AP-National

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Pedro Pascal is jumping from Star Wars to Marvel. The studio announced Wednesday that “The Mandalorian” actor is set to play Reed Richards (aka Mister Fantastic) in the newest incarnation of “The Fantastic Four.” The rest of his squad was revealed too with Vanessa Kirby stepping up as Susan

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas hospital official says a large aquarium in the lobby of an emergency room likely saved lives when it absorbed the impact of a car that smashed through the entrance. The driver was killed and five others, including two children, were injured in Tuesday’s crash

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Haiti’s government has announced that it is working on an official agreement with Kenyan officials to secure the long-awaited deployment of a police force from the east African country. The government said Wednesday that high-ranking officials from both countries met in the U.S. for three days this week to

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A fiery debate over public health and personal rights has gripped Puerto Rico as legislators clash with medical experts. The debate began after Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives announced the mandatory use of face masks following a rise in COVID-19 cases. One legislator refused to wear a mask and

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) — The WNBA continues to post top-tier grades in an annual report studying diversity hiring throughout the league. But there was a dip when it came to the racial score for head-coach hiring. The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida issued an A for the

By ADRIANA MORGA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Last year, the Federal Trade Commission received over 64,000 romance scams reports that translated into $1.14 billion in reported losses. If you want to protect yourself and your loved ones from a romance scam, here are some experts’ recommendations.

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A conservative group that claimed to uncover a ballot stuffing scheme in Georgia has told a judge it has no evidence to back up its allegations. Texas-based group True the Vote said in a complaint filed with Georgia’s secretary of state that it had spoken to

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A man convicted for a 2015 killing in western New York has been freed and his indictment has been dismissed, solely because he was held at the wrong prison. That’s the ruling of a state judge. The Democrat and Chronicle reports Terrence Lewis was released earlier this month from a Seneca

DANA POINT, Calif. (AP) — A massive landslide on a coastal bluff has left a Southern California mansion on the edge of a cliff, but authorities have determined that the ocean-view home and neighboring residences are not in immediate danger. The slide occurred last week in the city of Dana Point after back-to-back drenching storms

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Inmates at a Mississippi prison were forced to mix raw cleaning chemicals without protective equipment, with one alleging she later contracted terminal cancer and was denied timely medical care, a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges. Susan Balfour, 62, was incarcerated for 33 years at

By LISA MASCARO and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday the U.S. House will not feel “rushed” to pass the $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, signaling a further stall over sending military hardware and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight Russia. Johnson

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A bust of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass was unveiled in the Massachusetts Senate Chamber on Wednesday. It’s the first bust of an African American to be permanently added to the Massachusetts Statehouse. It’s also the first bust to be added to the Senate Chamber in more than

By JUAN A. LOZANO and JIM VERTUNO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Questions still remain about the motive behind a women’s shooting attack at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Texas megachurch that ended when she was gunned down by security. Shooter Genesse Moreno’s Feb. 11 attack at Lakewood Church in Houston left her 7-year-old son and

By MATTHEW BARAKAT AP Business Writer ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Real estate data firm CoStar Group is moving its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to northern Virginia. CoStar operates the apartments.com and homes.com websites. It said Tuesday that it expects to move to the Rosslyn section of Arlington County by the end of the year. The

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld voting districts drawn for the state Senate against a challenge that claimed they had wrongly split some communities. The high court’s 5-2 decision Wednesday means the districts will remain in place for this year’s elections. A lawsuit had

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — One backcountry skier died and two others were injured in an avalanche on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, as warm weather and high winds raise the risks for snowslides in the state. The avalanche occurred Tuesday afternoon between the communities of Cooper Landing and Moose Pass, about 90 miles

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Republican lawmaker resumed his push Wednesday to limit a Kentucky governor’s pardon powers, a fallout from the flurry of pardons granted by the state’s last GOP governor that still spark outrage. The proposed constitutional change won quick approval from the Senate State and Local Government

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The family of imprisoned Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova says it hasn’t received a letter from her for a year. Kolesnikova is serving 11 years for organizing anti-government protests. Other imprisoned opposition figures have been held incommunicado for months. Mass protests rocked Belarus in 2020 after

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has imposed sanctions on three people and four firms — across Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey — for allegedly helping to export goods and technology purchased from U.S. companies to Iran and the nation’s central bank. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said