AP National News

AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ highest court strongly reaffirmed Friday that the state constitution protects abortion access, striking down a ban on a common second-trimester procedure and laws regulating abortion providers more strictly than other health care providers. The pair of 5-1 decisions suggests that other restrictions — even ones decades on

Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that officials can place ballot drop boxes around their communities in this fall’s elections, overturning its own ruling two years ago limiting their use in the presidential swing state. The court limited the use of drop boxes in July 2022, ruling then that

LONDON (AP) — Brad Pitt’s movie about Formula 1 coming to cinemas next year will simply be called “F1,” the racing series said Friday. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is a co-producer of the project, which collected footage at F1 circuits around the world this year and last. Footage was taken at Silverstone — home

Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court says Republican legislators are improperly blocking conservation projects. The 6-1 ruling Friday marks a victory for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and environmentalists. Evers maintains that the GOP-run Joint Finance Committee has too much power to kill funding for initiatives. That includes University of Wisconsin employee

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell is mostly recovered from the brutal assaults he endured from Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. But not completely. His shoulder still has limited endurance and there are screws and a metal plate holding his right foot together after bone fusion surgery. Emotional

Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Nashville judge has ruled that the writings of the person who killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville last year cannot be released to the public. Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles ruled Thursday that The Covenant School children and parents hold

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A court in Romania’s capital has ruled that social media influencer Andrew Tate can leave Romania but must remain within the European Union as he awaits trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The Bucharest Tribunal’s decision Friday to allow

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer stepped through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday. When he did, he entered the alternate reality of a man

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP) — Authorities say shark attacks have disrupted Fourth of July celebrations at Texas’ South Padre Island. Two people were taken to the hospital with bites, at least one of them severe. City official Nikki Soto says police were called for the attack on the man who was severely bitten around

Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO leaders plan to pledge to keep pouring arms and ammunition into Ukraine at current levels for at least another year. U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will make the pledge at a summit in Washington next week. They hope to reassure war-ravaged Ukraine of ongoing support and show

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has its first change in government in 14 years after the Labour Party won a landslide victory early Friday in a general election that saw the Conservative Party suffer its biggest defeat ever. The new government faces huge challenges, including fixing the country’s sluggish economic and social malaise

Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The wife and lawyer of imprisoned Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza say he has been transferred to a prison hospital, where his attorneys have been unable to visit him since Thursday. The development comes as the Kremlin continues its unrelenting crackdown on dissent. Kara-Murza was convicted of treason last

Associated Press ROME (AP) — The Vatican on Friday excommunicated its former ambassador to Washington after finding him guilty of schism, an inevitable outcome for Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. The conservative had became one of Pope Francis ‘ most ardent critics and a symbol of the polarized Catholic Church in the United States and beyond.

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Rishi Sunak’s campaign to remain Britain’s prime minister showed a lack of political touch. The Conservative Party’s problems were grave before Friday’s resounding election defeat but missteps by Britain’s richest prime minister contributed to its defeat. Predecessors such as Tony Blair and Boris Johnson were more politically astute and able

Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis will preside over an interfaith meeting in a mosque in the world’s largest predominantly Muslim country during a four-nation Asian visit in September. The Vatican released the itinerary Friday for Francis’ Sept. 2-13 trip that will be the longest and most complicated foreign trip of his pontificate. He’ll

PARIS (AP) — Candidates in France’s pivotal and polarizing legislative elections were making their last pushes on Friday for the second and decisive round of voting after a three-week campaign marked by hate speech, verbal abuse and physical attacks. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said his ministry has registered 51 verbal and physical attacks against

Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — New fighting has broken out in northeastern Myanmar, bringing an end to a Chinese-brokered cease-fire and putting pressure on the military regime as it faces attacks from resistance forces on multiple fronts in the country’s civil war. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, one of three powerful militias that launched a