AP Top News at 12:15 a.m. EDT

Severe storms kill at least 4 in Houston, knock out power to 850,000 homes and businesses

HOUSTON (AP) — Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 850,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Officials urged residents to keep off roads, as many were impassable and traffic lights were expected to be out for much of the night. “Stay at home tonight, do not go to work tomorrow, unless you’re an essential worker. Stay home, take care of your children,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in an evening briefing. “Our first responders will be working around the clock.” The mayor said four people died.

Israel will respond to genocide charges at UN court after South Africa urgently requests cease-fire

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Israel will respond to charges of genocide at the United Nations’ top court on Friday, after South Africa filed an urgent request with the court to order a cease-fire in Gaza. It’s the third time that the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, has held hearings on the Israel-Hamas war since South Africa filed proceedings at The Hague-based court in December.. On Thursday, South Africa told the court that the situation in Gaza has reached “a new and horrific stage,” and urged the 15 judges to take urgent action. Israel must “totally and unconditionally withdraw” from the Gaza Strip, said Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands.

Taiwan is selling more to the US than China in major shift away from Beijing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether it’s tapioca balls or computer chips, Taiwan is stretching toward the United States and away from China — the world’s No. 2 economy that threatens to take the democratically ruled island by force if necessary. That has translated to the world’s biggest maker of computer chips — which power everything from medical equipment to cellphones — announcing bigger investments in the U.S. last month after a boost from the Biden administration. Soon afterward, a Taiwanese semiconductor company said it was ending its two-decade-long run in mainland China amid a global race to gain the edge in the high-tech industry.

Funeral set for Roger Fortson, the Black U.S. Air Force member killed in his home by Florida deputy

STONECREST, Ga. (AP) — A funeral will be held Friday for a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman who was shot and killed in his Florida home by a sheriff’s deputy, a day after the decorated military member’s mother vowed during an emotional news conference to get justice for her son. Roger Fortson’s service is scheduled to be held at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in the Atlanta suburb of Stonecrest. He grew up in the area before joining the Air Force. The 23-year-old was a senior airman who served in overseas combat zones and was stationed at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle when he was shot to death by the deputy responding to a domestic violence call.

Mexico’s cartel violence haunts civilians in the lead-up to June elections

HUITZILAC, Mexico (AP) — Tailed by trucks of heavily armed soldiers, four caskets floated on a sea of hundreds of mourners. Neighbors peered nervously from their homes as the crowd pushed past shuttered businesses, empty streets and political campaign posters plastering the small Mexican town of Huitzilac. Days earlier, armed men in two cars sprayed a nearby shop with bullets, claiming the lives of eight men who locals say were sipping beers after a soccer match. Now, fear paints the day-to-day lives of residents who say the town is trapped unwillingly in the middle of a firefight between warring mafias.

Vatican updates norms to authenticate visions of Mary, weeping statues and stigmata

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Catholic Church has a long and controversial history of the faithful claiming to have had visions of the Virgin Mary, of statues that purportedly wept blood tears and stigmata that erupted on hands mimicking the wounds of Christ. On Friday, the Vatican will announce new norms to help determine whether and when these seemingly supernatural events are authentic. It’s stepping in amid a boom in claims and concern that apocalyptic prophesies are spreading online faster than ever before, causing confusion among the faithful. When confirmed as authentic by church authorities, these otherwise inexplicable divine signs can lead to a flourishing of the faith, with new religious vocations and conversions.

What to know about how much the aid from a US pier project will help Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S.-built pier is in place to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, but no one will know if the new route will work until a steady stream of deliveries begins reaching starving Palestinians. The trucks that will roll off the pier project installed Thursday will face intensified fighting, Hamas threats to target any foreign forces and uncertainty about whether the Israeli military will ensure that aid convoys have access and safety from attack by Israeli forces. Even if the sea route performs as hoped, U.S, U.N. and aid officials caution, it will bring in a fraction of the aid that’s needed to the embattled enclave.

House Republicans ditch their day jobs to stand with Trump, while legislating languishes

Leaving Washington behind, prominent far-right House Republicans who have repeatedly thrown this Congress into chaos showed up Thursday at Donald Trump’s hush money trial to do what they do best. They stood outside Trump Tower filming their support for the indicted former president. They filed into the Manhattan courthouse “standing back and standing by,” as Rep. Matt Gaetz put it — invoking Trump’s call to the extremist Proud Boys. They were admonished to put down their cell phones. And the House Republicans commandeered the spotlight — much like House Speaker Mike Johnson did earlier in the week — to rant against what they called the “kangaroo court” and the “political persecution” of Trump, as their day jobs waited for their return.

GOP advances Garland contempt charges after White House exerts executive privilege over Biden audio

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two House committees moved ahead Thursday with contempt charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland for refusing to turn over audio from President Joe Biden’s interview with a special counsel, advancing the matter after the White House’s decision to block the release of the recording earlier in the day. In back-to-back hearings that nearly spilled into early Friday, the House Judiciary and Oversight and Accountability committees voted along party lines to advance an effort to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for not turning over the records. But the timing of any action by the full House, and the willingness of the U.S.

Texas governor pardons ex-Army sergeant convicted of killing Black Lives Matter protester

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a full pardon Thursday for a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice. Abbott announced the pardon shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles announced a unanimous recommendation that Daniel Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored. Perry had been in state prison on a 25-year sentence since his 2023 conviction in the killing of Garrett Foster, and was released shortly after the pardon, a prison spokeswoman said. Perry, who is white, was working as a ride-share driver when his car approached a demonstration in Austin.