AP-National

By DIANE JEANTET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The former personal lawyer of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has joined the ranks of the country’s Supreme Court amid criticism that their relationship poses a conflict of interest. Cristiano Zanin formally became a high court justice Thursday, filling the seat vacated by

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A judge has ordered criminal charges dropped against the final executive accused of lying about problems building two nuclear reactors in South Carolina that were abandoned without generating a watt of power. The judge says she tossed the charges Wednesday because ratepayers of the utility that

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop has announced he’ll run for state attorney general next year rather than seek to remain in Congress. Bishop confirmed his bid on Thursday on a Charlotte radio station. The Republican former state legislator is a member of the House Freedom

By PETER SMITH and MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — The man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue was formally sentenced to death Thursday, one day after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Robert Colville

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE Associated Press ATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil (AP) — Thousands of Amazon Indigenous are leaving their rainforest villages in a migration to urban areas that is reshaping their lives, their villages and their new cities. Some of the migrants are seeking a better education than they can get in village schools that they

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is challenging all countries to tell Russia to stop using the Black Sea and Ukraine’s grain as “blackmail” and stop treating the world’s hungry and vulnerable people as leverage in its “unconscionable war.” America’s top diplomat lashed out at

By FREIDA FRISARO Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Police officers responding to a report of someone with a gun threatening to “end it all” outside a downtown Florida hotel discovered the person in question was the director of the Miami-Dade police force. Newly released bodycam footage provides a fresh look at the July

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has announced the death of its little-known leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, who headed the extremist organization since November. A new leader was named to replace him. Thursday’s announcement did not say when al-Qurayshi was killed. He was the fourth IS leader to

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military is considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would be an unheard of action aimed at stopping Iran from seizing and harassing civilian vessels, American officials told The Associated

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan attorney and supporter former President Donald Trump has been charged in connection with voting machines in Michigan following the 2020 election, according to court records. Stefanie Lambert is the third suspect to be charged in the case involving accessing and tampering with voting machines.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Connecticut man was given nearly $300,000 in fraudulent Home Depot credit by walking into stores in several states, taking expensive doors and then returning them without a receipt, federal prosecutors allege. Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, 26, of West Hartford, Connecticut, was detained without bail after a judge entered not-guilty pleas on

By JUAN FRANCISCO VALBUENA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, have formally begun a six-month cease-fire as part of a process to forge a permanent peace between authorities and the country’s last remaining rebel group. The cease-fire agreement was announced June 9 during talks in Havana.

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A group of drag performers and LGBTQ+ rights advocates are suing to block a new Texas law that expands what is considered an illegal public performance of sexual conduct. They argue it will be used to target drag shows but could also criminalize ballet and even

The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose again this week, bad news for Americans seeking to upgrade or buy their first home. The average rate on the 30-year home mortgage rate ticked up to 6.90% this week from 6.81% a week ago. A year ago, the benchmark home loan

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Carl Davis, the American composer and conductor behind the scores for numerous award-winning British television shows and movies, has died, aged 86. In a statement, his family said Davis, who is perhaps best-known for the score of “The World at War,” a hugely influential documentary series about

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Bird watchers are flocking to northeastern Wisconsin in hopes of glimpsing a shorebird last seen in the state almost 180 years ago. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that a roseate spoonbill was spotted in the Ken Euers Nature Area in Green Bay on July 26. The bird was first spotted by

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press An 87-year-old Maine woman ably fought off a teenage attacker before feeding him because he said he was “awfully hungry.” Marjorie Perkins said she awoke at 2 a.m. on July 26 to a young man who’d shed his shirt and pants and was standing over her bed, telling her he

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Drexel University says men’s basketball player Terrence Butler was found dead in his on-campus apartment on Wednesday. No other details were provided. Butler was a rising junior from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, who was a reserve on the team. He appeared in eight games in two seasons with the Dragons. The 6-foot-7 forward