ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The parents of a 14-year-old Missouri boy who fell to his death from an Orlando amusement park ride in 2022 have won a $310 million verdict against the attraction’s Austrian builder. Late Thursday, the Orange County jury ordered that the manufacturer Funtime pay $155 million each to Tyre Sampson’s parents, Nekia
Continue Reading Associated Press/Report for America AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The speaker of the Texas House has dropped efforts to keep his powerful post following a bruising year of criticism from the party’s hard right. Republican Dade Phelan said Friday he was ending his bid to serve another term as speaker after months of projecting confidence that
Continue Reading NEW YORK (AP) — More than one million pairs of oven gloves are being recalled due to a burn hazard, after dozens of injury reports. Video and e-commerce retailer QVC is recalling about 1.1 million of its “Temp-tations Oven Gloves” because they fail to provide sufficient heat protection. According to a Thursday notice published by
Continue Reading AP Business Writer A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok as soon as next month, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Soon-to-be first lady Melania Trump says preparing to enter the White House for the second time looks a lot different from the first time. She said Friday that now, “You know what you need to establish. You know what kind of people you need to hire for your office.” She
Continue Reading Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Celebrating the end of the 100th anniversary Year of Czech Music, an event held every decade in the year ending in 4, Semyon Bychkov is conducting through pain in leading the Czech Philharmonic on a North American tour to New York and Toronto. He had lumbar decompression surgery in
Continue Reading Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Princess of Wales took another step Friday in her return to public life following cancer treatment, in hosting her annual Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey. Dressed in a festive red coat featuring a large black bow on the collar and black buttons, the princess, often referred to simply
Continue Reading AP Sports Writer FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — It was a rare instance of Lionel Messi stepping on a soccer field and having no idea what was happening. There they were, more than 250 Inter Miami academy players, a slew of kids lined up at midfield in a formation that spelled out three letters: MVP.
Continue Reading AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Deciding whether Juan Soto tops Shohei Ohtani for baseball’s largest contract could be in the eye of the beholder because of all the deferred money in Ohtani’s deal. Ohtani agreed last December to a $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, easily exceeding the previous high
Continue Reading PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — An armored vehicle carrying Kenyan police rumbles through Haiti’s capital with a shattered window that a high-caliber bullet failed to penetrate, a permanent sign of the violence confronting the United Nations-backed force almost daily in Port-au-Prince. Kenyan police were deployed to Haiti earlier this year to help quell gang violence. On
Continue Reading Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday offered a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, his embattled choice to lead the Defense Department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat. Hegseth, a
Continue Reading Associated Press Elon Musk was the sole funder of a super PAC that focused on advertising likening Donald Trump’s stance on abortion to that of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Campaign finance records show a group titled RBG PAC, formed in mid-October, received a single contribution of $20.5 million from an entity entitled
Continue Reading Associated Press STOCKHOLM (AP) — South Korean author Han Kang, this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, says she was shocked at this week’s martial law announcement in her home country. Han was awarded by the Nobel committee “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human
Continue Reading Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A Boston city councilor has been arrested on federal fraud charges, accused of funneling part of an inflated bonus payment to a staffer to whom she was related into her own pockets during an exchange at a City Hall bathroom. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy says 45-year-old Tania Fernandes Anderson
Continue Reading Associated Press LONDON (AP) — An alternative healer who advocated “slapping therapy” to treat a range of maladies was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for the death of a 71-year-old diabetic woman who stopped taking insulin during one of his workshops. Hongchi Xiao, 61, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence for failing
Continue Reading AP Business Writer Stellantis is recalling more than 300,000 Ram Heavy Duty pickup trucks because a faulty part could cause certain braking and tracking systems to fail. The Netherlands-based automaker said the hydraulic control unit on the trucks is prone to failure, which can cause the anti-lock brake, electronic stability control and traction control systems
Continue Reading Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Local authorities in Somalia have confirmed that a Chinese-owned fishing vessel with 18 crew members aboard was hijacked last week off the northeastern coast of Xaafuun district in Somalia’s Bari region. An official in the area where the vessel is being held told journalists that the hijackers include the
Continue Reading Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Syrian refugees across Turkey have jubilantly welcomed the downfall of Bashar Assad’s government with many embracing the chance to return to their homeland. Many say it’s time to go home after years of living in Turkey, which hosts some 3 million Syrians. Turkey, which shares a 566-mile-long frontier with
Continue Reading Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The sale of the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper and a bastion of liberal values in Britain’s media landscape, has been approved, despite two days of strike action from journalists this week. The Scott Trust, the owner of the Guardian Media Group, which includes the Observer and its sister
Continue Reading Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court on Friday annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after allegations emerged that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round. The Constitutional Court’s unprecedented decision — which is final — came after President
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