AP National News

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s photo voter identification law is going to trial. The trial starting Monday begins more than five years after the NAACP sued over the voter ID law enacted by the Republican-dominated General Assembly. The litigation and similar state lawsuits delayed

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and BRIAN SLODYSKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are returning to a strategy they hope could neutralize their Democratic rivals’ financial edge: Find rich people to run. But wealthy candidates running in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin present a fresh set of challenges. One is hoping to recoup his own

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press World shares were mostly higher on Monday after Wall Street ended last week with the market’s best day in more than two months in a rally backed by cooler-than-expected U.S. employment data. European markets started the day with gains. Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% higher to 18,021.85 and the CAC 40

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — China’s President Xi Jinping arrived at the French presidential palace on Monday for a two-day state visit that is expected to focus both on trade disputes and diplomatic efforts to convince Beijing to use its influence to move Russia toward ending the war in Ukraine. In Paris,

By EDOUARD TAKADJI Associated Press N’DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Voters in Chad have headed to the polls on Monday to cast their ballot in a long delayed presidential election that is set to end three years of military rule under interim president, Mahamat Deby Itno. Deby Itno seized power after his father, who ran the

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer Brittney Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago. Life isn’t what it once was for the perennial WNBA All-Star. The 6-foot-8 center looks different and has different priorities. Gone are her familiar dreadlocks that couldn’t be

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government has protested to Beijing through multiple channels that a Chinese fighter jet endangered an Australian navy helicopter with flares over international waters. Officials say the incident occurred Saturday as the Australian air warfare destroyer HMAS Hobart was enforcing

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s King Frederik X has arrived in Stockholm with his Australian-born wife Queen Mary, as they begin their first official visit abroad as new Danish monarchs. On Monday, Frederik and Mary were greeted by Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, and by Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, the Scandinavian country’s longest-sitting

By SAM MEDNICK, JOSEF FEDERMAN and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli army ordered some 100,000 Palestinians on Monday to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent and further complicating efforts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza. The looming operation in

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer With some help from artificial intelligence, country music star Randy Travis, celebrated for his timeless hits like “Forever and Ever, Amen” and “I Told You So,” has his voice back. In July 2013, Travis was hospitalized with viral cardiomyopathy, a virus that attacks the heart, and later suffered a

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The head of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog has traveled to Iran where his agency faces increasing difficulty in monitoring the Islamic Republic’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. Rafael Mariano Grossi already has warned Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if

By The Associated Press Israel’s military has ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to begin evacuating, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion could be imminent. The announcement on Monday complicated last-ditch efforts by international mediators to broker a cease-fire. Hamas and Qatar, a key mediator, have warned that

By The Associated Press Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine and Moscow warned that tensions with the West are deepening. The drills are in response to “provocative

By SAM MEDNICK, JOSEF FEDERMAN and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, along the border with Egypt, to start evacuating from the area, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press BRETTEVILLE-L’ORGUEILLEUSE, France (AP) — On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic who was ready to give his life — and save as many as he could. Now 99, he’s spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he’s about to take part in

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — When Arkansas lawmakers decided five years ago to replace the statues representing the state at the U.S. Capitol, there was little objection to getting rid of the existing sculptures. The statues that had stood there for more than 100 years were obscure figures in the

By SAM MEDNICK and JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to begin evacuating, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion could be imminent. The announcement complicated last-ditch efforts by international mediators, including the director of the CIA,

By JUSTIN SPIKE and JOVANA GEC Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will spend most of his five-day tour in Europe this week in two small countries at the continent’s eastern half. It’s a region Beijing has used as a foothold for its expanding economic ambitions in Europe. Xi first stops