AP Trending SummaryBrief at 11:49 p.m. EDT

Regulators: Nuclear plant leak didn't require public notice

Minnesota regulators knew four months ago that radioactive waste had leaked from a nuclear power plant in Monticello — but they didn’t announce anything about the leak until this week. The delay in notifying the public about the November leak of tritium raised questions about public safety and transparency. But industry experts say there was never a public health threat. They said the leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water never reached a threshold that would have required public notification. State officials said they delayed sharing the information until they had more details.

Lack of hugs caused US fentanyl crisis, Mexico's leader says

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's president has said that U.S. families are to blame for the fentanyl overdose crisis because they don't hug their kids enough. The comment by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador caps a week of provocative statements from him about the crisis caused by the synthetic opioid. Fentanyl has been blamed for about 70,000 deaths per year in the United States. López Obrador said family values have broken down in the United States, because parents don't let their children live at home long enough. He has also denied that Mexico produces fentanyl. On Friday, the Mexican president said the problem was caused by “a lack of hugs, of embraces.”

Ann Summers lingerie chain boss Jacqueline Gold dies at 62

LONDON (AP) — Jacqueline Gold, who helped make lingerie and sex toys a female-friendly mainstream business as head of Britain's Ann Summers chain, has died. She was 62 and had been diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago. Gold’s family said Friday that she died on Thursday with close family by her side. Gold joined the sex shop chain owned by her father and transformed it. She ditched the shops’ forbidding men-only atmosphere, with female-friendly products sold through women-only, at-home gatherings inspired by Tupperware parties. Ann Summers became a familiar feature of the British high street, with more than 80 stores nationwide. Gold said in 2018 that “female empowerment has always been at the heart of everything we do."

Posthumous album set from 'Gangsta’s Paradise' rapper Coolio

NEW YORK (AP) — The estate of rapper Coolio plans to release a studio album later this year that the Grammy-winning hitmaker had been working on in the days before he died. “Long Live Coolio” will be the first posthumous album release from the “Gangsta’s Paradise” star. The first single, “TAG You It,’” dropped Friday featuring Too $hort and DJ Wino. The raunchy single's video begins with Coolio and Too $hort in a boxing ring as various women gyrate and marks the last piece of visual content Coolio appeared in before his death from cardiac arrest on Sept. 28, 2022, at age 59.

Ford recalls 1.5M vehicles to fix brake hoses, wiper arms

DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. in two actions to fix leaky brake hoses and windshield wiper arms that can break. The largest recall covers nearly 1.3 million 2013 through 2018 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ midsize cars. The company says in documents posted Friday by safety regulators that the front brake hoses can rupture and leak brake fluid. That would increase brake pedal travel and make stopping distances longer. Dealers will replace the hoses. Ford will mail owner notification letters starting April 17. They’ll get a second letter once parts are available for the fix. The second recall covers more than 222,000 F-150 pickups from 2021. The windshield wiper arms can break. Dealers will replace the arms if needed.

Cambodia celebrates return of 'priceless' stolen artifacts

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Centuries-old cultural artifacts that had been illegally smuggled from Cambodia are being welcomed home. The celebration Friday was led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who offered thanks for their return and appealed for further efforts to retrieve such stolen treasures. Many, if not all, of the items displayed at the government’s offices on Friday had been looted from Cambodia during periods of war and instability, including in the 1970s when the country was under the brutal rule of the communist Khmer Rouge. A statement from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts described the returned artifacts as embodying the “priceless cultural heritage and the souls of generations of Khmer ancestors.”

Prince Harry sues tabloid for defamation over security story

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for Prince Harry have asked a judge to rule that a tabloid newspaper libeled the British royal with an article about his quest for police protection when he and his family visit the U.K. Harry is suing Mail on Sunday publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd. over an article alleging he tried to hush up his separate legal challenge of the British government's refusal to let him pay for police security. During a hearing at the High Court in London on Friday, Harry’s lead attorney asked a judge to strike out the publisher’s defense or to deliver a summary judgment that would rule in the prince’s favor without going to trial.

Planes in Florida close call were cleared to use same runway

Federal investigators say an air traffic controller cleared one plane to land and another to take off from the same runway in Florida last month. The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that the American Airlines and Air Canada Rouge planes were separated by six-tenths of a mile at their closest point. That's much farther apart than planes were in several recent close calls. The NTSB says it's forming a group to investigate air traffic controller actions during the Feb. 16 incident in Sarasota, Florida. The early findings come a day after officials from government, airlines and unions met outside Washington, D.C., for a “safety summit.”

Flight attack raises questions about security, mental health

LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man accused of attacking a flight attendant and attempting to open the plane's emergency door on a cross-country flight has directed attention to passengers with mental health illnesses. One passenger who sat near Francisco Torres on the flight from Los Angeles to Boston says he didn’t exhibit any unusual behavior until he launched his attack. Most experts say there isn't a whole lot that airlines can or should be doing. They note that most people with mental illnesses are not violent, and barring them can pose a host of logistical and constitutional challenges.