dozen large eggs May 5 in California was $1.68, versus a high of $7.37 in January and...
Transgender rights: What to know about bills in the U.S. statehouses
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has highlighted efforts by Republican governors and statehouses across the country to embrace proposals limiting the rights of transgender people, signing new restrictions as he moves closer to a presidential bid. The restrictions are spreading quickly despite criticism from medical groups and advocates who say they’re...
Documents leak suspect had been warned about handling of classified information, prosecutors say
BOSTON — Superiors of the Massachusetts Air National Guard member charged with leaking highly classified military documents had raised concerns internally on multiple occasions about his handling or viewing of classified information, according to a court filing Wednesday. Justice Department lawyers made the disclosure in a court papers urging a...
Texas Legislature OKs ban on gender-affirming care for minors
AUSTIN — Texas would become the largest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors under a bill sent Wednesday night to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has previously ordered child welfare officials to investigate such treatment as abuse. The bill cleared the GOP-controlled Legislature after a final vote in the...