December 29, 2022 2:31 pm
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) – An Alabama actor who played small roles in movies including “Forrest Gump” and “Sweet Home Alabama” has died at age 87. Bob Penny spent three decades as a college English professor, mostly at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He acted in some commercials on the side, which led to small parts in movies and TV shows after Penny retired from teaching in 1990. He played a bumbling, small-town lawyer in “Sweet Home Alabama,” and had roles in “My Cousin Vinny” and “Mississippi Burning.” An obituary from Laughlin Service Funeral Home in Huntsville says Penny died on Christmas Day.
February 17, 2022 4:13 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The United States says that Russia has added as many as 7,000 troops to its forces stationed along the tense border with Ukraine. The warning contradicted Kremlin declarations that military units were being pulled back. A Russian invasion of Ukraine did not materialize, as originally feared Wednesday. But Western allies maintained that the threat was still strong, with an estimated 150,000-plus Russian troops surrounding the country on three sides. A senior U.S. administration official also said there has been a marked increase in false claims by Russians that the Kremlin might use as pretext for an invasion.
March 24, 2021 4:15 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Exit polls indicate there is no clear winner in Tuesday’s Israeli election, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fate uncertain and signaling continued political deadlock. The polls on Israel’s three main TV stations showed Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies, as well as a diverse array of opponents, both falling short of a parliamentary majority. That could set the stage for weeks of paralysis and even an unprecedented fifth consecutive election. Exit polls are often imprecise and the official results may not be known for days. Netanyahu nevertheless said Israelis had “given a great victory to the right and to the Likud under my leadership.”
May 26, 2020 4:21 am
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) – Missouri’s health director has issued a dire warning after photos and video showed Memorial Day weekend revelers partying close together: The coronavirus is still here, and the spreading of illnesses could have “long-lasting and tragic” results. One video on social media shows a crammed pool at Lake of the Ozarks, with people lounging and playing close together, without masks. The lake draws people from as far away as Arkansas and Iowa. It’s especially popular with travelers from St. Louis city and county, which combined account for more than half of Missouri’s confirmed cases and more than two-thirds of the state’s 685 deaths.
August 7, 2019 4:13 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire demonstration of newly-developed short-range ballistic missiles he said would send an “adequate warning” to the United States and South Korea over their joint military exercises. The announcement by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected the North firing two projectiles that were likely ballistic missiles into the sea. Tuesday’s launches were the North’s fourth round of weapons tests in less than two weeks. Experts say the country’s testing activity could intensify if progress isn’t made on nuclear negotiations with Washington. KCNA says two missiles launched from a western airfield flew cross-country and over the area surrounding capital Pyongyang before accurately hitting an island target off its eastern coast.
September 18, 2024 5:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for consumers. The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflects its new focus on bolstering the job market. Coming just weeks before the presidential election, the Fed’s move also has the potential to scramble the economic landscape just as Americans prepare to vote. The policymakers signaled that they expect to cut their key rate by an additional half-point in their final two meetings this year, in November and December. And they envision four more rate cuts in 2025 and two in 2026.
November 20, 2023 5:12 am
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Heavy fighting erupted around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks. Israeli forces are focused on clearing medical facilities that they say Hamas militants use for cover. The advance on the Indonesian Hospital Monday came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory’s largest. They were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound. The plight of hospitals is at the heart of warring narratives over the soaring toll among Palestinian civilians in the six-week-old war, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel.
December 29, 2022 2:16 pm
SAO PAULO (AP) – Pele, Brazil’s mighty king of soccer, has died. He was 82. Since 2021, he had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer discovered during a routine medical exam. His agent Joe Fraga confirmed his death. Pele was one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century. He won a record three World Cups with Brazil and was the standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” with the national team and his club Santos. His exuberance and mesmerizing moves transfixed generations of fans around the globe. His flair personified his country’s samba-style elegance. Late in his career, he helped popularize soccer in North America by joining the New York Cosmos. (Photo: ABC News)
February 17, 2022 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A statewide court that declared that Pennsylvania’s expansive 2-year-old mail-in voting law violates the state constitution is following that up by saying its ruling can take effect in mid-March. That’s a week after the state Supreme Court hears arguments on the appeal. Commonwealth Court Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt, in siding again with Republican officeholders who challenged the law, said Wednesday they are likely to prevail at the state Supreme Court. The case is throwing Pennsylvania’s voting laws into doubt as the presidential battleground state’s voters prepare to elect a new governor and a new U.S. senator in 2022. The state Supreme Court scheduled the case for oral arguments on March 8.
March 24, 2021 4:14 am
HONG KONG (AP) – Hong Kong suspended vaccinations using Pfizer shots after the Chinese distributor informed the city that one batch had defective bottle lids. The government said the suspension was immediate while the matter was investigated by Fosun Pharma and BioNTech, the German company which created the vaccine with American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer. They haven’t found any evidence the shots were unsafe but suspended their use as a precaution. Macao also said residents would not receive the Pfizer vaccinations from the affected batch. More than 150,000 people in Hong Kong have received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The suspension leaves only China’s Sinovac vaccine for use in Hong Kong.
