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Cuba’s National Assembly has ratified President Miguel Díaz-Canel for a new five-year term, in a decision to maintain continuity as the island faces a deep economic crisis. More than 400 representatives to the assembly who were ratified by voters in March took office early Wednesday and then convened the chamber to elect the government’s leadership

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama investigators say two teenagers have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a shooting that killed four young people at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party. District Attorney Mike Segrest said Wednesday that the pair would be charged as adults. That’s automatically required in

By PATRICK WHITTLE and DAVID SHARP Associated Press BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — Police say a man confessed to killing four people, including his parents, and then firing on motorists on Interstate 295, just days after being released from prison. Law enforcement officials released more information Wednesday including identities of the victims of the shootings at

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit-area man linked to an anti-government group and arrested just before the fall election has pleaded guilty to gun-related charges. Timothy Teagan had attended various rallies with an AR-style rifle while dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, clothing favored by the Boogaloo Boys, a group bracing for a U.S. civil war. Teagan

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A proposed change to next year’s Montana U.S. Senate primary that was aimed at undermining Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s reelection chances is likely dead. A legislative committee shelved the GOP-backed measure Wednesday. Some Republican lawmakers urged on by a GOP lobbyist wanted to alter the 2024

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s largest federal public-service union and the federal government continue to negotiate as workers go on strike, triggering warnings of major service disruptions. Federal workers were hitting the picket lines across Canada after the union and the government failed to reach a deal by a Tuesday evening deadline. The bargaining groups

By MARGARET STAFFORD and JIM SALTER Associated Press LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — The 84-year old man who shot Ralph Yarl when the Black teenager went to his door by mistake pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a case that has shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in America. Authorities say

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Dianne Feinstein isn’t the first senator to take an extended medical absence or face questions about age or cognitive abilities. But the open discussion over the 89-year-old California Democrat’s capacity to serve shows just how much the Senate has changed in recent years and how high-stakes

by LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has unveiled a sweeping package that would raise the nation’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion into next year. The Republican leader announced the bill Wednesday just as President Joe Biden was preparing to deliver a speech in Maryland. The 320-page

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer Anyone in the U.S. who has had a Facebook account at any time since May 24, 2007, can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy settlement that parent company Meta has agreed to pay. Meta is paying to settle a lawsuit alleging the world’s largest social

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s top prosecutor has described for U.S. lawmakers examples of war atrocities that he says are deliberately orchestrated by Russian forces to sow terror among civilians. Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin tells a House committee that nearly 80,000 cases of war crimes have been registered in Ukraine. He

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have passed a bill to allow people to carry concealed guns in the state without a permit. The passage comes as national attention has ramped up over gun violence in the wake of several mass shootings, including the killing last month of six

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer In Ari Aster’s new film “ Beau is Afraid,” Joaquin Phoenix plays an anxious man in a rotten world who goes on a wildly weird journey, both Homeric and Oedipal, to his mother’s home. It’s theatrical and depraved and perhaps best left largely unexplained, at least until audiences get

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — In France, when presidents take strolls among the public, they’re described as “taking a crowd bath.” Emmanuel Macron took a very cold one on Wednesday. Braving hecklers who shouted for him to resign, the French leader threw himself into the uphill task of repairing damage done to