AP National News

By ZEKE MILLER, FOSTER KLUG and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies planned to devote much of the first full day of the Group of Seven summit to finding new ways to punish Russia for its 15-month invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats

By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers blocked two big environmental bills Thursday: One that would have ramped up the state’s emissions targets, and another that would have made oil companies liable for the health problems of people who live close to oil wells. They are among the hundreds

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An 88-year-old Australian doctor held captive by Islamic extremists in West Africa for more than seven years has been freed. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Friday that Kenneth Elliott has reunited with his wife and their children in Australia. His family thanked the Australian government and

By BRADY McCOMBS and SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah woman who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death and was later arrested on accusations of killing him made changes to her husband’s life insurance years before he was fatally poisoned, according to charging documents updated Thursday.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee signed a bill into law Thursday that would let state funds be used to pay for health insurance plans that cover state workers and Medicaid recipients seeking abortions. The signing ceremony was held almost immediately after the state Senate approved the measure, also Thursday, on a

By ANDREW DALTON and MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Attorneys for the weapons supervisor on the New Mexico film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer asked a judge Thursday to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter charge, as Baldwin’s was last month. The motion filed in Santa Fe County court

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI employees accused the bureau of politicization in congressional testimony Thursday, a day after the agency disclosed that two of the men had seen their security clearances revoked over concerns about how their views of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, affected

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion — an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s top prosecutor says caregivers tortured a 38-year-old developmentally disabled woman before her death. Attorney General Raúl Torrez detailed the woman’s injuries during a news conference Thursday, saying she died after being found in the back of a van as the caregivers tried to

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Five major U.S. cities and the state of California will receive federal help to get unsheltered residents into permanent housing. The plan was launched Thursday and is part of the Biden administration’s larger goal to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025. The White House says the All

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A lower court will reconsider the 135-year sentence given to a 14-year-old girl four decades ago for her role in the shooting deaths of three people in Alaska’s largest city. When Winona Fletcher was sentenced in 1986, she became the youngest female ever convicted of murder in Alaska.  The Anchorage Daily

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police say seven people are dead and others were hurt in a crash involving multiple vehicles on Interstate 5 near Albany. Police say officers responded at about 2:05 p.m. Thursday to a crash north of Albany involving two semi trucks and a passenger car in the northbound lanes of

AMY BETH HANSON, HALELUYA HADERO and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Five TikTok content creators have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a planned ban on the video sharing app in Montana, arguing the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights. The Montana residents also argued in a legal complaint

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Salman Rushdie has made his first in-person public appearance since being stabbed repeatedly and hospitalized nine months ago. The author attended Thursday night’s annual gala of PEN America, the literary and free expression organization for which he once served as president. Rushdie said he feels

By DAVID BILLER Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s environmental regulator has refused to grant a license for a controversial offshore oil drilling project near the mouth of the Amazon River, prompting celebration from environmentalists who had warned of its potential impact. The agency’s president highlighted environmental concerns in announcing Wednesday’s decision to

By HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Montana’s first-of-its kind law that makes it illegal for residents to use TikTok in the state is already facing its first legal challenge with a lawsuit filed by five people who use the app and argue the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights.

ALPENA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A 13-year-old Michigan boy who used a slingshot to save his 8-year-old sister from an attempted kidnapping said he was “freaking out” and simply reached for something that could stop the attack. “So I grab my slingshot and open the window and I grab two things — a marble and

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office said Thursday that she is suffering from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a complication from the shingles virus that can paralyze part of the face, and that she contracted encephalitis while recovering from the virus earlier this year. Feinstein, 89, had not previously

By LESLIE AMBRIZ Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pierce Brosnan has attempted to write about himself many times, but it’s through painting that the artist truly feels he can fully express himself. “(The artwork) is biographical. I’ve tried to write the memoirs, and it’s so boring. It’s just having to dig into the head

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee says he is pausing an effort to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress now that the State Department is letting him view a redacted classified cable from U.S. diplomats in Kabul sent shortly before the