AP National News

BY DREW COSTLEY AP Science Writer Drought that stretched across three continents this summer — drying out large parts of Europe, the United States and China — was made 20 times more likely by climate change, according to a new study. Drought dried up major rivers, destroyed crops, sparked wildfire, threatened aquatic species and led

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press Debate over how to handle a North Korean ballistic missile launch over Japanese territory has again split an already deeply fractured U.N. Security Council. Wednesday’s emergency session on the North Korean launches ended with no consensus on any action by the Security Council. Russia and China insisted to fellow Security

By JOSH BOAK and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) — President Joe Biden surveyed the devastation of hurricane-ravaged Florida on Wednesday, promising to marshal the power of the federal government to help rebuild as he comforted local residents alongside Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 foe. Biden praised DeSantis’ handling

CHICAGO (AP) — A jury has convicted a man of first-degree murder in the 2016 slayings of six members of a Chicago family who were slaughtered in their home. Wednesday’s verdict means that 28-year-old Diego Uribe Cruz will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the trial, prosecutors told the

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched a ballistic missile Thursday toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said. The launch was the North’s sixth round of weapons firings in less than two weeks, which has prompted condemnation from the United States and other countries. The country has fired nearly 40 ballistic missiles over

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Relatives of a family kidnapped at gunpoint from their trucking business in central California pleaded for help Wednesday in the search for an 8-month-old girl, her mother, father and uncle, who authorities say were taken by a convicted robber who tried to

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press Hilary Swank has announced she’s pregnant with twins and says that revelation might explain some of her actions on set of her new ABC series “ Alaska Daily.” “You don’t tell for 12 weeks for a certain reason. But then, like, you’re growing and you’re using the bathroom a lot

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of a cinematographer shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the set of the film “Rust” has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the actor and the movie’s producers, and producers aim to restart the project in January despite unresolved workplace safety sanctions.

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press An FBI agent has testified that postings in online chatrooms by members of a paramilitary group connected to a 2020 anti-government plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer included instructions on how to make explosives. Special Agent Henrik Impola told a Jackson County Circuit Court jury Wednesday that screenshots of

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A grim Mayor London Breed pledged for the second time in a year a serious crackdown on open air opioid drug sales and rampant public drug use that she says is destroying San Francisco. The Democrat says the police now have partners in a new district attorney and city supervisor that

By GABRIELA SELSER Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Exiled Nicaraguan economist Javier Álvarez received terrible news this week: his wife, daughter and son-in-law, jailed three weeks ago by the government of President Daniel Ortega, had been formally charged with serious crimes back in Nicaragua. Jeannine Horvilleur, 63, Ana Carolina Álvarez Horvilleur, 43, both of

By JADE LE DELEY and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Oscar-winning actors Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche, as well as other French screen and music stars, filmed themselves chopping off locks of their hair in a video posted Wednesday in support of protesters in Iran. “For freedom,” Binoche said as she hacked a

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers A wobbly day of trading on Wall Street ended with stocks slightly lower Wednesday as a gangbuster two-day rally ran out of gas. Stock indexes had been in the red much of the day before briefly shifting into the green following a late-afternoon burst of

By THANASSIS STAVRAKIS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A large-scale rescue operation is underway off a southern Greek island where a sailboat carrying up to 100 migrants hit rocks and sank in high winds. Greece’s coast guard say its vessels, private boats and a rescue helicopter are involved in the effort off the coast

BERLIN (AP) — Germany says it has brought home four women and seven children from a camp in northeastern Syria where suspected members of the Islamic State group have been held. It also brought back a young man who was taken to Syria as an 11-year-old. Wednesday’s operation was the sixth for Germany, and Foreign

By STEPHEN SMITH Associated Press ST. JAMES CITY, Fla. (AP) — The full breadth of Hurricane Ian’s destruction is still coming into focus a week after it hit southwest Florida. Utility workers pushed Wednesday to restore power, and crews have been searching for anyone still trapped inside flooded or damaged homes. Construction workers are building

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Democratic governor is trying to regain control of a debate over education in her tough race for reelection. That race recently featured Republican attacks over transgender athletes and what’s taught in the classrooms instead of her preferred focus on increases in public school

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks turned modestly higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Wednesday, erasing an early slide and placing the market on course to add to its big gains this week. A late burst of buying flipped the major indexes into the green. The S&P 500 was

By JIM SALTER Associated Press The unusually low water level in the lower Mississippi River is causing barges to get stuck in mud and sand, disrupting river travel for shippers, recreational boaters and even passengers on a cruise line. Lack of rainfall in recent weeks has left the Mississippi River approaching record low levels in