AP-National

By PATRICK WHITTLE and RODRIQUE NGOWI Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Myrtle, an ancient green sea turtle that has delighted visitors to the New England Aquarium in Boston for more than 50 years, is in good physical shape. Veterinarians performed Myrtle’s checkup Tuesday after the 500-pound reptile was hoisted from the aquarium’s Giant Ocean Tank

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The sister of one of the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history is accusing state lawmakers of acting “nefariously” by pressing at the 11th hour for a so-called red flag law. Others, however, testified Tuesday that such a law could have saved lives.

By DEEPA BHARATH, DAVID CRARY and MARIAM FAM Associated Press The Vatican has issued a new document rejecting the concept of changing one’s biological sex – a setback for transgender people who had hoped Pope Francis might be setting the stage for a more welcoming approach from the Catholic Church. Around the world, major religions

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Florida mother has been sentenced to a month in prison and three months of home confinement for stealing and selling President Joe Biden’s daughter’s diary four years ago. Aimee Harris was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court by Judge Laura Taylor Swain. Harris pleaded guilty

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Movie theater owners who gathered in Las Vegas this week for the annual CinemaCon convention and trade show are still feeling the high from “Barbenheimer.” The counterprogramming of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” brought audiences to cinemas around with the world, ultimately earning nearly $2.5 billion in

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government says the country’s former oil minister has been arrested on allegations of corruption. The Ministry of Communications released images of Tareck El Aissami being handcuffed. The attorney general says El Aissami will make his first court appearance Tuesday on charges that include treason, money laundering and criminal association. The

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The new film “Civil War” is an ominous attempt to turn widely held American anxieties into a violent, unsettling big-screen reality. Alex Garland’s film opens Friday — the anniversary to the day the Civil War began in 1861. It’s landing in movie theaters just months

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona Supreme Court decision that would end virtually all abortions in the state puts the issue front and center in a critical 2024 battleground. Democrats immediately pounced on the ruling Tuesday, blaming former President Donald Trump for the loss of abortion access after the U.S.

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer Luke Combs leads the nominees for the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards with eight nods to his name, it was announced Tuesday. For a fifth year in a row, he’s up for both male artist of the year and the top prize, entertainer of the year. Megan Moroney

By TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A state audit has found that California spent $24 billion to tackle homelessness over the past five years but didn’t consistently track whether the spending actually helped alleviate the problem. The report released Tuesday attempts to assess how effective the state and municipalities have been spending

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress on Tuesday are calling for the immediate release of Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. The renewed calls from lawmakers have come on the second anniversary of his imprisonment, part of the Kremlin’s relentless crackdown on critics of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza,

MILAN (AP) — Italian officials say an explosion at a hydroelectric plant has killed at least three people and another four are missing. Five were being treated at hospitals for serious injuries including burns. The explosion occurred Tuesday at the Suviana Dam in mountains south of Bologna. Firefighter commander Francesco Notaro told SKY TG24 that

By JACQUES BILLEAUD and ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona will soon join 14 other states that have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy after a state Supreme Court ruling Tuesday found that officials may enforce an 1864 law criminalizing all abortions except when a woman’s life is at stake. The court

By DÁNICA COTO and EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Fresh gunfire has erupted in Haiti’s capital, forcing aid workers in downtown Port-au-Prince to halt urgently needed care for thousands of people. The Alliance for International Medical Action says the gang violence has forced 18 hospitals to stop working and caused a shortage

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The basketball world can’t get enough of Caitlin Clark and now that the college season is over, next up is the WNBA draft. While there is no drama about whether the Iowa guard will be the top pick, there is excitement about her arrival. With

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Two conservative political operatives who orchestrated a robocall campaign to dissuade Black people from voting in the 2020 election have agreed to pay up to $1.25 million under a settlement with New York state. Attorney General Letitia James announced the agreement Tuesday. Operatives Jacob Wohl and

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force is betting a large part of its future air warfare on a fleet of more than 1,000 autonomously operated combat aircraft. The Air Force’s top civilian leader says he plans to climb into an artificial intelligence-operated warplane and let it take him airborne. Air

By DANICA KIRKA, JILL LAWLESS and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The University of Edinburgh says Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of a sub-atomic particle that came to be known as the Higgs boson, has died at 94. Higgs predicted the existence of the particle in 1964. But it

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s Electoral Court has ruled that former President Jacob Zuma can run for office in the upcoming general election, overturning an earlier decision that had barred him from contesting the polls. The decision paves the way for Zuma to run on behalf of the uMkhonto weSizwe

By REBECCA BOONE and MEAD GRUVER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An 18-year-old man planned to attack churches in a northern Idaho city using a metal pipe, butane fuel, a machete and, if he could get them, his father’s guns, according to federal prosecutors who charged him with attempting to provide material support to