AP National News

By JOEAL CALUPITAN and PATRICK QUINN Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A former Philippine opposition senator and justice secretary was acquitted of drug charges Friday after key witnesses recanted and said they had lied about her involvement in narcotics trafficking. Leila de Lima, 63, remained jailed, however, as she has one outstanding charge against

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Over recent years, Sudan’s military and a separate armed force accumulated power, each suspicious of the other, even as they worked together against the country’s pro-democracy movement. Officers inside both forces say it was a long-building recipe for disaster. Their tenuous alliance ended in mid-April, when they

By VALERIE GONZALEZ, ELLIOT SPAGAT and GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press EL PASO, Texas (AP) — As pandemic-era asylum restrictions ended early Friday, migrants in northern Mexico faced more uncertainties about a new online system for appointments to seek asylum in the U.S. Some migrants still waded apprehensively into the Rio Grande, defying officials who shouted

By GABE STERN Associated Press/Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A bipartisan group of Nevada lawmakers has introduced a bill that would give massive tax credits to expand film production in southern Nevada. The legislation could include a $1 billion Sony expansion in Las Vegas. It’s the latest attempt at diversifying southern Nevada’s

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cassandra Nuñez and her grandmother cast their first ballots in a U.S. presidential election in 2016. She was a first-year college student; her grandmother, a newly minted citizen. They both hoped to elect the first woman president over a man who bragged about grabbing and kissing women

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Voters disaffected by nine years of plodding rule by a coup-making army general are expected to deliver a strong mandate for change in Thailand’s general election Sunday. But a predicted victory by the allies of Thaksin Shinawatra, whose ouster by coup 17 years ago plunged the country

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A boycott by Republican state senators in Oregon threatens to derail dozens of bills, including on gun control and abortion rights, as a deadline looms that could also upend the protesters’ political futures. Democrats control the Statehouse in Oregon, but under the rules still need a

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California condor is facing the deadliest strain of avian influenza in U.S. history, and the outbreak could jeopardize the iconic vulture with its 10-foot (3.05-meter) wingspan decades after conservationists saved the species from extinction. But nine newly hatched chicks, covered in downy white feathers, give

BEIJING (AP) — Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell is visiting China as part of a joint effort to repair ties scarred by political rifts over the past decade. In a statement issued by his office Thursday, Farrell said he would push for the “full resumption of unimpeded Australian exports to China.” China is

By IVÁN VALENCIA Associated Press ACANDI, Colombia (AP) — Migrants who have hiked into the dense Darien jungle covering the Colombia-Panama border while the U.S. government moved to lift pandemic-related asylum restrictions have found an increasingly organized migration route.. The majority who spoke with The Associated Press had not heard anything about the pending policy

By VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — Migrants rushed across the Mexico border Thursday, racing to enter the U.S. before pandemic-related asylum restrictions are lifted in a shift that threatens to put a historic strain on the nation’s beleaguered immigration system. The imminent end of the rules known as Title 42 stirred fear

By The Associated Press New music from the Jonas Brothers, a double feature of Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez films and the latest installment in the highly popular Zelda games are among the entertainment titles coming to a device near you this weeke Associated Press’ entertainment journalists break down what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music

By The Associated Press FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Cole Swindell has spent a lot of time onstage early at the Academy of Country Music Awards, performing and then quickly collecting the night’s first award, song of the year. Swindell and a team of songwriters won for “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” the song he

By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a law banning licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional. The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne in Richmond, if not

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Thursday voiced support for changing the overall U.S. voting age to 25, unless younger Americans fulfill at least six months of service in the military or as a first responder — or pass the same citizenship test administered to those

ARTESIA, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a 19-year-old New Mexico woman has been charged in the January death of her newborn son. Artesia police say Alexee Trevizo gave birth in an Artesia hospital bathroom on Jan. 27 before she allegedly put the infant in a trash can. Investigators say Trevizo went to the hospital’s emergency

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials say they will be unable to accommodate an expected influx of asylum-seekers as the federal government’s pandemic-era immigration restriction ends. Faced with what he described as a looming “humanitarian crisis,” Mayor Eric Adams announced a series of steps aimed at easing pressure