AP National

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A fleet of drones patrolling New York City’s beaches for signs of sharks and struggling swimmers is drawing backlash from an aggressive group of seaside residents: local shorebirds. Since the drones began flying in May, flocks of birds have repeatedly swarmed the devices, forcing the police department and other

Associated Press PLAINFIELD, Vt. (AP) — Gov. Phil Scott says Vermont is better positioned to recover from floods caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl thanks to lessons learned from another devastating flood exactly a year ago. Beryl’s remnants dumped more than 6 inches on parts of Vermont by Thursday. Two people were killed as

Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge on Friday brought a sudden and stunning end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, dismissing it in the middle of the actor’s trial and saying it cannot be filed again. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case based on misconduct of police

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Onstage, Danjuro Ichikawa, one of the biggest stars of Japan’s Kabuki theater, is a virtuoso in switching roles. In his latest production, he plays 13 parts, including a princess, a sushi chef and a fox. He hobbles offstage as a feeble old man, then dashes back on moments later as

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials with health care companies in Oregon say more than 2,400 patients at hospitals in the Portland area may have been exposed to infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and C, and HIV, because of a physician who may not have followed infection control practices. Providence Health said in a statement

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities say a New Jersey man who authorities say was on his way to Ukraine to join a volunteer fighting unit has been arrested in an alleged plot to attack a U.S. electrical substation to advance his white supremacist ideology. Andrew Takhistov is accused of instructing an undercover officer to

PHOENIX (AP) — Backers of an Arizona abortion rights ballot initiative have sued a GOP-led legislative committee that seeks to include language on material for voters referring to a fetus as “an unborn human being.” Arizona for Abortion Access filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court. The group is asking that a judge

Associated Press Virginia congressman Bob Good has filed a petition for a recount after state election officials say he narrowly lost a Republican primary to a challenger backed by former President Donald Trump. The Good campaign said Thursday it filed the recount petition in Goochland County outside of Richmond. Earlier this month, the state board

Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi election officials say redrawing legislative districts in time for this November’s election is impossible because of tight deadlines to prepare ballots. Attorneys for the all-Republican state Board of Election Commissioners filed arguments Wednesday. They responded to a July 2 ruling by three federal judges who ordered the Mississippi

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A conservative think tank that is planning a complete overhaul of the federal government in the event of a Republican presidential win is suggesting that President Joe Biden might try to hold the White House “by force” if he loses the November election. The Heritage Foundation’s warning — which goes

SHIJAIYAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians returned to breathtaking scenes of destruction in the Gaza City district of Shijaiyah after Israeli troops withdrew, ending a two-week offensive there. Civil defense workers said Thursday that so far, they had found the bodies of 60 people in the rubble. Families who fled the assault ventured back into

Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says a sweeping investigation into suspected drug trafficking rings has produced more than 200 arrests and drug seizures valued at nearly $685,000. The governor on Thursday touted progress on the prevention and treatment fronts in fighting the deadly addiction epidemic. The Kentucky State Police investigation,

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Labor says Dollar General has agreed to pay a $12 million fine and improve conditions at its thousands of retail stores nationwide to make them safer for workers. The discount retailer and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reached the settlement to resolve alleged violations that included

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City jury has been told it will begin deliberating criminal charges against Sen. Bob Menendez at his bribery trial on Friday after hearing instructions on the law. Judge Sidney H. Stein began after 4 p.m. Thursday to read the instructions to jurors who heard and viewed

NEW YORK (AP) — Gary Ginstling surprisingly resigned as chief executive officer of the New York Philharmonic after one year on the job. No reason was given for his departure, announced days ahead of Jaap van Zweden’s final performances as music director. Ginstling had been with the orchestra during a tour of China that ended

AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Uruguay striker Luis Suárez defended his teammates’ decision to enter the stands following a 1-0 loss to Colombia in the Copa America semifinals, saying the action was necessary to defend families and supporters. After a physical and emotional game that included seven yellow cards and one red card,

AP Technology Writer GRAFTON, Mass. (AP) — When two octogenarian buddies named Nick discovered that ChatGPT might be stealing and repurposing a lifetime of their work, they tapped a son-in-law to sue the companies behind the artificial intelligence chatbot. Veteran journalists Nicholas Gage, 84, and Nicholas Basbanes, 81, who live near each other in the

Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — National Republicans are poised to support “universal school choice” as part of the policy platform they adopt at next week’s convention in Milwaukee, a goal supporters see as the culmination of decades advocating for parents’ autonomy to pick their children’s schools. To opponents, it’s a thinly veiled blueprint for

Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An investigation into Brazil’s federal police alleges that the country’s intelligence agency spied on members of the judiciary, lawmakers and journalists under former President Jair Bolsonaro. Among those targeted were Chamber Speaker Arthur Lira, Supreme Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the former governor of Sao Paulo João Dória as

Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Nicolas Cage first read the script for “Longlegs” and considered the part of the titular occultist serial killer, he knew exactly from whom he would draw inspiration for the role: his mother. He said witnessing her struggle with mental illness throughout his life was something he needed to

Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the election system in Dodge City, Kansas, doesn’t violate the voting rights of its Latino majority. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren concluded in an order Wednesday evening that Dodge City’s practice of electing all five of its city commissioners at large does not

Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Two organizations that gathered voter signatures to qualify proposed constitutional amendments for the Montana ballot — including an amendment to protect abortion rights — have sued the secretary of state’s office over changes made to the rules about whose signatures may be accepted. The changes were made after the

EXETER, N.H. (AP) — Bestselling author Brendan DuBois has been arraigned on multiple counts of possessing child sexual abuse materials. He was arrested Wednesday after police in Exeter, New Hampshire, opened an investigation with the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. The 64-year-old was charged with six felony counts of possession of child abuse material and

Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Thursday acknowledged a string of errors in its response to the deadly Hamas attacks last Oct. 7, including slow response times and disorganization, as it released the results of its first investigation into failures during the assault that triggered the war in Gaza. The report focused

Associated Press A statewide referendum vote is set in South Dakota for the Nov. 5 general election on a so-called “landowner bill of rights” related to a controversial carbon dioxide pipeline project proposed for the Midwest. Secretary of State Monae Johnson’s office validated the referendum petition on Wednesday. The referendum targets the law sponsored by

PHOENIX (AP) — Former child actor Benji Gregory has died in central Arizona at age 46. Gregory played the young boy on the 1980s television sitcom “ALF,” about a hairy alien life form. Medical examiner records show he died in metro Phoenix on June 13. Gregory’s legal name was Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg. The cause of

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials say people in the southeast Caribbean urgently need food, water and shelter nearly two weeks after Hurricane Beryl crushed the region as a Category 4 storm. The U.N. and the prime ministers of Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines pleaded Thursday for at least $9

ROME (AP) — Milan’s Malpensa Airport, Italy’s second-busiest passenger airport, is being renamed after Silvio Berlusconi. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said Thursday the new name will be “Milan-Malpensa Silvio Berlusconi” international airport. The announcement Thursday came despite opposition from Milan’s center-left mayor and unions who proposed naming it instead after the La Scala ballerina, Carla

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world’s population is expected to grow by more than 2 billion people in the next decades and peak in the 2080s at around 10.3 billion, a major shift from a decade ago, a new report by the United Nations said Thursday. The report — released on World Population

Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says authorities will consider a plan to expel hundreds of thousands more Afghans who have been living in Pakistan for years, the latest in a monthslong government clampdown on undocumented migrants. Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters on Thursday that this plan may ultimately be rejected. She

AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Milan fashion stalwart Giorgio Armani celebrated his 90th birthday on Thursday just like any other day — at work. The designer told the Milan daily Corriere della Sera that “I couldn’t live my life any other way.” The newspaper reported that Armani was meant to spend the day celebrating

Associated Press Leaders of two performing arts festivals say that they will gladly give up their grants if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis restores the $32 million in state funding he nixed for more than 600 Florida arts groups. DeSantis has blamed the two theatrical events for his veto, explaining that they were were “a sexual

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A top aide to a powerful North Carolina state legislator has been named chief executive officer of the parent company of the Carolina Hurricanes. Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon announced on Thursday the hiring of Brian Fork, who has worked as state Senate leader Phil Berger’s chief of staff since late 2020.

MIAMI (AP) — South Florida prosecutors dropped the computer hacking charge Thursday against an OnlyFans model accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend in a Miami condo in 2022. The charge against Courtney Clenney, 29, was dropped after a circuit judge ruled last month that the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office violated attorney-client privilege in January when

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — United Airlines says one of its jets from Miami to New Jersey made an unscheduled landing in Orlando, Florida, after a passenger became “aggressive and disruptive.” Video aired by WSVN-TV shows a fight between a woman and a flight attendant on board the flight. The cellphone video appears to show a

Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — As Houston slowly struggles to recover after Hurricane Beryl left millions without power, experts say it’s time to rethink how cities are preparing for and responding to weather disasters. Beryl is the latest in a long line of devastating storms to paralyze Houston, America’s fourth-largest city. The storm underscored the

Associated Press Utah’s Supreme Court handed a victory Thursday to opponents of redistricting that carved up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County among four congressional districts that have since all elected Republicans by wide margins. The 5-0 ruling won’t affect elections this year. The Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court to revisit the

Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An environmental group has sued the Department of Interior in federal court for allegedly failing to account for the harms caused by delays in properly shutting down offshore oil and gas infrastructure. Arizona-based nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity argues that the Department of Interior must study the environmental impact

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced a new $225 million aid package for Ukraine, including a Patriot missile system to bolster its air defenses against a deadly onslaught of Russian airstrikes. Biden made the announcement during a meeting Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called the announcement “strong news.” But

Associated Press The federal government announced a $241.5 million settlement with Marathon Oil on Thursday for alleged air quality violations at the company’s oil and gas operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice said the settlement requires Marathon to reduce climate- and health-harming emissions

AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell slightly this week, providing modest relief for home shoppers facing record-high home prices. The rate fell to 6.89% from 6.95% last week. That’s according to a report Thursday from mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. A year ago, it averaged 6.96%. The

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Official say the U.S. now is considering abandoning efforts to reinstall the pier that’s been used to get badly needed humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians. The initial plan earlier this week had been to reinstall the pier for a few days to move the final pallets of aid onto the

Associated Press ROME (AP) — An influential Catholic charitable organization says it will cover up mosaics made by a famous ex-Jesuit artist accused of abusing women. The Knights of Columbus said it would place fabric over the mosaics at its shrine in Washington, and at the chapel of its headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut. It

AP Sports Writer Georgia starting linebacker Smael Mondon was arrested by Athens-Clarke County police on Wednesday night on charges of speeding and reckless driving, according to jail records. Earlier this week, freshman offensive lineman Bo Hughley was arrested by University of Georgia police on similar charges as the team’s difficulty with driving offenses continues more

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s rescue service says a landslide hit a tourist shelter trapping 16 people inside after a thunderstorm packing heavy rains moved through Slovakia’s High Tatras mountains. The incident took place in the Monkova Valley in the country’s highest mountain range, where authorities warned against severe thunderstorms accompanied by torrential rains with

Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The embattled police force of the Mexican city of Celaya has seen two more police officers shot to death, amid a wave of targeted attacks believed to have been carried out by a drug cartel. A total of 18 Celaya police officers have been shot to death so far

Associated Press NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Shalom Korai never knew his real name or his birthday. He was saved from the streets of a burning Warsaw neighborhood while he was a toddler during World War II, when the rest of his family was killed by Nazis in Poland. He grew up and lived in

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune says he is running for a second term. The 78-year-old political veteran said in an interview on Thursday that he would run in the gas-rich North African country’s Sept. 7 election after he avoided declaring his plans for months. Tebboune won his first term — with the

NEW YORK (AP) — The nearly complete fossilized remains of a 161-million-year-old stegosaurus discovered in Colorado in 2022 will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York next week, auction house officials said. The dinosaur that Sotheby’s calls Apex stands 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall and measures 27 feet (8.2 meters) nose to tail, according to

Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — U.N. officials say that Sudan’s warring parties have arrived in Geneva at the invitation of the United Nations to discuss the protection of civilians through possible local cease-fires. A spokesman at U.N. headquarters in New York told reporters Thursday that senior representatives from the Sudanese army and rival paramilitary Rapid

Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A lawsuit was filed Thursday in the case of a Massachusetts teen who died after he participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge on social media. Harris Wolobah, a 10th grader from the city of Worcester, died Sept. 1, 2023, after eating the Paqui chip as part of the manufacturer’s

Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. migration agency says it has taken in hundreds of millions in new funding and diversified its donor base. The announcement comes as other U.N. groups have struggled to get needed money and the results of elections worldwide are raising questions about future support. Amy Pope

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — If you’ve noticed that you’re paying more than before for the same amount of groceries, you’re not the only one. Inflation is easing slightly, but grocery prices are still high. Unlike some other items, you can’t just stop buying groceries when they get pricy. There’s nothing you can do

Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A utility company executive warns that about half a million Houston-area homes and businesses still won’t have electricity into next week as wide outages from Hurricane Beryl drag on. The acknowledgement Thursday led Texas’ lieutenant governor to describe the pace of power restoration as “not acceptable.” The Category 1 storm

AP Tennis Writer LONDON (AP) — Jasmine Paolini kept coming back, kept coming back, kept coming back, against Donna Vekic in what would become the longest Wimbledon women’s semifinal on record — after dropping the opening set, after being two games from defeat in each of the last two sets, after twice trailing by a

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has traveled to Florida and met with former President Donald Trump following a NATO summit in Washington. It’s a move likely to aggravate frustrations among Orbán’s partners in the European Union over similar secretive trips he made to Russia and China in recent

AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Weeks after being let go as the publisher of Alfred A. Knopf, Reagan Arthur is returning to her previous employer, Hachette Book Group, as a senior executive who will edit authors from across the company and head her own imprint. Arthur, who will have the title of senior

Associated Press With chants of “Justice for D’Vontaye,” family and friends gathered for the funeral of a Black man who died after being pinned to the ground by security guards outside a Milwaukee hotel. And while remembering D’Vontaye Mitchell as a son, husband and brother, they vowed Thursday to push for charges against those responsible

PARIS (AP) — A leader of a major French union has called for mass demonstrations and possible strikes to pressure President Emmanuel Macron into “respecting the results” of recent legislative elections and allow a leftist coalition to form a new government. The leftist New Popular Front alliance won the most seats in the National Assembly

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States, Canada and Finland will work together to build up their icebreaker fleets as they look to bolster their defenses in the Arctic, where Russia is increasingly active. The pact announced Thursday at the NATO summit in Washington calls for enhanced information sharing on polar icebreaker production, allowing

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — NATO has approved a new program to provide reliable military aid to Ukraine and help it get ready to join the alliance. The plan will supplement, but not replace, the two-year-old Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was created by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after Russia launched its February 2022

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Destructive storms like Hurricane Beryl that knocked out power to 3 million homes and businesses in Texas are growing more frequent and intense, and insurers are jacking up rates in response. That could mean big profits for property and casualty insurers like Allstate and Progressive in the coming

HOUSTON (AP) — A suspect has been charged with killing a Houston-area sheriff’s deputy and assaulting a pizzeria clerk. The Harris County sheriff says Ronald Palmer Jr. was arrested around 7 p.m. Thursday and later charged with capital murder. Deputy Fernando Esqueda, 28, was fatally shot early Thursday morning while searching for a suspect who

AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Library of Congress has awarded a lifetime achievement prize to James McBride, whose acclaimed novels include “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” “Deacon King Kong” and “The Good Lord Bird.” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced Thursday that McBride, whose story lines have ranged from the crusades

LONDON (AP) — Police in the southwestern England city of Bristol have found two suitcases believed to contain human remains after responding to reports of a man acting suspiciously on a bridge. Officers arrived on the Clifton Suspension Bridge at around midday Wednesday within 10 minutes of the call. But the man, who had travelled

Associated Press MOUNT STORM, W.Va. (AP) — Down a long gravel road, tucked into the hills in West Virginia, is a low-slung building where researchers are extracting essential elements from an old coal mine that they hope will strengthen the nation’s energy future. They aren’t mining the coal that powered the steel mills and locomotives

Associated Press The Paris Olympics are turning many eyes to France this summer. AP writer Steve Wartenberg found his own special spot on an 11-day cycling trip in the wine-making region of Burgundy. The region’s capital is about a 90-minute train ride from Paris. Wartenberg followed a popular path called the Voie des Vignes, or