AP-National

By JOSÉ ANTONIO RIVERA Associated Press ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is ebullient about the recovery of Acapulco after Hurricane Otis smashed into the resort on Oct. 25, killing 52 people. But some residents still don’t have running water, sewage treatment is still deficient, tons of garbage and debris remain

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas sent a plane with more than 120 migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to Chicago in an escalation of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing operation that has given more than 80,000 migrants free rides to Democratic-led cities across the country since last year. The first

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country has a policy of not hesitating to launch a nuclear strike on its rivals if provoked, as he praised troops involved in its recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, state media reported Thursday. Since adopting an escalatory

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge will consider arguments over racial discrimination, public safety and local democracy as he decides whether to block appointments to a state-run court set to be created on Jan. 1 in part of Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city. Attorneys for Mississippi and the

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A southwestern Wisconsin man has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for causing the creation and distribution of a video of a monkey being tortured. U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison also fined 40-year-old Kenneth Herrera of Soldiers Grove $5,000 and ordered him to serve three

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City-area man has pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges accusing him of conspiring with a business partner to illegally export aviation-related technology to Russia. Douglas Edward Robertson’s plea Wednesday to 26 criminal counts came a day after his business partner Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer’s 42-year-old son is facing additional charges in connection with the pursuit and crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy this month. Ian Cramer is now charged with felony counts of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment for allegedly taking a family

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — After years of research and DNA testing, historians have identified the remains of an Army private from eastern New Mexico who died during World War II. Homer Mitchell was 20 when he was killed during a battle in Germany. It was just months after he

By VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The federal government has closed railroad crossings in two Texas border towns, raising concerns about the potential impact on cross-border trade. Customs and Border Protection announced Sunday that it would temporarily stop railroad operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso starting Monday. It did not say

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer The early signing period in college football opened with just a little five-star drama. Georgia likely locked up a recruiting crown by flipping an in-state blue-chipper away from Florida State. The consensus No. 1 recruit in the country had Ohio State coach Ryan Day literally sighing with

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City lawmakers have passed a bill meant to ban solitary confinement in the city’s jails. The bill places a four-hour limit on isolating inmates who pose an immediate risk of violence to others or themselves in “de-escalation” units. Only those involved in violent incidents

NEW YORK (AP) — It was a loaded diaper, but not like you would think. Security officers found 17 bullets concealed inside a disposable baby diaper Wednesday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the Transportation Security Administration said. Officers pulled the otherwise clean diaper from a passenger’s carry-on bag after it triggered an alarm in an

By The Associated Press Toyota Motor Co. said Wednesday it is recalling 1 million vehicles over a defect that could cause airbags not to deploy, increasing the risk of injury. The recall covers a range of Toyota and Lexus vehicles with model years from 2020 to 2022. Included in the recall are Toyota Avalons, Camrys,

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Legalized sports betting continued its expansion this year. Six states either passed legislation to legalize sports wagering or allowed sportsbooks to begin accepting bets. Florida relaunched sports betting after a two-year legal battle ended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in October in the casinos’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge says she won’t immediately hand down a ruling on whether Ja Morant’s legal team successfully argued that the NBA star is immune from being sued by a teenager he punched during a pickup game in 2022. The Commercial Appeal reports Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney said

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments in February on whether the Environmental Protection Agency can continue enforcing its anti-air-pollution “good neighbor” rule in 10 states. The rule is an effort to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing

By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to stand down from a dispute over whether he can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team last week urged the

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer The Federal Trade Commission is proposing sweeping changes to a decades-old law that regulates how companies can track and advertise to children, including turning off targeted ads to kids under 13 by default. The federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, requires kid-oriented websites to get parents’ consent

DALTON, Mass. (AP) — A U.S. Air Force staff sergeant from Massachusetts who was one of eight service members lost when a CV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Japan is being remembered as a leader and a friend to many. At his funeral on Wednesday in Dalton, Massachusetts, the pastor said the 24-year-old Jake

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Fentanyl and methamphetamine drove a record number of homeless deaths last year in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, according to an annual report released by regional officials Wednesday. At least 315 homeless people died in 2022 in the Portland area, the report found. Nearly 40%