Year: 2024

NEWBERN, Ala. (AP) — The first Black mayor of a small Alabama town, who said white city officials blocked him from taking office, will return to the role under the terms of a proposed settlement agreement. The two sides agreed that Patrick Braxton is the lawful mayor of Newbern, a tiny town of about 133

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will free him from prison and resolve a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centered on the publication of a trove

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas has sued two pharmacy benefit managers, accusing them of enabling the opioid crisis in the state. Attorney General Tim Griffin filed the lawsuit Monday in state court against Express Scripts Inc., Optum Inc. and their subsidiaries. The lawsuit accuses the companies of having a

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Senate staffer has testified at a bribery trial that planning for Sen. Bob Menendez’s 2021 trip to Egypt and Qatar got “weird” after the Democrat directed that Egypt be involved in the process. A senior staffer with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee testified Monday as

Associated Press If you think airports are crowded this summer, it’s not your imagination. The TSA says it screened a record number of travelers on Sunday — just under 3 million people. The TSA expects to break the 3 million mark on Friday, as many Americans get an early start on their July 4 travel

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press As residents return to a fire-ravaged village in the mountains of southern New Mexico, the mayor on Monday warned them that some parts of Ruidoso remain off limits as special search and rescue teams comb the charred rubble along the hardest-hit streets. They’re looking for the remains of people

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee state Democratic lawmaker and reproductive rights activist have filed a lawsuit challenging a new statute designed to ban adults from helping minors get an abortion without parental permission. The new law is poised to go into effect July 1, but Rep. Aftyn Behn and

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The liberal majority of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court says taxpayers will pay half of the $128,000 bill for redistricting consultants hired by the court to review proposed legislative maps. The court issued the order Monday, putting Gov. Tony Evers, Republican and Democratic legislators and three groups of

CHICAGO (AP) — The longest-serving City Council member in Chicago history has been sentenced to two years in prison for corruption. That was far short of the eight-year term sought by federal prosecutors in the case of Ed Burke. Prosecutors said at Burke’s sentencing hearing on Monday that the former Democratic alderman exercised power illegally

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After months of casting President Joe Biden as a shell of a man incapable of putting two sentences together, Donald Trump has changed his tune days before their first debate. “I assume he’s going to be somebody that will be a worthy debater,” the former president

BY HOLLY RAMER Associated Press Brentwood, N.H. (AP) — Both sides in a landmark trial over abuse at New Hampshire’s youth detention center were back in the courtroom Monday, seven weeks after jurors delivered what remains an unsettled verdict. A jury awarded $38 million to David Meehan in May. But they found the state liable

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Associated Press says a tightly contested race in Virginia between one of America’s most conservative congressmen and a challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump is too close to call. The AP issued an advisory Monday saying that the margin separating U.S. Rep. Bob Good and state Sen. John McGuire

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief has launched global principles to combat online hate and lies and demanded that big tech companies use their power to reduce the harm they are doing to people and societies around the world. Secretary-General António Guterres also demanded that advertising and

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court is reinstating an agency rule that prohibits residents from using “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards. The justices on Monday issued an order staying a lower court injunction that blocked the rule. That rule

TORONTO (AP) — A fourth teenage girl accused in the fatal stabbing of a Toronto homeless man two years ago has pleaded guilty. The girl was 14 at the time of the incident. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 59-year-old Kenneth Lee. Police have alleged that Lee died after he was swarmed

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The leader of a notoriously violent gang in Haiti linked to the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. Germine Joly, best known as “Yonyon,” had pleaded guilty in January to weapons smuggling and the laundering of ransoms

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police say Iowa receiver Kaleb Brown was arrested for operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and possessing a fake driver’s license. Iowa City police said in a report the 20-year-old Brown was seen driving a heavily damaged SUV that had a wheel turned “completely sideways” early Sunday.