AP-National

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has signed into law a bill to procure 3,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind turbines by 2040, enough to power about half of the state’s electricity load. Mills said Thursday that responsible offshore wind promises “abundant clean energy, stable energy prices, good-paying jobs and a healthier

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy surprisingly accelerated to a 2.4% annual growth rate from April through June, showing continued resilience in the face of steadily higher interest rates resulting from the Federal Reserve’s 16-month-long fight to bring down inflation. The gross domestic product — the economy’s total output

By DAVID BRUNAT Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s Interior Ministry has confirmed that former British rap artist and alleged jihadist Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary has died in custody while awaiting a trial verdict. The cause of death has yet to be confirmed. He was found dead Wednesday. Abdel Bary, 32, left London in 2013

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. AP Pro Football Writer Hamstring pulls, ligament tears and ankle sprains can be as formidable an opponent for NFL teams as a high-scoring offense or stingy defense. Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady once said there’s a 100% injury rate in the NFL. Navigating those injuries could make the difference between

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian emergency officials say a helicopter has crashed in Siberia, killing four and injuring 10 of those on board. The officials said the Mi-8 helicopter caught fire as it was landing in southern Siberia’s Altai Republic and brushed against a power line on Thursday. The Altai branch of the Russian Emergency Ministry

By AMY BETH HANSON and SAM METZ Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Poor track conditions that should have been flagged by a freight railroad company’s inspectors caused the derailment of an Amtrak train in Montana that killed three people and injured 49 others in 2021, federal investigators said Thursday in a final report. The

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is suing a local news organization, claiming it defamed him in public comments on the misspending of $77 million of federal welfare funds intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S. The lawsuit comes just over

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse has announced a $100 million settlement with people who say they are sexual abuse victims as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. Catholic dioceses around the state are dealing with a surge of lawsuits dating to when New York temporarily suspended the statute of limitations to

ATLANTA (AP) — Civil rights groups are criticizing a concert series with Black performers dubbed “Soul Fest” that is being held at a Georgia park with a giant carving of Confederate leaders. Stone Mountain Park just outside Atlanta is where the Ku Klux Klan marked its rebirth in 1915. Its colossal, mountainside sculpture of Gen.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing construction to resume on a contested natural-gas pipeline that is being built through Virginia and West Virginia. Work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline had been blocked by the federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, even after Congress included the project’s approval as part of the bipartisan bill

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Milwaukee County board has voted to nearly double the county’s sales tax, two weeks after the city of Milwaukee approved a local sales tax increase as part of a bipartisan plan to avoid bankruptcy. The county board voted Thursday to approve raising the county sales

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A team of some of the world’s leading social media researchers has published four studies looking at the relationship between the algorithms used by Facebook and Instagram and America’s widening political divide. The analysis examined user data from the 2020 election and found that changing the algorithms

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The unraveling of Hunter Biden’s plea agreement has thrust his criminal case into uncertain waters and given new fodder to Republican critics in Congress as they push ahead with investigations into the president’s youngest son. Biden was supposed to plead guilty Wednesday to

By PETROS GIANNAKOURIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press RHODES, Greece (AP) — A wildfire has triggered a series of massive explosions at an air force ammunition depot in central Greece. The Greek air force said on Thursday that some of its F-16 fighter jets were being moved from a nearby air base in the Vojos

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean state media say leader Kim Jong Un has met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for discussions on military issues and the regional security environment. The report Thursday came as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of an armistice that halted fighting in

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The state of Alaska wants the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a federal agency’s rejection of a proposed copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January blocked the proposed Pebble Mine, citing concerns with potential impacts on a rich aquatic ecosystem

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — When a panel of experts read aloud some of the harrowing accounts they had collected from recently discovered victims of child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church, the country’s senior bishops squirmed in the auditorium’s front-row seats. During a live television broadcast, the experts reported

By R.J. RICO Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge has significantly extended the deadline for Atlanta organizers who have been trying to gather more than 70,000 signatures to force a vote on the construction of a police and firefighter training center that critics call “Cop City.” U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen ruled that

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry ’s lawsuit accusing the publisher of The Sun tabloid of unlawfully snooping on him can go to trial, but not on allegations of phone hacking, a High Court judge ruled Thursday. The case also cannot deal with a claim that newspaper executives made a secret

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, MATTHEW DALY and DREW COSTLEY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With heat waves spreading across the United States, President Joe Biden has announced new steps to protect workers, improve weather forecasts and make drinking water more accessible. These actions come as as nearly 40% of the U.S. population faces heat advisories. High