AP-National

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.

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former North Dakota lawmaker who was one of the most powerful members of the Legislature has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent of paying for sex with a minor. The plea agreement was

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee said Monday it was reviewing separate accusations against two Republican congressmen from Texas that allege they violated ethics rules by using campaign funds to pay membership dues at private social clubs. The bipartisan panel released findings that Rep. Ronny Jackson’s campaign committee had

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia has launched peace talks with the Second Marquetalia rebel group as President Gustavo Petro’s administration tries to pacify rural areas of the country that have seen rising violence despite efforts to broker ceasefires with various armed groups. The talks were announced in Caracas, Venezuela in

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — A Texas woman allegedly tried to drown a 3-year-old at an apartment complex pool in suburban Dallas after making racist remarks toward the child’s mother in a case investigators are asking to be treated as a hate crime, a police spokeswoman said Monday. Elizabeth Wolf, 42, has

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press A new federal lawsuit challenges a Georgia law that expands cash bail and restricts organizations that help people pay bail so they can be released while their criminal cases are pending. Senate Bill 63 takes effect July 1. It includes a section that limits people and organizations from posting more

By CORAL MURPHY MARCOS Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The private operator of Puerto Rico’s power grid has confirmed the deferral of $65 million worth of maintenance and improvement projects in the U.S. territory. Some repairs have been postponed for at least a year because of budget constraints. The move puts at

PRAGUE (AP) — Argentina’s self-described anarcho-capitalist President Javier Milei has wrapped up his brief trip of three European Union countries by visiting the Czech Republic. Milei has met Czech leaders, including his counterpart, retired general Petr Pavel and conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and has given a speech at a conference on how to deal

BOSTON (AP) — Big record companies are suing artificial intelligence song-generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging that the AI music startups are exploiting the recorded works of artists from Chuck Berry to Mariah Carey. The Recording Industry Association of America announced the lawsuits Monday brought by labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music

By SARA CLINE and KEVIN McGILL Associated Pressu BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, a measure they contend is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs in the suit include parents of Louisiana public school children

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer In the wake of Texas’ abortion ban, the state’s infant death rate increased and more died of birth defects, a study published Monday shows. The analysis out of Johns Hopkins University is the latest research to find higher infant mortality rates in states with abortion restrictions. The researchers looked

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A defiant and furious mayor of Oakland, California, says she did not do anything wrong and has no plans to resign from office following an FBI raid on her home. Monday’s statement was the first by Mayor Sheng Thao after federal authorities raided her home last week. It appears she and

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Music Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of 25 luminaries at a rousing ceremony 12 years ago, honoring legends spanning generations and genres, from Elvis Presley to ZZ Top to Three 6 Mafia. In later years, dozens of other musicians who recorded, taught

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s government is investigating whether to impose a surtax on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles. A 30-day consultation on the issue will begin July 2 to counter what Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday is a clear effort by Chinese companies to generate a global oversupply. Canada’s move comes weeks after

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A hiker missing for 10 days has been found safe in the mountains in Northern California. Lukas McClish left the rural community of Boulder Creek for a hike on June 11 and was reported missing June 16. The 34-year-old man was found Thursday after witnesses heard someone yelling for help.

BAY SHORE, N.Y. (AP) — A small plane has made an emergency landing on the beach on New York’s Fire Island and the two people on board were uninjured. Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Tammy L. Jones says the single-engine Piper PA-28 landed in Atlantique at 12:15 p.m. A Suffolk County police spokesperson says no one

By TARA COPP and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is expected to announce Tuesday it is sending an additional $150 million in critically needed munitions to Ukraine. This is according to two U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to provide details that have not

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — On the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Vice President Kamala Harris is telling voters Donald Trump is “guilty” of rolling back women’s freedoms and setting off a nationwide health care crisis. While President Joe Biden is sequestered at Camp David

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Patricia Kobylski remembers when there were plenty of people in her eastside Detroit neighborhood. There aren’t as many anymore. On Monday, Mayor Mike Duggan has announced Kobylski’s neighborhood as one of three that will receive solar arrays on what is now acres of vacant land. The city

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Defense attorneys for Alec Baldwin are seeking to scuttle an involuntary manslaughter trial against the actor-producer in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during rehearsal for the Western movie “Rust.” Baldwin’s lawyers argue in a motion seeking to dismiss the charge that the firearm in the shooting was heavily damaged

BY ABBY SEWELL AND MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The prospect of a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group terrifies people on both sides of the border, but some see it as an inevitable fallout from Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, particularly as cease-fire negotiations have faltered. Such

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Hundreds of Iowa residents have needed rescue from record-setting flooding that has swamped parts of the state, covering buildings up to their rooftops, shutting down major roads, and disrupting basic services like electricity and drinking water. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said water in some areas rose

BERLIN (AP) — German police say one police officer has died and another one is severely injured after a car collided with the motorcycle police escort for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the German city of Stuttgart.  German news agency dpa says the accident happened when Orban was on his way to Stuttgart Airport

By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press The conservancy that oversees the SS United States has launched an urgent $500,000 fundraising campaign to help cover relocation expenses for the historic ship amid its uncertain future. The 1,000-foot ocean liner, which still holds the transatlantic speed record it set more than 70 years ago, must leave its berth

By BARBARA SURK Associated Press NICE, France (AP) — A pro-independence movement in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia is demanding the “release and immediate return” of the Indigenous Kanak leader who was flown more than 10,000 miles to mainland France for pretrial detention. Christian Tein and six other Kanak activists are now awaiting

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The defense has rested its case in the murder trial of a Massachusetts woman accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowbank. Karen Read is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Officer John

LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden has denounced violence that flared when opponents of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza staged a protest at a Los Angeles synagogue during the weekend. Fighting between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counterprotesters erupted Sunday outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood and police were called in