AP

By Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal | Nepal’s gods and goddess are returning home. An unknown number of sacred statues of Hindu deities were stolen and smuggled abroad in the past. Now dozens are being repatriated to the Himalayan nation, part of a growing global effort to return such items to countries in Asia, Africa and

By Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lionel Messi’s first full season in Major League Soccer started with replacement officials Wednesday when Inter Miami played host to Real Salt Lake, and Commissioner Don Garber said the league is not sure what will happen next. The Professional Soccer Referees Association picketed in New York and Dallas

By Associated Press The 12-team College Football Playoff is 10 months away from kicking off and the format for it has finally been locked in. University presidents who make up the CFP Board of Managers unanimously approved one last tweak to increase the number of at-large bids from six to seven. The change to reserve

By Associated Press Joaquin Niemann competed outside LIV Golf in his offseason and got something money can’t buy. He was among three players given a special invitation Wednesday to play in the Masters. Augusta National also invited 21-year-old Ryo Hisatsune, the first Japanese player to be European tour rookie of the year, and Thorbjorn Olesen

By Associated Press Chinese police are investigating an unauthorized and highly unusual online dump of documents from a private security contractor linked to the nation’s top policing agency and other parts of its government — a trove that catalogs apparent hacking activity and tools to spy on both Chinese and foreigners. Among the apparent targets

By Associated Press There’s no NBA player who is a bigger fan of harness racing than Denver’s Nikola Jokic. He owns horses, goes to tracks whenever he can and even accepted one of his MVP awards while riding around at his farm in Serbia. He knows the stretch run often decides races. And the same

By Associated Press LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange won’t find out until next month at the earliest whether he can challenge extradition to the U.S. on spying charges, or if his long legal battle in Britain has run out of road. Two High Court judges said Wednesday they would take time to consider their

By Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s foreign minister called for reforms of the United Nations and other multilateral institutions Wednesday while criticizing their inability to prevent global conflicts, as his country kicked off its presidency of the Group of 20 nations. Mauro Vieira told fellow foreign ministers during opening remarks for a G20

By Associated Press CULVER CITY, Calif. — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that while a college degree was still a ticket to a better life, that ticket is often too expensive, as he announced he was canceling federal student loans for nearly 153,000 borrowers. Biden, who is in the midst of a three-day campaign swing

By Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A large Alabama hospital has paused in vitro fertilization treatments Wednesday as health care providers weigh the impact of a state court ruling that frozen embryos are the legal equivalent of children. The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system said in a statement that it must evaluate whether

By Associated Press LAS VEGAS — A former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with Russian intelligence-affiliated officials, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge in Las Vegas to keep Alexander

By Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day. The record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The black hole

By Associated Press NEW YORK — The mild-mannered Franklin — the first Black character in the “Peanuts” comic strip — gets to shine in his own animated Apple TV+ special this month in a story about friendship. Franklin is a newcomer who bonds with Charlie Brown and is welcomed to the Peanuts universe in “Snoopy

By Associated Press CASTEL VOLTURNO, Italy — Mamadou Kouassi’s searing, epic journey over African deserts, through illegal prisons and across the Mediterranean Sea in a smugglers’ boat informed Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated film “Io Capitano.” Some episodes that the Ivorian migrant witnessed on his three-year odyssey were too strong to make the final cut.

By Associated Press BERLIN — Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham play a convincing father and daughter in German director Julia von Heinz’ first English-language movie, “Treasure.” Set in post-communist Poland, the comedy-drama had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival over the weekend. Dunham joked in an interview that when she sent her mother

By Associated Press Dolly Parton hosting a two-hour puppy-filled variety special on CBS and the seventh and final season of the hospital drama, “The Good Doctor” are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated

By Associated Press NEW YORK — Stocks mostly fell on Wall Street Wednesday after a listless day of trading with big technology stocks again acting as a heavy weight on the market. The S&P 500 fell 6.29 points, or 0.1%, to 4,981.80. The benchmark index spent much of the day in losing territory before climbing

By Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed skeptical Wednesday as a government lawyer argued that the Environmental Protection Agency should be allowed to continue enforcing its anti-air-pollution “good neighbor” rule in 11 states while separate legal challenges continue around the country. The rule is intended to restrict smokestack emissions from power

By Associated Press SEATTLE — Boeing said Wednesday that the head of its 737 jetliner program is leaving the company in an executive shake-up weeks after a door panel blew out on a flight over Oregon, renewing questions about safety at the company. Boeing announced that Ed Clark, who had been with the company for

By Associated Press WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials acknowledged at their most recent meeting in January that there had been “significant progress” in reducing U.S. inflation. But some of the policymakers expressed concern that strong growth in spending and hiring could disrupt that progress. In minutes from the Jan. 30-31 meeting released Wednesday, most Fed

By Wealth of Geeks undefined Worrying about the nation’s future is a significant stressor for more than two-thirds of Americans (68%), according to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) latest Stress in America report. As we head into a divisive election year, stress is high. 55% of adults identified social divisiveness as another significant stressor. Researchers

By Neil O’Brian University of Oregon The Conversation via AP Recent polling for the November 2024 election shows that President Joe Biden is struggling with young voters, who have traditionally supported Democrats. A December 2023 poll showed that 49% of young people supported former President Donald Trump, while just 43% of 18- to 29-year-olds said

By Missouri Independent via My Courier-Tribune Local governments in the St. Louis area could request radioactive waste testing from the state under a Missouri House bill that would appropriate money to a long-unfunded program. The Missouri House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee on Monday heard testimony on a bill that would transfer $300,000 to a

By Columbia Missourian via My Courier-Tribune JEFFERSON CITY — For six straight years, Rep. Gretchen Bangert, D-Florissant, has filed a bill that would require cursive handwriting to be taught in Missouri public schools. The bill has failed each time, never making it out of the House and only twice getting initial approval. Yet Bangert isn’t

By The Center Square via My Courier-Tribune Republican Gov. Mike Parson issued an executive order Tuesday declaring a state of emergency in Missouri to send members of the Missouri National Guard and Highway Patrol troopers to Texas. Parson ordered 200 soldiers and 22 troopers and is requesting $2.3 million in a supplemental appropriation from the