AP National News

By ACACIA CORONADO, JIM VERTUNO and JAKE BLEIBERG Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ GOP-led House of Representatives was set to hold historic impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday as the scandal-plagued Republican called on supporters to protest a vote that could lead to his ouster and Donald Trump came to

By ABBY SEWELL BEIRUT (AP) — A group of Lebanese citizens detained in the United Arab Emirates have been released, according to Lebanon’s foreign ministry. Lebanon’s ambassador to the UAE notified the ministry of the release of 10 Lebanese detainees who had been arrested there about two months ago, the ministry said in a statement

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Florida man charged with human smuggling related to the deaths last year of four immigrants near the Canadian border has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. Court records show that Steve Shand entered the plea Friday in a hearing held via video conference. Federal authorities arrested Shand in

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger who opened an emergency exit door during a flight in South Korea told police that he felt suffocated and tried to get off the plane quickly as it approached landing, reports said Saturday. Twelve people were slightly injured when the man opened the

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday that Republican negotiators were “closer to an agreement” that would resolve the looming debt crisis, but had not reached a deal with President Joe Biden. The Republican speaker gathered top allies behind closed doors at the Capitol

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Memorial Day is supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers. Auto club AAA said in a travel forecast that this

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Russia will start expelling German diplomats, teachers and employees of German cultural institutions next month. The move will further enhance tensions between the two countries that have already had very fraught ties since Russia invaded Ukraine early last year. The German foreign ministry sharply criticized Russia’s move

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press There’s no Iron Throne, but the stakes feel just as high. “Succession,” the critically acclaimed drama chronicling a Murdoch-esque feuding billionaire family, wraps its four-season run on Sunday with a highly anticipated 88-minute finale. And just like another tentpole HBO show, “Game of Thrones,” there’s no shortage of theories over

By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press GILGIT, Pakistan (AP) — Tourism police say a snowy avalanche in northern Pakistan has killed 11 people, including a 4-year-old boy, and injured 25 from a nomadic tribe as they crossed a mountainous area with their goat herds. The avalanche struck the nomads early Saturday in the Chambeli area of

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong has criticized Amnesty International’s accusation that a Uyghur student disappeared after being interrogated at the airport. It says government records show he had not entered or been refused entry to the city. Amnesty International says the student who was born in Xinjiang in western

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis resumed regular appointments on Saturday, one day after canceling his schedule due to a fever. The pontiff held a number of private meetings, including with visitors from Georgetown University who were in town for a conference with a Jesuit-run journal. Francis later was captured on video arriving at the

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Sports Writer An Indiana man whose son is a member of the University of Cincinnati baseball team is the bettor at the center of separate investigations that led to the firings of Alabama coach Brad Bohannon and two members of the Bearcats’ baseball staff this month, two people familiar

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, LISA MASCARO, STEPHEN GROVES and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Work requirements for federal food aid recipients have emerged as a final sticking point in negotiations over the looming debt crisis, even as President Joe Biden said a deal is “very close.” Biden’s optimism, in comments to reporters as

HONG KONG (AP) — One of the few remaining pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong has voted to dissolve itself, joining a growing list of organizations that have disbanded as authorities crack down on dissent. Civic Party chairman Alan Leong told reporters that the dissolution of the party was a “writing on the wall” as there

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese and U.N. officials say the United Nations secretary-general was “shocked” by a letter from Sudan’s army chief demanding the removal of the U.N. envoy to the country. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received the letter Friday from Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Sudan’s top military official and head of the

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has been at the forefront of the fight against climate change and the protection of nature for years. But it now finds itself under pressure from within to pause new environmental efforts amid fears they will hurt the economy. With the next European Parliament