AP-National

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The first over-the-counter birth control pill will be available in U.S. stores later this month, allowing American women and teens to purchase contraceptive medication as easily as they buy aspirin. Manufacturer Perrigo said Monday it has begun shipping the medication, Opill, to major retailers and pharmacies.

By REBECCA BOONE and GENE JOHNSON Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Last week’s botched execution of a death-row inmate in Idaho showed the secrecy around capital punishment. Idaho lawmakers strengthened the state’s execution-secrecy law in 2022. It now ensures that the identities of people or entitities involved in making or supplying fatal drugs remain

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rajah Caruth was like any other 4-year-old boy the first time he watched the movies “Cars” and vowed to become his own version of Lightning McQueen. He was, his family insists, obsessed with becoming a racecar driver. Born in Atlanta and raised in Washington,

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Restitution for decades of abuse at two now-shuttered reform schools where boys were beaten, raped and killed is now in the hands of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday to set aside $20 million for victims. The bill creates a process

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Carlos Acosta, the Cuban-born ballet star, has danced “The Nutcracker” countless times in his glittering career. Now he’s giving the ballet a twist by putting the culture and music of his homeland at the heart of the holiday classic. Acosta is choreographing and directing his new show,

By LAURA UNGAR AP Science Writer Scientists in the United Kingdom have created mini organs from cells floating in the fluid that surrounds a fetus in the womb. They believe this advance could open up new areas of prenatal medicine. Mini organs are tiny structures that can be used to test new medical treatments or

By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON Associated Press/Report For America COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio is ready to begin doling out hundreds of millions of dollars in opioid settlement money to community and government organizations. The OneOhio Recovery Foundation plans to release its formal request for proposals on Monday. The foundation has been tasked with distributing $860 million

By TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press PRICHARD, Ala. (AP) — Water bubbles up in streets, pooling in neighborhoods for weeks or months. Homes burn to the ground if firefighters can’t draw enough water from hydrants. Utility crews struggle to fix broken pipes while water flows through shut-off valves that don’t work. For generations, the water infrastructure

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in ethnically divided Cyprus says more than five decades on, tensions persist along a 180-kilometer (120 mile) buffer zone that separates breakaway Turkish Cypriots from Greek Cypriots in island’s internationally recognized south. Colin Stewart told a ceremony Monday marking the 60th anniversary of

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court is considering whether the government properly put in place requirements that health insurance plans affecting an estimated 150 million Americans must cover certain types of preventive care. At stake in arguments heard Monday at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in

By The Associated Press NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader Caitlin Clark finished her career with 3,951 career points and in sixth place on college basketball’s all-division, all-time scoring list. The Iowa star scored 30 points against South Carolina in the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game. Clark passed the late Pete Maravich of LSU (3,667)

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Three cables under the Red Sea that provide global internet and telecommunications have been cut as the waterway remains a target of Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Meanwhile, a Houthi missile attack set a ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden, but caused no injuries. Hong

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Making instant videos is the next wave of generative artificial intelligence, much like chatbots and image-generators before it. And the pop star Madonna is among the early adopters. Madonna’s team used an AI text-to-video tool to make moving images of swirling clouds featured in her ongoing Celebration Tour. The

By BASSEM MROUE and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — State media in Lebanon says an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon has killed three paramedics from the militant group Hezbollah. Hours earlier, a missile strike blamed on the militants killed at least one foreign worker in northern Israel. The deadly violence comes as a

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. atomic watchdog agency’s director said that he’s due to depart for a trip to Moscow on Tuesday for high-level talks with Russian officials to discuss the issue of nuclear safety in Ukraine. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi made the announcement on Monday

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of flights and trains are expected to be canceled again this week in Germany after two unions called for more strikes over wages and working conditions. Negotiations continue for ground staff of German airline Lufthansa and German rail operator’s Deutsche Bahn train drivers. German train drivers’ union GDL and Ver.di called

MURPHY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina woman has been charged with killing her twin 4-year-old sons. Authorities say the bodies of the boys were found by the father. The father called 911 after he arrived at the home of his wife, Genevieve Ellen Springer, on Saturday morning in Murphy, North Carolina. The couple was

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Stella McCartney presented a sustainability-minded showcase at Paris Fashion Week. With the support of luxury conglomerate LVMH and a front row featuring Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, she highlighted the fashion industry’s environmental impact. Her fall-winter 2024 collection emphasized that glamour can coexist with environmental responsibility.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has sharply criticized the Hungarian and Slovak foreign ministers for meeting with their Russian counterpart during a regional forum in Turkey. Tusk said that meeting Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the same day that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was buried in Moscow was “not