Penn named ambassador
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Actor Sean Penn has been named ambassador at large for Haiti in recognition of his humanitarian work since the 2010 earthquake. The Hollywood star received the honor from Haitiian President Michel Martelly at a special ceremony…
World Trade Center design flaw could cost
NEW YORK (AP) — The agency building the new World Trade Center says a design flaw could add millions of dollars to the cost of the complex’s signature tower. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Tuesday…
Los Angeles teacher charged with molesting 23
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Detectives say the elementary school teacher told the children it was a game. Once inside his third-grade classroom, he blindfolded them, gagged them and set cockroaches crawling on their faces. And then, Mark Berndt photographed them,…
Warhol exhibit to tour
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A large retrospective exhibition of Andy Warhol’s artwork will tour five Asian cities over the next three years. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh says the exhibit will be the pop art icon’s largest ever in Asia….
Experts say Gingrich moon base dreams not lunacy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich wants to create a lunar colony that he says could become a U.S. state. There’s his grand research plan to figure out what makes the human brain tick. And he’s warned about…
Pioneer of rap reggae, King Stitt, dies at 72
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — King Stitt, a pioneer in rap reggae, died Tuesday in his Caribbean homeland of Jamaica. He was 72. Stitt died at his home in the capital of Kingston after a long fight with prostate cancer and…
Philippine military helping accused general
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — An international human rights watchdog said Wednesday it has information that sympathetic Philippine military personnel were thwarting attempts by civilian authorities to capture a former army general accused of kidnapping two student activists. Retired Maj. Gen….
Grey mauls box office
NEW YORK (AP) — Liam Neeson continues to maul the competition in the winter months. Neeson’s survivalist thriller “The Grey” debuted atop the weekend box office, earning $19.7 million. The 59-year-old actor remains a big draw as an action star,…
Death toll from European cold spell hits 54
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Thirty people, most of them homeless, have died of hypothermia in recent days in Ukraine, part of a surge of deaths across eastern Europe as the region grapples with an unusually severe cold spell. In all,…
Officials investigating Illinois reactor shutdown
CHICAGO (AP) — Officials are investigating the events surrounding a power failure at a nuclear reactor in northern Illinois, where steam was vented to reduce pressure after it shut down. After the shut down Monday morning at Exelon Nuclear’s Byron…
