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WASHINGTON (AP) — The same scene played out at campuses across the country. Charlie Kirk would grab a microphone, take a seat under a canopy — often in busy campus hubs — and invite debate from anyone who came along. His prompt: "Prove me wrong." Kirk's open and engaging approach veered from the well-worn tracks of provocateurs who rile audiences in campus lecture halls. It made him a phenomenon, attracting hundreds who crowded around his tent as challengers sparred with one of the nation's most influential conservatives. It also made him v...
It sounded like freedom, like a world of possibility beyond the orphanage walls. Maria Pires was getting adopted. At 11 years old, she saw herself escaping the chaos and violence of the Sao Paulo orphanage, where she'd been sexually assaulted by a staff member. She saw herself leaving Brazil for America, trading abandonment for belonging. A single man in his 40s, Floyd Sykes III, came to Sao Paulo to meet her. He signed some paperwork and brought Maria home. She arrived in the suburbs of Baltimore in the summer of 1989, a little girl with a...
SEATTLE (AP) — Lawyers are demanding the release of a longtime Oregon resident arrested by Border Patrol while fighting a Washington state wildfire, saying Friday that the firefighter was already on track for legal status after helping federal investigators solve a crime against his family. His arrest was illegal, the lawyers said, and violated Department of Homeland Security polices that say immigration enforcement must not be conducted at locations where emergency responses are happening. He is one of two firefighters arrested this week w...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Moments after rifle blasts reverberated inside a Minneapolis church, Catholic school children wearing plaid jumpers and green polo shirts ducked into pews, some jumping atop friends to protect them from the carnage. One girl, Lydia Kaiser, was struck shielding her "little buddy" while her father, the school's gym teacher, helped usher children to safety and reunite them with their parents, according to a family friend organizing fundraising for the family. A 13-year-old boy named Endre, who was shot twice and rushed into s...
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Israel Peter was 6 years old when Boko Haram Islamic extremists attacked his village in northeastern Nigeria and his family fled. Eight years later, he still hasn't returned to school. A rare opportunity to change that disappeared this year, when a nonprofit offering free education to Boko Haram victims rejected Peter's application. It cited the abrupt loss of U.S. funding as the Trump administration dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development. Multiple backers of the school had received USAID funding. "...
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A firefighter died after suffering a cardiac emergency while battling a wildfire in southwest Montana. The firefighter was conducting suppression work on the ground, and a paramedic gave him medical aid, authorities said. However, attempts to resuscitate him failed, and he died Sunday afternoon. The man, who was not immediately identified, was among more than 700 firefighters working on the lightning-caused fire in the Tobacco Root Mountains about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Virginia City, Montana. Gov. Greg G...
When floodwaters rushed through a girl's summer camp nestled in the Texas Hill Country, Michael McCown's 8-year-old daughter was among 27 campers and counselors swept to their deaths. On Wednesday, McCown joined other Camp Mystic parents, some wearing buttons memorializing "Heaven's 27," in demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety, including generally keeping cabins out of flood plains, instituting new requirements for emergency plans and mandating weather radios. "It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man fleeing immigration authorities outside a Home Depot store in Southern California was struck and killed by an SUV when he ran across a nearby freeway, officials said. Police in the city of Monrovia about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles received a call Thursday about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A responding officer saw ICE agents approaching the store and conducting enforcement activity there, City Manager Dylan Feik said in a statement. One man fled on foot and head...
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — One after the other, the opportunities vanished. Like so many other Afghan women, Sodaba could do little but watch as her country's new Taliban government imposed a stranglehold on women's lives. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, and quickly set about implementing a dizzying array of restrictions for women: No visiting parks or gyms, no eating in restaurants, no working, except in very few professions. But one of the cruelest blows for the pharmacology student was the ban on education beyond primary scho...
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by President Donald Trump last year as he pitched voters on his plans for an immigration crackdown is now bracing to defend the community against possible deportation. A group of about 100 community members, clergy and Haitian leaders in Springfield, Ohio, gathered this week for several days of training sessions as they prepare to defend potential deportees and provide them refuge. "We feel that this is something that our faith requires, that people of faith are typica...
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — A mother pressed a final kiss to what remained of her 5-month-old daughter and wept. Esraa Abu Halib's baby now weighed less than when she was born. On a sunny street in shattered Gaza, the bundle containing Zainab Abu Halib represented the latest death from starvation after 21 months of war and Israeli restrictions on aid. The baby was brought to the pediatric department of Nasser Hospital on Friday. She was already dead. A worker at the morgue carefully removed her Mickey Mouse-printed shirt, pulling it over h...
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nearly 40 people were killed Sunday in eastern Congo's Ituri province when rebels stormed a Catholic church during a vigil and opened fire on worshipers, including many women and children. At least 38 people were confirmed dead in the church while another five were killed in a nearby village. The victims included 19 men, 15 women and nine children. The attacks in Komanda town in the conflict-battered region were carried out by the Allied Democratic Force, a rebel group backed by the Islamic State that has mostly t...
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops opened fire Saturday toward crowds of Palestinians seeking food from distribution hubs run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people, according to witnesses and hospital officials. The shootings occurred near hubs operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which launched operations in May. The U.S. and Israel seek to replace the traditional U.N.-led aid distribution system in Gaza, asserting that Hamas militants siphon off supplies. The U.N. denies the a...
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Just three people remain missing — down from nearly 100 at last count — since the Texas Hill Country was pounded by massive flooding on July 4, officials said Saturday. Officials praised rescuers for the sharp reduction in the number of people on the missing list: Just days after the catastrophic flooding, more than 160 people were said to be unaccounted for in Kerr County alone. "This remarkable progress reflects countless hours of coordinated search and rescue operations, careful investigative work, and an unwavering c...
Two eight-year-old sisters from Dallas who had just completed 2nd grade. A beloved soccer coach and teacher. An Alabama elementary student away from home. These are a few of the dozens of victims lost in devastating flooding in Texas. The flooding in central Texas originated from the fast-moving waters on the Guadalupe River on Friday, killing at least 89 people. Authorities say search and rescue efforts are still underway, including for campers missing from a summer camp for girls. Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence were...
BLUE BELL, Pa. (AP) — Throughout his remarkable lifetime, the Rev. James Kelly has baptized thousands of people, married thousands more, ministered to the sick in hospitals, and traveled the world extensively. He became friends with an opera superstar and, yes, even with a saint. The longest-serving priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of his ordination and his 100th birthday. He's grateful to have reached these milestones, but nearly didn't after experiencing a health challenge last year that r...
LONDON (AP) — As the sun rose Saturday on the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, a crowd erupted in cheers at Stonehenge where the ancient monument in southern England has clocked the summer solstice over thousands of years. The orange ball crested the northeast horizon behind the Heel Stone, the entrance to the stone circle, and shone its beam of light into the center of one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments. The solstice is one of the few occasions each year when visitors are allowed to walk among the s...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — At 4-foot-11, Kristin Chenoweth is still making it to the NBA Finals. The award-winning actress, singer, Oklahoma native, Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee and unabashed Thunder fan is performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Game 7 of the title series between the Thunder and the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night, the NBA announced. Chenoweth's performance will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern, shortly before tipoff of the season's final game. She teased the appearance on social media Saturday, revealing — while wearing Thu...
Juneteenth may mark the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they had been freed, but thousands of people in Oklahoma are still fighting for full citizenship in the tribal nations that once held their ancestors in bondage. Several tribes practiced slavery, and five in Oklahoma — The Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogee nations — signed reconstruction treaties with the U.S. in 1866 abolishing it three years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. They granted the formerly ens...
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Pope Leo XIV hasn't forgotten his responsibilities as a Peruvian citizen: He updated his national registration information Friday with his new Vatican address and a headshot. Peru's national registry agency said in a statement that the pope updated his information as part of the South American country's efforts to keep track of Peruvian citizens around the world. Leo was born in the United States but received Peruvian citizenship a decade ago. Four Peruvian officials met the pope at the Vatican headquarters and collected h...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. "We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of t...
Sunday afternoon's attack in Boulder, Colorado, took place hours before the start of a major Jewish festival, Shavuot. Authorities say a man threw two incendiary devices into a group holding one of its regular rallies in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Gaza. Twelve people were injured and the FBI described the violence as a "targeted terror attack." What is Shavuot? Shavuot (pronounced Shah-voo-OTE), Hebrew for "weeks," has been observed since biblical times. It marks the passing of seven weeks (49 days) from the holiday of Passover, with...
Sarah Milgrim, one of two Israeli Embassy staffers fatally shot last week in an apparently politically motivated ambush in Washington, D.C., was remembered Tuesday during a private funeral in the Kansas community where she grew up. Milgrim, a 26-year-old from the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas, was leaving a reception for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum alongside 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky on May 21 when they were shot to death. A suspect, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, was arrested and shouted "Free Palestine" as...
NEW YORK (AP) — Detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was allowed to hold his 1-month-old son for the first time Thursday after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a plexiglass barrier. The visit came ahead of a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since March 8. Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on p...
HONOLULU (AP) — An Oregon man who quit his job at a tire company and liquidated his retirement savings to set sail for Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix, reached his destination Saturday, welcomed by cheering fans at the end of a weekslong journey that he documented for his mass of followers on social media. Oliver Widger, who also was greeted by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green at the Waikiki Yacht Club on Oahu, acknowledged he was nervous facing the crowd, which included reporters. Widger said he was feeling "really weird" — not seasick, but, "I just feel l...
