Ukraine says 5 dead, others hurt in Russian missile attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials say at least five people have been killed in a massive missile attack Thursday, and several more have been wounded.Governor of the western Lviv region Maksym Kozytskyi said four people were killed there after a missile hit a residential area in the Zolochivskyi district. Emergency workers were combing through the rubble, he said, under which more people could be trapped.One person was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region, its Gov. Serhii Lysak reported, adding that two more were wounded in multiple strikes across the region.The Kyiv mayor reported damage in two districts, and the Kharkiv and Odesa governors said residential buildings were hit there. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed a massive missile barrage across Ukraine early Thursday, targeting energy infrastructure in the first attack on such a scale in three weeks. Ukrainian officials reported injuries and hits on resid...

Biden budget seeks big deficit cuts in challenge to GOP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the government at risk of defaulting, President Joe Biden on Thursday will make his opening offer in a high-stakes debate over federal finances as he proposes a federal budget that would cut deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade.It’s part of a broader attempt by the president to call out House Republicans, who are demanding severe cuts to federal spending in return for lifting the government’s legal borrowing limit. But the GOP has no counter offer so far, other than a flat “no” to a budget plan that could form the policy spine of Biden’s yet-to-be-declared campaign for reelection in 2024.“We see this as a value statement,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday. “This is something that shows the American people that we take this very seriously when we think about the fiscal responsibility, when we think about how do we move forward.”Biden’s package of tax and spending priorities is unlikely to p...

Norfolk Southern CEO bringing apology, aid to Senate hearing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chief executive of one of the nation’s largest railroads is coming to a Senate hearing with an apology and a commitment to send millions of dollars to the village on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border disrupted by a fiery derailment as senators investigate railway safety and the Biden administration’s response to the disaster.“I am deeply sorry for the impact this derailment has had on the people of East Palestine and surrounding communities, and I am determined to make it right,” Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw says in prepared remarks released ahead of Thursday’s hearing by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.Shaw says the railroad will do “the right thing” with a $20 million commitment to help the community recover.The company has announced several voluntary safety upgrades. Senators, however, have promised a pressing inquiry into the derailment, the company’s safety practices and the emergency response to the toppling of 38...

Court records show political pressure behind Fox programming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — In May 2018, the nation’s top Republicans needed help. So they called on the founder of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch.President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were trying to stop West Virginia Republicans from nominating Don Blankenship, who had been convicted of violating mine safety standards during a lethal accident in one of his coal mines, to challenge the state’s incumbent senator, Democrat Joe Manchin.“Both Trump and McConnell are appealing for help to beat unelectable former mine owner who served time,” Murdoch wrote to executives at Fox News, according to court records released this week. “Anything during day helpful, but Sean (Hannity) and Laura (Ingraham) dumping on him hard might save the day.”Murdoch’s prodding, revealed in court documents that are part of a defamation lawsuit by a voting systems company, is one example showing how Fox became actively involved in politics instead of simply reporting or offering opini...

Nepal elects new president amid political uncertainty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s parliament members lined up Thursday to elect a new president, the third since the Himalayan nation abolished a centuries-old monarchy and became a republic.The election of the president has fueled feuds among the main political parties and triggered political uncertainty.A total of 884 members of the federal parliament and provincial assemblies gathered in the capital, Kathmandu, to vote for the new president. The final results were expected to be announced Thursday night.Both candidates in the presidential race are prominent career politicians.Ram Chandra Poudel is a senior leader of the Nepali Congress party and previously served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.His opponent, Subash Chandra Nembang of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), has also previously served as Speaker. The national election in November last year left a hung parliament, leading to a fragile coalition government taking power. Prime Minis...

Chaim Topol, Israeli actor known for Fiddler’s Tevye, dies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Chaim Topol, a leading Israeli actor who charmed generations of theatergoers and movie-watchers with his portrayal of Tevye, the long-suffering and charismatic milkman in “Fiddler on the Roof,” has died in Tel Aviv, Israeli leaders said Thursday. He was 87.The cause was not immediately released. Israeli leaders on Thursday tweeted their memories and condolences to Topol’s family.Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog hailed Topol as “one of the most outstanding Israeli actors,” who “filled the movie screens with his presence and above all entered deep into our hearts.”Benny Gantz, Israel’s former minister of defense, praised Topol for helping Israelis connect to their roots. “We laughed and cried at the same time over the deepest wounds of Israeli society,” he wrote of Topol’s performance.Yair Lapid, head of Israel’s opposition, said Topol taught Israelis “love of culture and love of the land.”A recipient of two Golden Globe awards and nominee for both an...

Man who killed 4 during Houston drug robbery faces execution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas inmate faces execution on Thursday for the drug-related killings of four people more than 30 years ago.Arthur Brown Jr. was condemned for the June 1992 deaths in a Houston home during a drug robbery. Authorities said Brown was part of a ring that shuttled drugs from Texas to Alabama and had bought drugs from Jose Tovar and his wife Rachel.Killed during the drug robbery were 32-year-old Jose Tovar; his wife’s 17-year-old son, Frank Farias; 19-year-old Jessica Quiñones, the pregnant girlfriend of another son of Rachel Tovar; and 21-year-old neighbor Audrey Brown. All four had been tied up and shot in the head. Rachel Tovar and another person were also shot but survived.“I don’t see how anybody could have just killed a pregnant woman and then made her suffer so much. It’s just beyond words,” said Maricella Quiñones, Jessica Quiñones’ older sister. Jessica Quiñones had been 9-months pregnant and had named her unborn daughter Alyssa.One of Brown’s accomplices in th...

Maine motorists appeal to keep naughty vanity license plates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A Maine vegan whose custom license plate contains the word “tofu” is one of the motorists caught in a state crackdown on vulgar license plates. Car owners across the United States can pay an extra fee to customize license plates, sparking creativity and personality but causing headaches for state officials who have to decide what’s acceptable.Maine had for several years allowed people to put just about any combination of letters and numbers on their vehicle plates, including words and phrases that other states would ban. But the state decided to change course and this year recalled 274 plates it deemed inappropriate.Some people are fighting back.So far the state has rejected all of the appeals, including one brought by the vegan whose license plate referenced tofu.The state concluded the license plate “LUVTOFU” could’ve been seen as a reference to sex instead of admiration for bean curd. The motorist insisted there was no mistaking his intent because the back o...