Mexican president blames the US for bloodshed in Sinaloa as cartel violence surges

CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the United States in part on Thursday for the surge in cartel violence terrorizing the northern state of Sinaloa which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week. Two warring factions of the...

Kentucky sheriff charged in killing of judge at courthouse

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder in the slaying, police said. The preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District...

Takeaways from AP’s story on the role of the West in widespread fraud with South Korean adoptions

Western governments eagerly approved and even pushed for the adoption of South Korean children for decades, despite evidence that adoption agencies were aggressively competing for kids, pressuring mothers and bribing hospitals, an investigation led by The Associated Press has found. ...

South Carolina prepares for first execution in 13 years

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina is set to execute its first inmate in 13 years after an unintended pause because the state could not obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections. Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is scheduled to die just after 6 p.m. Friday at a Columbia prison. He...

Trial of man who killed 10 at Colorado supermarket turns to closing arguments

DENVER (AP) — Lawyers are set to deliver closing arguments Friday in the trial of a mentally ill man who fatally shot 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021. Ahmad Alissa, who has schizophrenia, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the attack at the store in the...

Senator's son to appear in court to change plea in North Dakota deputy's crash death

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The adult son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer is scheduled to change his plea on Friday in connection with a fatal crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff's deputy last year. Ian Cramer, 43, was charged with homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing...

Pro-Palestinian protestor wearing keffiyeh charged with violating New York county’s face mask ban

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) — A pro-Palestinian protestor wearing a keffiyeh scarf has been charged with violating a suburban New York City county’s new law banning face masks in public, reviving fears from opponents that the statute is being used to diminish free speech rights. ...

Kentucky sheriff charged with murder of judge who was fatally shot in his courthouse chambers

South Carolina Supreme Court rejects claim inmate didn't kill clerk and refuses to stop execution

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has again refused to stop the execution of inmate Freddie Owens who is set to die Friday by lethal injection. The justices ruled Thursday that a sworn statement from a friend whose testimony helped convict Owens and who now...

Police say 1 person has been killed and another seriously wounded in a stabbing in Rotterdam

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — One person was killed and another seriously wounded in a stabbing incident late Thursday in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, police said. Police arrested a suspect who was also injured. Police spokesman Wessel Stolle said officers were investigating...