AP-National

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge cleared the way Wednesday for enforcement of a public health order that suspends the right to carry guns at public parks and playgrounds in New Mexico’s largest metro area. The order from U.S. District Judge David Urias rejects a request from gun

NEW YORK (AP) — Three books that explore and celebrate the diversity of American culture were awarded Kirkus Prizes on Wednesday night, with each winner receiving $50,000. James McBride’s “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” a novel set in an eclectic Pennsylvania town in the 1930s, won in the fiction category. Héctor Tobar’s “Our Migrant

By TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law to fast-track low-income housing on surplus land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions. The new law rezones lands owned by nonprofit colleges, churches, mosques and synagogues to allow for affordable housing. The movement, dubbed “yes in God’s

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A gun count that had been part of a collapsed plea deal in the Hunter Biden case has been dismissed as a judge signed off on a prosecution request. Wednesday’s order from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika formally removes a gun-possession charge that has now been replaced

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service says Microsoft owes the U.S. Treasury $28.9 billion in back taxes, plus penalties and interest. That was revealed by the company Wednesday in a securities filing. That figure, which Microsoft disputes, stems from a long-running IRS probe into how Microsoft allocated its profits among countries and jurisdictions

TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced Wednesday the state will build the first group of 1,200 tiny homes at an abandoned office park. The project is part of a plan by Newsom to address California’s homelessness crisis. The homes are much cheaper and quicker to

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman accused of falsely telling police she was abducted after stopping to check on a toddler wandering along a highway is appealing her municipal court conviction. Her lawyer said she is seeking to avoid a yearlong jail sentence sought by prosecutors. A municipal judge found 26-year-old Carlee Russell guilty

ELWOOD, N.Y. (AP) — A police officer has shot and killed a man who charged at authorities with two swords on New York’s Long Island, and the police commissioner says the shooting appears to be justified. Fifty-four-year-old Alan Weber was pronounced dead at a hospital after Tuesday night’s shooting in Elwood. Suffolk County police officers

By ISABEL DEBRE and FATIMA SHBEIR Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hallways filled with screaming voices. A terrible stench in the air. Wounded people streaming through the doors. Lifeless bodies and bags of body parts arriving in bedsheets. The scene at Shifa Hospital was a grisly reflection of the chaos around it.

By DANIEL SHAILER Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican government official says the military continues to obstruct the search for truth decades after the country’s so-called “dirty war” against leftist dissidents. The deputy minister leading the inquiry said Wednesday that the team of investigators withdrew last month after discovering military officials were hiding,

By SAM McNEIL Associated Press KIBBUTZ BE’ERI, Israel (AP) — Trudging down a cul-de-sac turned to rubble, an Israeli army commander stopped in front of one scorched home, its front wall blown wide open. Look at what Hamas militants have done, he said, to this close-knit community that only days ago brimmed with life. “Children

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — One of the people being sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services over allegations of misspending welfare money has filed a separate lawsuit against Gov. Tate Reeves, saying the Republican is trying to protect political allies including a former governor. Austin Garrett Smith filed

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Spending more than three and a half days aloft and traveling more than 1,653 miles, a French ballooning team has traveled the farthest in the world’s oldest and most prestigious air race. Pilots Eric Decellières and Benoît Havret landed Wednesday just shy of the North Carolina coast. They and 15 other

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union significantly escalated its strikes against Detroit Three automakers Wednesday when 8,700 workers walked off their jobs at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant. The surprise move about 6:30 p.m. took down the largest and most profitable Ford plant in the world. The sprawling

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AP Education Writer After serving more than a month of in-school suspension over his dreadlocks, a Black student in Texas was told he will be removed from his high school and sent to a disciplinary alternative education program on Thursday. Darryl George, 18, is a junior at Barbers Hill High School in

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press CASTLETON, Vt. (AP) — Vermont State Police have released a sketch of a person of interest in the killing of a retired college dean who was shot dead last week while walking on her favorite trail near the Vermont State University campus. They have also reminded the public to remain

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man was sentenced Wednesday to two life terms for killing a 10-year-old girl who was missing for eight months before her remains were found in a pond. Henry Earl Dinkins also will have to pay $150,000 in restitution to the mother of Breasia Terrell, The Quad City Times reports.

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville officials have filed a lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law that lets state leaders pick six of its 13 board members on the panel overseeing professional sports facilities in the city. The lawsuit over the changes to the Nashville Sports Authority is the latest legal

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press New York (AP) — A prominent crime patrol leader in New York City’s Orthodox Jewish community was sentenced to 17 years in prison for raping a teenage girl placed in his care. Jacob Daskal pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges he groomed and sexually abused a 15-year-old who was

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A seventh person has been arrested on murder charges in the death of a South Korean woman whose body was found decaying in a car trunk in suburban Atlanta. Police arrested Mihee Lee, 54, on Wednesday. She’s the mother of three others already accused of murder in