AP-National

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex was sentenced Wednesday to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Anton “Tony” Lazzaro was found guilty in March by a federal jury of seven counts

By MADDIE BURAKOFF AP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend. The best viewing will be from Saturday night into early Sunday morning, when viewers might be able to spot a meteor per minute. And the moon will be just a sliver in the sky, making

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned Britain’s envoy to Tehran to protest his post on social media calling for the government to release all people ″arbitrarily detained” in Iran, including journalists. The state-run news agency reported on Wednesday that Ambassador Simon Shercliff was summoned on Tuesday over what the ministry

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — As climate change ratchets up temperatures across the U.S., millions of the poorest Americans grapple with enduring perilous heat or paying costly air conditioning bills. While President Joe Biden has invested billions into federal programs that subsidize the poorest Americans’ energy costs, the help reaches

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations’ human rights chief has warned that Iraq’s water crisis could affect other countries in the region. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the comments Wednesday at a news conference in Baghdad following a four-day visit to Iraq. Severe water shortages because

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned three Mexican citizens for alleged involvement in the production and trafficking of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. It was the second round of sanctions in as many months against leading traffickers from the Sinaloa drug cartel. The three men sanctioned all worked in the border

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Coyotes say owner Alex Meruelo has executed a letter of intent to buy a piece of land for a potential arena in Mesa, Arizona. The move comes months after voters in Tempe rejected a referendum to construct an arena there for the NHL club. The Coyotes say they remain committed

NEW YORK (AP) — Hanging up that phone call? The location of Apple’s red end-call button is set to slightly move with upcoming iOS 17 updates to the phone app, so be wary of your thumb’s muscle memory. As iPhone users know, the “End” button currently sits prominently away from other call options, in a

By DIANE JEANTET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police in Brazil have arrested the former director of the Federal Highway Police  as part of an investigation into possible political interference in last year’s presidential elections. Brazil’s Federal Police said in a statement that officers had carried out ten search and seizure warrants and

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Waves of severe thunderstorms in the U.S. during the first half of this year led to $34 billion in insured losses, an unprecedented level of financial damage in such a short time as climate change contributes to the frequency and severity of violent meteorological events. The reinsurer Swiss Re

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination has filed for bankruptcy protection after a judge ordered it to pay the government almost $6 million in penalties and damages for submitting false asbestos claims. The bankruptcy filing would allow the Center for

By ABBY SEWELL Associated Press KORNIDZOR, Armenia (AP) — The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is warning that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against ethnic Armenians in its Nagorno-Karabakh region. Luis Moreno Ocampo called for the U.N. Security Council to bring the matter before the international tribunal. A report by Ocampo issued Tuesday

By SARA BURNETT and CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Abortion wasn’t technically on the ballot in Ohio’s special election. But the overwhelming defeat of a measure that would have made it tougher to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution this fall was the latest indicator that the issue remains a powerful force

BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese army says it has detained dozens of Lebanese and Syrian smugglers in the country’s north as they were preparing to send migrants on boats to Europe. The arrests were made on Tuesday in several coastal towns and villages in northern Lebanon. The army says the 31 Syrians and 15 Lebanese

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, fell in her home and went to a hospital for a short time, her office said on Wednesday. The 90-year-old California Democrat, who has faced mounting concerns about her health and her ability to perform the duties of a senator, “briefly went to

By DEEPTI HAJELA and JAIME HOLGUIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Nothing shows off hip-hop’s ability to change and adapt, to be reinvented again and again, more than the different sounds that have come out over the decades as it spread around the country and the world. New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston,

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian lawmakers have approved a data protection legislation that “seeks to better regulate big tech firms and penalize companies for data breaches” as several groups expressed concern over citizens’ privacy rights. The Digital Personal Data Protection bill that was passed Wednesday will limit cross-border transfers of data and provide a framework

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Police in central England said Wednesday they were treating a weekend fire at one of Britain’s quirkiest pubs as arson, two days after it was demolished before an investigation into the blaze had even been completed. Staffordshire Police said in a statement that following an assessment from

BY DANIEL KOZIN, WILFREDO LEE and FREIDA FRISARO Associated Press LAYTON, Fla. (AP) — Steps away from the warming waters of Florida Bay, marine biologist Emily Becker removed covers from the dozens of water-filled tanks under her watchful eye. Nestled in seawater carefully maintained at about 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius) lay hundreds of