AP-National

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Authorities have detected a 2.5-mile-long oil sheen off the coast of Southern California but say it doesn’t appear to be a crude spill and are investigating the cause. U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said authorities spotted the sheen after daybreak Friday. He says there were no reports of

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says a former DNA scientist cut corners and didn’t follow standard testing protocols, raising questions about hundreds of criminal cases in which she processed evidence. The investigation found that Yvonne “Missy” Woods manipulated data in the DNA testing process and posted incomplete results in

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer Apple has reversed course under regulatory pressure and cleared the way for a nettlesome adversary, video game maker Epic Games, to set up an alternative store for iPhone apps in Europe. The about-face disclosed Friday is the latest twist in a bitter fight between Apple and Epic Games, the

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Canada will restore funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, weeks after the agency lost hundreds of millions of dollars in support following Israeli allegations against some of its staffers in Gaza. Canada was one of 16 countries that temporarily halted future payments. Israel accused

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer The House has approved legislation that would ban TikTok if its Beijing-based parent company doesn’t divest from the popular social media platform, escalating the fight over the hot-button issue. The TikTok legislation, which was included in a package of bills that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel, could become law

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is urging Sudan’s warring parties to halt hostilities during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and allow desperately needed aid to reach 25 million people. Ramadan is expected to begin on or around Monday, depending on the sighting of the crescent

By PETER SMITH Associated Press The status of a federal investigation into a leading Southern Baptist agency’s handling of sexual abuse is unclear. But this much is clear — survivors of abuse and their advocates remain deeply skeptical of leaders’ intentions to address the scandal in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Recent events have deepened

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dozens of foreigners, including many from the United States and Canada, are stranded in Haiti, desperately trying to leave the violence-torn country where anti-government gangs are battling police and have already shut down both of the country’s international airports. They were in Haiti for

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper rescinded an executive order from 2021 on Friday that established guidelines for allowing college athletes to profit from their fame. The executive order originally came as the NCAA cleared the way for college athletes to make money off the use of their name, image and likeness

By JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer The popular weight-loss drug Wegovy can now be used to reduce the risk of stroke, heart attacks and other serious heart problems in patients who are overweight or who have obesity. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a label change that expands the use of the drug in

BY FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The State Department has accused Zimbabwean authorities of harassing and detaining officials from the U.S. development agency USAID before deporting them last month. The State Department said the officials were in Zimbabwe to assess the country’s development and governance situation with the permission of the host

By KATE BRUMBACK and JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A progressive Democrat and a Republican who briefly worked in Donald Trump’s administration have entered the district attorney’s race in Fulton County, Georgia, where the former president is being prosecuted. That office is held by Fani Willis, a Democrat who’s awaiting a judge’s decision

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana has dropped his reelection bid, citing defamatory rumors and a death threat against him that caused him to send law enforcement officers to check on his children. This is the second time Rosendale has dropped out of a

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona officials say a Saudi-owned company they targeted over its use of virtually unfettered amounts of groundwater to grow forage crops is moving its farming operation out of a valley in the Southwestern state’s rural west. Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona State Land Department announced late

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Prosecutors said more cremated remains were found at the home of a Colorado funeral home owner, where a rotting corpse and 35 other cremated remains were discovered last month. Owner Miles Harford appeared in court Friday, where he was read the charges of forgery, abuse

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Friday approved a $460 billion package of spending bills in time to meet a midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown of many key federal agencies, a vote that gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year.

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A Connecticut state trooper who shot a 19-year-old man to death in a stolen car in 2020 has testified that he believed he had to open fire because the man was armed with a knife and made threatening movements toward other officers. Trooper Brian North took the stand Friday at

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted Friday in New York of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers and used his military and national police force to enable tons of cocaine to make it unhindered into the United States. The jury returned its verdict

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Across much of America and especially in the normally chilly north, the country went through the winter months without, well, winter. In parka strongholds Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine, the thermometer never plunged below zero. The state of Minnesota called the last three months “the lost winter,” warmer than