AP National

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Managers of a state-owned fuel trading company in Trinidad and Tobago are facing 15 charges linked to the 2022 deaths of four divers who became trapped in a pipeline while repairing it. Local media reported that two top managers of Paria Fuel Trading Co., a subsidiary of Trinidad Petroleum

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man has been sentenced to a 30-year prison term for killing a transgender woman in Minneapolis last year. Damarean Bible was found guilty of second-degree murder in August. Minnesota Public Radio News reports that he was sentenced Wednesday. Bible admitted fatally shooting 38-year-old Savannah Ryan Williams on Nov. 29. LGBTQ+

Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The Palestinian economy is “in free fall,” with production in Gaza plunging to one-sixth of its level before Israeli forces began a blistering military response to the Oct. 7 attacks in the territory, the United Nations says. The report from UN Trade and Development also warned of “rapid and alarming

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Three Red Cross staff members have been killed by artillery strikes in eastern Ukraine. The deadly strikes, which left two others wounded, hit a Red Cross truck that was delivering firewood in the war-divided Donetsk region Thursday. The news came as the World Health Organization issued a warning about

AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “60 Minutes” has scheduled its quadrennial interview special with presidential candidates, and it won’t be on a Sunday night. CBS plans to air an hour-long special on Monday, Oct. 7 that features back-to-back interviews with Democrat Kamala Harris, Republican Donald Trump and their vice presidential candidate. Neither campaign

AP Business Writer Brilliant Detroit, the early childhood education nonprofit that supports children in underserved communities “from belly to 8,” plans to expand its unique neighborhood-based holistic model beyond The Motor City. Cindy Eggleton, Brilliant Detroit CEO, told The Associated Press that her group will branch out to three additional cities – Philadelphia, Chicago and

AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has proposed a new rule that would require the largest U.S. companies to pay at least 15% of their profits in taxes. Treasury Department officials estimate that about 100 of the biggest corporations with at least $1 billion in annual profits would be forced to pay

AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale price increases mostly slowed last month, the latest evidence that inflation pressures are cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates next week. The Labor Department said Thursday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.2%

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland says he won’t allow the Justice Department “to be used as a political weapon.” And he’s denouncing what he calls “conspiracy theories and “dangerous falsehoods” that are targeting federal law enforcement. Garland spoke to U.S. attorneys and other department employees who gathered at the department’s headquarters

AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A $10,000 literary award named for the late author and editor Gabe Hudson has been established by the publisher McSweeney’s, where Hudson once worked. The inaugural winner of Ayana Mathis’ “The Unsettled” was announced Thursday on what would have been Hudson’s 53rd birthday. He died last year from

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the country’s much-loved but overstretched health system is in critical condition and must “reform or die.” Starmer spoke after a government-commissioned report claimed years of neglect and botched reforms had made the U.K. an increasingly unhealthy nation. Starmer promised a 10-year plan to fix

MOSCOW (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia will be his second since the Kremlin

Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal promised severe sanctions against people smugglers during his visit on Wednesday to the town of Mbour, the departure point of a boat that capsized on Sunday, killing at least 37 people. Mbour, a coastal city in Senegal nearly 50 miles south of the

Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s state House speaker says lawmakers in 2025 will consider new policies to foster student mental health, detect guns and encourage people to safely store guns after a school shooting killed four at a high school northeast of Atlanta. But Republican Jon Burns of Newington is stopping short of Democratic

Associated Press JENIN, West Bank (AP) — As the world’s attention focuses on the deadly war in Gaza, less than 80 miles away scores of Palestinian teens have been killed, shot and arrested in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has waged a monthslong crackdown. More than 150 teens and children 17 or younger

Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s opposition leader says if he wins the presidential race he will renegotiate the International Monetary Fund economic reforms package to ensure that rich residents pay more taxes and poor ones see their conditions improve. The reforms were introduced after Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt,

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities say the key eastern Ukraine city of Pokrovsk is without a drinking water supply or natural gas for cooking and heating as the Russian army’s attritional slog across the Donetsk region lays waste to public infrastructure and forces civilians to flee their homes. The Donetsk regional governor said

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Young women are more liberal than they have been in decades, according to a Gallup analysis of more than 20 years of polling data. Over the past few years, about 4 in 10 young women between the ages of 18 and 29 have described their political views as liberal, compared

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian security forces carried out raids against 72 alleged Islamic extremists this week ahead of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Officials cited the potential for copycat violence on the date of the plane hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people. The raids occurred across the European country on

Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary is exploring legal avenues for forcing the European Union’s executive commission to reimburse it for funds it has spent on border protection. The move potentially deepens a conflict with the EU over Hungary’s restrictive immigration and asylum policies. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, government minister Gergely

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A record nine Japanese lawmakers have formally entered the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as head of the governing party and leader of the nation, hoping to regain public support for the party following corruption scandals. Voting in the Sept. 27 Liberal Democratic Party leadership contest is

Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan governors and officials from both parties are joining a project aimed at preserving election integrity and boosting confidence in results ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The Michigan leaders are part of the national Democracy Defense Project that is operating in several states, including some of the

AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — With inflation subsiding, the European Central Bank is cutting its benchmark interest rate  to prop up tepid growth with lower borrowing costs for companies and home buyers. The bank’s rate-setting council lowered the deposit rate from 3.75% to 3.5% at a meeting at its skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt

AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter and renamed it X, a steady stream of celebrities, public figures, organizations and ordinary people have quit. They’re defecting to rival sites or are quitting social media altogether. If you’ve also decided to exit X, here’s what you need to do. Begin by deactivating

Associated Press POHANG, South Korea (AP) — The Associated Press interviewed and photographed dozens of South Koreans for a detailed look at the nation’s stark division over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s headlong pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles targeting the South and its major ally and protector, the United States. How South Korea sees its

Associated Press MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Francine is weakening after striking Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane as it heads far inland from the Gulf Coast. The system knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, sent storm surge rushing into coastal communities and raised flooding fears in New Orleans and

Associated Press BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida Democrats have been boldly proclaiming that Florida is in play for this year’s November elections, but their campaign spending hasn’t matched those claims. In the state’s U.S. Senate race, incumbent Sen. Rick Scott has outspent his Democratic challenger, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, by a 4-to-1 margin. Democrats hope ballot

AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has the potential for history-making this fall, with not one, but two, Black women possibly elected to the chamber, a situation never seen in America since Congress was created more than 200 years ago. Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester marks the milestone by saying that the reason she

Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A passenger train in South Africa has been transformed into a mobile health facility. It circulates throughout the country for much of the year, providing medical attention to the sick, young and old who often struggle to receive the care they need at crowded local clinics. For the past 30

Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The percentage of U.S. residents born outside the country reached its highest level in more than a century in 2023. That’s one of the findings of a survey of American life released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. It shows the foreign-born population rose last year and accounted for 14.3%

Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump launched campaign blitzes Thursday with dramatically different approaches to attracting swing-state voters who will decide the presidential contest. In North Carolina, Democratic nominee Harris used rallies in Charlotte and Greensboro to tout endorsements from Republicans who have crossed the aisle

Associated Press ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The Postal Service’s new delivery vehicles aren’t going to win a beauty contest. They’re tall and ungainly. The windshields are vast. Their hoods resemble a duck bill. Their bumpers are enormous. “You can tell that (the designers) didn’t have appearance in mind,” postal worker Avis Stonum said. Odd appearance

Associated Press A growing number of states are allowing candidates for local and state office to use their campaign dollars to pay for child care expenses. Parents of young children say the practice gives them the time and flexibility to run for office, which often requires long and obscure hours of work. Advocates say the

Associated Press The number of abortions in Florida dropped after the state’s ban on them after sixth week of pregnancy took effect in May. A Guttmacher Institute study released Thursday estimates that the decline wasn’t as sharp in Florida as it was in other states with such bans, though it has still meant there have

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jim Duggan uses ChatGPT almost daily to draft marketing emails for his carbon removal credit business in Huntsville, Alabama. But he’d never trust an artificial intelligence chatbot with any questions about the upcoming presidential election. “I just don’t think AI produces truth,” the 68-year-old political conservative said in an interview.

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan will have a new leader after outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party holds a vote on Sept. 27 to choose his replacement. They hope to shake off scandals that have dogged his government and regain public support. A record nine candidates, including two women, seek the

Associated Press SINGAPORE (AP) — Pope Francis on Thursday praised Singapore’s economic strength as a testament to human ingenuity but urged the city-state to look after the weakest, too, especially foreign workers, as he opened the final leg of his tour through some of Asia’s poorest countries in one of the world’s richest. Francis marveled

Associated Press/Report for America PHOENIX (AP) — Ballots for the vast majority of Arizona voters will be two pages long. Eight of the state’s 15 counties, including Maricopa County, will have a two-page ballot. Maricopa County election officials expect the lengthy ballot will lead to long lines for in-person voting and potential delays in vote

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Sudanese government accused the United Arab Emirates of providing weapons to its rival paramilitary force and prolonging the 17-month war. The UAE called the allegations “utterly false” and “baseless” and accused the government of refusing to negotiate peace with its enemy. Their latest clash came during a U.N.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi and a video production assistant persuaded a woman standing on the ledge of a pedestrian bridge in Nashville to come back over the railing to safety. Police say the encounter happened Tuesday on the Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, which spans the Cumberland River.

AP Business Writer Norfolk Southern says it has fired CEO Alan Shaw for having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. His departure ends two difficult years on the job and comes just days after the company’s board announced it was investigating his alleged ethical lapses. Shaw was leading Norfolk Southern in February 2023 when one

Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says he would not sign a federal abortion ban, insisting that a ban would not pass Congress anyway. But he refused to say during Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris if he would veto such legislation if it landed on his desk. This is despite

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s rare move to keep two Navy aircraft carriers in the Middle East over the past several weeks has now finished. U.S. officials say the USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading home. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment for a short time and

AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators say they’re investigating one of Google’s artificial intelligence models over concerns about its compliance with the bloc’s strict data privacy rules. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said Thursday it has opened an inquiry into Google’s Pathways Language Model 2, also known as PaLM2. It’s part of wider

Associated Press A U.S. Army soldier has been arrested in Hawaii on charges that he repeatedly struck a police officer with a flagpole during a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol more than three years ago. A court filing unsealed on Wednesday says 31-year-old Alexander Cain Poplin was captured on video repeatedly striking a Metropolitan

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge has sentenced a man convicted of killing a Chicago police officer, wounding her partner and firing at a third officer to life in prison. A jury found 24-year-old Emonte Morgan of Chicago guilty in March of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and possession/use of a firearm as

Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three Libertarian candidates running for Congress in Iowa will not be named on the ballot this November. The Iowa Supreme Court’s decision is the final word on the case that has already delayed the certifying of ballots before they can be printed. It’s an outcome that could benefit

Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Frankie Beverly, who with his band Maze inspired generations of fans with his smooth, soulful voice and lasting anthems including “Before I Let Go,” has died. He was 77. His family said in a post on the band’s website and social media accounts that Beverly died Tuesday. In the

It might feel like the presidential election is still a long way off, but it’s not. Election Day on Nov. 5 is only about six weeks away, and the earliest voters have already cast their ballots. In-person voting kicked off Friday in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, and more states will follow over the next

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea. Thursday’s launches detected by South Korea and Japan are North Korea’s first public weapons firing activities in more than two months. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew about 220 miles before landing in

Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Minnesota medical examiner with a history of delivering false or misleading reports may have mishandled at least seven murder cases in which his testimony helped send people to prison. The cases were handled by Dr. Michael McGee. McGee is a former Ramsey County medical examiner

LEVITTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia man is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women he met online over the past 15 months. Police said Wednesday in filing rape and other charges against 40-year-old Andrew J. Gallo of Levittown that he met the women through a website that connects women with “sugar daddy” men.

Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities say severe flooding in northeastern Nigeria  has left 30 people dead and affected more than a million others. The collapse of a major dam in the state of Borno on Tuesday caused some of the state’s worst flooding since the same dam collapsed 30 years ago, and prompted

LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man was charged with arson after an investigation into a wildfire this summer that destroyed 29 homes and caused more than $30 million in property damage, authorities said Wednesday. Jason Alexander Hobby, 49, was arrested Tuesday, Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said. He appeared in court Wednesday on a

Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that a 2023 law allowing parents to spend taxpayer money on private schools violates the state constitution. The 3-2 ruling prohibits paying tuition or fees with “Education Scholarship Trust Funds,” but allows parents to use that money for indirect private expenses like

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Kevin Long, who played running back at South Carolina before getting drafted by the New York Jets, has died at age 69. The university said Long died Tuesday. Curtis Frye, the former track coach at South Carolina who was a close friend of Long, spoke with Long’s wife and informed the

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two private power companies in Puerto Rico have come under scrutiny while presenting plans to stabilize the island’s crumbling electric grid as officials demanded immediate action to minimize chronic power outages. The presentations by Genera PR, which operates the generation of power in the U.S. territory, and

Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court says it would hear a lawsuit that could determine whether the state’s top elections official can remain in her post. This comes after Republicans who controlled the state Senate sought to fire her last year. The liberal-controlled court says it would hear the case but