AP National News

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian diplomat has refused to rule out a Russian military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela if tensions with the United States over Ukraine and NATO’s expansion in Eastern Europe mount. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in televised remarks on Thursday that

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities have arrested more than two dozen people for allegedly taking part in a multistate shoplifting ring involving more than $10 million in stolen merchandise. U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson in Tulsa and Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor announced state and federal charges Thursday against 29 defendants, including 25 who have been

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, FARNOUSH AMIRI and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s refusal to provide information to a committee investigating the Capitol riot is deepening a standoff between the committee and GOP lawmakers. McCarthy’s stand is forcing committee members to consider whether they could subpoena one of their

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, COLLEEN LONG and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, has been arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Justice Department announced the charges against Rhodes. of Granbury, Texas,

LE GRAND, Calif. (AP) — Officials say the mother of three children found dead inside a home in central California has been charged with murder. The Merced County Sheriff’s Office says deputies doing a welfare check found the 3-, 5- and 8-year-old children Wednesday in a Merced County apartment. The office says they also found

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police say they are investigating after a battery report was filed against Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Los Angeles police say the incident that spurred the complaint took place in downtown LA at about 3 a.m. Thursday. No arrests have been made. An email seeking comment from a

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Elected officials and activists are harshly critical of a suburban Philadelphia prosecutor over his handling of the case of an 8-year-old girl hit by police gunfire. Two teens who shot at each other outside a high school football game are facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Fanta Bility.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is considering allowing the nation’s largest school district to return to some form of virtual instruction as the city weathers a wave of coronavirus cases. That would be a reversal from his pledge a week ago to keep children

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island has opened an investigation into the North Kingstown School Department after student-athletes filed a complaint that the high school violated students’ civil rights by allowing a former boys’ basketball coach to disrobe athletes for “fat tests” for two decades. U.S. Attorney

By GRANT SCHULTE Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Colorado has warned it will “protect and aggressively assert” its water rights after Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts announced a plan to spend $500 million on a canal and reservoir project that includes claiming access to land in Colorado under a 99-year-old compact between the states. Colorado

By BRIAN SLODYSKO, LISA MASCARO and ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is all but conceding defeat for this year on the Democrats’ big elections and voting rights legislation. He says he’s not giving up, but he’s now talking more about future efforts. Biden spoke at the Capitol Thursday after a

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — The autocratic leader of Turkmenistan has ordered his government to tighten controls over the ex-Soviet Central Asian country in the wake of massive protests in neighboring Kazakhstan. Speaking Thursday in televised remarks, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov told officials to “expose and restrict (online) resources that spread false information and damage the country’s

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — In defending itself against a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, Fox News is seeking access to an expert report filed under seal in a separate Georgia lawsuit that the author says details vulnerabilities in the company’s touchscreen voting machines. Election security expert J. Alex Halderman

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press An overturned conviction in Missouri is raising new questions about video testimony in criminal court cases nationwide. And the ruling could have ripple effects through a justice system increasingly reliant on remote technology as it struggles with a backlog of cases during the coronavirus pandemic. Missouri’s highest

By JIM SALTER Associated Press In a year when many U.S. cities saw a substantial increase in killings, St. Louis bucked the trend in 2021. That’s a dose of good news for a city that for decades has had among the worst murder rates in the nation. The number of killings in St. Louis dropped

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is considering allowing the nation’s largest school district to return to some form of virtual instruction as the city weathers a wave of coronavirus cases. That would be a reversal from his pledge a week ago to keep children

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A lawyer for ex-Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs’ girlfriend says he’ll appeal a Las Vegas judge’s decision to grant prosecutors access to the woman’s medical records after a fatal high-speed crash that cost Ruggs his spot on the team. Attorney Peter Christiansen’s appeal would block access

By JIM SALTER Associated Press In a year when many U.S. cities saw a substantial increase in killings, St. Louis bucked the trend in 2021. That’s a dose of good news for a city that for decades has had among the worst murder rates in the nation. The number of killings in St. Louis dropped

By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta’s recently elected mayor has unveiled a new police precinct in the city’s large Buckhead district as he tries to head off an effort to make it a separate city. Mayor Andre Dickens said Thursday the precinct is expected to have at least 12 officers. It should

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have concluded that a meteorite from Mars contains no evidence of ancient Martian life. The 4-pound rock caused a splash 25 years ago when a NASA-led team announced that its organic compounds may have been left by living creatures, however primitive. Researchers chipped