AP National News

By BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter has announced a subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes a blue check now given only to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk works to overhaul the platform’s verification system just ahead of U.S. midterm elections. In an update to Apple iOS devices

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The Carter Center is training nonpartisan observers to monitor midterm elections in Fulton County, Georgia. The county at the heart of metro Atlanta also lies at the core of former President Donald Trump’s false assertions that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. The Center, co-founded in 1982

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Rep. Liz Cheney crossed the political aisle again this election year and endorsed a Democratic colleague in a competitive House race, backing former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger on Saturday as she seeks a third term in a newly redrawn district in northern Virginia. Cheney, vice

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER and ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carter’s family confirmed the singer’s death. His fiance, Melanie

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have shot and killed a young man in the occupied West Bank. The ministry said Saturday that 18-year-old Musab Nofal was shot in the chest and died at hospital in Ramallah. Another Palestinian was wounded. The Israeli military said the two Palestinians were

By HARM VENHUIZEN Associated Press/Report for America MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Powerball jackpot has reached a record estimated high of $1.6 billion, leading longtime players and first-timers alike to flock to buy tickets ahead of Saturday night’s drawing. At Woodman’s Markets in Madison, Wisconsin, sisters Christy Bemis and Cherrie Spencer were among the dozens

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s state electricity operator on Saturday announced blackouts in Kyiv and seven other regions of the country in the aftermath of Russia’s devastating strikes on energy infrastructure. The move comes as Russian forces continue to pound Ukrainian cities and villages with missiles and drones, inflicting damage

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A former corrections officer said Alabama is no longer in control of its prisons and said he believes federal officials should intervene in the system. Stacy George, who recently resigned after 13 1/2 years at Limestone Correctional Facility, spoke to reporters and activists on Friday. He described coming into work and

By BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter on Saturday launched a subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes a blue check now given only to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk overhauls the platform’s verification system just ahead of U.S. midterm elections. In an update to Apple iOS devices, Twitter

LA PLATA, Md. (AP) — A 28-year-old man is suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend, two of her relatives and another man inside a Maryland home before fatally shooting himself, authorities said Saturday. The five deceased individuals were found inside the La Plata residence Friday afternoon when an unidentified homeowner arrived after work, the Charles County

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The bodies of three more migrants have been found in the western Aegean Sea near where an overloaded sailboat smuggling dozens of people to Europe sank in rough seas this week. Greek authorities said Saturday that raises the total death toll to 26. A coast guard statement said the number of

By BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter on Saturday launched a subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes a blue check now given to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk overhauls the platform’s verification system just ahead of U.S. midterm elections. In an update to Apple iOS devices, Twitter said

By COSTAS KANTOURIS and DEMETRIS NELLAS Associated Press THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greece has strongly protested a decision by Turkish authorities to deny entry to and detain a Greek regional governor who arrived by boat in Izmir to preside over a regional body’s plenary session. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, governor of Central Macedonia and first vice president

NEW YORK (AP) — More than three dozen people have been injured, two critically, in a fire at a high-rise apartment building in Manhattan caused by a faulty battery. The blaze broke out Saturday morning in the 37-story building on East 52nd Street, near the East River. Videos posted online showed people hanging out of

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Another one of the 12 railroad unions narrowly approved its deal with the major freight railroads Saturday, offering some hope that the contract dispute might be resolved without a strike even though two other unions rejected their agreements last month. Now that 52% of International

By JAKE BLEIBERG and KEN MILLER Associated Press IDABEL, Okla. (AP) — Residents in southeastern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas began assessing weather damage Saturday, working to recover and thankful to have survived after a storm stretching from Dallas to northwest Arkansas spawned tornadoes and produced flash flooding, killing at least two people, injuring others and

By MARC LEVY, STEVE PEOPLES and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Democratic Party’s most powerful voices warned Saturday that abortion, Social Security and democracy itself are at risk as they labored to overcome fierce political headwinds — and an ill-timed misstep from President Joe Biden — over the final weekend of the

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Pope Francis shifted gears Saturday in his visit to Bahrain to minister to the Gulf’s Catholic community, presiding over a huge open-air Mass and then meeting with young people to give them a bit of fatherly advice: Don’t just Google your questions about life decisions, he

By JOSHUA GOODMAN MIAMI (AP) — The head of the Organization of American States is facing growing calls, including from the Biden administration, for an external probe into possible misconduct tied to his intimate relationship with a subordinate. The Washington-based group’s own inspector general in a memo this week said it is in the organization’s