AP National News

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling and allow the state to carry out its first execution in more than six years. The Oklahoma attorney general’s office filed its appeal to the nation’s highest court Wednesday night, hours before Thursday’s

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers are grilling Facebook and other tech giants over how they handle online safety as European efforts to regulate social media companies gain momentum. The tech giant’s head of safety said Thursday that the company supports regulation and has no business interest in providing people with an “unsafe experience.” Representatives from

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on two Lebanon businessmen and a lawmaker, saying they have profited from corruption in the struggling country. The businessmen targeted Thursday are influential contractors in Lebanon who have taken over major infrastructure contracts in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say they have rescued nine men being held for ransom in the northern city of Thessaloniki and arrested another three as suspected kidnappers. The victims and suspects are all from Pakistan. Police said Thursday that authorities were first alerted to the case on Monday by two men on the

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are changing their definition of lead poisoning in young children. The more stringent standard was announced Thursday. It will more than double the number of kids ages 1 to 5 with worrisome levels of lead in their blood — to about a

By CHRISTINA LARSON AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — China is offering no significant new goals for reducing climate-changing emissions ahead of the UN climate summit set to start next week in Glasgow. China, the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that cause global warming, formally submitted its goals Thursday. The

MIAMI (AP) — A coalition of engineers says Florida should consider requiring high-rise buildings near the coast to undergo safety inspections every 20 years with follow-ups every seven years. The report was issued four months after the Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside, killing 98 people. Champlain Towers South was undergoing its 40-year inspection when

By TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. authorities have returned about 250 antiquities to India in a long-running investigation of a stolen art scheme. The items are worth an estimated $15 million and were handed over Thursday during a ceremony at the Indian Consulate in New York City. The centerpiece is a

BERLIN (AP) — A German electrician has gone on trial accused of murder in the death of one man, and of mutilating several others by performing illegal operations on their genitals. The 66-year-old told a regional court in Munich that he performed the procedures at the men’s request. The defendant claimed he initially offered sexual

By TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. authorities have returned about 250 antiquities to India in a long-running investigation of a stolen art scheme. The items are worth an estimated $15 million and were handed over Thursday during a ceremony at the Indian Consulate in New York City. The centerpiece is a

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A group of Democratic lawmakers is urging the Biden administration to enact emergency protections for gray wolves in the U.S. West. Twenty-one U.S. senators asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Thursday to shield wolves from being killed for 240 days while permanent protections are considered. The

By VESELIN TOSHKOV Associated Press SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Thousands of restaurant owners, chefs, waiters and bartenders are protesting in cities across Bulgaria against the government’s decision to impose a mandatory COVID-19 health pass on people seeking to enter indoor venues. Restaurant and hospitality associations organized the protest, calling the health certificates “inadequate” and “discriminatory.”

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on two Lebanon businessmen and a politician saying they have profited from corruption in the crisis-hit country. The businessmen targeted Thursday are influential contractors in Lebanon who have taken over major infrastructure contracts in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon.

By MELINDA DESLATTE and JAKE BLEIBERG Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Senate has created a special committee to dig into complaints about the use of excessive force by the State Police. The move comes after troopers have been documented in a series of beatings of Black men that have drawn attention

CHICAGO (AP) — An 82-year-old man freed from prison last year after serving nearly 60 years in the slaying of one of three suburban Chicago women found bludgeoned to death in a state park has won court approval for DNA testing of evidence found at the crime scene. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a LaSalle

By LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said he reached a “historic” framework with Democrats in Congress on his sweeping, though scaled-back domestic policy plan. Biden’s remarks at the White House come after he traveled early Thursday to Capitol Hill to pitch House Democrats on the

By JOSH BOAK and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden promised to show the world that democracies can work to meet the challenges of the 21st century. As he prepares to push that message at a pair of global summits, Biden’s case could hinge on what’s happening in Washington, where he

By EILEEN NG and JIM GOMEZ Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The sultan of Brunei says Myanmar remains an integral part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the bloc hopes its military government will work with an ASEAN envoy to defuse the political crisis triggered by its seizure of power in

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is calling on Sudan’s military leaders to restore the civilian-led transitional government and immediately release all those detained after the military takeover. The U.N.’s most powerful body also expressed “solidarity” with the Sudanese people and said it is ready “to support

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Violence at a Louisiana high school has stopped since a group of fathers started patrolling the campus, and the dads are aiming to expand their initiative into a movement across the parish. The Times reports that “Dads on Duty” started in response to several fights at Shreveport’s Southwood High School in