Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A raspy and sometimes halting President Joe Biden tried repeatedly to confront Donald Trump in their first debate ahead of the November election, as his Republican rival countered Biden’s criticism by leaning into falsehoods about the economy, illegal immigration and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Biden’s
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Everything is bigger in Texas, including the number of residents of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds who joined the state’s population. The Lone Star State led all others in new Hispanic, Asian and Black residents last year. That’s according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. Among metro areas,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A solid majority of Americans say Supreme Court justices are more likely to be guided by their own ideology rather than serving as neutral arbiters of government authority, a new poll finds, as the high court is poised to rule on major cases involving former President Donald Trump and other
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors in Massachusetts say they plan to retry Karen Read for the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend. She’s accused of striking him with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm. The judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were at an impasse and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi have visited troops in the eastern Donetsk region who have weathered fierce Russian ground and air assaults in recent months. The Kremlin’s army has escalated its efforts to dislodge exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian forces holding eastern and northeastern
Continue ReadingAssociated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Mark Rutte knows a thing or two about finding consensus among fractious coalition partners. He’s learned it over the course of more than a dozen years at the top of Dutch politics. Now he will bring the experience of leading four Dutch multiparty governments to NATO. The organization’s
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers have approved a budget that slashes spending and temporarily raises taxes on businesses. The budget closes an estimated $46.8 billion budget deficit. It’s the second year in a row the nation’s most populous state has had a multibillion-dollar shortfall. The budget includes $16 billion in cuts. It
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A new report by Connecticut’s Inspector General says the ambush killings of two Connecticut police officers was likely fueled by an angry interaction the gunman had with police earlier, along with building pressures in his personal life and his abuse of alcohol and drugs. The report also says a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. political chief who will chair the first meeting between Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and envoys from about 25 countries says women’s rights will be raised at every session. The Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo was answering sharp criticism that Afghan women have been excluded from the two-day meeting in Qatar
Continue ReadingAssociated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A divided North Carolina election board has blocked for now the official party recognition of political groups that collected signatures and want Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West on this fall’s presidential ballot. The We The People party and Justice for All Party of North Carolina initiated petition
Continue ReadingSAN DIEGO (AP) — A pair of giant pandas are on their way from China to the U.S., where they will be cared for at the San Diego Zoo as part of an ongoing conservation partnership between the two nations, officials said Wednesday. Officials with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance were on hand in
Continue ReadingAssociated Press No human remains have been found after search and rescue crews combed through 1,300 damaged and destroyed structures in a New Mexico mountain community hit hard by a pair of wildfires. Authorities made the announcement Wednesday evening during a public meeting, easing the concerns of many who had been working to whittle down
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two candidates in Iran’s presidential election have withdrawn from the race. It’s an effort by hard-liners to coalesce around a unity candidate in the vote to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi. Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi dropped his candidacy and urged other candidates to do the same “so
Continue ReadingSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The chairman of a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances has announced he is stepping down as the U.S. territory struggles to restructure more than $9 billion in debt held by its troubled power company. Wednesday’s announcement by David Skeel came the same day U.S. President Joe
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it tested a multiwarhead missile in the first known launch of a developmental weapon coveted by leader Kim Jong Un to overwhelm U.S. and South Korean missile defenses. South Korea quickly dismissed the claim as deception to cover up a failed launch. North Korea’s state
Continue ReadingAP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — First, Victor Wembanyama, now Zaccharie Risacher. These days, American college players have to wait their turn in the NBA draft. It’s someone else’s time at the top. Vive la France! The Atlanta Hawks took Risacher with the No. 1 pick Wednesday night and France landed three players in
Continue ReadingFREMONT, Calif. (AP) — Tesla must fix air quality problems at its electric vehicle manufacturing facility in the San Francisco Bay Area after racking up more than 100 violations for allegedly releasing toxic emissions into the atmosphere over the last five years. That is according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s independent hearing
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DENVER (AP) — Authorities say the man arrested in connection to a fatal shooting in southern Colorado is suspected of killing a man by shooting him in the head and wounding two others. Henry Corral was taken into custody following an intensive search. Authorities say he fled after crashing his vehicle and then
Continue ReadingAssociated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace as President Luis Arce said his country faced an apparent attempted coup. The uprising was, in a sense, the culmination of tensions that have been brewing in Bolivia for months with protesters streaming into the nation’s capital amid
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — An ailing former Los Angeles-area gang leader has been denied release from a Las Vegas jail ahead of his trial in the 1996 killing of music legend Tupac Shakur, despite a bid by a hip-hop music figure to underwrite his $750,000 bond. A Nevada judge rejected house arrest with
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