Mississippi elects Democrat Scott Colom as state's first Black US senator since Reconstruction
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Democratic nominee Scott Colom defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Wednesday in Mississippi's closely contested U.S. Senate race after a prolonged ballot counting process, giving the state its first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction.
Colom's narrow victory is a seismic shift in Mississippi, which has been controlled mostly by white conservatives for generations despite having the largest share of Black residents of any U.S. state. The outcome adds to a decisive midterm rebuke of President Donald Trump, whose party suffered defeats in several Republican-controlled states, and it will bolster some Democrats' argument that their future runs through the American South.
“All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this,” Colom told a crowd of hundreds who gathered at Tougaloo College for his victory party. “I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters.”
The Associated Press called the race in Colom's favor after local officials spent several days processing absentee and provisional ballots, called affidavit ballots in Mississippi.
The last time Mississippi chose a new Democratic senator was 1947; the winner was a staunch segregationist. Colom, a 43-year-old local prosecutor, capitalized on the state's large Black population, discontent with the economy and Hyde-Smith’s missteps as she sought a second full term.
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White House confronts Democrats over planned probes, claiming possible 'criminality'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has issued a warning to Democrats over their planned probes into the Trump administration, going as far as claiming that such investigations — a standard oversight function of Congress — may amount to “blatant criminality.”
White House counsel Will Scharf issued the warning in a letter dated Monday to Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
Garcia most likely would chair the powerful panel in the new Democratic-controlled Congress that is seated in January. Garcia warned Trump officials to “lawyer up” as his party was on the way to stunning victories in last week's midterm election.
In response, Scharf wrote that “threats to executive branch officials designed to deter them from public service, or process designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality." The letter’s existence was first reported by Punchbowl News.
It's just the latest shot across the bow as the White House prepares to square off against newly empowered Democrats in the House and Senate next year, a showdown with major implications for congressional authority and the balance of power between the branches of government.
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Trump says the towering arch he wants to build might be dedicated to military veterans
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump observed Veterans Day by suggesting that the towering arch he wants to build in his own honor would also be dedicated to the U.S. military and those who served in its ranks.
That's despite three veterans having sued to stop the project — which a federal court has since temporarily blocked. Some military groups have cheered the arch, but many others have opposed it or joined efforts to stop construction.
Trump has said for months that the 250-foot (76-meter) arch set for construction near Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial would be inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and might even be called the “Arc de Trump.”
He's also insisted that Washington has wanted a similar structure for centuries — even though that’s not true. In comments during an annual ceremony at Arlington Cemetery on Wednesday, however, Trump suggested it was actually veterans who had longed for an arch in the capital.
“And soon we’re going to dedicate a magnificent triumphal arc to our veterans," he said. “And that’s in honor of our great veterans and our great militaries." He added: “They've been waiting for it for 200 years.”
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Who is Alice Huang? The woman at the center of Nvidia’s scandal remains elusive
Her sleeveless pink dress, her sparkly heels, her belted white coat. The wine glass she held, the resort she visited, the bench she sat on.
As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s scandal makes headlines, a breathless public has scrutinized apparent images of the woman at the center of it all for clues to who she is.
The photographs have spread widely. Much of her story has not.
The explosive tale of Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang — involving marital betrayal, international intrigue and accusations of espionage — has rocked the tech and political worlds. Yet basic questions about her life — and how she grew close to one of the world’s most powerful technology executives — remain unanswered.
Here's a look at what’s known about Alice Huang:
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Pope Leo returns to a national celebration in his second homeland of Peru
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Pope Leo XIV declared Peru his “homeland” on Wednesday as he arrived in Lima at the start of his historic visit, returning to the place that taught him how to be a pastor and where a nationwide party erupted to welcome the beloved “Padre Robert” home.
Leo seemed genuinely moved as he emerged from his Aerolineas Argentinas charter plane, smiling broadly at nearly every turn of his first moments on Peruvian soil. The Vatican estimated that some 3 million people lined Leo’s kilometers-long (miles-long) motorcade route into town, waving Peruvian and Holy See flags.
Some in the roaring crowds broke through the tight security to chase behind the car that transported him to the presidential palace for a meeting with Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori. During the formal welcome ceremony in the palace courtyard, the Chicago-born Leo sang the Peruvian national anthem alongside Fujimori and a children’s choir.
In his first remarks to Fujimori and government officials, Leo said the Peruvian citizenship he acquired in 2015 cemented a bond that began long before, crediting Peruvians with having formed him as a pastor by sharing their lives, joys and struggles with him.
“Today I understand how much of this land remains with me and how much of my own story also belongs to you,” he said.
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Father of boy who survived being buried alive is charged with attempted murder in South Carolina
LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — An 11-month-old South Carolina boy who authorities say was buried alive in a dog crate by his father was found by rescuers after about 24 hours, crying and covered in dirt, his grandfather said about the dramatic rescue.
But soon after, little Koah Sharp stopped crying, John Comer told The Associated Press on Wednesday night as he recalled the events that played out the day before in the woods on his neighbor's property. The infant was put on the back of a truck and sat up, Comer said.
“I became ecstatic, my hands straight in the air. I’m looking in the sky, jumping up and down, praising God,” Comer said. “And at the same time I hit my knees and I’m just crying.”
Koah was released from a hospital Tuesday night and is expected to make a full recovery, Sheriff Jay Koon said.
The boy’s father, Michael Comer, 25, has been charged with attempted murder. John Comer said he'd opened his home to his son and grandson on Monday after Michael Comer said they needed a place to stay.
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Firefighters dig through rubble after NYC building collapse kills 2 and traps people in wreckage
NEW YORK (AP) — Firefighters dug through the rubble of a three-story building in Brooklyn after it collapsed at the edge of a construction site Wednesday afternoon, killing at least two people and trapping others beneath the wreckage.
Scores of firefighters and police officers wielding pickaxes and power saws clambered over the rubble pile for hours, punching holes through the ruins to pull dust-covered people from beneath piles of twisted wood and brick.
At least 17 people were hospitalized with injuries, including four in critical condition, officials during a news conference. New York City Fire Department officials said their search and rescue operations would continue into the night. It was unclear whether people might still be trapped.
“This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. “This type of rescue is exactly what the FDNY trains for.”
The cause of the collapse was under investigation, but New York City’s buildings commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, noted that when the building fell, construction workers were excavating an empty lot next door for a new building.
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Russia and Ukraine agree to a large prisoner exchange as talks end with no major breakthrough
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Russia and Ukraine agreed to a large exchange of prisoners of war, both sides said Wednesday as two days of U.S.-mediated talks concluded with no major breakthrough on ending Moscow's nearly 5-year-old full-scale invasion.
Hopes had been low for any significant development in the first meeting in nine months between the delegations. Russia and Ukraine have from time to time swapped POWs but have remained far apart in their demands for accepting a peace settlement.
U.S. officials say they are determined to revive Washington’s peace efforts that so far have failed to deliver significant results.
Along with postwar security guarantees for both countries, other key hurdles are the fate of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and what role European countries will play in an eventual settlement.
The sides last met in February on Russia’s invasion, which analysts and humanitarian organizations say has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians.
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Biden says he wouldn't have run for a second term in 2024 if he knew he had cancer
ATLANTA (AP) — Joe Biden says he did not know he had cancer while he was president and would not have sought a second term if he already had been diagnosed.
The former Democratic president's comments came in an interview with People magazine before the release of his White House memoir on Tuesday.
“If I had known that I was feeling lousy because I had cancer,” said Biden, who turns 84 on Nov. 20, “I would’ve not gone forward” with a 2024 reelection bid that ended after a disastrous debate performance against Republican Donald Trump.
Biden was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer months after leaving office in 2025.
“I don’t think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running” for president, Biden said in the interview.
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Former NFL coach Rex Ryan turns himself in after allegedly hitting Nashville pedestrians
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former NFL coach Rex Ryan turned himself in to Nashville police Wednesday on misdemeanor charges after he allegedly hit two pedestrians with his truck in a popular area downtown last week and then drove off after an argument, police said.
Ryan was driving a pickup truck when he allegedly ran over the feet of both individuals, who had the right of way crossing a main street in Nashville's honky-tonk and music tourist district Thursday night, police said in a release Wednesday.
The pedestrians involved, who sustained minor injuries, waved Ryan down at another red light and said he stepped out to argue with them, according to police. They took a photo of the driver and the truck's license plate, police said.
Ryan, an ESPN football analyst, was on the network Sunday for the NFL pregame show and Monday for a morning show, both of which are taped in New York.
Ryan “immediately surrendered” himself to authorities after learning of the charges, his attorney, David Raybin, said Wednesday.
