Associated Press stories, Page 35

PHOENIX — School shootings are a “fact of life,” so the United States needs to harden security to prevent more carnage like the shooting this week that left four dead in Georgia, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Thursday. “If these psychos are going to go after our kids...

RALEIGH — A North Carolina judge refused to take Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name off presidential ballots in the battleground state on Thursday, a day before the first batches of November absentee ballots are slated to be sent to registered voters who requested them. Wake County Superior Court Judge Rebecca...

HARRISBURG — A court decided Thursday that voters in the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania can cast provisional ballots in place of mail-in ballots that are rejected for a garden-variety mistake they made when they returned it. Democrats typically outvote Republicans by mail by about 3-to-1 in Pennsylvania, and the decision...

The funeral for John and Matthew Gaudreau has been scheduled for Monday at a church in suburban Philadelphia while the driver charged with killing them remains in jail awaiting his next court appearance. The memorial service for the Gaudreau brothers is set to take place at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic...

SAO PAULO — Sao Paulo state’s government said it will deploy hundreds of police officers and provide escorts for team buses for Friday’s NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers after some players expressed concern about playing in Brazil. Security operations for the game in Sao...

RIO DE JANEIRO — As billionaire Elon Musk’s clash with a Brazilian Supreme Court justice came to a head last week, there were legal twists, insults, ultimatums, defiance and then, finally, capitulation. When the digital dust settled, X had become an ex. Musk’s social media platform was banned nationwide and...

AURORA, Colo. — Police in the Denver suburb of Aurora say a Venezuela street gang with a small presence in the city has not taken over a rundown apartment complex — yet the allegation continues to gain steam among conservatives and was amplified by former President Donald Trump in a...

AVIGNON, France — A woman who was allegedly drugged by her now ex-husband so that she could be raped by other men while she was unconscious testified Thursday that her world collapsed when police uncovered the years of alleged abuse. Speaking in a calm and clear voice, Gisèle Pélicot detailed...

LONDON — Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein won’t face charges of indecent assault in Britain, prosecutors announced on Thursday. The Crown Prosecution Service, which in 2022 authorized two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein, said it decided to discontinue proceedings because there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”...

The Biden administration says it is examining the four largest U.S. airline frequent-flyer programs and how they devalue points that consumers have earned and frequently change the number of points or miles needed to book flights. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote to the CEOs of American, Delta, Southwest and United...

BEIJING — The Chinese government is ending its intercountry adoption program, and the U.S. is seeking clarification on how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications. In a phone call with U.S. diplomats in China, Beijing said it “will not continue to process cases at any...

NAIROBI, Kenya — Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died at a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated after 80% of her body was burned in an attack by her partner. She was 33. Kenya’s sports minister said authorities must do more to combat gender-based violence. A spokesperson at...

A judge in California on Thursday was scheduled to weigh preliminary approval of a $2.78 billion settlement of three antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA and major conferences, the first step of a lengthy process that could lead to college athletes getting a cut of the billions in television revenue that...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A woman who was severely injured when a gunman killed five girls and wounded her and four other girls during an attack on their one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania has died 18 years later, a funeral director said Thursday. Rosanna S. King, 23, died at her home...

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — A 13-foot (4-meter) Burmese python was confiscated from an upstate New York man who was keeping the still-growing snake in a small tank, authorities said. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said it got a complaint about an illegally owned snake in New Hartford on Aug....

The latest mass killing in the U.S. happened Wednesday in Winder, Georgia, where four people were fatally shot at Apalachee High School. Students ran for safety in the football stadium. While officers swarmed the campus near Atlanta, parents raced to find out if their children were safe. It was the...

LOS ANGELES — Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges Thursday in a surprise move that spares President Joe Biden and his family another likely embarrassing and painful criminal trial of the president’s son. Hunter Biden’s stunning decision to guilty plea to misdemeanor and felony charges without the benefits...

Verizon is buying Frontier Communications in a $20 billion deal to strengthen its fiber network. Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday that the acquisition will also shore up its foray into artificial intelligence as well as connected smart devices. Frontier has concentrated heavily on its fiber network capabilities over about four...

WASHINGTON — The second general election debate of the 2024 campaign season is here, but it’s the first matchup for the current nominees. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are taking part in Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia. After a disastrous performance in the first general election...

NEW YORK — Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will debate for the first — and perhaps, last — time on Tuesday night as the presidential candidates fight to sway voters on the biggest stage in U.S. politics. The meeting comes just 75 days after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance...

DALLAS — Newly emerged film footage of President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade speeding down a Dallas freeway toward a hospital after he was fatally wounded will go up for auction later this month. Experts say the find isn’t necessarily surprising even over 60 years after the assassination. “These images, these...

NEW YORK — A small asteroid discovered on Wednesday harmlessly burned up in Earth’s atmosphere the same day, NASA said. The asteroid — about 3 feet (1 meter) across — was spotted by astronomers in Arizona and broke apart over the coast of the Philippines hours after the discovery. This...