AP-National

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has radically reformed its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena. The Vatican’s doctrine office overhauled norms first issued in 1978, arguing that they were no longer useful or viable in the internet age. It

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press HUITZILAC, Mexico (AP) — Cartel violence haunted the central Mexican town of Huitzilac days after a mass shooting claimed the lives of eight men. The shooting coincides with a larger wave of violence leading up to Mexico’s June 2 election. Experts say criminal groups use violence as a tool to

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump used a day off from his hush money trial Friday to headline a Republican fundraiser in Minnesota, a traditionally Democratic state that he boasts he can carry in November. Trump took the stage late as he headlined

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge plans to rule next week on a grand jury indictment against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust,” after hearing arguments Friday that the proceedings were unfair to the defendant. The indictment in January charged Baldwin with

By DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether it’s tapioca balls or computer chips, Taiwan is stretching toward the United States and away from China — the world’s No. 2 economy that threatens to take the democratically ruled island by force if necessary. That has translated to the world’s biggest maker of computer chips

By SHARON LURYE Associated Press On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court laid out a new precedent: Separate but equal has no place in American schools. The message of Brown v. Board of Education was clear. But 70 years later, the impact of the decision is still up for debate. Have Americans truly ended segregation

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin says Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito should recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and the 2021 Capitol insurrection after a report about an upside-down American flag outside his home. The upside-down flag is a symbol associated with ex-President Donald Trump’s

By EUGENE HOSHIKO and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — A U.S. Navy strike group’s flagship aircraft carrier left its Japanese home port on Thursday, wrapping up nearly nine years of deployment in the Indo-Pacific, where it served a key role in the U.S. effort to bolster defense ties with Japan and other

By LEKAN OYEKANMI and DAVID J. PHILLIP Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Power outages could last weeks in parts of Houston, an official warned Friday, after thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds tore through the city, knocking out electricity to nearly 1 million homes and businesses in the region, blowing out windows on downtown high rises and

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian professional soccer was rocked Friday by accusations that the captain of A-League club Macarthur FC paid two younger teammates up to 10,000 Australian dollars ($6,600) to deliberately receive yellow cards in a scheme set up by a South American gambling connection. The player were identified Macarthur team leader Ulises Davila and

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again denied Friday that her country has exported any weapons to Russia, as she labeled outside speculation on North Korea-Russian arms dealings as “the most absurd paradox.” The U.S., South Korea and others have steadfastly

KENT, Wash. (AP) — A suburban Seattle police officer ignored his training and unnecessarily resorted to deadly force when he shot and killed a man outside a convenience store in 2019, prosecutors said as the officer’s murder trial opened Thursday. Auburn Police Officer Jeff Nelson shot Jesse Sarey twice while attempting to arrest him for

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration says it will cost more than $20 billion to build a giant tunnel to capture and store more water. Newsom inherited the project and changed it to be one big tunnel instead of two smaller ones. The new estimate released Thursday

By TRÂN NGUYỄN and SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Thursday voted to keep hundreds of bills from advancing for a floor vote during a tough budget year. They made the cuts during a mysterious process in which lawmakers decide — with no explanation — which bills get

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S.-built pier is in place to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, but no one will know if the new route will work until a steady stream of deliveries begins reaching starving Palestinians. The trucks that will roll off the pier project installed Thursday will

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys have discussed in court whether classified documents might play a role in the trial of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas. The congressman and his wife are facing federal bribery and conspiracy charges over accusations he accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations is reporting improved economic prospects since its January forecast for the global economy, pointing to a better outlook in the United States and several large emerging economies including Brazil, India and Russia. According to its mid-2024 report, the world economic is now

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A measure to repeal a now-defunct Nebraska law that would use public money to fund private school tuition has been pulled from the November ballot. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said Thursday that because another law passed this year repealed and replaced last year’s

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A former top official in Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget office has pleaded not guilty to extortion, bribery, conspiracy and false statement charges. Konstantinos Diamantis appeared in federal court in Hartford on Thursday. Federal authorities allege Diamantis demanded and received thousands of dollars in bribes from

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Justice Department documents show a federal prosecutor in Arkansas stepped down from the post while under investigation for having an inappropriate relationship with an employee. He was then appointed to a state panel that investigates judges for misconduct. The report released Tuesday and first reported