North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of suicides among U.S. military members and their families dipped slightly in 2022, compared with the previous year, as the Defense Department tries to build prevention and treatment programs to address what has been a steadily growing problem over the past decade, The Associated Press has learned.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor count for triggering a fire alarm as lawmakers scrambled to pass a funding bill before a government shutdown deadline.

He will pay a $1,000 fine and serve three months of probation, after which the false fire alarm charge is expected to be dismissed from his record under an agreement with prosecutors.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Thursday reaffirmed Donald Trump’s $10,000 fine over an out-of-court comment during Trump’s New York civil business fraud trial, a penalty the former president’s lawyers argued was unfair and unconstitutional.

Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump on Wednesday after finding that his comments to TV cameras outside the courtroom violated a limited gag order. It bars participants in the trial from commenting publicly on the judge’s staff.

WASHINGTON (AP) — All or most of a $267,000 loan obtained by Supreme CourtJustice Clarence Thomas to buy a high-end motorcoach appears to have been forgiven, raising tax and ethics questions, according to a new report by Senate Democrats.

Anthony “Tony” Welters, a longtime friend of Thomas who made the loan in 1999, forgave the debt after nine years of what he called interest-only payments, says the report, which was released Wednesday by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee.

(AP) --- The new leader of one of the chambers of Congress that will certify the winner of next year’s presidential election helped spearhead the attempt to overturn the last one, raising alarms that Republicans could try to subvert the will of the voters if they remain in power despite safeguards enacted after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

CLINTON, N.C. (AP) — Five people were found fatally shot at a southeast North Carolina home early Thursday, according to the local sheriff.

Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said deputies were called to the home off Garland Highway outside Clinton shortly before 1 a.m. for a report of a homicide found five people dead with gunshot wounds, news outlets reported.

Investigators don’t have any information about a suspect and don’t know how the people who were killed knew each other, Thornton said.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of the 10 teenagers charged in a deadly 2022 shooting at an Iowa high school now wants to withdraw his guilty plea.

Octavio Lopez Sanchez Jr. was originally charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, and two counts of willful injury-causing serious injury. In August, Lopez Sanchez agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and two counts of willful injury, WHO-TV reported. He was scheduled to face sentencing Nov. 7.

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — A U.S. Army reservist suspected of killing at least 18 people in Maine had been taken by police for an evaluation after military officials became concerned that he was acting erratically in mid-July, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

The official said commanders in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment became concerned in mid-July that Robert Card was acting erratically while the unit was training at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York.

MIAMI (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he’s arranged to send drones, weapons, and ammunition to Israel as it prepares for an incursion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack. It’s the latest official response DeSantis has taken to back Israel as he competes in the 2024 Republican primary.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Seismic waves generated by a meteorite impact on the other side of Mars from where NASA's InSight lander sits have provided new clues about the Red Planet's deep interior, prompting scientists to reappraise the anatomy of Earth's planetary neighbor.

The new seismic data indicates the presence of a hitherto unknown layer of molten rock surrounding a liquid metallic core - the planet's innermost component - that is smaller and denser than previously estimated, researchers said on Wednesday.