Associated Press

Associated Press

Judge tosses Kennedy Center suit against musician who canceled Christmas Eve show

Attorneys for musician Chuck Redd say a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed a breach of contract lawsuit filed against Redd after he canceled a Christmas Eve performance at the Kennedy Center in protest of President Donald Trump’s influence over the venue. The dismissal on Friday was granted under Washington’s Anti-SLAPP laws, which are designed to […]
3 months ago

Hegseth invokes immigration and ‘invasion’ in D-Day speech in France

PARIS (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day anniversary speech on Saturday to appear to link immigration by sea to the wartime liberation of Europe, warning that the freedom won by Allied troops could prove temporary if leaders failed to defend it. Hegseth, speaking at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer in […]
3 months ago

The World Cup poses an unprecedented security challenge at a fraught moment. Is the US ready?

NEW YORK (AP) — The World Cup, a 48-team, 104-match behemoth kicking off next week across 16 cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada, presents an unprecedented security challenge, with more countries, games and a larger footprint than ever before. It also comes against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran, […]
3 months ago

Female Navy officers say they fear a career cap after Hegseth cuts women from promotions list

WASHINGTON (AP) — After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut nine Navy officers, including all the women, from a promotion list, several female officers say they see the unusual intervention as a sign that their careers now have a ceiling and worry for the future generation of female military leaders. The Navy had selected 31 sailors […]
3 months ago

Trump issued pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who served nearly two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information after he left office. Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. […]
3 months ago

Iran’s soccer team readies to leave for World Cup as some officials still await US visas

ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Iran’s World Cup soccer team prepared to set off from Turkey for their training base in Mexico on Saturday ahead of three group matches in the United States later this month. According to Iranian state television, however, some members of the Iranian Football Federation who had been due to accompany the […]
3 months ago

Air raid sirens in Bahrain as Iranian missiles and drones head for Gulf neighbors

CAIRO (AP) — Bahrain’s government said Saturday that Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones towards it and Kuwait. The foreign ministry said they had been intercepted and called on Iran to immediately cease attacks on its Gulf neighbors. The statement came hours after the U.S. military said it shot down Iranian ballistic missiles and drones […]
3 months ago

Wrestling matches provide an action-packed story time at US libraries, in photos

BENICIA, Calif. (AP) — The handwritten sign at a Northern California public library warned patrons to expect more noise than usual. That warning quickly proved to be an understatement as professional wrestlers, accompanied by booming music, thundered into the reading space and jumped into a ring flanked by row upon row of bookshelves. Dozens of […]
3 months ago

These candidates for governor worked for Joe Biden. Some don’t really talk about it though

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is not on the ballot this fall. But at least three prominent members of his administration will be, representing the Democratic Party in a trio of governor’s races that may test the resilience of the Biden brand two years after he left the White House under a cloud of disapproval. […]
3 months ago

Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Sam Altman are all talking about public ownership in AI

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was perhaps a surprising private overture from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to Sen. Bernie Sanders. The meeting between the two had come just after the Vermont senator announced a plan for the public to take a 50% ownership stake in artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI, using their stock to create […]
3 months ago

From unfilled gas tanks to fewer frills, retailers see US consumers rethink their spending

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. consumers haven’t stopped spending money since the Iran war drove up fuel prices, but many shoppers are reassessing what they buy and where, according to company executives and retail analysts. The behavior changes observed so far are subtle, such as altered routines for buying gasoline and fewer visits to clothing […]
3 months ago

Judge halts Trump administration efforts to impose conditions on SNAP

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday sided with 20 Democratic states and halted an effort by the Trump administration to force states to comply with a range of conditions to get billions of dollars from the federal food aid program. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit challenging […]
3 months ago

Democrat Xavier Becerra advances to general election in race for California governor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Xavier Becerra has advanced to the general election for California governor after pitching himself as an experienced choice to lead the nation’s most populous state. Becerra leaned on his more than 35 years in public office — including as state attorney general and U.S. health secretary — to argue that […]
3 months ago

Matsui advances to November ballot in reelection bid for California House seat

California Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui has advanced to the November ballot after facing a reelection challenge from a younger Democrat. Matsui, 81, has been in Congress since she replaced her late husband, former Rep. Bob Matsui, in the Sacramento-based seat in 2005. She faced a primary challenge from fellow Democrat Mai Vang, a member of […]
3 months ago

UN food agency says millions are being pushed into hunger by Iran war

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. food agency said millions of people are being pushed into acute hunger by the Iran war, as it warned would happen if the conflict escalated and oil prices remained high. The World Food Program said an analysis in three vulnerable countries found that an additional 2.5 million people in […]
3 months ago

Trump keeps the door open to a call with Taiwan’s president even though China has warned against it

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday indicated that he may still speak with Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te — even after China has publicly urged him not to directly engage with the leader of the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own. Trump first raised the idea last month on […]
3 months ago

US military says it shot down Iranian drones launched toward Strait of Hormuz

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc. (AP) — The U.S. military said it shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and then struck some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response, raising the risk to a shaky ceasefire as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran. […]
3 months ago

US attorney opens investigations into California’s elections, sends prosecutor to LA vote center

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said Friday it had opened “multiple election fraud investigations” related to California’s elections and sent a prosecutor to the county’s vote-counting center. The developments came a day after President Donald Trump made baseless claims of mass fraud in California’s drawn-out vote count from Tuesday’s […]
3 months ago

Ebola outbreak in Central Africa could reach 20,000 cases without strong public health measures

NEW YORK (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in Central Africa could grow to 20,000 cases or more, depending on how quickly infected people are isolated to slow the spread, according to a new analysis by U.S. health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a range of scenarios generated by computer models Friday, […]
3 months ago

FBI analysts tied to disputed ‘Catholic ideology’ memo told they’re being fired, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several FBI analysts tied to the creation of a 2023 memo warning of a potential threat from Catholic “violent extremists” were told Friday that they were being fired, according to three people familiar with the matter, the latest wave of terminations under the leadership of Director Kash Patel. Two of the people […]
3 months ago

Trump calls for military to accelerate use of AI while protecting Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump issued a memo Friday that calls for the U.S. military and national security agencies to accelerate their use of artificial intelligence, while acknowledging the need to protect civil liberties and maintain oversight over autonomous weapon systems. The memo comes at a time of growing anxiety over AI in American […]
3 months ago

Fuel prices are shaping summer plans as US boaters get ready to hit the water

DEXTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — On the kind of warm, bright afternoon that Michigan boaters wait all year for, Malik Amine and his brother readied their family’s pontoon boat for the summer. The cover was off and Portage Lake sparkled in the sun. But before the brothers could leave a narrow wooden dock, they had […]
3 months ago

Texas governor wants to speed up work on a fly-breeding factory to fight a cattle parasite

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressed concern Friday that a new factory isn’t expected to start breeding sterile New World screwworm flies for more than a year as a big part of the effort to stop its flesh-eating larvae from threatening the $113 U.S. billion cattle industry. Abbott pledged Texas will help the U.S. Department of […]
3 months ago

Defense Department slashes its religious designations list from more than 200 choices to 31

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Defense announced on Friday a significant reduction in the number of religious affiliations it officially recognizes. The new list of 31 is down from more than 200 previously recognized traditions that troops could choose from. The list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans. “This decrease in […]
3 months ago