AP National News

Associated Press President Joe Biden hosted a formal ceremony Wednesday to publicly celebrate his executive order establishing an initiative to increase funding for Hispanic-serving institutions. Signed over the summer, the order also created a board of advisors on HSIs, which are not-for-profit schools with a full-time equivalent undergraduate student enrollment that is at least a

Associated Press MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — A second person has pleaded guilty to helping run a high-end brothel network whose clients around Boston and Washington D.C. Prosecutors say clients included elected officials, military officers, professors and lawyers. They say Junmyung Lee of Dedham, Massachusetts served primarily as the booking agent for the prostitution network. He

Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The national and state Republican parties are appealing a Pennsylvania court ruling that would relax the rules for mail ballots. The GOP filed an emergency request on Thursday that asks the state Supreme Court to put on hold a lower-court ruling that says the envelopes voters use to send

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI is launching a ChatGPT-powered search engine that could put the artificial intelligence company in direct competition with search giant Google and affect the flow of internet traffic seeking news and other timely information. San Francisco-based OpenAI said Thursday it is releasing a search feature to paid users of ChatGPT but

AP Sports Writer University of Montana track athlete Lily Meskers drew attention when she rejected a NIL deal to support Democrat Jon Tester in his Senate re-election bid because she doesn’t agree with his votes on transgender athletes. She’s the rare college athlete to speak out on politics. Many are concerned about risking potential name,

Associated Press/Report for America TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A school board candidate who lost his race in a county south of Jacksonville will get a seat on the board anyway, after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped him to fill a vacancy. Derek Barrs will take an open seat on the Flagler County School Board in

Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Prosecutors in Finland have filed charges over alleged war crimes in 2014 by a combatant who fought against Ukrainian forces in a Russian-backed separatist region of Ukraine.The National Prosecution Authority did not identify the suspect while announcing the five charges Thursday in a statement, but Finnish media outlets as Russian

Associated Press SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A high-ranking elected official in Southern California’s Orange County has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in a far-reaching scheme that misused COVID-19 relief funds that should have been used to feed the elderly. Andrew Do, a county supervisor who recently resigned his post, entered the plea

AP Film Writer It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make “Blitz.” As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. But this image was of a Black boy being evacuated and he wanted

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s anti-terrorist squad is investigating a strong explosion that wrecked an Athens apartment, killing one man and severely injuring a woman. Police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou says the identity of the victim is unknown, and that the injured woman was not in a position to help authorities due to the gravity of

Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to stop the execution of South Carolina inmate Richard Moore. There were no dissents in the brief order issued by the high court. Moore, who is Black, asked for his execution to be stopped because he is the only person on South Carolina

Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — After a nearly yearlong vacuum, Iraq’s Parliament has elected a new speaker, selecting a prominent Sunni lawmaker who has a close relationship with Iran. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who served a previous stint as speaker from 2006 to 2009, was elected by a vote of 182 of the 269 legislators who attended

Associated Press A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid. Mark Longo says at least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation seized the squirrel from his upstate

AP Medical Writer Some people who took a new schizophrenia drug for one year improved with only a few side effects, but many dropped out of the research. That’s according to company-sponsored studies reported Thursday. Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that can cause people to hear voices, feel paranoid and withdraw from others. Bristol

UNIVERSITY PARK, Md. (AP) — A former mayor of University Park was charged with 28 counts related to child sexual abuse material after authorities searched his home Monday, according to local news reports. The Baltimore Sun reports that the investigation by state and federal authorities began while Joel Biermann was still serving as mayor of

Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police have conducted raids in six states targeting a criminal group suspected of smuggling migrants to the United States. According to police, the group lured Asian migrants, primarily from Bangladesh and Nepal, to Sao Paulo International Airport. From there, the suspects led them on dangerous routes to