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By AMY TAXIN Associated Press MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) — Leo Ortega started growing spiky blue agave plants on the arid hillsides around his Southern California home because his wife liked the way they looked. A decade later, his property is now dotted with thousands of what he and others hope is a promising new crop

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican police say gunmen on motorcycles fatally shot five men on the outskirts of the city of Puebla in an apparent dispute over stolen fuel. The Puebla police department says the five victims appeared to have been guarding two gas tanker trucks Saturday when the attack occurred. The department says the

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Victims of government-backed Native American boarding schools are expected to share their experiences Sunday as U.S. officials make a final stop in Montana on their yearlong tour to confront the institutions that regularly abused students to assimilate them into white society. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Taking a page from the “throw-the-bums-out” script in politics, Mainers will vote on whether to rid themselves of the state’s two biggest private electric utilities. The referendum on the November ballot is unprecedented. It would forcibly dismantle Central Maine Power and Versant Power and create a

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press U.S. regulators say they will review the use of a chemical found in almost every tire after a petition from West Coast Native American tribes that want it banned because it kills salmon as they return from the ocean to their natal streams to spawn. The Yurok tribe in California

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Thousands of villagers in the mountains of northwestern Nepal slept outdoors Saturday night in the bitter cold after an earthquake killed at least 157 people and damaged or destroyed most homes. Most of the houses in villages in Jajarkot district either collapsed or were severely damaged

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will protest a lack of transparency in China’s treatment of a detained Australian democracy blogger when meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing during a trade-focused state visit. Albanese saysd the detention of Yang Hengjun without conviction for almost

By LISSETTE ROMERO Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Thousands of people turned out Saturday to watch Mexico City’s Day of the Dead parade as costumed dancers, drummers and floats took a festive turn down the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard all the way to the historic colonial main square. There were marching bands disguised