New Zealand's Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk has overturned a visa refusal for the U_S_ conservative commentator Candace Owens, citing “the importance of free speech."

A Connecticut pastor will be the new president of the largest Black Protestant denomination in the U.S. His election brings to an end a leadership election that stirred division among members.

American Jennifer Valente defends women's omnium gold, earns second gold medal in Paris.

The world gathered around their TV screens to watch incredible athletes from around the world as the Olympics officially kicked off on Friday.

Charitable giving dropped 2.1% in 2023 after inflation, according to the most recent Giving USA report, the key findings of which were released Tuesday.

Ho has once again qualified for team Hong Kong for the Paris Olympic games.

Grant Holloway is considered a gold medal favorite in the men's 110m hurdles at the Paris Games. Catch up on his road to the Olympics here.

The winners of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resigned from their titles within days of each other.

Iga Swiatek has cruised to a straight-sets win over Madison Keys to reach the Madrid Open final for the second consecutive year.

NASCAR has added Atlanta Motor Speedway and the road course at Watkins Glen in upstate New York to the playoffs as part of the 2024 Cup Series schedule.

Dutch brewer Heineken says it has completed its withdrawal from Russia, 18 months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A jury in Florida says McDonald’s and a franchise holder are fault after a hot Chicken McNugget from a Happy Meal fell on a little girl’s leg and caused second-degree burns.

R’Bonney Gabriel, a fashion designer, model and sewing instructor from Texas, has been crowned Miss Universe.

There are many reasons to criticize FIFA for the way they’ve handled the Men’s World Cup that is about to begin in Qatar, and at the top of that list is that they chose to have it in a nation with egregious human rights violations.

Edible cookie dough lovers, you may want to double check the batch code the next time you go for a spoonful.

Samantha Scott and Makala Jaramillo, two of Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 junior athletes, were chosen to represent the USA at the upcoming UCI Road World Championships, according to USA Cycling.

Everything we know so far about volleyball at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

California prosecutors say a man with a criminal history has been charged with assaulting a former Olympic volleyball player last week in downtown Los Angeles.

A former Olympic volleyball player says she was attacked in downtown Los Angeles when a man threw a metal object at her face in an assault that fractured multiple bones in her face and left one of her eyes swollen shut.

A cardiologist who helped invent an automatic implantable defibrillator that has helped countless heart patients live longer and healthier has died.

Norfolk State and Virginia Tech both in the East Region, Longwood in the South, Richmond in the Midwest.

Watch 40 of the world's best skaters perform without the pressure.

Three athletes who compete in multiple Olympic sports join The Podium to discuss how they manage to shift gears, and whether it's worth it.

The latest episode of The Podium discusses the tradition of Olympic athletes getting a tattoo of the Olympic rings.

Colby Stevenson earned the U.S. its fifth silver of the Games while Birk Ruud claimed the first-ever Olympic gold in men's freeski big air.

If there's one phrase promising to dominate the luge, bobsled, and skeleton coverage at the 2022 Winter Olympics, it's going to be "zero G"

Monday's My Why Tour contest between USA and Canada has been cancelled due to growing concerns over the latest COVID-19 surge.

Learn about the basics of Nordic combined at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Computer-maker HP, consumer goods business Procter & Gamble and coffee capsule company Nespresso have joined a corporate pledge to sharply cut their greenhouse gas emissions over nearly two decades.

Learn more about the terminology used in hockey ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Get familiar with the equipment used in Nordic combined ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Get to know some of the terminology used in Nordic combined ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Facebook’s ownership of Giphy will hurt competition for animated images, U.K. regulators said Thursday following an investigation.

USA wrestling's strong showing at the Tokyo Olympics continued Thursday into Friday with standout performances from Sarah Hildebrandt and Kyle Snyder.

It's official. The two fastest women in the pool, Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus, will square off again in the 200 meter freestyle final.

Savsek's gold-winning time was nearly four seconds better than the field, with Lukas Rohan of Czechia winning silver at 101.96.

The Czech Olympic Committee is launching an investigation after women's beach volleyball player Marketa Nausch-Slukova and cyclist Michal Schlegel tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Regan Smith worked diligently to reach the World Champions and a spot in the Tokyo Olympics, but things took an unexpected turn when the pandemic hit.

Herbert is the first Hokies tailback selected since former G.W. Danville standout David Wilson went to the Giants in the first round of the 2012 draft.

Energy company BP says it will be returning around half a billion dollars to shareholders after “significantly” higher oil prices contributed to a big rise in profits and a reduction in debt levels.

FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2019, file photo is an Uber office in Secaucus, New Jersey, USA. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)A woman who was accused of pepper-spraying and coughing on an Uber Driver after being asked to put on a mask was arrested on Thursday, according to San Francisco Police. The Las Vegas Police Department arrested Malaysia King, 24, in connection with aggravated assault and robbery of a 32-year-old Uber driver. San Francisco officers said they responded to a report at around 1:15 p.m. on March 7 that an Uber driver had been assaulted. The victim said he had picked up three people in San Francisco around 12:45 p.m. and noticed that one passenger didn’t have a mask on, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Friday that Uber drivers should be classed as workers and not self employed. The ruling that the drivers should be classed as “workers” and not self-employed is a big defeat for the ride-hailing giant. The seven Supreme Court judges who heard the case unanimously rejected Uber's appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that two Uber drivers were “workers" under British law. AdSan Francisco-based Uber, which has 65,000 active drivers and 5 million regular users in the U.K., had argued that Aslam and Farrar were independent contractors. AdThe British judges on Friday cited a number of factors in their decision: Uber sets fares and contract terms and penalizes drivers who reject or cancel rides.

Struggling luxury car brand Jaguar will be fully electric by 2025, the British company said Monday Feb. 15, 2021, as it outlined a plan to phase out internal combustion engines. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, FILE)LONDON – Struggling luxury car brand Jaguar will be fully electric by 2025, the British company said Monday as it outlined a plan to phase out internal combustion engines. Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Motors, hopes the move will help turn around the fortunes of the 86-year-old Jaguar brand, which for many epitomizes class but has struggled in recent years. Jaguar Land Rover also said that the far more profitable Land Rover brand will produce its first all-electric model in 2024 as it, too, phases out internal combustion engines. The move was welcomed by British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps as “a huge step for British car manufacturing."

FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, June 12, 2017, showing a Boeing 787 airplane being built for Norwegian Air Shuttle is shown at Boeing Co.'s assembly facility, in Everett, Wash, USA. Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle said Thursday Jan. 14, 2021, it will focus on European destinations and close its long-haul operations as it struggles with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and debt restructuring. Trade Minister Iselin Nyboe said the government is now open to the idea of contributing money to a reconstructed Norwegian Air but expects private investors to pitch in as well. The government said the support depended on the company receiving approval for its restructuring plan and noted that Norway’s Parliament had to clear any state aid. Norwegian Air then announced it had to lay off another 1,600 staff.

The social media company Twitter said Tuesday Jan. 12, 2021, it has suspended more than 70,000 accounts associated with the far right QAnon conspiracy theory following last week's U.S. Capitol insurrection. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)LONDON – Twitter says it has suspended more than 70,000 accounts associated with the far right QAnon conspiracy theory following last week's U.S. Capitol riot. In many cases, a single individual operated numerous accounts, driving up the total number of affected accounts, the company said in a blog post. The QAnon conspiracy theory is centered on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against “deep state” enemies and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals. Twitter has previously tried to crack down on QAnon, removing more than 7,000 accounts in July.

Trump has expedited border wall construction in his last year, mostly in wildlife refuges and Indigenous territory the government owns in Arizona and New Mexico, avoiding the legal fights over private land in busier crossing areas of Texas. The work has caused environmental damage, preventing animals from moving freely and scarring unique mountain and desert landscapes that conservationists fear could be irreversible. The worst damage is along Arizona’s border, from century-old saguaro cactuses toppled in the western desert to shrinking ponds of endangered fish in eastern canyons. “Building a wall will do little to deter criminals and cartels seeking to exploit our borders,” Biden's transition team has said. Ecologists say damage could be reversed in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, where thousands of tree-like saguaros were bulldozed, with some reportedly replanted elsewhere.

USA's Stacy Lewis on the second tee during day two of the Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland, Friday Aug. 14, 2020. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

That sets up a notable legal battle between Trumps financially flush Republican reelection campaign and Priorities USA, one of the biggest spending groups in Democratic politics, which paid to air the ad. Although Priorities USA actively sought to intervene in the case, the Trump campaign instead claimed credit for being the one who sued Priorities. The case was transferred to federal court at the station's request in April, and a request by Priorities USA to join as a co-defendant was granted on Tuesday, court records show. The lawsuit that Trump's campaign said it filed on Wednesday against Priorities was actually filed last week. And it was recognized instead by the court as a supplement to their prior lawsuit against the TV station not a new complaint, records show.

(Lars Baron, Pool via AP)BERLIN Germanys soccer league was marked by gestures against racism and support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Saturday as Bayern Munich took another step toward a record-extending eighth straight Bundesliga title. All of Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlins 22 outfield players took a knee in the center-circle together before the top tier's late game with no fans present. Bayern's players had Black Lives Matter printed on their armbands, partly covering sponsor Qatar Airways logo on the left arm. Robert Lewandowski scored Bayerns fourth to claim his 30th Bundesliga goal of the season, set up by Thomas Mller, who now has 20 assists. It also had to do without fans, as all Bundesliga games are being played without supporters amid strict hygiene measures against coronavirus.

Joe Burrow went from middle-of-the-pack quarterback to Heisman Trophy winner. In 2020, what teams and players have a chance to be the next Baylor or Burrow? On the latest AP Top 25 College Football Podcast, USA Todays Paul Myerberg joins APs Ralph Russo to talk about potentially surprising players and Heisman Trophy candidates not name Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields. Also, there are lots of encouraging signs college football will start on time, but the coronavirus is likely to make this a most unusual season. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and https://appodcasts.com/category/ap-top-25-college-football/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/APTop25CollegeFootballPoll and https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

(CNN) - As we rolled into November, scientists discovered last month was the warmest October on record globally. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, which analyzes temperature data from around the planet, said October 2019 was the warmest in their data record, which goes back to 1979. Last month narrowly edged out the previous record for October, set in 2015, by only 0.01 degrees Celsius (0.018 degrees Fahrenheit). This year has seen multiple other hottest-month records, including July, which Copernicus said was the warmest month of all on record, replacing the record set in July 2016. Every month in 2019 has ranked among the four warmest for the month in question.

One served her way to becoming the youngest tennis titlist in 15 years. Let's celebrate these remarkable young women in their respective sports. Coco Gauff just became the youngest pro tennis champion in 15 yearsGauff didn't have the best start to her WTA tournament in Linz, Austria. Nicole Vaidisova had been the youngest WTA winner since 2004, when she won her first title. Brigid Kosgei just shattered a world marathon recordKenya's Brigid Kosgei not only won the Chicago Marathon for the second year in a row, but she broke the women's world marathon record.

(CNN) - President Donald Trump spent most of a joint White House news conference with the president of Finland on Wednesday railing against Democrats and the media over the latest developments in the impeachment inquiry. But at the podium, Finnish President Sauli Niinist, maintained a consistent message, subtly countering Trump on the climate crisis, European cooperation and arms control. "Mr. President, you have here a great democracy. We share the same values -- democracy, human rights, rule-based order, and in that, we are very similar. The Trump administration has come under scrutiny for its lack of efforts to address the climate crisis.

USA players celebrate following their sides victory in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Semi Final match between England and USA. (CNN) - For the ability to rise to the occasion, for the aptitude to turn a blind eye to pressure and produce on the grandest of stages, there is still no team quite like the US as the defending champion saw off a talented England team 2-1 to reach the Women's World Cup final. Though challenged by the world's finest teams in the knockouts, the USWNT remains firmly on its perch. But England will be kept awake at night by thoughts of what might have been after captain Steph Houghton missed a penalty in the final 10 minutes. It is rare for such an anticipated match to live up to its promise, but this semifinal between the No.1 and No.3 ranked teams in the world certainly did.

Megan Rapinoe of the USA looks on during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Quarter Final match between France and USA at Parc des Princes on June 28, 2019 in Paris, France. The most anticipated match of this Women's World Cup did not disappoint. In a colossal contest on a balmy summer night in Paris, the US prevailed over host France to move a step closer to successfully defending its title. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

The US Women's National Team forward, speaking ahead of Friday's blockbuster Women's World Cup quarterfinal match against host nation France, reiterated Thursday that she would not visit the White House. On Tuesday, Eight by Eight, a soccer magazine, released video of Rapinoe telling a reporter in January, "I'm not going to the f*****g White House" if the US wins the Women's World Cup. "I stand by the comments that I made about not wanting to go to the White House -- with the exception of the expletive," Rapinoe said in Paris on Thursday. Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger opt out of White House visitIn a series of tweets Wednesday, President Donald Trump claimed that sports teams "love coming to the White House" and attacked Rapinoe, saying she "should WIN first before she talks!" In a story released in May by Time Magazine, Alex Morgan also said she would not visit the White House.