AP Trending SummaryBrief at 12:49 a.m. EST

In death, one cancer patient helps to erase millions in medical debt

A New York woman who died Sunday from cancer has raised enough money to erase million of dollars in medical debt with a posthumous plea for help. Casey McIntyre told followers in a social media message posted by her husband that she had arranged to buy the medical debt of others and destroy it as a way of celebrating her life. Her post included a link to a fundraising campaign started through the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt. McIntyre’s husband, Andrew Rose Gregory, posted his wife’s message on Tuesday. The campaign had raised nearly $140,000 by Friday morning.

One of Napoleon's signature bicorne hats on auction in France could fetch upwards of $650,000

FONTAINEBLEAU, France (AP) — One of the signature broad, black bicorne hats that Napoleon Bonaparte wore when he ruled 19th-century France and waged war in Europe is expected to fetch more than half a million euros (dollars) at auction. The felt hat is the star of the sale on Sunday of Napoleonic memorabilia. A French industrialist spent more than half a century assembling the collection before his death last year. Other exceptional items on sale from Jean-Louis Noisiez’s collection include a silver plate looted from Napoleon’s carriage after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Also on auction is a vanity case he owned, with razors, a silver toothbrush, scissors and other personal belongings.

George Brown, drummer and co-founder of Kool & The Gang, dead at 74

NEW YORK (AP) — George Brown, the co-founder and longtime drummer of Kool & The Gang who helped write such hits as “Too Hot,” “Ladies Night,” “Joanna” and the party favorite “Celebration,” has died at age 74. A statement from Universal Music says Brown died Thursday in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. Kool & The Gang has sold millions of records with its catchy blend of jazz, funk and soul, what Brown liked to call “the sound of happiness.” Brown helped launch the Grammy-winning group in 1964. Kool & the Gang broke through in the mid-1970s with “Jungle Boogie” among others songs and peaked in the late ’70s and mid-1980s, with such hits as “Cherish” and “Celebration.”

Honda recalls nearly 250K vehicles because bearing can fail and cause engines to run poorly or stall

DETROIT (AP) — Honda is recalling nearly 250,000 vehicles in the U.S. because bearings can fail, causing the engines to stall and increasing the risk of a crash. The recall covers certain 2018 and 2019 Honda Pilot SUVs and Odyssey minivans, and some 2017 and 2019 Ridgeline pickup trucks. Also affected are certain 2015 to 2020 Acura TLX cars and 2016 to 2020 Acura MDX SUVs. Honda says in documents posted Friday by .U.S. safety regulators that connecting rod bearings in the engine can wear and seize due to a manufacturing error, damaging the engines. The engines could stall while being driven, increasing the risk of a fire or crash. The automaker says in documents that it has no reports of injuries. Dealers will inspect and repair or replace the engines if needed.

Maine lobsterman jumps from boat to help rescue a driver from a car submerged in a bay

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Police in Maine say a lobsterman jumped from a boat into the water to help save a driver trapped in a sinking car. Police in Portland say the car drove into Casco Bay shortly after noon on Thursday. Police and fire crews were able to force entry into the vehicle while it was underwater. The lobster boat was nearby and Manny Kourinos, who is experienced in diving, entered the water and helped pull out the driver. The 33-year-old driver was hospitalized in stable condition. Police are investigating and say the vehicle was reported stolen out of South Portland earlier in the day.

A Texas woman convicted of killing pro cyclist 'Mo' Wilson is sentenced to 90 years in prison

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman convicted of fatally shooting rising professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson has been sentenced to 90 years. Jurors delivered the sentence for 35-year-old Kaitlin Armstrong on Friday after a little more than three hours of deliberations. The same jury on Thursday convicted Armstrong of murder after deliberating for only two hours. Prosecutors say Armstrong gunned down the 25-year-old Wilson in a jealous rage. Wilson had briefly dated Armstrong’s boyfriend several months earlier, and went swimming and to a meal with him the day she was killed in May 2022. Armstrong’s defense attorneys urged the jury to consider something less than life that could offer the chance for parole.

Ex-girlfriend drops lawsuits against Tiger Woods, says she never claimed sexual harassment

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Golf superstar Tiger Woods's ex-girlfriend has dropped her $30 million lawsuit against the trust that owns his $54 million Florida mansion. An attorney for Erica Herman filed a notice in state court last week saying Herman never accused Woods or any of his employees of sexual harassment. Herman's attorney has made that claim on multiple occasions. A separate lawsuit against Woods was rejected by a judge in May. Court records show an appeal of that decision was dropped this week. Herman was Woods’ girlfriend from 2015 until October 2022. She signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2017 that barred her from discussing their relationship publicly.

Author A.S. Byatt, who wrote best-seller 'Possession' and had a beetle named after her, dies at 87

LONDON (AP) — The British author of the Booker Prize-winning novel “Possession” has died at the age of 87. A.S. Byatt’s publisher, Chatto & Windus, said Friday that the author, whose full name was Antonia Byatt, died “peacefully at home surrounded by close family.” Byatt wrote two dozen books, starting with “The Shadow of the Sun” in 1964. She published “Possession” in 1990. The novel follows two modern-day academics investigating the lives of a pair of Victorian poets and was adapted into a 2002 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Queen Elizabeth II made Byatt a dame, the female equivalent of a knight, in 1999 for services to literature.

New drill bores deeper into tunnel rubble in India to create an escape pipe for 40 trapped workers

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Rescuers drilled deeper into the rubble of a collapsed road tunnel in northern India to fix wide pipes for 40 workers trapped underground for a sixth day to crawl to their freedom. A disaster management official said Friday that drilling with a new machine has covered a stretch of 78 feet so far and it may require up to 195 feet to enable the trapped workers’ escape. The first machine used was slow in pushing pipes through the debris. Nuts, roasted chickpeas, popcorn and medicine are being sent to the workers via a pipe, and their condition hasn't deteriorated. The workers have been trapped since Sunday, when a landslide caused part of the tunnel to collapse.