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By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer This time it’s for real. Many of Twitter’s high-profile users are losing the blue checks that helped verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform. After several false starts, Twitter began making good on its promise Thursday to remove the blue checks

By ANDREW DALTON and MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors in New Mexico plan to drop an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film “ Rust,” Baldwin’s attorneys said Thursday. “We are pleased with the decision to

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — While two-thirds of the country now offers legal sports betting, only six states offer online casino gambling, confounding industry hopes that the rapid growth of sports betting would also bring internet casino wagering along with it. Speaking Wednesday at the East Coast Gaming Congress in

DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A fifth man was arrested Thursday and charged with murder in connection with a shooting at Sweet 16 birthday party that killed four young people in Alabama, authorities announced. Willie George Brown Jr., 19, of Auburn, is charged with four counts of reckless murder, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. A

GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) — A South African teenage farm worker who suffocated to death after falling into a grain storage bin would still be alive had a Mississippi soybean farm followed federal workplace safety standards, inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined. Bare Bones Farms, located in the Mississippi

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An IRS special agent is seeking whistleblower protection to disclose information about what the agent alleges is mishandling of an investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, according to a letter sent to members of Congress. Mark Lytle, the attorney for the IRS whistleblower, wrote to

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has opened the country’s permanent embassy in Turkmenistan and says the move will strengthen Israel’s position in Central Asia. Cohen, in the first visit by an Israeli top diplomat since 1994, met Thursday with Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov. Opening the permanent diplomatic mission in the capital

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has gone through House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s plan to trim the deficit and its conclusion is that “the math is simple, but unforgiving.” It estimates a deep 22% cut to non-defense spending that would leave children poorer, veterans sicker, families hungrier and housing more

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer An old NASA satellite that studied the sun has plunged back to Earth. The space agency said Thursday the spacecraft reentered the atmosphere over the Sahara Desert. Officials say they’ve received no reports of damage or injury from the return, which occurred in early morning in Sudan. Experts expected

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — F. Murray Abraham is apologizing after allegations of sexual misconduct led to his departure from the Apple TV+ show “Mythic Quest.” He says it was never his intention to offend anyone and said he had grown in his “understanding from this experience.” The apology comes after a

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice John Roberts is being asked to testify to Congress as scrutiny mounts around Justice Clarence Thomas. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman on Thursday requested that Roberts testify next month at a hearing on ethical standards at the court. The hearing is likely to focus