Tag Archives: General news

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and rapper Fat Joe led a White House discussion Friday on easing marijuana penalties, with Harris saying it’s “absurd” that the federal government classifies marijuana as more dangerous than fentanyl, the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of deaths annually the United States. Harris, a former state prosecutor in California, also criticized …

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian has successfully imposed its passports on nearly the entire population of occupied Ukraine by making it impossible to survive without them, coercing hundreds of thousands of people into citizenship ahead of elections Vladimir Putin has made certain he will win, an Associated Press investigation has found. But accepting a passport means that men living in …

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Security forces in Somalia say they have killed all five attackers who laid siege to a hotel in a normally secure area of the capital. Police spokesperson Kasim Roble said Friday that three soldiers were killed and 27 people injured in the Thursday night attack on the SYL Hotel in Mogadishu. The Somali extremist group al-Shabab …

LONDON (AP) — The British government published a new official definition of “extremism” on Thursday, and said groups that get the label will be barred from receiving government funding. The move is in response to a surge in reports of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate speech and what authorities call an increase in radicalization in Britain since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack …

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — The Republic of Congo has recorded its first cases of mpox in several regions, the health ministry said, an indication of how the disease may be spreading across Africa since sexual transmission was first confirmed on the continent last year. Mpox is a virus that originates in wild animals and occasionally jumps to people, …

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee are searching for a University of Missouri student who was last seen by friends at a Nashville bar Friday night. Metropolitan Nashville Police released video Tuesday that shows Riley Strain, 22, crossing a downtown street Friday night. Police have said Strain was last seen just before 10 p.m. Friday after drinking downtown. They …

When the U.S. Postal Service launched Project Safe Delivery last year, officials pledged they would be “doubling down” on their efforts to combat growing rates of letter carrier robberies. The crackdown has led to hundreds of arrests, and robberies slowed toward the end of the year. But, overall, the number of postal carriers who were robbed in 2023 rose again …

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey and the nation were not prepared when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the state “remains underprepared for the next emergency,” according to an independent report examining New Jersey’s response to the pandemic that sickened nearly 3 million people statewide and killed over 33,000. The report released Monday faults planning, communication and decision-making before and …

MAMOU, La. (AP) — A $15,000 reward is now being offered to find out who killed a whooping crane in south Louisiana in January, officials said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in a news release, announced last week that $5,000 is available for information regarding the endangered bird, which was found dead Jan. 9 in Evangeline Parish along Besi …

NEW YORK (AP) — A union representing New York City firefighters is raising concerns about possible disciplinary action against its members after state Attorney General Letitia James was booed and a pro-Donald Trump chant broke out during a fire department ceremony last week. The Democrat, whose office won a $355 million penalty against the Republican former president for lying about …