AP-National

By BRIAN WITTE Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland judges could shield personal information online to prevent hostile people from tracking them down, under a bill passed by the state Senate. The Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson Judicial Security Act approved on Thursday is named for the judge who was fatally shot by a man

LONDON (AP) — Northern Irish prosecutors say a former British soldier will be prosecuted for the killing of a man in Belfast during sectarian violence known as the “Troubles” half a century ago. The ex-soldier, who is not named, is accused of the murder of Patrick McVeigh, who was shot in the city of Belfast

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI and JERRY HARMER Associated Press MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) — Thailand’s foreign minister says it expects to open up a humanitarian corridor in about a month to deliver aid to suffering civilians in war-torn Myanmar. The plan is relatively small in scale and initially would reach just a tiny proportion of the

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Republican-led group trying to restore abortion rights in Missouri is ending its campaign. Executive Director Jamie Corley on Thursday announced her moderate abortion-rights campaign is withdrawing to clear the path for a competing, more sweeping proposal. Corley was trying to amend Missouri’s constitution to

By ALI SWENSON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday outlawed robocalls that contain voices generated by artificial intelligence, a decision that sends a clear message that exploiting the technology to scam people and mislead voters won’t be tolerated. The unanimous ruling targets robocalls made with AI voice-cloning tools under

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A near-total abortion ban has been rejected by lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that on a bipartisan 8-0 vote Wednesday night, a House subcommittee rejected a bill that would have prohibited abortions except in cases necessary to save the mother’s life. Freshman Republican bill sponsor

NEW DELHI (AP) — Bangladesh’s foreign minister says 340 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police and soldiers have fled into Bangladesh during fighting with an ethnic minority army. Hasan Mahmud says 340 security personnel had entered Bangladesh by Wednesday. He says Bangladesh is having discussions with Myanmar’s government about the issue and that it is

CAIRO (AP) — A leading human rights group has dismissed the conviction of a prominent Egyptian political activist as an act of retaliation for his decision to challenge President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in last year’s election. On Tuesday a Cairo court sentenced former presidential hopeful Ahmed Altantawy, along with 22 of his aides, to one

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Usher found fitting a successful three decades of music into a super-short Super Bowl halftime show a challenge, but the multiple Grammy winner decided to concentrate on past hits, moments from his popular Las Vegas residency and possibly draw from his new album. “I

By MATT ROURKE and TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Associated Press EAST LANSDOWNE, Pa. (AP) — Six members of a family are feared dead at a house in suburban Philadelphia that went up in flames as two police officers who responded to the scene were shot. Among those feared dead are three children. Delaware County District Attorney Jack

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The EU has announced 210 million euros to help the coastal nation of Mauritania combat irregular migration, as the number of migrants making the dangerous Atlantic crossing from West Africa to Europe rises sharply. European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday called for the EU and Mauritania to

BOSTON (AP) — Two JetBlue planes made contact Thursday morning at Boston Logan International Airport, with one wingtip touching another plane’s tail. No one was hurt and both flights were canceled, Jennifer Mehigan of the Massachusetts Port Authority said in an email. The left winglet of JetBlue Flight 777 struck the right horizontal stabilizer of

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans filing for jobless claims fell last week despite more layoff announcements from high-profile companies recently. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 9,000 to 218,000 for the week ending Feb. 3, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Weekly unemployment claims are seen as a proxy for the

By DIANE JEANTET and DAVID BILLER Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police have searched homes and offices of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s top aides in an investigation alleging they plotted a coup and that the ex-president was aware of the plan. Court documents show that the alleged plot involved having Bolsonaro sign

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s government says that it will extend the closure of the country’s border with Russia until April 14. Finland says it sees no signs that Moscow was stopping its “hybrid operation” of funneling migrants across the frontier to the Nordic nation. Finland closed the 1,340-kilometer or 832-mile

By MATT BROWN and JAMES POLLARD Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — To hear some conservatives on cable news or on social media tell it, Taylor Swift is part of an elaborate plot to help Democrats win the November election. “I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month,” wrote former Republican presidential candidate

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — A panel of U.N.-backed experts that focuses on children’s human rights is calling on Russia to prevent efforts to rewrite school curricula and textbooks to reflect the government’s “political and military agenda” including in Ukraine. The Committee on the Rights of the Child held hearings in Geneva

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pressure is mounting on Hungary’s head of state to resign after it was revealed she issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case. Hungary’s opposition parties say President Katalin Novák is no longer fit to hold office

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers dug out more bodies from a landslide-hit southern Philippine village on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 11 as the number of missing rose to 110, officials said. At least 31 residents survived with injuries when the landslide hit the gold-mining mountain village of Masara in Davao de Oro province

By DEEPA BHARATH Associated Press On Feb. 10, Asian American communities around the U.S. will ring in the Year of the Dragon with community carnivals, family gatherings, parades, traditional food, fireworks and other festivities. In many Asian countries, it is a festival that is celebrated for several days. In diaspora communities, particularly in cultural enclaves,