AP-National

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Fitch Ratings has downgraded the United States government’s credit rating, citing rising debt at the federal, state, and local levels and a “steady deterioration in standards of governance” over the past two decades. The rating was cut Tuesday one notch to AA+ from AAA, the highest

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Environmentalists have filed a lawsuit to prevent the construction of a new potash mine they say would devastate a lake ecosystem in the drought-stricken western Utah desert. The complaint filed Monday against the Bureau of Land Management is the latest development in the battle over

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court says a Biden administration rule aimed at curbing the use of stabilizing braces on handguns is unlikely to survive a legal challenge. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel extended an injunction Tuesday allowing a gun dealer and others challenging the

By The Associated Press Donald Trump has surrendered in Georgia in his fourth criminal case of the year. The former president was charged earlier this month in the state over his efforts to overturn his 2020 general election defeat there. The Fulton County investigation is the latest criminal case for Trump as he runs for

By ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump was indicted on felony charges Tuesday for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol, with the Justice Department acting to hold him accountable for an unprecedented

LINCOLNTON, N.C. (AP) — Police have determined that a car crash that injured a group of migrant workers in North Carolina was accidental, but the driver has been charged with a felony hit-and-run for fleeing the scene. New evidence presented Tuesday led police to change their original assessment that the crash was intentional. The driver

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Roughly 7,500 BNSF train engineers may get up to eight days of paid sick time and more predictable schedules if they approve a deal with the railroad announced Tuesday. BNSF and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union said engineers will be better able

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer Northwestern has hired former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to lead an investigation into the culture of its athletic department and its anti-hazing procedures following allegations of abusive behavior and racism within the football program and other teams. Lynch served as Attorney General from 2015 to 2017 under former

By PAT EATON-ROBB AP Sports Writer NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) — New details have emerged in the alleged threat cases in Connecticut against Dennis Hernandez, the troubled brother of the late New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. Testimony in court Tuesday claimed Hernandez threatened to kill his estranged wife and her divorce lawyer while

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — A Texas police department is apologizing after a typo made while checking a license plate resulted in officers pulling over what they wrongly suspected was a stolen car and then holding an innocent Black family at gunpoint. Frisco police acknowledged the traffic stop was caused by an officer misreading the car’s

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Janet Yang has been re-elected to serve as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization said Tuesday. This will mark Yang’s second term as president of the organization that puts on the Oscars and her fifth year as a governor-atlLarge. Yang’s background in Hollywood

By SEUNG MIN KIM, WILL WEISSERT and STEVE PEOPLES The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is now taking a leading role in the Biden administration’s response to prospective Republican challengers, and her top target as of late has been Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. In Orlando on Tuesday, she again criticized the

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer It would be an understatement to say that Brendan Quirk took over a USA Cycling organization in turmoil in December 2021. The national governing body had churned through CEOs, each with their own ideas, every year or two for nearly a decade. But the astute businessman and competitive cyclist

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America The former CEO of a respected South Carolina bank will spend seven years in federal prison for helping Alex Murdaugh steal nearly $2 million from clients’ legal settlements. Russell Laffitte was sentenced Tuesday after a jury found him guilty of six charges related to wire and bank fraud

SAN SALVADOR (AP) — El Salvador has sent about 8,000 soldiers and police to comb the rural province of Cabanas for street gang members. The operation announced Tuesday is one of the most massive raids since President Nayib Bukele declared a crackdown on the gangs in March 2022. About 1,000 police officers and 7,000 soldiers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lizzo has been sued by three former dancers who accuse the Grammy winner of sexual harassment and allege the singer and her production company created a hostile work environment. The civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court claims Lizzo pressured the dancers to engage with nude performers at

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has launched a new bureau aimed at making the battle against global outbreaks a lasting priority of U.S. foreign policy. The program announced Tuesday is being led by a U.S. public-health official integral to a U.S. HIV program that is credited with saving up

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has sued a group of researchers — alleging their work highlighting an increase in hate speech on the platform cost the company millions of dollars of advertising revenue. The suit, filed late Monday night in U.S. District Court

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister is asking neighboring Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to do more to prevent militants from crossing the border to stage attacks like the massive suicide bombing earlier this week that killed dozens in a border region. A suicide bomber struck an election campaign rally of a

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two political allies of former President Donald Trump have been criminally charged in Michigan in connection with an alleged effort to access and tamper with voting machines following the 2020 election. A special prosecutor said Tuesday that Matthew DePerno and Daire Rendon participated in a scheme