AP National News

By MEGAN JANETSKY and MARLON GONZÁLEZ Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Honduras’ decision to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China is yet another sign of growing Chinese influence in Latin America. For decades the Asian superpower funneled billions of dollars into investment and infrastructure projects across the region. Now, as geopolitical

By MATTHEW BROWN and THOMAS PEIPERT Associated Press GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — Dozens of bison from a mountain park outside Denver were transferred Wednesday to several tribes from across the Great Plains, in the latest example of Native Americans reclaiming stewardship over animals their ancestors lived alongside for millennia. Following ceremonial drumming and singing and

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials say North Korea has launched another ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, the third such weapons test this week. The Joint Chiefs of Staff says the launch occurred Thursday morning. It did not immediately give further details, such as how far the missile flew. Pyongyang had already

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lawmakers investigating the South Carolina comptroller general’s $3.5 billion accounting error are moving to gut the office deemed responsible in one of the minority of states that elects someone to the position. The Senate Finance Constitutional Subcommittee concluded that Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom failed

By MARCOS ALEMAN Associated Press SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s government has sent 2,000 more suspects to a new prison built especially for gang members, and the justice minister vows that “they will never return” to the streets. The tough statement came Wednesday as the administration of President Nayib Bukele asked for

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press A New York-based bank’s demise was stunningly fast. The state regulators who shut down Signature Bank on Sunday said they were concerned about a frenzy of withdrawals after California’s Silicon Valley Bank failed two days earlier. But there may have been some underlying problems for the Signature Bank, too, including

By AMANDA SEITZ and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden says his administration is focused “intensely” on lowering health care costs. He is also taking aim at “MAGA” Republicans who he says are intent on dialing back Medicare coverage for millions of Americans. Biden used a speech Wednesday in Las

By JOHN ANTCZAK and STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s 11th atmospheric river left the storm-soaked state with a bang Wednesday, bringing flooded roadways, landslides and toppled trees to the southern part of the state as well as drought-busting rainfall that meant the end of water restrictions for nearly 7 million people.

By JOHN FLESHER and ED WHITE Associated Press BELLAIRE, Mich. (AP) — A Wisconsin man who was accused of a secondary role in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Brian Higgins said Wednesday that he attempted to provide material support for terrorism when he drove past Gov. Gretchen

By SEAN MURPHY and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas raised questions Wednesday about a Christian group’s effort to overturn the decades-old U.S. approval of a leading abortion drug, in a case that could threaten the country’s most common method for ending pregnancies. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk heard more

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has swiftly rejected a compromise proposal aimed at resolving a standoff over the future of the country’s legal system. The rejection deepens the crisis over a plan that has roiled the country and drawn international criticism. The country’s figurehead president, Isaac Herzog,

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A photo voter identification mandate first sought over a decade ago by North Carolina Republicans could be revived after the state Supreme Court reheard litigation that struck down a voter ID law just three months ago. The difference is now that Republicans hold a majority

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Florida men have been convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol during the January 2021 insurrection. Court records show 25-year-old Joshua Doolin and 39-year-old Michael Perkins were each found guilty of felony civil disorder and multiple other charges. Sentencing is scheduled for July 13. According to court documents, Doolin and Perkins joined

By LAURA UNGAR AP Science Writer Scientists have created baby mice with two fathers for the first time by turning male mouse stem cells into female cells in a lab. They described their research in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The work raises the distant possibility of doing the same for people.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A self-exiled Chinese businessman has pleaded not guilty in New York to charges alleging that he oversaw a $1 billion fraud conspiracy. Guo Wengui and his financier, Kin Ming Je, were charged in an indictment in federal court in Manhattan with various charges, including wire, securities

By JUAN A. LOZANO and PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Texas officials on Wednesday announced a state takeover of Houston’s nearly 200,000-student public school district, the eighth-largest in the country, acting on years of threats and angering Democrats who assailed the move as political. The announcement, made by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer James Gunn is directing a Superman film. The film, which Gunn also wrote, will be titled “Superman: Legacy” and is set for relase on July 11, 2025, which has special significance for the director. It’s his late father’s birthday. Gunn announced the new Superman film along with fellow CEO

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A new “good neighbor” rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency will restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can’t control. Nearly two dozen states will have to cut harmful industrial emissions of nitrogen oxide and

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press There is still no verdict in the trial of three men accused of murdering rising rap star XXXTentacion. The Florida jury finished a sixth day of deliberations Wednesday. They asked the judge a technical question about viewing videos of the defendants flashing fistfuls of $100 bills the night of the

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, MARY CLARE JALONICK and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the next ambassador to India, 20 months after he was initially selected for the post. Garcetti secured the 52-42 vote despite a break in support among his fellow Democrats.