AP-National

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Authorities evacuated an area of Ohio’s capital, Columbus, for several hours out of fear that a fire in truck’s trailer could have caused lithium ion batteries to explode. Police began evacuating a several-block area west of downtown shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday and closed off several highway exits near the Scioto

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s police say four customs officers have been killed by unidentified gunmen during an ambush of their vehicle in the troubled northwest of the country. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It happened Thursday evening in the Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Local police official Nasir

By CHRISTINA LARSON AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A ancient giant snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton, researchers reported Thursday. Fossils found near a coal mine revealed a snake that stretched an estimated 36 feet (11 meters) to 50 feet (15 meters). It’s comparable to

By KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man who’s served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. James Parker was

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democrat who served one term representing southeast Wisconsin in Congress in the 1990s before going on to become a leader in the Assembly and state revenue secretary announced Thursday that he’s running for Congress again. Peter Barca announced his bid against Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Booming sales of cold drinks at Starbucks have created a problem: growing amounts of plastic waste from the single-use cups that Frappuccinos, Refreshers, cold brews and other iced drinks are served in. The coffee giant said Thursday it plans to alleviate some of that waste with new disposable cups

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The spring homebuying season is off to a sluggish start as home shoppers contend with elevated mortgage rates and rising prices. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell 4.3% in March from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.19 million, the

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Thousands of Black college students expected this weekend for an annual spring bash at Georgia’s largest public beach shouldn’t expect a warm welcome. Tybee Island’s city leaders are bringing in dozens of extra police officers and using barricades to block parking lots and residential streets

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and U.K. on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran as concern grows that Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East. The sanctions are meant to hold Iran accountable for its weekend attack and to deter

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the world economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of higher interest rates and the shock of war in Ukraine and Gaza, but “there is plenty to worry about,″ including stubborn inflation and rising levels

By TRAVIS LOLLER and MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press When the BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in 2010 and spewed many millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the disastrous spill damaged the economy, devastated the environment and required thousands of regular people to help clean it up. Those hired workers picked

By CHRISTINA LARSON AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Lyrid meteor shower is here. But with a nearly full moon in the sky during the peak this weekend, it might be tough to see. The Lyrids occur every year in April. This year’s peak activity could see 10 to 20 meteors per hour. Viewing

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s army says soldiers rescued a pregnant woman who was abducted by extremists a decade ago while she was a schoolgirl in the village of Chibok. Her three children were also rescued. The army said Thursday that Lydia Simon was rescued by Nigerian troops in the

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A judge in Tunisia has sentenced a journalist and political commentator to six months in prison in the country’s latest assault on members of the media who criticize the government. Mohamed Boughalleb, who had been charged with insulting a public official, was sentenced Wednesday. He

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer Google has fired 28 employees in the aftermath of protests over technology that the internet company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war, further escalating tensions surrounding a hot-button deal. The firings confirmed by Google late Wednesday came a day after nine employees were arrested during sit-in

By DARKO BANDIC Associated Press ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s ruling conservatives says that talks are already underway on the formation of a new governing majority following a highly contested parliamentary election that saw a far-right party emerge as a potential kingmaker. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union party.

By SARAH BRUMFIELD, JOSH FUNK and JIM SALTER Associated Press Workers installing a light pole in Missouri cut into a fiber line, knocking out 911 service for emergency agencies in Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota, an official with the company that operates the line said Thursday. Problems with 911 calls in a Texas city along

By The Associated Press Iran fired air defense batteries Friday reports of explosions near a major air base at the city of Isfahan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. It remained unclear if the country was under attack, but tensions remain high after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. The Israeli military did not immediately

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A prominent Christian church leader and human rights advocate from Myanmar’s Kachin ethnic minority has been detained just hours after he was released from prison by the military government. The Rev. Hkalam Samson, the former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention, was among 3,300 prisoners released Wednesday

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn’t change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool it off. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending April 13 were unchanged from the previous week’s 212,000.