AP-National

By TED ANTHONY AP National Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Last week in Parkland, Florida, wrecking equipment began demolishing the building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where a gunman’s rampage in 2018 ended with 17 people dead. As the rumble of destruction echoed, people in the community set to explaining exactly why ripping the building

By MEG KINNARD and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether it’s a grinning Joe Biden as “Dark Brandon” or Donald Trump’s face superimposed onto a scene from HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” both presidential campaigns this year have embraced digital memes, the lingua franca of social media. The campaigns of the Democratic president

By CORA LEWIS and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Janille Williams wants to buy a house someday — but first, he has to pay down tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt. “I was hospitalized for a blood infection for three months more than ten years ago, and the bill was

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean troops fired warning shots to repel North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the rivals’ heavily fortified land border Tuesday for the second time this month, the South’s military said. Both incursions were believed to be unintentional. Around 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Toyota shareholders have voted in support of all of the company’s proposals at their annual meeting, including keeping Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the Japanese automaker’s founder, as chairman of the board. Details on the vote tallies weren’t immediately available. The annual meeting, held at company

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A twin-engine Cessna airplane has crashed in a residential area in north-central Colorado, killing two people aboard and starting a fire that burned two mobile homes. Police in Steamboat Springs said the pilot and a lone passenger were killed in the crash Monday afternoon near the Steamboat Springs Airport. Police

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum put his hands behind his head, with TD Garden fans standing on their feet cheering around him, and took it all in. Walking to the bench, he wrapped both arms around Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. The journey was complete. The Boston Celtics again stand

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States government has suspended inspections of avocados and mangoes in the Mexican state of Michoacan due to security concerns. A U.S. government spokesperson says the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has paused inspections in Michoacan until the security conditions

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been indicted and arraigned on a charge of defaming the country’s monarchy in one of several court cases that have rattled Thai politics. He was granted bail. Thaksin is the unofficial power behind the party leading the government, Pheu Thai,

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang has ending his Australian tour in the west coast city of Perth where he focused on China’s investment in critical minerals, clean energy and busines links. Li last week became the first Chinese premier to visit New Zealand then Australia in seven

By MARIANA MARTÍNEZ BARBA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — In a move reminiscent of her political mentor, incoming Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday displayed a series of surveys commissioned by her political party that she said show a wide majority approve of controversial judicial changes. Sheinbaum said the surveys were just “informational.” She

RIO VERDE, Ecuador (AP) — Rescue teams and some inhabitants are searching the mud for more victims of a landslide in central Ecuador that killed at least eight people. Heavy rains over the weekend drenched several provinces of Ecuador, but the community of Baños was one of the most affected when a hill partially collapsed

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press SAMOENG, Thailand (AP) — Thailand has tried for years to deal with its pollution problem. One big reason is the burning of corn stubble to clear fields for the next planting, a time of year from February to April that’s known as “haze season.” And it gives Chiang Mai, a

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has ruled that a man convicted of killing 19-year-old college student Kristin Smart in 1996 must pay just over $350,000 to her family for costs they incurred after her death. Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe ordered Paul Flores to make the payments Monday after

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Toronto police say a man and woman are dead and the suspected shooter is also deceased after a mid-day shooting in a north Toronto office space. The shooting took place near a daycare center and an all-boy Catholic elementary school, which were both locked down. Detective Sgt.

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, who was a Spokane lawyer with limited political experience when he ousted Democratic Speaker of the House Tom Foley as part of a stunning GOP wave that shifted national politics to the right in 1994, has died. He was 79. Nethercutt died

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea early on Wednesday, after saying the two countries want to cooperate closely to overcome U.S.-led sanctions in the face of intensifying confrontations with Washington. Putin was met at Pyongyang’s airport by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts say activities of armed groups in the volatile Central African Republic have increased, complicating a security landscape that has seen a spillover of the conflict in neighboring Sudan. The panel of experts cite confirmed reports of air raids by the Sudanese military around

By JAIMIE DING Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A U.S. Secret Service agent was robbed at gunpoint as President Joe Biden was visiting Los Angeles for a fundraising event over the weekend, officials said. The agent was returning from work Saturday night when he was accosted in a residential community in Tustin, about an

By ALEXANDRA OLSON AND CLAIRE SAVAGE AP Business Writers NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Monday granted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as employers in two Southern states, temporary relief from complying with a federal rule that would have required them to provide workers with time off and other workplace