Critically endangered leopard dies at age 21 in California zoo (2025)

The NFL on Thursday announced all 32 nominees for its annual Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and tight end Travis Kelce is the Chiefs’ representative.

Amber Heard is expecting her second child.

NEW YORK — “Wicked” is already casting its spell on awards season.

The most expensive dinosaur fossil ever discovered will be on view in New York starting this weekend. American Museum of Natural History officials are announcing that the giant stegosaurus, dubbed “Apex,” will be viewable by the public starting Sunday. The 11-foot-tall, 27-foot-long dinosaur is one of the most complete stegosaurus fossils ever identified. About 80% of its 320 bones are preserved. The 150 million-years-old specimen was discovered in a fossil-rich area of the American Southwest near the town of Dinosaur, Colorado. It is on loan to the museum from a wealthy donor who purchased the stegosaurus for $45 million, the largest ever paid for a dinosaur fossil.

ATLANTA — A Fulton County judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to force the county to hire Republican poll workers for last month’s general election.

LOS ANGELES — Authorities in Butte County, California, are continuing to investigate a shooting at a Christian elementary school that left two children wounded and ended with the gunman, who apparently arrived in an Uber, dead.

Honda is recalling nearly 206,000 SUVs in the U.S. because the fuel filler neck can separate from the filler pipe in a crash, allowing gasoline to leak and increasing the risk of a fire. The recall covers certain 2023 and 2024 Passports and some 2023 through 2025 Pilots. Honda says in government documents that a glitch in the installation process prevented a complete connection between the neck and the pipe. The company said it has one warranty claim and no reports of injuries from December of 2018 through Nov. 20 of this year. The documents did not mention any reports of fires.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 5, 2024--

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 5, 2024--

Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen always believed quarterback Anthony Richardson would return from his benching a better player. He certainly looks improved over the last three weeks. Richardson is running more frequently and with more power. He’s making quicker, more decisive reads. He appears to have greater command of the offense. And he has convinced teammates he can be Indy’s next franchise quarterback by leading the Colts to fourth-quarter comebacks in two of the last three weeks. The combination has set up a perfect bye week for the 22-year-old Richardson and the playoff hopeful Colts.

It didn’t take much to stir Jack Eichel’s national pride in looking ahead to representing the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Appearing on a Team USA Zoom call on Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights forward jumped right in when reminded how U.S. teams featuring NHL players competing in best-on-best international tournaments haven’t won a gold medal since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey series. He says the U.S. has “a lot to prove.” The 4 Nations Face-Off was unveiled last All-Star Weekend. It splits NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the U.S. into four teams, replacing the all-star game format this season.

NEW YORK — Traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations in Central Park and Prospect Park have been canceled this year due to the ongoing drought throughout New York City.

The Chicago Bears will be playing their first game under interim coach Thomas Brown when they visit the struggling San Francisco 49ers. Matt Eberflus became the first head coach fired during the season by Chicago after questionable game management contributed to a six-game losing streak. The 49ers have lost three straight games, including back-to-back losses by at least 24 points for the first time since 2015.

The powerful earthquake that struck in Northern California on Thursday prompted a brief tsunami warning affecting about 5 million people along long stretch of the West Coast — from Northern California to Oregon — before being canceled. The National Weather Service says most tsunamis happen when there is a sudden displacement of the ocean, after tectonic plates collide and force one under the other. Tsunamis will radiate out in all directions from the point of origin and can move across ocean basins. When the waves reach land, they can cause catastrophic damage and coastal flooding. The National Weather Service counts tsunamis among the most powerful and destructive natural forces.

CHICAGO — Efforts to transfer a parcel of land in Chinatown from the state to the city were hitting a wall in the spring of 2018, and much of it had to do with a political cold war going on between then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval and Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis, who had backed the opponent of …

A Tennessee state senator reportedly wetted himself during a DUI arrest in Georgia.

NEW YORK — A fake bomb threat targeting the Minnesota home of Brian Thompson was sent in Wednesday, hours after the UnitedHealthcare CEO was shot dead in Midtown Manhattan.

SAN FRANCISCO— A tsunami warning for a large swath of the Northern California coast was canceled following a magnitude 7 earthquake off the coast of Humboldt County on Thursday.

Republican Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming announced on Wednesday that he will be running for U.S. Senate, hoping to unseat GOP U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is up for reelection in two years. Fleming is eyeing a return to Capitol Hill, where he served in the U.S. House for eight years beginning in 2009. Cassidy was one of seven Republicans in Senate who joined Democrats in voting to convict Trump in the then-president’s impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. The move infuriated members of Cassidy's party.

The Chargers visit the Chiefs on Sunday night hoping to snap a six-game skid against their AFC West rival and give their playoff hopes a big boost. Los Angeles has won five of its last six overall with the lone loss to Baltimore, which it just jumped to the No. 5 seed in the AFC last weekend. The Chiefs already have clinched their 10th consecutive playoff berth, the second-longest streak in NFL history. But they still are chasing another division title, to say nothing of the No. 1 seed and first-round bye. They lead the Bills by just a game but lost the tiebreaker to them by virtue of their loss in Buffalo a few weeks ago.

NEW YORK — The NYPD on Thursday released new images of the gunman wanted for killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as the manhunt led police to the Upper West Side, officials said.

One of the darkest moments in the modern history of the Arab world happened more than four decades ago, when then-Syrian President Hafez Assad launched what came to be known as the Hama Massacre. The slaughter was named for the Syrian city where 10,000 to 40,000 people were killed or disappeared in a government attack that began on Feb. 2, 1982, and lasted for nearly a month. Hama was turned into ruins. The memory of the assault and the monthlong siege on the city remains visceral in Syrian and Arab minds. Now Islamist insurgents have captured the city in a moment many Syrians have awaited for over 40 years.

Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche became friends while playing lovers in “Wuthering Heights.” A few years later, they would share the screen again in Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient,” that historical epic that would take them all the way to the Oscars. They’ve kept in touch in the years since, but they hadn’t managed to work together again until now. Appropriate for the occasion, the story is an epic. It's the reunion of Odysseus and Penelope. “The Return” opens in theaters Friday. Binoche and Fiennes spoke to The Associated Press about the enduring appeal of Homer and the value of fighting for provocative cinema

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority is expected to approve the 30-year lease, non-relocation and development documents Thursday to clear the last major hurdles for the Athletics to construct a stadium on the Strip and bring Major League Baseball to the expanding sports market. Other details would still need to be worked out, such as a development agreement with Clark County. Groundbreaking would likely take place with a scheduled opening for the 2028 season. The cost for the A’s stadium has risen by $250 million to $1.75 billion because of inflation and added fan and player amenities.

The National Weather Service cancels tsunami warning for the U.S. West Coast after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams will meet with President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial new border czar, Tom Homan, next week, the mayor said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday morning.

Arizona is searching for answers in its fourth season under coach Tommy Lloyd. The Wildcats lost consecutive games for the first time under Lloyd early in the season and did it again at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Arizona was ranked as high as No. 9 last month but has since dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since early in Lloyd's first season. The Wildcats' offense hasn't been quite as free-flowing as in years past and their assist average is down 3.5 per game from a year ago. Arizona is also waiting for its big men to establish dominance inside and for preseason All-American Caleb Love to get going.

Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have asked Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government’s files on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. She is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick as national intelligence director. The former officials, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, say they are “alarmed” by the choice of Gabbard to oversee all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. They sa her past actions “call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus.” A spokesperson for Gabbard on the Trump transition team on Thursday denounced the appeal as an “unfounded” and “partisan” attack.

A special tribunal in Bangladesh has banned the publication of any speeches by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is in exile in India after being ousted in August after mass protests. The decision came a day after Hasina made her first public speech in a virtual address to supporters of her Awami League party in New York, in which she accused Bangladesh’s interim leader of perpetrating genocide and failing to protect minorities, especially Hindus, since her ouster. The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal made the decision in response to a request by government prosecutors for a ban on speeches by Hasina on mainstream or social media. Hasina was ousted in a mass uprising in which hundreds of protesters were killed.

On track to make the playoffs at 8-5, the Washington Commanders are at what coach Dan Quinn calls “base camp” with four games left this season. They’ve gotten here thanks in large part to first-year general manager Adam Peters’ offseason free agent signings. Veteran players such as Bobby Wagner, Zach Ertz and Frankie Luvu who have been central to forming a competitive identity around rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and keeping the season from snowballing from a division lead to out of a playoff spot.

The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, is reemerging with a campaign to back President-elect Donald Trump's imperiled cabinet selections. The group's president Kevin Roberts said it will be spending $1 million to put pressure on senators unwilling to support Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense. Hegseth has been meeting with senators in the wake of high-profile allegations about excessive drinking and sexual assault trying to reassure them he is fit to be Trump’s defense secretary.

A Hamas official says that after a weekslong hiatus international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended its talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States over frustration with a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. But Bassem Naim, an official in Hamas’ political wing, said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press that there has been a “reactivation” of efforts to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Krystel Boy fears for her health and that of her unborn daughter. Sandra Stephens-Jordan, 55, said her asthma has gotten much worse. Another resident said he went to the emergency room because his nose wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will open the Club World Cup against Egyptian club Al Ahly, with Palmeiras and Porto also part of that group for the tournament that will take place in the U.S. next year. The draw was held Thursday in Miami, with the 32 teams finally finding out their first three opponents in the newly expanded event. The tournament will be held in the U.S. from June 15 to July 13, using 12 stadiums in 11 different cities. The final will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the same stadium that will play host to the 2026 World Cup final.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are eyeing a little payback when rival Cleveland visits. The Browns pulled off a 24-19 upset in snowy Cleveland a week before Thanksgiving. Pittsburgh bounced back by beating Cincinnati on the road behind 414 yards passing and three touchdowns by Russell Wilson. Cleveland fought gamely in a 41-32 loss to Denver, with quarterback Jameis Winston throwing for 497 yards. The Browns have not beaten Pittsburgh on the road in the regular season in more than 20 years and have not swept the Steelers since 1988.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are eyeing a little payback when rival Cleveland visits. The Browns pulled off a 24-19 upset in snowy Cleveland a week before Thanksgiving. Pittsburgh bounced back by beating Cincinnati on the road behind 414 yards passing and three touchdowns by Russell Wilson. Cleveland fought gamely in a 41-32 loss to Denver, with quarterback Jameis Winston throwing for 497 yards. The Browns have not beaten Pittsburgh on the road in the regular season in more than 20 years and have not swept the Steelers since 1988.

The audience at the FIFA Club World Cup draw in Miami heard a prerecorded message from Donald Trump in which he said soccer is going “through the roof.” Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and her family were in the audience at the event to draw groups for the expanded 32-team tournament that will be played in the United States next year. The top clubs from across the globe are set to participate in the event. The teams will include Spain's Real Madrid, England's Manchester City, and Lionel Messi’s Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.

California will appeal a judge’s decision to reject a lawsuit over a measure allowing the city of Huntington Beach to require voter identification at the polls. State officials said Thursday they plan to continue to fight over the measure in the court of appeal. An Orange County Superior Court judge last month found it was to soon for the state to bring litigation over the local law that allows the city to implement voter identification requirements in 2026. A message was sent to city officials seeking comment. Huntington Beach has a history of sparring with state officials over the measures it can take under its city charter.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 5, 2024--

Led by Jacob Ognacevic's 20 points, the Lipscomb Bisons defeated the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 78-60 on Thursday. The Bisons improved to 6-4 with the victory and the Redhawks fell to 3-5.