AP-National

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — Panama’s Electoral Tribunal has disqualified former president Ricardo Martinelli’s candidacy in the country’s May 5 presidential election because of a 10-year prison sentence for money laundering he received last year. Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon who was president of Panama from 2009 to 2014, was convicted last July of money laundering

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — For the Paris Olympics, it could almost be a new sport: Score points by hunting down mosaics that a mystery artist who calls himself “Invader” has cemented to walls across France’s capital, the world and even had carried aloft to the International Space Station. Vincent Giraud, one

By WILL WEISSERT, BILL BARROW and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, romped through more than a dozen states on Super Tuesday, all but cementing a November rematch and pushing the former president’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, out of the Republican race. Their victories from

By DAVID FISCHER Associated Press MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Miami Beach is trying to break up with spring break, but it’s not yet clear whether spring break will take the hint. After three consecutive years of spring break violence, Miami Beach officials are implementing monthlong security measures aimed at curbing the chaos, including parking

By ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A man who purchased a gun with his son four days before a Michigan school shooting is headed to trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. Jury selection started Tuesday. James Crumbley is accused of failing to take steps that could have prevented the deaths of four students

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers have unveiled a bill that would install requirements for funeral home directors after nearly 200 bodies were found stacked and rotting in a funeral home in September. Another bill expected to be introduced would require routine inspections of facilities. Both bills would overhaul

By JONATHAN MATTISE and TRAVIS LOLLER NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed near downtown Nashville told air traffic controllers he could see the runway they were clearing for an emergency landing. But he said he couldn’t reach it. “I’m going to be landing — I don’t know where!” the

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels have collided in the disputed South China Sea, slightly injuring four Filipino crewmen in a new confrontation that unfolded as Southeast Asian leaders gathered for an Asian summit where alarm over Beijing’s aggression at sea was expected to be raised.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Southern California man was arrested on suspicion of smuggling refrigerants into the U.S. from Mexico. Federal prosecutors said Monday that he’s the first person to be charged with violating regulations intended to curb the use of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Investigators say he posted them for sale

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Taylor Swift stole the show at an Asian summit Tuesday when Singapore’s leader was prompted to defend his tiny country’s exclusive concert deal with the singer that risks bad blood in the region by preventing her from performing in neighboring nations. Singapore is a key member

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — A University of Hawaii report says regulatory costs account for more than half of the price of a new condo in Hawaii. High housing costs in the state are fueling an exodus of local-born residents searching for cheaper places to live. Some are worried the migration of

By HUIZHONG WU and CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China is increasing its defense budget by 7.2% this year, similar to last year’s rise. At $222 billion, it is already the world’s second-highest behind the United States. Tensions with the U.S., Taiwan, Japan and neighbors with competing claims to the crucial South China

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 53-year-old union of immigration judges has been ordered to get supervisor approval to speak publicly to anyone outside the Justice Department, potentially quieting a frequent critic of heavily backlogged immigration courts in an election year. The National Association of Immigration Judges has spoken regularly at

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — The man sought in New York in the fatal bludgeoning of a woman at a hotel last month said in an Arizona courtroom that he would not waive extradition while he’s prosecuted for two subsequent stabbing attacks on women in Phoenix. Raad Almansoori is being held without

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An ammunition supplier testified at trial Monday that he only provided inert dummy rounds to the Western film “Rust” where actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer in 2021, though he also was handling live rounds from another production at that time. Albuquerque-based movie firearms

By KEN MORITSUGU and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China aims to achieve 5% economic growth this year, Premier Li Qiang said Tuesday, acknowledging that it will be a challenging goal in difficult times. In his address to the annual session of the National People’s Congress, Li outlined plans to boost spending on

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police say a teenager was killed and four other people have been wounded in a shooting at a north Philadelphia bus stop. The city’s police commissioner, Kevin Bethel, said about 15 to 20 students were at a bus stop Monday afternoon when two people walked up and opened fire. Police said one

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Officials say two snowmobilers were killed in separate avalanches in Washington state and in Idaho. The Northwest Avalanche Center says two snowmobilers riding in the Cascade Mountains west of Yakima, Washington, on Friday triggered a slide in a bowl near Darland Mountain that fully buried one of them. Emergency officials say

By TIA GOLDENBERG and RAVI NESSMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has ramped up its criticism of the embattled U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. It said Monday that 450 employees of UNRWA were members of militant groups in the Gaza Strip, though it provided no evidence to back up its accusation. Major funders have

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers are warning that a gag order sought by New York prosecutors ahead of his March 25 hush-money criminal trial would amount to unconstitutional and unlawful prior restraint on the former president’s free speech rights. Trump’s lawyers urged Judge Juan Manuel Merchan on