AP-National

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Senate staffer has testified at a bribery trial that planning for Sen. Bob Menendez’s 2021 trip to Egypt and Qatar got “weird” after the Democrat directed that Egypt be involved in the process. A senior staffer with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee testified Monday as

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press Residents are returning to a fire-ravaged village in the mountains of southern New Mexico. The mayor warns that some parts of Ruidoso remain off limits as special search and rescue teams go house to house along the hardest-hit streets. They’re looking for the remains of people who are still

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee state Democratic lawmaker and reproductive rights activist have filed a lawsuit challenging a new statute designed to ban adults from helping minors get an abortion without parental permission. The new law is poised to go into effect July 1, but Rep. Aftyn Behn and

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The liberal majority of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court says taxpayers will pay half of the $128,000 bill for redistricting consultants hired by the court to review proposed legislative maps. The court issued the order Monday, putting Gov. Tony Evers, Republican and Democratic legislators and three groups of

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After months of casting President Joe Biden as a shell of a man incapable of putting two sentences together, Donald Trump has changed his tune days before their first debate. “I assume he’s going to be somebody that will be a worthy debater,” the former president

BY HOLLY RAMER Associated Press Brentwood, N.H. (AP) — Both sides in a landmark trial over abuse at New Hampshire’s youth detention center were back in the courtroom Monday, seven weeks after jurors delivered what remains an unsettled verdict. A jury awarded $38 million to David Meehan in May. But they found the state liable

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Associated Press says a tightly contested race in Virginia between one of America’s most conservative congressmen and a challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump is too close to call. The AP issued an advisory Monday saying that the margin separating U.S. Rep. Bob Good and state Sen. John McGuire

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief has launched global principles to combat online hate and lies and demanded that big tech companies use their power to reduce the harm they are doing to people and societies around the world. Secretary-General António Guterres also demanded that advertising and

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court is reinstating an agency rule that prohibits residents from using “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards. The justices on Monday issued an order staying a lower court injunction that blocked the rule. That rule

TORONTO (AP) — A fourth teenage girl accused in the fatal stabbing of a Toronto homeless man two years ago has pleaded guilty. The girl was 14 at the time of the incident. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 59-year-old Kenneth Lee. Police have alleged that Lee died after he was swarmed

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The leader of a notoriously violent gang in Haiti linked to the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. Germine Joly, best known as “Yonyon,” had pleaded guilty in January to weapons smuggling and the laundering of ransoms

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa receiver Kaleb Brown was arrested for operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and possessing a fake driver’s license early Sunday, police said. Iowa City police said in a report that Brown, 20, was seen driving a heavily damaged SUV that had a wheel turned “completely sideways.”

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former North Dakota lawmaker who was one of the most powerful members of the Legislature has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent of paying for sex with a minor. The plea agreement was

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee is reviewing separate accusations against two Republican congressmen from Texas that allege they violated ethics rules by using campaign funds to pay membership dues at private social clubs. The bipartisan panel released findings that Rep. Ronny Jackson’s campaign committee had paid over $6,800

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia has launched peace talks with the Second Marquetalia rebel group as President Gustavo Petro’s administration tries to pacify rural areas of the country that have seen rising violence despite efforts to broker ceasefires with various armed groups. The talks were announced in Caracas, Venezuela in

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Police say a Texas woman allegedly tried to drown a 3-year-old girl in a pool after making racist remarks toward the child’s mother. A police spokeswoman said they’ve asked for a hate crime prosecution. The woman has been charged for now with attempted capital murder and injury

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press A new federal lawsuit challenges a Georgia law that expands cash bail and restricts organizations that help people pay bail so they can be released while their criminal cases are pending. Senate Bill 63 takes effect July 1. It includes a section that limits people and organizations from posting more

By CORAL MURPHY MARCOS Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The private operator of Puerto Rico’s power grid has confirmed the deferral of $65 million worth of maintenance and improvement projects in the U.S. territory. Some repairs have been postponed for at least a year because of budget constraints. The move puts at

PRAGUE (AP) — Argentina’s self-described anarcho-capitalist President Javier Milei has wrapped up his brief trip of three European Union countries by visiting the Czech Republic. Milei has met Czech leaders, including his counterpart, retired general Petr Pavel and conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and has given a speech at a conference on how to deal

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — On the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Vice President Kamala Harris is telling voters Donald Trump is “guilty” of rolling back women’s freedoms and setting off a nationwide health care crisis. While President Joe Biden is sequestered at Camp David