AP-National

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It wasn’t until 1983 that the first African American, Guion Bluford, reached space. But two decades earlier, Ed Dwight found himself at a fulcrum of 20th Century American history, where the space race and the struggle for social justice converged. An accomplished Air Force pilot,

By MOLLY QUELL Associated Press THE HAGUE (AP) — A former prime minister of the Netherlands has died by euthanasia “hand in hand” together with his wife. That’s according to the human rights organization Dries van Agt founded. The Christian Democrat served as the Dutch prime minister from 1977 until 1982. The Rights Forum said

By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press An Ohio city is dropping criminal charges against a pastor over his around-the-clock ministry to the homeless and others in need of help while the two sides work to end the dispute that has landed in federal court. A municipal prosecutor this week moved to dismiss code violation charges against

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The director of the main U.N. aid agency for Palestinians says Israeli restrictions are preventing food for 1.1 million people from reaching war-battered Gaza. Tens of thousands in the war-battered enclave are struggling with starvation. The head of the agency told reporters Friday that its Israeli bank

By JAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese authorities say at least 18 people were killed Friday when the bus they were traveling on collided with a truck in the capital, Kinshasa. A government official said the bus collided with the truck as it was making a turn along a highway. Two passengers

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A gunman has killed an activist who led a group of volunteers searching for some of Mexico’s more than 100,000 missing people. Prosecutors say the killer burst into a beauty salon in the northern border city of Mexicali and shot to death Ángela León. León was at least the seventh volunteer

CHICAGO (AP) — An overnight fire caused extensive damage to an iconic Chicago restaurant that’s known for its breakfasts and is filled with decades of memorabilia, authorities said. Firefighters were called to the Palace Grill around 10 p.m. Thursday, Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said on X, formerly known as Twitter, in a post

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump told thousands of members of the National Rifle Association that “no one will lay a finger on your firearms” if he returns to the White House, and bragged that during his time as president he “did nothing” to curb guns. “During my

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A former TV news reporter is getting into New Jersey’s U.S. Senate race as a Republican. Alex Zdan worked for News 12 New Jersey. He announced his candidacy for the seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez in an online video filmed at the U.S.-Mexico

By KEN MILLER Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge agreed to step down Friday after she was caught sending hundreds of texts from the bench while overseeing a murder trial in the killing of a 2-year-old boy, including messages that mocked prosecutors and were sprinkled with emojis. District Judge Traci Soderstrom also

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It wasn’t until 1983 that the first African American, Guion Bluford, reached space. But two decades earlier, Ed Dwight found himself at a fulcrum of 20th Century American history, where the space race and the struggle for social justice converged. An accomplished Air Force pilot,

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has met with Argentine pilgrims who are in town for this weekend’s canonization of the first female saint from his home country. Francis blasted what he called the “radical individualism” infecting today’s society during the audience Friday. Francis held up as a model instead the 18th-century Argentine laywoman lovingly known

BEIRIUT (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister has vowed after arriving in Beirut to keep supporting the militant Hezbollah group, saying Lebanon’s security affects that of Iran and the region. Hossein Amirabdollahian was welcomed Friday by representatives of Lebanon’s Hezbollah as well as the militant Palestinian group Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran, a main

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Holding the Olympic Games in bustling, compact Paris is riling and worrying some residents. Games organizers and City Hall officials are finding that out for themselves as they embark on a concerted campaign to win Parisians’ hearts and minds and get people in the Olympic mood or,

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A 15-year-old accused of shooting a Brazilian tourist in the leg Thursday night then firing at a police officer while fleeing through Times Square has been arrested just outside of New York City. Police say the teenager was taken into custody Friday

BERLIN (AP) — A court says one of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party will go on trial in April on charges related to his alleged use in a 2021 speech of a slogan used by the Nazis’ SA stormtroopers. Björn Höcke is the party’s leader in the eastern state

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Colin Jost, the co-anchor of Weekend Update on “Saturday Night Live,” will get a chance to roast leading political and media figures as the featured entertainer at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association in April. The writer and comedic performer has written for the

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Meta has removed Instagram and Facebook accounts run on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after criticism over his support for Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the monthslong war still raging in the Gaza Strip, the company

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s new King Frederik X and his Australian-born wife Queen Mary will visit Sweden and Norway in May in their first foreign state visit. Frederik was proclaimed Danish monarch on Jan. 14. The Danish royal household said on Friday the royal couple will first visit Sweden and then Norway. Frederik’s solo visit

By TODD RICHMOND and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press EVANSVILLE, Wis. (AP) — The first tornadoes ever recorded in Wisconsin in the usually frigid month of February came on a day that broke records for warmth, the type of severe weather normally seen in the late spring and summer. The storms left a swath of destruction