AP

By Associated Press NEW YORK — Americans pulled back their spending more than expected in January after the traditional holiday season splurge. Retail sales fell 0.8% in January from the strong pace in December when they rose a revised 0.4%, according to the Commerce Department’s report on Thursday. Excluding sales at auto dealerships and gas

By Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs coach Andy Reid is giving the rest of his staff about a week off after their Super Bowl victory parade through downtown Kansas City on Wednesday, then he expects everyone to be back in the building to begin working on next season. So much for down time.

By Associated Press WASHINGTON — The White House publicly confirmed on Thursday that Russia has obtained a “troubling” emerging anti-satellite weapon but said it cannot directly cause “physical destruction” on Earth. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said U.S. intelligence officials have information that Russia has obtained the capability but that such a weapon

By Associated Press ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took the witness stand Thursday and forcefully pushed back against what she described as “lies” about her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor during an extraordinary hearing over misconduct allegations that threaten to upend one of four criminal cases against Donald Trump. A visibly

By Associated Press The Kansas City Chiefs ended a nearly two-decade drought without a repeat champion in the NFL. Now they will go for an unprecedented three Super Bowl wins in a row. The Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to win the Super Bowl on Sunday, following another three-point win over

By Associated Press WASHINGTON — Americans who are struggling to repay federal student loans because of financial hardship could get some of their debt canceled under President Joe Biden’s latest proposal for widespread loan forgiveness. Several categories of borrowers would be eligible for relief under Biden’s second try at widespread cancellation after the Supreme Court

By Associated Press WASHINGTON — An FBI informant has been charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company, a claim that is central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress. Alexander Smirnov falsely reported to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with

By Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record, making a 3-pointer from about 35 feet in the first quarter for No. 4 Iowa against Michigan on Thursday night. Clark went into the game needing eight points to pass Kelsey Plum’s total of 3,527. She wasted no time,

By Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraska lawmaker who tanked an effort last year by his fellow Republicans to pass a near-total abortion ban has given top priority this year to a bill that would allow abortions beyond the state’s 12-week ban in cases of fatal fetal anomalies. The bill by state Sen. Merv

By The University Daily Kansas via My Courier-Tribune A bill being heard in the Higher Education Committee would prohibit statements of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) or political ideology from hiring, scholarship, and admissions processes in Kansas higher education. “The heart of the legislation is that it would prohibit postsecondary institutions from requiring or conditioning these

By Associated Press A Nebraska lawmaker whose north Omaha district has struggled for years with a housing shortage is pushing a bill that, if passed, could make Nebraska the first in the country to forbid out-of-state hedge funds and other corporate entities from buying up single-family properties. Sen. Justin Wayne’s bill echoes legislative efforts in

By Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Thousands of fans watching Tiger Woods in his 2024 debut missed out on the best golf Thursday at the Genesis Invitational. In the group ahead of Woods was Patrick Cantlay, looking as though he wants to be the next Southern California native to win at Riviera. Cantlay opened with

By Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith shared the WWE title belt to help calm a young boy in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the team’s Super Bowl celebration. Smith, who sported the belt during the celebration, noticed the frightened boy, who was with his father.

By Associated Press NEW YORK — Several exclusive Xbox games will be soon making their way to rival consoles, the video gaming brand and its parent company, Microsoft, announced Thursday. In a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirmed that four Xbox games will no longer be exclusive. That

By Associated Press NEW YORK — A strong performance in financial markets, particularly an outsize gain for the stock market in 2021, helped entrench existing trends of wealth inequality during the pandemic, new data released this week show. According to a report from the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the real net worth of white

By Associated Press NEW YORK — The Biden Administration eased some of the restrictions on banking giant Wells Fargo, saying the bank has sufficiently fixed its toxic culture after years of scandals. The news sent Wells Fargo’s stock up sharply Thursday as investors speculated that the bank, which has been kept under a tight leash

By Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the latest attempt by Republican state officials to block taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood, citing a failure in the state’s legal appeal. The high court’s decision upholds a ruling by a trial judge, who found that a 2022 funding

By Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa’s medical board on Thursday approved some guidance abortion providers would need to follow if the state’s ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy is upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court. The restrictive abortion law is currently on hold as the court considers Gov. Kim

By Associated Press BOSTON — With back-to-back Super Bowl victories for the hometown Chiefs, Kansas City football fans gathered for another championship parade and a second celebratory pep rally in a row. Don’t expect there to be a third. Not because the Chiefs, with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes still just 28 years old, can’t win

By Associated Press Lisa Lopez-Galvan was a music lover and DJ in the Kansas City area who played at weddings, quinceañeras and an American Legion bar and grill. She mixed Tejano, Mexican and Spanish music with R&B and hip-hop, and volunteered as a host on a radio program. She also was a devoted fan of

By Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mass shooting that unfolded amid throngs of people at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration, killing one person and wounding almost two dozen others, appeared to stem from a dispute between several people, authorities said Thursday. Police Chief Stacey Graves said that the 22 people injured

By Metro Creative When traveling, one of the more popular goals people have is to experience the cuisine of wherever it is their travels have taken them. Whether traveling domestically or internationally, travelers often want to experience those foods cherished by other cultures or communities. But fans of a good meal need not book an

By Associated Press MEXICO CITY | The number of monarch butterflies at their wintering areas in Mexico dropped by 59% this year to the second lowest level since record keeping began, experts said Wednesday, blaming heat, drought and loss of habitat. The butterflies’ migration from Canada and the United States to Mexico and back again

By Associated Press ATLANTA | A Georgia judge who is deciding whether to toss Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis off of the state’s election interference case against former President Donald Trump has set a hearing for Thursday that is expected to focus on details of Willis’ personal relationship with a special prosecutor she hired.

By Associated Press WASHINGTON | Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday the U.S. House will not feel “rushed” to pass the $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, signaling a further stall over sending military hardware and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight Russia. Johnson made the remarks behind closed doors