AP National News

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer DETROIT (AP) — Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades. The Bears selected Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night after deciding weeks ago to bank on the 2022

NEW YORK (AP) — A change in the court schedule means Donald Trump won’t be forced off the campaign trail next week to attend a hearing in his hush money criminal trial. Judge Juan M. Merchan moved a hearing on the former president’s alleged gag order violations to next Thursday, avoiding a conflict with his

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California’s decision Thursday to cancel its main graduation ceremony, a move that came 10 days after administrators said the student valedictorian who had expressed support for Palestinians would not be allowed to speak, left students and alumni stunned as protests over the

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has set a July 18 execution date for a man convicted in the 1998 shooting death of a delivery driver who had stopped at an ATM. The state’s governor announced the lethal injection date Thursday for 64-year-old Keith Edmund Gavin. Gavin was convicted of capital murder for the fatal shooting

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer DETROIT (AP) — Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades. The Bears selected Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night after deciding weeks ago to bank on the 2022

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The head of Mexico’s detective service has apologized for saying his country is “the champion” of fentanyl and meth production. The comments Tuesday appeared to contradict past statements by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has denied any fentanyl is produced in Mexico. The office of Felipe de Jesus Gallo, the

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers advanced legislation that could see librarians prosecuted for providing “harmful” materials or programs to minors. The Alabama bill removes the existing exemption for public libraries in the state’s obscenity law. It also expands the definition of prohibited sexual conduct to include any “sexual or

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is expected to announce Friday that it will provide about $6 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said, adding that it will include much sought after munitions for Patriot air defense systems. The officials said the aid package will be funded

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A transitional council tasked with bringing political stability to Haiti has been installed in the capital of Haiti, a nation marred by gang violence and soaring hunger and poverty. The freshly sworn-in council will appoint a new prime minister and Cabinet, and create a road map to eventually hold long-awaited general

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti opened a new political chapter Thursday with the installation of a transitional council tasked to pick a new prime minister and prepare for eventual presidential elections, in hopes of quelling spiraling gang violence that has killed thousands in the Caribbean country. Ariel Henry, the prime

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s GOP-controlled General Assembly has adjourned for the year, concluding months of tense political infighting that ultimately doomed Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s universal school voucher push. But the session also ended Thursday with outrage from Democrats and gun control advocates over the last minute approval of

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine has sidelined U.S.-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now in its fight against Russia, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press. The U.S. agreed

By JIM SALTER Associated Press A body found in a northwest Iowa field has been identified as that of a missing truck driver, discovered not far from where his abandoned rig was found on an isolated highway just before Thanksgiving. But details of his death remain a mystery. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Montana law that appeared to require people to cancel previous voter registrations before signing up to vote, or risk facing felony charges. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris said Wednesday that he agreed with the plaintiffs that the law

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Republican attorneys general from 17 states filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging new federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions, calling the rules an illegal interpretation of a 2022 federal law. The lawsuit led by Tennessee and Arkansas comes since finalized

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas mortuary worker has pleaded guilty to charges that she sold 24 boxes of stolen body parts from medical school cadavers to a Pennsylvania man. Candace Chapman Scott changed her plea on Thursday in federal court to guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and

By STEVE LeBLANC and NICK PERRY Associated Press The University of Southern California canceled its main graduation ceremony and dozens more college students were arrested at other campuses nationwide Thursday as protests against the Israel-Hamas war continued to spread. College officials across the U.S. are worried the ongoing protests could disrupt plans for commencement ceremonies

By MARIA VERZA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City prosecutors are seeking to downplay the case of a suspected serial killer who kept women’s bones and a saw in his room. The city’s head prosecutor said the remains linked to only six women were found in the suspect’s rented room, “not 20 as

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump on Thursday claimed a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia was “nothing” compared to the college campus protests that have sparked around the country over the Israel-Hamas war. Trump’s comments mark an attempt to downplay one of his biggest electoral vulnerabilities — his history

By LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city’s port. The Balsa 94, a bulk carrier sailing under