Melanie, the singer-songwriter who rose through the New York folk scene, performed at Woodstock and had a series of 1970s hits including the enduring cultural phenomenon “Brand New Key,” has died. Her publicist Billy James told The Associated Press that Melanie died Tuesday. She was 76 and lived in central Tennessee. The cause was not … Read more
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has banned gender-affirming care for minors and restricted transgender women’s and girls’ participation on sports teams, a move that has families of transgender children scrambling over how best to care for them. The Republican-dominated Senate voted Wednesday to override GOP Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto. The new law bans gender-affirming surgeries and … Read more
TOKYO — A Japanese court sentenced a man to death after finding him guilty of murder and other crimes Thursday for carrying out a shocking arson attack on an anime studio in Kyoto, Japan, that killed 36 people. The Kyoto District Court said it found the defendant, Shinji Aoba, mentally capable to face punishment for … Read more
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington state attorney general announced a $149.5 million settlement Wednesday with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, more than four years after the state sued the company over its role fueling the opioid addiction crisis. “They knew what the harm was. They did it anyway,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson told reporters Wednesday. The … Read more
NEW YORK — Comedian Jon Stewart is rewinding the clock, returning to “The Daily Show” as a weekly host and executive producing through the 2024 U.S. elections cycle. Comedy Central on Wednesday said Stewart will host the topical TV show, the perch he ruled for 16 years starting in 1999, every Monday starting Feb. 12. … Read more
LONDON — U.K. health officials on Monday urged millions of parents to book their children for missed measles, mumps and rubella shots during a sharp increase in the number of measles cases and the lowest vaccination rates in a decade. The National Health Service is launching a publicity campaign after figures showed there were about … Read more
ATHENS, Greece — The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that authorities in Greece violated the privacy rights of a group of women who were arrested and publicly identified in 2012 as HIV-positive prostitutes who allegedly endangered public health. The case was brought to the Strasbourg, France-based court by 11 Greek women, 10 of … Read more
NEW YORK — Christopher Nolan was still sleeping when his film, “Oppenheimer,” landed a leading 13 Academy Awards nominations Tuesday. Emma Thomas, Nolan’s wife and producing partner, roused him after a flurry of congratulatory messages came through on her phone. “Don’t take it as being blase,” Nolan told The Associated Press, laughing. “We just didn’t … Read more
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee would no longer be the only U.S. state to impose a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” on anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV under a proposal that advanced Tuesday in the legislature. The controversial statute still on the books is being challenged in federal … Read more
JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary who sued Mississippi over state regulations that he says censor business owners by preventing them from advertising in most media. In a Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills said he agreed with Mississippi’s argument … Read more
