After shooting, Wisconsin school and church lean into Christmas message for comfort

For Christians around the world, Christmas is the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus. To affirm their beliefs — that God is present and hasn’t abandoned them — the faith community at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, is embracing its holiday traditions just days...

Missouri governor commutes sentence of white police officer convicted of fatally shooting Black man

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A white former Kansas City police officer who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black man was released from prison Friday after Missouri’s governor commuted his sentence to parole. The decision by Republican Gov. Mike...

Missouri's governor commutes sentence to time served for a Kansas City officer convicted of fatally shooting Black man

France's anti-terrorism court convicts 8 people of involvement in the 2020 beheading of a teacher

PARIS (AP) — France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country. Paty, 47, was killed by an Islamic extremist outside his...

Wisconsin police chief overseeing school shooting probe is named to Seattle job

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes was named as the chief of police in Seattle on Friday, five days after he was thrust into the national spotlight because of a shooting at a religious school in Wisconsin that killed a teacher and student. Barnes' departure comes...

Suspect in 3 deaths was killed by police in far-right influencer's Chicago-area neighborhood

BERWYN, Ill. (AP) — A man suspected in the killings of three people in Illinois was fatally shot by police in west suburban Chicago while in the neighborhood of a far-right political influencer. Nick Fuentes said on X that the man, wearing a motorcycle helmet, was outside his home...

Suspect charged in shooting of Black transgender teenager in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The mother of a Black teenager who was fatally shot in Alabama this week said she believes her daughter was killed because of her transgender identity. Cameron Thompson, 18, was shot several times just after midnight on Monday, and her body was found that...

A teenager stabs a 7-year-old to death and wounds a teacher and 3 more children in a Croatian school

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A knife-wielding teenager walked into a school in Croatia’s capital on Friday, stabbed a 7-year-old girl to death and wounded three more children and their teacher, authorities said. The attack took place around 9:50 a.m. on the last day of school before...

A New York man faces assault charges in a University of Bridgeport shooting that injured a juvenile

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — An 18-year-old New York City man accused in a shooting at a University of Bridgeport dining hall in Connecticut that injured a juvenile surrendered to police Friday and was charged with assault and gun crimes, authorities said. The suspect turned himself in...

He fought to save jungles in Honduras. Now his killing haunts environmental defenders

TOCOA, Honduras (AP) — Seven bullets pounded into Juan López outside a small white church on a sunny September afternoon. Six shots in the chest. One in the head. And a masked gunman standing in front of López's blood-spattered truck. In seconds, another...