The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A divided federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that an aerial surveillance program used as a crime-fighting tool by the Baltimore Police Department was unconstitutional and said police must stop using any data obtained through the now-defunct program. In its ruling, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina government budget proposal heavy on capital projects, saving reserves and tax cuts and distributes over $5 billion in federal COVID-19 aid received preliminary approval on Thursday from the state Senate. The GOP-controlled chamber voted 32-18 for the two-year plan, which would spend $25.7...

THE GOAL: Creating an outdoor space perfect for working from home or rocking your creative side hustle. THE ESTIMATED BUDGET: As little as $150. Millions of people found themselves working from home during the past year. And many are likely to continue doing so this summer and beyond, even as pandemic restrictions ease.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials offered new promises Thursday that Haiti would soon receive its first vaccine as the country of more than 11 million people reels from a spike in coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths that have saturated hospitals. Speaking during an online meeting, Margherita Ghiselli with...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Two former officials with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department are suing the state under whistleblower protection laws. Deborah and Cliff Gilmore announced the lawsuit Thursday after filling it with a state district court earlier this week. The couple moved to New Mexico last year to take high-ranking posts; she led the Office of Children’s Rights and he was the top press officer.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Emergency departments and inpatient medical personnel rarely conducted HIV testing on intravenous drug users in a West Virginia county with one of the nation’s highest spikes in such cases, according to a federal investigation released Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented the preliminary...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Executives with NBCUniversal celebrated the opening of a new production facility in New Mexico on Thursday, as state and local officials touted efforts by the film and television industry to find ways to work through the challenges that stemmed from the coronavirus pandemic. The executives were...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of child care providers in California marched and chanted Thursday outside the state Capitol demanding higher wages, a topic that appears to be the final sticking point in budget negotiations between lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. “We are essential workers and it’s about time...

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two men who shot and killed a Lincoln woman with her children nearby were sentenced Thursday to life in prison. Tawhyne Patterson Sr., 28, and Damon Williams, 29, were convicted in February of killing Jessica Brandon, 36, at her Lincoln home on July 31, 2018. Prosecutors...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — It hasn’t been a good week for Mexico’s colonial-era architecture. T. The government said Thursday that a truck driver with an over-sized load had bashed through part of an archway of a centuries-old colonial aqueduct south of Mexico City. And last Friday, heavy rains caused part of the facade of a centuries-old church to collapse in the Yucatan peninsula.

1. “The President’s Daughter” by James Patterson, Bill Clinton (Little, Brown) 2. “The Maidens” by Alex Michaelides (Celadon Books) 3. “The Last Thing He Told Me” by Laura Dave (Simon & Schuster) 4. “Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine) 5. “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens (Putnam) 6....

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Officials in Kenosha, Wisconsin, have denied a claim for damages from Jacob Blake Jr., the Black man who was paralyzed when he was shot by a white police officer last summer. Blake sought damages for medical expenses, lost wages and “pain and suffering and disfigurement,” according...

BERLIN (AP) — Around 275 million people used drugs worldwide last year, while over 36 million people suffered from drug use disorders, according to the World Drug Report released Thursday by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna. The report also said many countries saw a rise in...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis judge said Thursday that he’ll decide by the end of next week whether to allow the special prosecutor to withdraw from the perjury and evidence tampering case against William Don Tisaby, a former FBI agent hired by St. Louis’ top prosecutor to investigate former Gov. Eric Greitens.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama health regulators have permanently revoked the medical license of a Birmingham-area doctor arrested last year for voyeurism. The Alabama Medical Licensure Commission announced the disciplinary move Thursday against Paul D. Roller, who was arrested in July 2020 on two counts of aggravated criminal surveillance for “allegedly observing or attempting to observe one or more women in their homes without their consent.”

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana commission advanced Thursday proposed rules that would allow the use of snares to hunt wolves and extend the wolf trapping season after the Republican-controlled Legislature passed laws earlier this year meant to reduce the state’s wolf population. But the lawmaker who sponsored the laws...

HARPER WOODS, Mich. (AP) — One of the oldest malls in the Detroit area will be demolished and replaced by warehouse and industrial space. Eastland Center in Harper Woods has been limping for years after losing major anchor tenants. NorthPoint Development LLC, based in Riverside, Missouri, said the site is close to Interstate 94 and ripe for development.

HARPER WOODS, Mich. (AP) — One of the oldest malls in the Detroit area will be demolished and replaced by warehouse and industrial space. Eastland Center in Harper Woods has been limping for years after losing major anchor tenants. NorthPoint Development LLC, based in Riverside, Missouri, said the site is close to Interstate 94 and ripe for development.

SEATTLE (AP) — A Nigerian information technology worker has been indicted on federal wire fraud and identity theft charges, after authorities said he and his co-conspirators filed false claims for pandemic-related unemployment benefits in 17 states. Chukwuemeka Onyegbula, using the name “Phillip Carter,” was linked to at least 253 fraudulent...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Estados Unidos proporcionará a Afganistán 3 millones de dosis de vacunas de Johnson & Johnson contra el COVID-19 para ayudar a Kabul a enfrentar un brote generado por la variante delta, informó el jueves la Casa Blanca. Karine Jean-Pierre, portavoz de la Casa Blanca, hizo el anuncio...