AP-National

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut lawmakers are taking their first steps toward tightening absentee ballot laws since video last year captured people stuffing reams of ballots into collection boxes in Bridgeport, the state’s most populous city. The House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation that requires all cities and towns to

By PETER SMITH Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — `United Methodist delegates on Friday repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy and in its churches. The action marked the final major reversal of a collection of LGBTQ bans and disapprovals that have been embedded throughout the

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Officials say at least 13 people died in northern Haiti following two days of heavy rains. Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency says the majority of deaths were caused by a landslide in the southeastern region of the coastal city of Cap-Haitien. Authorities said Thursday more than 2,200 homes also were flooded, and

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has welcomed Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on his first visit to the country, with the two meeting in Brasilia and the South American leader pushing his counterpart to buy his beef. Brazil had wished to seize on

By ROB GILLIES and JIM MORRIS Associated Press VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canadian police say they arrested three suspects in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader last June that became the center of a diplomatic spat with India, and are investigating possible ties between the detainees and the Indian government.  Police say the

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill dropped by the White House on Friday for a visit with President Joe Biden and walked away with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a greater respect for the office. “I love the merch,” he said, taking off the glasses

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Three anti-wind power groups are suing New Jersey to overturn a key environmental approval for a wind energy farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island. Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect Our Coast NJ are challenging a determination by

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Several Democrats serving as their state’s top election officials have sent a letter to the parent company of Facebook, asking it to stop allowing ads that claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen. In the letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the secretaries said allowing

By TOM KRISHER and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin says new rules governing electric vehicle tax credits are a giveaway to China. Manchin, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said that exemptions in the new rules effectively endorse the idea that EVs will

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer. Filmmaker Doug Liman directs Matt Damon for the first time in over 20 years in the new heist comedy “The Instigators,” coming to Apple TV+ in August. But unlike “The Bourne Identity,” where Damon was going into Liman’s world, here Liman was on Damon’s turf, in Boston and working

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Just like the Olympic athletes, the cyberwarriors that will be crucial for the success of the Paris Games are deep into training for the big event. They have turned to friendly hackers to probe their cyberdefenses, like boxers who use sparring partners to ready them for

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A zebra that escaped from a trailer east of Seattle last weekend remained on the lam Friday, as authorities closed off trailheads at a nature area in hopes of keeping people away and easing her capture. The zebra was one of four that escaped from a trailer

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer The health insurer Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit over whether its fertility treatment coverage discriminates against LGBTQ+ patients. The insurer will make coverage of artificial insemination standard for all customers nationally and work to ensure that patients have equal access to more-expensive in-vitro fertilization procedures. A CVS

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A school bus aide shown on surveillance video hitting a nonverbal autistic boy has been charged with 10 more counts of abuse involving two children, prosecutors said Friday. Kiarra Jones, 29, was arrested last month and initially charged with one felony count of third-degree assault on an

By PATRICK ORSAGOS and MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press KENT, Ohio (AP) — Kent State University is marking another solemn anniversary of the National Guard shootings that killed four unarmed students and wounded nine others on May 4, 1970. Dean Kahler was at that protest against the Vietnam War, and was left paralyzed by a soldier’s

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger waded into Louisiana politics during the band’s performance at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The 80-year-old Jagger was making remarks about inclusion during Thursday’s show when he aimed a remark at Gov. Jeff Landry, who was not in attendance. Jagger said: “We want to

Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The families of four Americans charged in Turks and Caicos for carrying ammunition continued to claim on Thursday that their loved ones were “unjustly detained” on the island awaiting legal proceedings. The four American men pled guilty to collectively carrying 33 rounds of ammunition on vacation. Carrying firearms and

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An initial hearing for country music star Morgan Wallen has been postponed until Aug. 15 in a case in which he’s accused of throwing a chair from the rooftop of a six-story bar and nearly hitting two police officers. Wallen’s attorney, Worrick Robinson, told reporters that

By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire jury has found the state liable for abuse at its youth detention center and has awarded $38 million to a former resident who says he was beaten and raped as a teen. But the state says its law requires reducing the amount to

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police officials are defending their decision to initially keep quiet about a potentially dangerous accident that happened as officers cleared pro-Palestinian protesters from Columbia University this week when a sergeant accidentally fired his gun into a dark office. The bullet crashed through a

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish state-run news agency says the son of Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Burhan has died two months after he was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in the Turkish capital, Ankara. Mohammed Fattah Burhan Rahman, who died Friday, was being treated at an Ankara hospital since the March 6 accident

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever fans will get to see Caitlin Clark make her home debut a day earlier than expected. Team officials announced Friday that next week’s preseason game against the Atlanta Dream will be played on Thursday. The game had initially been scheduled for May 10 but was moved to accommodate the Indiana

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America Some Jewish students have taken part in strident pro-Palestinian protests dominating U.S. colleges in recent weeks, but few have led rallies in support of Israel or against perceived displays of antisemitism. That may be starting to change. They have had fervent debates over whether and how to respond

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — An endangered sawfish rescued last month in the Florida Keys after it was spotted acting erratically and swimming in circles has died as wildlife officials continue to search for what is causing fish to become distressed. The Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota said in a statement that the 11-foot

The Associated Press KENT, Ohio (AP) — On May 4, 1970, The Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed student protesters at Kent State University. Four students were killed, and nine others were injured. The demonstration opposed the U.S. bombing of neutral Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The confrontation, sometimes referred to as the May

By ERIK VERDUZCO and JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Friends, colleagues and the wife of fallen Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer are remembering him as a hard-charging outwardly stern cop who also peppered friends with “how’s things” texts and showered love on his wife and young son. Thousands packed the sanctuary at

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former Boy Scout volunteer has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for hiding cameras in a bathroom at a Missouri camp. A federal judge on Thursday also ordered 41-year-old David Lee Nelson to pay more than $60,000, with some of the money going toward counseling for the victims. Some

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The chief of staff of a Chinese businessman sought by the government of China has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges weeks before her boss goes to trial in New York in a fraud case. Yvette Wang entered the plea in Manhattan federal court on Friday three

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — The civil defense agency in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul says heavy rains have killed 39 people, with another 68 still missing. The record-breaking floods have devastated cities and forced more than 24,000 people to leave their homes. Brazil’s Geological Service

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press Frustrated with the lack of diversity in the fantasy genre, LaDarrion Williams posted a question on Twitter in 2020. “What if Harry Potter went to an HBCU in the South?” The proposal went viral and after a long road of trial and error and numerous rejections by people who thought