AP-National

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana agencies say previous estimates of Medicaid expenses fell nearly $1 billion short of its now-predicted need. Word of the shortfall came Tuesday in a report presented to the Indiana state budget committee. Agency officials say unexpected demand of services in some categories including elderly care caused

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer When Idaho had a rare measles outbreak a few months ago, health officials scrambled to keep it from spreading. In the end, 10 people, all in one family, were infected, all unvaccinated. This time, the state was lucky, said the region’s medical director Dr. Perry Jansen. The family quickly

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A county jail in South Carolina being investigated by federal officials has failed a state inspection. The review of the Richland County jail by the South Carolina Department of Corrections found a lack of plans to get inmates out in a fire and keys for cells

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s government says it is taking legal action against British authorities over a controversial law that gives some immunity from prosecution for offenses committed during three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheál Martin said on Wednesday that “after much thought and

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that an artificial intelligence system can’t be registered as the inventor of a patent, denying machines the same status as humans. The U.K.’s highest court said Wednesday that “an inventor must be a person” to apply for patents under the current law. The decision was the culmination of

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally kicked off her ruling Awami League party’s campaign amid an election boycott by the country’s main opposition party. Addressing a massive rally in the northeastern city of Sylhet, Hasina strongly criticized the Bangladesh Nationalist Party for refusing to participate

By VOLODYMR YURCHUK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s armed forces are taking up a more defensive posture, a military analysis said Wednesday, after their summer counteroffensive failed to achieve a major breakthrough against Russia’s army and as winter weather sets in after almost 22 months of the war. “In recent weeks, Ukraine has

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November, ending a five-month skid, as easing mortgage rates encouraged homebuyers. Existing home sales rose 0.8% last month from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.82 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will finally be held Monday after a four-month delay. The Hollywood actors and writers strikes meant that the show was postponed until Martin Luther King Day. Fox will air the ceremony live starting at 8 p.m. Eastern from the Peacock

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservative law firm has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the State Bar of Wisconsin’s “diversity clerkship program” unconstitutionally discriminates based on race. The program offers summer internships for first-year law school students at top law firms, private companies and government offices. Past participants have

By JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer When Cora Dibert went for a routine blood test in October, the toddler brought along her favorite new snack: a squeeze pouch of WanaBana cinnamon-flavored apple puree. “She sucked them dry,” recalls her 26-year-old mother, Morgan Shurtleff, of Elgin, Oklahoma. Within a week, the family got an alarming call.

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that its surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers. The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission addresses charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do

By JOSHUA GOODMAN, ERIC TUCKER and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The United States freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in the South American country and the return of a fugitive defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard” who is at

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and COSTAS KANTOURIS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Five Greek and international environmental campaign agencies have launched legal action against a major natural gas project in the Mediterranean country. The project is supported by the European Union as a regional alternative to Russian energy. Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister says Israel wants to fast-track the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through a maritime corridor from Cyprus, bolstering stability in the region. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told reporters Wednesday after a visit to a center of operations in the coastal town of

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Like Christmas trees, Santa and reindeer, the poinsettia has long been a ubiquitous symbol of the holiday season in the U.S. and across Europe. But now, nearly 200 years after the plant with the bright crimson leaves was introduced in the U.S., attention is once

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The party of Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan  says he will run in upcoming parliamentary elections from prison. Legal experts say this is possible while Khan’s appeal of his conviction in a corruption case is being considered. The 71-year-old former prime minister is Pakistan’s most well-known opposition

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — The family of an elder in a Chinese church says he has been detained and accused of fraud. A U.S.-based Christian rights group says it’s part of a larger crackdown by Chinese authorities on house churches, or informal churches not registered with the government. Many Chinese who

PARIS (AP) — A top French television presenter has been handed a preliminary charge of rape by a person abusing his authority. French authorities have investigated complaints by about 20 women who have accused Patrick Poivre d’Arvor of sexual misconduct. He denies wrongdoing, and has sued 16 of his accusers. A revered personality who hosted