AP-National

SEATTLE (AP) — Four county elections offices in Washington state were evacuated Wednesday after they received envelopes containing suspicious powders — including two that field-tested positive for fentanyl — while workers were processing ballots from Tuesday’s election. The elections offices were located in King County — home of Seattle — as well as Skagit, Spokane

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Records show that a woman accused of threatening to kill a federal judge who suspended approval of the abortion drug mifepristone earlier this year has been arrested in Florida. Court records show that Alice Marie Pence made her initial appearance in Fort Myers federal court after her arrest on Wednesday.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has chosen a location for a new FBI headquarters in Maryland, the General Services Administration confirmed Wednesday, as the suburban Washington location was selected over nearby Virginia following a sharp competition between the two states. The site is planned for Greenbelt,

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The University of Michigan warned Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti about overstepping his authority and rushing to judgement about an alleged sign-stealing scheme, saying he can’t discipline coach Jim Harbaugh under the conference’s sportsmanship policy. Two people who have seen Michigan’s response to the

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green is announcing the creation of a $150 million fund to help those who lost family members or who were injured in Maui’s wildfires. The governor’s office says beneficiaries will receive payments of more than $1 million as early as April to June of next year. Those getting money

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Little by little an employee of Costa Rica’s National Bank took advantage of a surveillance blindspot to slip more than $6 million worth of currency into envelopes and casually walk out of the country’s largest bank. First announced last month, it was the largest bank heist in the country’s

By DAVID HAMILTON AP Business Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Walt Disney Co. has reported sharp profit growth for its fiscal fourth quarter while announcing an expansion of its cost-cutting drive under returning CEO Bob Iger. The results topped Wall Street expectations and sent shares in the entertainment and theme park company up more than

By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man recounted the fear and desperation he and his wife faced while trying to flee Gaza amid the war between Israel and Hamas. Zakaria Alarayshi of suburban Detroit told reporters Wednesday that he and Laila Alarayshi hunkered down at a home

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has set a January execution date for what could be the nation’s first death sentence carried out by nitrogen gas. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday announced a Jan 25 execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith using the new execution method of nitrogen hypoxia. A

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer In the United States, the national conference of Catholic bishops rejects the concept of gender transition, leaving many transgender Catholics feeling excluded. On Wednesday, the Vatican made public a sharply contrasting statement, saying it’s permissible, under certain circumstances, for trans people to be baptized as Catholics and serve as

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Debate over proposed regulations for deep-sea mining will stretch into next year as a U.N. agency that presides over the international seabed has concluded its last meeting of the year. The ongoing debate has led to growing concerns that a company or country will

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Robert De Niro looked on as a lawyer for a woman who worked for him for over a decade urged a jury in closing arguments to award damages because the actor discriminated and retaliated against her. Attorney Brent Hannafan argued on Graham Chase Robinson’s behalf Wednesday

By ACACIA CORONADO and ELLIOT SPAGAT AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Eight people died in a South Texas car crash Wednesday while police chased a driver suspected of smuggling migrants. Texas Department of Public Safety says it happened around 6:30 a.m. when the driver of a Honda Civic tried to outrun deputies from the Zavala County

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials say it now takes less than half the time it took to process rape kits in August 2022. During a budget hearing with Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said funding for new positions and better pay helped

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman filed a lawsuit Wednesday against former Grammy Awards CEO Neil Portnow, accusing him of a 2018 sexual assault, and against the Recording Academy for negligence. The woman, who was not named, filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Manhattan under the Adult Survivors Act. The measure, passed last

LABELLE, Fla. (AP) — Wildlife officials say two endangered Florida panthers have been struck and killed by vehicles. They say a 2-year-old male panther’s remains were found Monday near the Spirit-of-the-Wild Wildlife Management Area in Hendry County, and a 3-year-old female panther was found dead a day later near the Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area

By MICHAEL REZENDES and JASON DEAREN Associated Press An Arizona Superior Court judge has dismissed a high-profile child sexual abuse lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ruling that church officials who knew that a church member was sexually abusing his daughter had no duty to report the abuse to police or

By DIANE JEANTET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Residents in a Brazilian community descended from runaway slaves ini Rio de Janeiro have welcomed the visiting monarch of the Bailundo kingdom in Angola, where many of the residents trace their ancestry. The king visited the community of Camorim as part of a three-week trip

PELLA, Iowa (AP) — Voters in a small Iowa city narrowly decided not to support giving their City Council more power over their local library. Just over half the voters in Pella rejected an advisory vote on whether the City Council should have more power over how the library spends its money and whether it

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. carried out an airstrike on a weapons warehouse in eastern Syria used by Iranian-backed militias, in retaliation for what has been a growing number of attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in the region for the past several weeks, the Pentagon said. In Wednesday’s