AP-National

FORT KENT, Maine (AP) — NASCAR driver-turned-politician Austin Theriault wants the opportunity to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in Maine. The Republican Theriault announced Monday that he is entering the Republican primary in what is expected to be one of the country’s most competitive 2024 House races. The 29-year-old freshman state lawmaker said he

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has stopped by a gun shop and admired a Glock handgun while returning to in-person campaigning in South Carolina. He was back on the trail Monday after a weekend spent issuing threats to the press, leveling multiple accusations of treason and urging

By AAMER MADHANI and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday told leaders from the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum that he has heard their warnings about the impact of climate change on their region and that his administration is committed to helping them meet the challenge. Pacific islands leaders gathered

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — There’s a broadcast television network offering plenty of original programming this fall, although it often flies under the radar. PBS hopes that the Hollywood writers and actors strike, which may end soon, will give viewers more time to sample its own fresh programming. A tentative

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain’s military command says a drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed a Bahraini officer and soldier who were patrolling Saudi Arabia’s southern border. The statement, carried by the official Bahrain News Agency, says “a number” of Bahraini soldiers were also wounded in Monday’s attack, without elaborating. The tiny

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in Nigeria say that security forces have rescued 14 of at least 20 students abducted from their university in the country’s northwestern region, and that they’re searching for those still held captive. The abductions pose a challenge to Nigeria’s newly elected President Bola Tinubu, who

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Chef JJ Johnson uses rice at home in many different ways — making crepes with his kids, using leftover rice for his wife’s lunch salad and frying it for dinner multiple ways. He calls rice a “Swiss army knife.” This fall he’s tried to prove

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Court officials in Albania say that a former environment minister, seven other officials and four businessmen have been sentenced to prison terms in connection with bribery involving a contract to build an incinerator in western Albania. The Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime in the Albanian capital sentenced former Environment

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Seven passengers and a crew member were injured when a JetBlue flight from Ecuador to Fort Lauderdale hit extreme turbulence while approaching the Florida airport. JetBlue says flight 1256 had traveled from Guayaquil, Ecuador, and was headed to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for a landing shortly after 5 a.m. Monday

BOSTON (AP) — A pair of front-row balcony tickets to Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865 — the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth — has sold at auction for $262,500. RR Auction, a Boston-based auction house, says the tickets sold Saturday. They are stamped with the date of that night’s

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Do you know the highest grossing movie franchise in history? That’s easy, “Avatar.” What about the record for the most balloons popped in one minute by a pogostick? Or the longest journey in a pumpkin boat? These and many more superlatives are in the latest

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say one person has died in the crash of an ultralight in central New Mexico. Federal Aviation Administration officials say the crash occurred around 6 p.m. Sunday near the Truth or Consequences airport and the pilot was the only person aboard. New Mexico State Police say they were

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — If another pandemic happens, the world will again be unprepared. That’s the bleak assessment from former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark after the U.N. General Assembly held a high-level summit aimed at heading off another pandemic. Clark co-chaired the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan woman has been sentenced to up to five years in prison for a crash in which her three young sons drowned after her SUV plunged into an ice-covered pond. Leticia Gonzales had pleaded no contest in August to operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and three misdemeanor

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union member countries have watered down a proposal by the bloc’s executive arm aimed at lowering vehicle emissions. The European Commission had proposed last year updated pollution standards for new combustion engine vehicles that are expected to remain on European roads well after the 27-nation bloc

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — A major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant has restarted production, 10 weeks after it was heavily damaged by a tornado. The plant  in North Carolina makes critical supplies for U.S. hospitals. Pfizer said in a statement Monday that a majority of manufacturing lines at the Rocky Mount facility are back up and

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A white Texas gunman who killed 23 people at a Walmart in 2019 after ranting about Hispanics taking over the government and economy has agreed to pay more than $5 million to victims of the racist attack, according to an order signed by a judge

By EDGAR H. CLEMENTE Associated Press TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Drug cartel turf battles have cut off towns in southern Mexico state of Chiapas, near the Guatemala border, Mexico’s president acknowledged Monday. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the cartels have cut off electrical power in some towns, and then prevented government workers from coming

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The writers strike is over. Actors are still walking picket lines, but Wednesday is the first day in nearly five months that screenwriters can return to their jobs. So when will your favorite shows return? Well, it’s complicated. Late-night talk shows — and talk shows

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.S. and Kenya have signed a defense agreement that will see the East African nation get resources and support for security deployments as it is poised to lead a multi-national peacekeeping mission to Haiti to combat gang violence. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Kenya’s