AP National News

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $135 million in grants to fund 13 projects in California to help the state phase out big rigs that run on diesel. The money will go to state transportation department, cities and school districts to purchase 455 zero-emission vehicles. It’s part of an EPA program

Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court is continuing to block a law that sought to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors while it goes through the courts. Justices, in a unanimous ruling on Wednesday, say a state judge was correct in saying the law was likely unconstitutional. District Court Judge Jason

Associated Press DAMASCUS (AP) — Mohammad Chaeeb spoke softly into his phone, telling a relative the grim news: He found his brother at the morgue. “I saw him and said my goodbyes,” he said. His gaze lingered on the blackened body of Sami Chaeeb, whose teeth were bared and whose eye sockets were empty. It

AP Pro Football Writer IRVING, Texas (AP) — A rape allegation against rapper Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation has produced some of the NFL’s entertainment presentations including the Super Bowl halftime show, won’t impact the league’s relationship with the music mogul. “We’re aware of the civil allegations and Jay-Z’s really strong response to that,” NFL

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday passed a $895 billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped hate crime charges against 12 of the 15 Salisbury University students arrested following an attack in which investigators say a man was lured to an off-campus apartment, beaten and called a homophobic slur. The Wicomico County Office of the State’s Attorney says it “has reviewed the evidence gathered

Associated Press The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they want to build a unified, inclusive country. But after nearly 14 years of civil war, putting that ideal into practice will not be easy. For Syria’s Kurdish minority, America’s closest ally in the country, the struggle for a new order is entering

Associated Press Sexual abuse and harassment by coaches and others in positions of power over women on the U.S. Biathlon team have been dismissed, ignored or excused over decades by officials more concerned with winning medals than holding offenders accountable, according to a half-dozen former Olympians and other biathletes. While the men involved climbed the

Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will undergo a new procedure on Thursday following up on an unplanned surgery earlier this week for a brain bleed. Doctors say the the minimally invasive procedure aims to stop persistent bleeding on the surface of the brain. On Tuesday, the

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to face questions for the last time regarding some of the darkest moments of Joe Biden’s presidency: the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Blinken defended the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal, blaming the chaos on a deal

AP Pro Football Writer IRVING, Texas (AP) — The NFL’s desire to become a global powerhouse is no secret. Nike is committed to helping the league continue expanding its worldwide reach. The league and the apparel giant announced Wednesday a 10-year partnership extension. The NFL and Nike will focus on working together to grow the

AP Technology SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google on Wednesday unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence designed to tackle more of the work and thinking done by humans as it tries to stay on the technology’s cutting edge while also trying to fend off regulatory threats to its empire. The next generation of Google’s AI is

Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Authorities say the mystery flu-like illness that has killed dozens of people in southwest Congo in recent weeks might be malaria. They cite results from laboratory samples of infected people. The National Institute for Biomedical Research and the head of the World Health Organization both say most of the

Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian journalist has been handed a prison sentence for critical reports chronicling a sweeping crackdown on dissent launched by the country’s authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Minsk City Court convicted Volha Radzivonava on Tuesday on charges of “insulting the president” and “discrediting Belarus” and sentenced her to four

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing a class-action lawsuit that accuses Nvidia of misleading investors about its past dependence on selling computer chips for the mining of volatile cryptocurrency to proceed. The court’s decision Wednesday comes the same week that China said it is investigating the the microchip company over suspected violations of

NEW YORK (AP) — George Joseph Kresge Jr., who was known to generations of TV watchers as the mesmerizing entertainer and mentalist The Amazing Kreskin, has died at age 89. Kreskin’s friend and former road manager, Ryan Galway, told The Associated Press that he died Tuesday at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey, where he