Associated Press

Associated Press

Louisiana advances plan to eliminate majority-Black US House district after court ruling

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republican senators in Louisiana advanced a plan Wednesday to eliminate one of two majority-Black, Democratic-held congressional seats following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state’s U.S. House map as an illegal racial gerrymander. The early morning Senate committee vote came after hours of impassioned testimony from Black […]
3 months ago

Former private prison executive David Venturella will become ICE’s acting leader

WASHINGTON (AP) — David Venturella, a former executive at a private prison operator, will serve as the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration says, after the agency’s current leader steps down at the end of the month. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said late Tuesday that Venturella […]
3 months ago

Producer prices shot up 6%, adding to pressure on companies to raise prices for customers

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale inflation came in hot last month. Producer prices rose 6% from a year earlier, most since December 2022, as the 10-week Iran war pushed up energy prices and put pressure on companies to pass along higher costs to consumers. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — […]
3 months ago

Soros’ Open Society Foundations commit $30M to groups fighting antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate

NEW YORK (AP) — Open Society Foundations, the family philanthropy founded by hedge fund billionaire George Soros, is putting $30 million toward groups fighting antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate over the next three years. The major human rights funder pledged Wednesday to strengthen interfaith partnerships and protect those facing heightened threats in response to the rising […]
3 months ago

The Latest: Trump arrives in China to meet with Xi in Beijing

U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for his highly anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a restless moment for a world worried about war, trade and artificial intelligence. The visit occurs at a delicate moment for Trump’s presidency, as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. […]
3 months ago

AP Exclusive: Senate Democrats plan to force votes on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rollbacks

NEW YORK (AP) — Senate Democrats plan to force several votes on the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a maneuver aimed at making vulnerable Republicans take politically difficult votes in an election year. The plan to hold the votes Wednesday, shared exclusively with The Associated Press, is tied to rule changes […]
3 months ago

Russian ship that sank near Spain may have carried nuclear reactor parts

MADRID (AP) — A Russian ship that sank in the Mediterranean after its engine room exploded may have been carrying pieces for nuclear reactors used in submarines, a Spanish government document shows. The Ursa Major sank on Dec. 23, 2024, between Spain and Algeria while allegedly on a journey from St. Petersburg to Russia’s eastern […]
3 months ago

Inside the furor plaguing Democratic National Committee leader Ken Martin

NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats keep winning at the ballot box. And yet Ken Martin, the man leading the Democratic National Committee, is facing a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Major donors aren’t giving. Liberal influencers are […]
3 months ago

Tax cuts collide with inflation as voters weigh Trump’s economy in the midterms

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Standing behind a downtown bar, Evan Duke smiled when he thought about no longer paying federal income tax on the hundreds of dollars in tips he earns on a busy night pouring beers and mixing drinks. But the 30-year-old said he cannot afford health insurance and worries about how higher costs […]
3 months ago

US grocery prices rose in April, but gas spikes weren’t the only reason

Americans paid more for their groceries last month, but high gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war were only one of the reasons why. Prices for food eaten at home rose 2.9% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government figures released Tuesday. That was the highest year-over-year inflation rate […]
3 months ago

Sandra Oh, Kumail Nanjiani and Bowen Yang are in a HBO doc on being Asian American, Pacific Islander

Director Eugene Yi has always been interested in the term Asian American and Pacific Islander and which ethnicities it includes. “When we’re talking about Asian Americans or Asian people in the U.S., oftentimes it’s people who might look like you and me, and maybe not people who look like (New York City Mayor) Zohran Mamdani,” […]
3 months ago

Brad Raffensperger became famous by defying Trump. Now he wants Georgia Republicans to forget that

CHAMBLEE, Ga. (AP) — Being as well known as Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger would be a dream for many ambitious politicians. “I think most people by now know who I am,” the Republican candidate for governor joked Tuesday as someone put up signs with his name before a speech in the Atlanta suburb […]
3 months ago

Utah woman who published a book on grief after husband’s death to be sentenced for his murder

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband and was later found guilty of killing him finds out Wednesday how long she will spend in prison. Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband’s cocktail with five […]
3 months ago

Kids are in a ‘reading recession,’ as test scores continue to decline

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) — Before every important test, teacher Nancy Barajas dims the lights, turns on a disco ball and blasts music from her playlist. Her sixth graders dance together as a “pre-celebration” to boost their confidence, then take their exam. Lately, there’s been a lot to celebrate in elementary schools in Modesto, California. Both […]
3 months ago

From ‘The Hills’ villain to LA mayoral contender: Spencer Pratt’s viral video-fueled campaign

On the reality television show “The Hills,” Spencer Pratt played something of a villain, blamed for spreading a salacious rumor and driving a wedge between his girlfriend and her best friend. Pratt is casting himself as a hero in his latest venture, a bid to be mayor of Los Angeles, in which he’s promising to […]
3 months ago

Missouri man charged after bomb-making tutorials were allegedly used in New Orleans attack

Federal prosecutors charged a Missouri man on Tuesday with allegedly sharing instructional bomb-making videos on social media, which were eventually used by the man who killed 14 people and injured dozens in New Orleans on New Year’s Day in 2025. Investigators believe Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who drove a pickup truck down Bourbon Street, downloaded the tutorials […]
3 months ago

Asian shares trade mixed as AI excitement fades and war worries continue

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares traded mixed early Wednesday, as fading enthusiasm over AI and other technology stocks gradually put the brakes on Wall Street’s record-setting run. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up less than 0.1% to 62,774.94. South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.9% to 7,708.05, recouping some of its recent losses. The Kospi sank […]
3 months ago

$4.8M settlement reached over Louisiana traffic stop death, AP sources say

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana officials have agreed to a tentative $4.8 million settlement with the family of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist who died during a violent 2019 roadside arrest carried out by five white officers, two people with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The settlement would end a federal wrongful […]
3 months ago

In diplomacy, pomp and protocol matter, especially when Trump goes to China

WASHINGTON (AP) — From the moment President Donald Trump lands in Beijing on Wednesday, all eyes will be on how much of a spectacle the Chinese government rolls out, such as who lines up to greet him, what music is played and whether Chinese and American children wave flowers and flags. In China’s rigidly hierarchical […]
3 months ago

As Trump heads to China, past US flubs on US policy toward Taiwan can be a warning

BEIJING (AP) — It’s a verbal tightrope American presidents have had to walk for nearly 50 years, where even small slip-ups when stating official U.S. policy toward Taiwan and China can trigger geopolitical alarm bells. The way the U.S. views Taiwan under the “One China” policy recognizes the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of […]
3 months ago

Sons of Utah author convicted of murder worry their mother would hurt them if she was ever freed

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The young sons of Utah author Kouri Richins said ahead of her sentencing hearing Wednesday that they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison after she was found guilty in March of killing their father. Richins, 35, faces several decades to life in prison on five […]
3 months ago

Men wrongly accused of grisly yogurt shop murders in Texas reach $35 million settlement with city

The city of Austin will pay $35 million to three men and the family of a fourth who were wrongly accused of the 1991 rape and murder of four teenage girls at a yogurt shop, a case that initially sent one of the men to death row and another to life in prison, under a […]
3 months ago

Cruise ship passenger making best of quarantine in US following hantavirus outbreak

When Jake Rosmarin boarded the MV Hondius, he gleefully posted on social media that the ship would be his home for 35 days as he traveled across the South Atlantic. Now, he is one of 18 Americans under observation at specialized health care facilities designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases after three people […]
3 months ago

Murder-for-hire trial underway in the stabbing death of a New York City art dealer

NEW YORK (AP) — The estranged husband of a prominent New York City art dealer said he wished his spouse was dead before the co-owner of a contemporary art gallery was found stabbed to death in his Brazilian townhouse, a witness testified Tuesday as a murder-for-hire trial got underway in Manhattan. Angela Liriano, a retired […]
3 months ago