AP-National

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has announced multiple arrests in a series of complex stolen identity theft cases that officials say are part of a wide-ranging scheme that generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program. The conspiracy involves thousands of North Korean information

By REBECCA SANTANA and ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is creating a new process aimed at cutting the time it takes to decide the fates of newly arrived migrants in immigration courts from years to roughly six months. The action comes at a time when immigration is increasingly a concern

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia lodged a complaint over statements by the U.S. ambassador after he said the release of political prisoners could help the country engage in a productive dialogue and that detaining critics won’t resolve the country’s issues. The Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that Ambassador

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a full pardon Thursday for a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice. Abbott announced the pardon shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Bad Bunny’s sports representation firm sued the baseball players’ association Thursday, asking for a restraining order against the union that would allow it to keep working with the company’s clients — a roster it says now includes NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. Rimas Sports, under

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (AP) — A wildfire that has forced thousands of people out of their homes in Canada’s oil sands hub city of Fort McMurray, Alberta is being held in place as rain and cooler temperatures sweep through the area. Alberta Wildfire information officer Christie Tucker says the blaze remained out of control —

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The government of South Sudan and rebel opposition groups have signed a “commitment declaration” for peace during high-level mediation talks in Kenya, described as key step in efforts to end the conflict in South Sudan that has long crippled its economy. The content of the agreement

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Scientists say temperatures that have gone “crazy haywire” hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It’s so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off. Federal meteorologists and coral experts say more

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas judge has ruled in favor of a Republican candidate challenging the results in a 2022 judicial race in the nation’s third-most populous county. Harris County, where Houston is located, is a Democratic stronghold that’s been beset by GOP efforts to dictate how ballots are

ROME (AP) — An aid group says that the number of unaccompanied children who arrived in the northern Italian city of Trieste through the Balkan migratory route has more than doubled last year. The International Rescue Committee’s annual report released on Thursday said that about 3,000 unaccompanied children arrived in Trieste in 2023. There was

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has evoked language adopted by the far-right Proud Boys extremist group as he supports Donald Trump at his New York hush money trial. Gaetz posted a social media photo of him with other congressional Republicans standing behind Trump outside the courtroom Thursday and wrote, “Standing back,

By JIM SALTER Associated Press Officers responded nearly 1,000 times in the past three years to an Iowa juvenile treatment center where a staff member was killed by a 15-year-old resident, according to police records. Kathleen Galloway-Menke was assaulted May 8 at the center, Ellipsis Iowa. Her family’s attorney, Trever Hook, said the 50-year-old mother

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has marked the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that struck down institutionalized racial segregation in public schools by welcoming plaintiffs and their family members in the landmark case to the White House. Thursday’s Oval Office visit to commemorate the 1954 Brown v.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A major North Carolina political donor and his associate have been convicted a second time of attempting to bribe the state’s insurance commissioner to secure preferential regulatory treatment for his insurance business. Insurance magnate Greg Lindberg and former consultant John Gray were convicted Wednesday of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds

By The Associated Press Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was gravely injured in an apparent assassination attempt that rocked the small country and the rest of Europe just weeks before an election. The attack calls to mind other notable political assassinations and attempts in recent years. Among those killed are Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo

By MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A disability rights advocate made a complaint to New York State Police saying was shoved twice by state Senator Kevin Parker. Advocate Michael Carey says Parker got inches from his face Wednesday and yelled “I don’t care” before grabbing him by his shoulders and

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish court has sentenced several pro-Kurdish politicians to between nine and 42 years in prison over deadly riots that broke out in 2014 after Islamic State group militants besieged the Syrian border town of Kobani. The rioting by Kurds resulted in 37 deaths and left

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Authorities in Belarus have announced raids and the seizure of property of 104 opposition activists who have fled the country. The action announced on Thursday was the latest step in the crackdown on dissent that has continued unabated for nearly four years. Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press A bronze sculpture of the late Rev. Billy Graham was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, with Christianity’s most prolific evangelist once known as “America’s Pastor” immortalized in the halls of Congress on behalf of his native North Carolina. Graham’s likeness, depicting the Charlotte-born minister with his archetypal

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — One person is dead and another has been hospitalized after a vehicle crashed into a tanker truck carrying fuel on Colorado’s main east-west highway. The crash Thursday on Interstate 70 near Morrison created a fireball and sent up a huge plume of black smoke. The Jefferson County