AP-National

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A constitutional amendment supported by Republicans that attempts to limit diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in Wisconsin was up for its first vote in the Legislature on Thursday. The measure up for Assembly approval is the latest effort targeting DEI efforts nationwide, but it’s a long

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration struggled to properly vet and monitor the homes where they placed a surge of migrant children who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021. That’s according to a federal watchdog report released Thursday. The analysis found that the U.S. Health and Human Services agency

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press A woman who died in the mass shooting after a parade for the Kansas City Chiefs and their Super Bowl victory DJed around the area and was a music lover who hosted an hourlong Tejano music radio show. Friends said Lisa Lopez-Galvan went to the parade with her husband and

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials in Trinidad and Tobago say a preliminary investigation into a mushrooming oil spill in waters near Trinidad and Tobago has found that an overturned and abandoned barge blamed for the disaster was being tugged to nearby Guyana. Officials in the eastern Caribbean island nation are trying to determine

ROME (AP) — The Italian Senate has given final approval to an agreement with Albania to house migrants during the processing of their asylum requests. The bill was previously passed by the lower Chamber of Deputies. The proposal now awaits consideration by the Albanian parliament, after the country’s Constitutional Court gave it the go-ahead last

By KRYSTA FAURIA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Throughout her career, Jennifer Lopez has been hailed as an epochal, prolific and hard-working artist. One adjective not often associated with the pop icon-turned-actor and movie producer, however, is self-deprecating. But as she readies to drop her first studio album in a decade, Lopez is performing

BOSTON (AP) — Thousands of commuters have been left stranded around Boston after power outages hit several lines of the beleaguered transit service. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority took to X, formerly known as Twitter, around 7 a.m. Thursday to say they were working to resolve the issue that was impacting several lines critical to

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press SAINT-GILLES, Belgium (AP) — As record amounts of cocaine are seized in Europe, drug-related violence is taking hold of Brussels. Shootings for the control of territory have increased, the population is fed up and police are seizing drugs and arresting traffickers almost daily. Dealers recently fought in the heart of

By LESLIE AMBRIZ Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the first things that struck director S.J. Clarkson about “Madame Web” was that this was a superhero who did not have superhuman strength. And unlike Batman, she couldn’t just buy herself some. No, Cassandra Webb has a different kind of power: Clairvoyance. This, the

By LOUISE DIXON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The jury at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival has pushed back on political questions as the festival kicked off, seeking instead to shift the focus to the tough selection of the best movie, with 20 titles from around the globe competing for the top prize, the Golden

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller announced her campaign for governor on Thursday. Gov. Doug Burgum is not seeking a third term. Miller joins U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, North Dakota’s lone congressman, in the Republican race for governor. Republicans have held the governor’s office since 1992.

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — People in two districts of England are voting in special elections that could spell bad news for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The Conservatives won the House of Commons seats of Kingswood and Wellingborough by large margins at the last national election. But after the sudden departure of

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer Fewer Americans filed for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to show resilience in the face of elevated interest rates. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 212,000 for the week ending Feb. 10, the Labor Department reported Thursday. In total, 1.9 million Americans were

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans pulled back their spending in January after splurging during the holiday season. Retail sales fell 0.8% from the strong pace in December when retail sales were up a revised 0.4%, according to the Commerce Department. The decline was bigger than the 0.10% drop that

BANGKOK (AP) — City employees in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, have been ordered to work from home for two days as air pollution soars to unhealthy levels. Those in the private sector have been encouraged to stay home as well. Air pollution has been a problem for many years in Thailand’s north, where the burning of

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two men have been charged with murder in the shooting nearly a week ago at a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory celebration that left one person dead and roughly two dozen others injured. The charges were announced Tuesday in the Feb. 14 shooting outside Kansas City’s historic Union Station.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JENNIFER PELTZ, JAKE OFFENHARTZ and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s hush-money trial will go ahead as scheduled with jury selection starting March 25, a New York judge ruled Thursday, turning aside demands for delay from the former president’s defense lawyers, who argued it would interfere with

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Colbert’s next book will be light on politics, if not always light on the palate. Celadon Books announced Thursday that “The Late Show” host and his wife, Evie McGee Colbert, have collaborated on a cookbook. “Does the Taste Funny: Recipes Our Family Loves,” is to be published on Sept. 17.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish authorities say they will not reopen an investigation into a 1994 ferry sinking in the Baltic Sea that killed 852 people in one of Europe’s deadliest peacetime sea disasters. A TV documentary aired in 2020 showed a hole in the hull of the wreckage of the M/S Estonia, leading to calls

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Albania to reaffirm relations with a key partner in the region and assure Western Balkan countries of Washington’s support for their integration into the European Union. Blinken met with top officials Thursday and focused on the future of