AP-National

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has fired rockets with heavy warheads at towns in northern Israel. There were no media reports of Israelis hurt in Thursday’s assault and the Israeli military did not immediately offer comment on the attack. Hezbollah says it used the heavy rockets against

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — First, Beyoncé arrived at the 2024 Grammy Awards in full cowboy regalia — making a statement without saying a word. Then, during the Super Bowl, she dropped two hybrid country songs: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” All of that heralded her latest album, “Act

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lawyers for Alex Murdaugh say an FBI agent conducting a polygraph test the agency says the convicted killer flunked had asked odd questions, throwing the test’s results off. The lawyers say the agent confided to Murdaugh he had just examined the notorious Dutch killer of an

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has decided not to appeal a judge’s ruling on Constitutional grounds that would have delayed his May trial. The Democrat’s lawyers notified the Manhattan federal judge who will preside over the trial on Thursday. They wrote in a letter to Judge

By LIUDAS DAPKUS Associated Press VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Several central and Eastern European countries have begun marking the 20th anniversary of the largest expansion of the NATO military alliance when formerly socialist countries became members of the bloc. Military aircraft Thursday roared over the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. At the main airbase hosting Spanish and

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A nonprofit organization has sued the U.S. National Park Service over a plan to remove Puerto Rico’s famous stray cats from a historic district in the U.S. territory. The lawsuit filed by Maryland-based Alley Cat Allies comes four months after the federal agency announced it would contract an animal

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan state lawmaker involved in former President Donald Trump’s election denials is being widely criticized after the Republican made false claims that buses carrying college athletes to Detroit for March Madness were shuttling illegal migrant “invaders” into the city. State House Rep. Matt Maddock

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Endangered smalltooth sawfish, marine creatures virtually unchanged for millions of years, are showing erratic behavior, spinning around and dying in unusual numbers in Florida waters. Federal and state wildlife agencies want to know why as they begin an effort to rescue and rehabilitate the ancient

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Flo Milli always felt different from her peers growing up, believing she was destined for greatness. For her, the writing was always on the walls — and in the stalls. “In high school, I used to have a lot of girls that used to hate

By COLLIN BINKLEY and JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A group of Republican-led states is suing the Biden administration to block a new student loan repayment plan that provides a faster path to cancellation and lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers. In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, 11 states led by

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dengue is surging across the Americas early this year from Puerto Rico to Brazil. Officials said Thursday that 3.5 million cases of the tropical disease had been reported in the region as of this week. The regional office of the World Health Organization say

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Green Day will headline a United Nations Human Rights-backed global climate concert on Tuesday at the famed Fillmore in San Francisco. The event, which is co-hosted by the Recording Academy, aims to bring attention to the inequalities exasperated by climate change. According to a press

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Dash camera video released by a Texas school district shows the moment a cement truck veered into oncoming traffic, hitting a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students returning from a zoo field trip. The deadly collision on March 22 sends the bus rolling over

By LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s unemployed people will need to do more to prove they are searching for jobs to collect state benefits under a new law that will take effect next year. The controversial bill was passed by the GOP-majority Legislature on the final day of the 60-day

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials announced a pilot program on Thursday to deploy portable gun scanners in the subway system, part of an effort to deter violence underground and to make the system feel safer. The scanners will be introduced in certain stations after a legally mandated

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature has passed a bill that will recognize civil rights icon Malcolm X every May 19, the day he was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925. The legislation falls short of declaring the day a state holiday. Instead, it sets aside

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A judge has rejected an attempt by four former Connecticut police officers to have criminal charges against them erased in the case of a man who was paralyzed in the back of a police van in 2022. The former New Haven officers’ applications for a

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A federal court has ruled that congressional elections in South Carolina will be held under a map that it had previously deemed unconstitutional and discriminatory against Black voters. A panel of three federal judges from the state on Thursday called it “plainly impractical” to make changes

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson will send articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate shortly after Congress returns to Washington next month. The Republican speaker said Thursday he would send the two articles on April 10. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to swear in senators as jurors

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer The Oscar-nominated documentary “Food, Inc” helped change the way many consumers think about the systems behind the things we eat. But in the 16 years since it came out, new problems have arisen and old problems got worse, magnified in part by shortages during the pandemic. They’re given a