AP National News

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed two laws aimed at protecting the privacy of abortion providers and their patients. One law makes it illegal to film people within 100 feet of an abortion clinic for the purpose of intimidating them. Another law makes it easier for

By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A school district in suburban Kansas City says it is working with students and parents who are upset after a small number of students posted a petition online calling for the return of slavery. Officials have not released many details about the incident at Park Hill

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis testified Wednesday in the trial of fallen tech star Elizabeth Holmes, saying the entrepreneur misled him into believing she was on the verge of rolling out a blood-testing breakthrough that he hoped would help save lives of

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press Army veteran Spencer Sullivan has never felt more victorious. Sullivan spent years fighting to get his Afghan translator asylum after he risked his life aiding U.S. troops in Afghanistan during its 20-year war there and then was denied a U.S. visa. On Wednesday, a German court granted Abdulhaq Sodais asylum.

By KANTELE FRANKO Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed some of the biggest unsettled lawsuits filed by men who say Ohio State University officials failed to stop decades-old sexual abuse by now-deceased team doctor Richard Strauss. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson agreed Wednesday with OSU’s argument that the legal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police say a drive-by shooting at a school bus stop in Kentucky left a 16-year-old student dead and another hospitalized. Authorities say a third child was injured by unknown means as the youths waited Wednesday morning at the bus stop just west of downtown Louisville. Police say a car drove by

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — Scientists have found evidence of a drug-resistant form of malaria in Africa. Researchers detected genetic mutations in nearly 20% of blood samples in Uganda by 2019. That suggests the main drug used against malaria is losing effectiveness there. Experts worry there could be drug-resistant malaria elsewhere

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Melvin Van Peebles, a Broadway playwright, musician and movie director whose work ushered in the “blaxploitation” films of the 1970s, has died. He was 89. His family said in a statement that Van Peebles died Tuesday night at his home. Sometimes called the “godfather of

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation Wednesday that would change 19th century maritime liability rules in response to the 2019 boat fire off the coast of Southern California that killed 34 people. The bill introduced Wednesday would update the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, under which

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced that’s he’s nominating two major Democratic fundraisers and a former Georgia state lawmaker to serve as ambassadors. Erik Ramanathan, chairman of the public health nonprofit organization Heluna Health and an LGBT activist, was tapped for Sweden; Michael Adler, a South Florida real estate executive, was

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida will consider an abortion bill similar to one signed into law in Texas that would ban most abortions in the state. Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby filed the legislation Wednesday and it was quickly met with criticism by Democrats. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said it

By JORGE GARMA Associated Press SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (AP) — Taking center stage in a prestigious Spanish film festival to receive a top career award, actor Johnny Depp presented himself as a victim of the “cancel culture” that, he said, has spread across the cinema industry. Depp was addressing questions on Wednesday by reporters at

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas death row inmate’s murder conviction has been overturned because a prosecutor in his 2003 trial was also working for the judge. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday that the arrangement between the judge and prosecutor in Midland County violated Clinton Young’s right

By ACACIA CORONADO and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Latino groups are bracing for possible fights over redistricting. None is bigger than in Texas, which is gaining two congressional seats because of its explosive population growth. Half of that growth comes from Latinos. But the state has repeatedly violated the Voting Rights

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled a state law preventing anyone from moving a Confederate monument or changing the historical name of a street or building without the Legislature’s permission is legal. But in the same ruling Wednesday, the justices struck down a requirement that

By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mayim Bialik knew she’d be busy around this time of year, but not this busy. Besides returning to production on her Fox comedy series “Call Me Kat,” Bialik was recalled to duty as a “Jeopardy!” guest host in the aftermath of the messy effort to

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ruled the man who claimed he had a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol last month is competent to stand trial. Floyd Ray Roseberry pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges that include threatening to use a weapon

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s new surgeon general has signed new protocols allowing parents to decide whether their children should quarantine or stay in school if they are asymptomatic after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. The guidelines signed by Dr. Joseph Ladapo on Wednesday eliminate previous

THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — Growing armies of firefighters are battling wildfires in the heart of California’s sequoia country. A big increase in personnel put more than 1,400 firefighters on the lines of the KNP Complex fire in Sequoia National Park on Wednesday. The fire remains a threat to the park’s famed Giant Forest. But

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Most playwrights who dip their toes into musical theater for the first time go small. Not Katori Hall. Her first assignment was to capture the life of musical giant Tina Turner. She says she wasn’t scared. That fearlessness has led to Hall’s first Tony nominations,