apnews.com

Attorneys for Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, filed an amended lawsuit challenging the proposed new execution method as a potential violation of the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They asked a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction to block the execution from going forward next year....

Israel’s Cabinet has approved a cease-fire deal with the Hamas militant group that would bring a temporary halt to a devastating war now in its seventh week. The Israeli government said that under the deal, Hamas is to free at least 50 of the roughly 240 hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip over a four-day period.

Millions of people worldwide don’t have clean water to drink, even though the United Nations deemed water a basic human right more than a decade ago. Yet, even as extreme heat dries up more aquifers and wells and leaves more people thirsty, luxury water has become fashionable among the world’s privileged, who uncap and taste...

A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Maryland’s handgun licensing law, finding that its requirements, which include submitting fingerprints for a background check and taking a four-hour firearms safety course, are unconstitutionally restrictive....

More than 100 handguns were stolen from a store in southwestern Michigan after the manager was held at gunpoint outside his home and forced to reveal how to turn off the alarm, authorities said Tuesday....

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slumped in October to their slowest pace in more than 13 years as surging mortgage rates and rising prices kept many prospective homebuyers on the sidelines....

Indiana is among at least 10 states that have enacted laws prohibiting or restricting students from using pronouns or names that don’t match their sex assigned at birth, a restriction that opponents say further marginalizes transgender and nonbinary students. Most of the laws were enacted this year and are part of a historic...

Entering contract talks with Detroit’s three automakers, Shawn Fain set lofty expectations for what he could gain for his union members — and delivered on many of them. He secured significant pay raises, improved benefits, the right to strike over plant closures and a raft of other concessions....

Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved an amendment to its civil code to allow same-sex marriage, with an expectation for the draft to be submitted to Parliament next month....

Archived at ghostarchive.org/archive/u4Vdd?wr=true

HINSDALE, N.H. (AP) — Geoffrey Holt was unassuming as the caretaker of a mobile home park in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, where he lived a simple, but curious life.

SAMTSE, Bhutan (AP) — Monsoon rains have finally passed and floods blocking the lone dirt road have retreated enough for a small truck to climb these Himalayan foothills to a gurgling spring. It spews water so fresh that people here call it nectar.

Michigan Democrats who have transformed gun laws in the state in the wake of multiple mass school shootings are now making it more difficult for individuals with convictions for misdemeanor domestic violence from gaining access to guns....

Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, confirmed that Yermokhin had arrived back in Ukraine and shared a photo of him with a Ukrainian flag. Yermak thanked UNICEF and Qatari negotiators for facilitating Yermokhin’s return....

Last year, Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing the deputy on Interstate 95. Body and dash camera video obtained by The Associated Press show the driver on his back as Aldridge punches him. Records indicate the deputy faced no disciplinary action....