Associated Press

Associated Press

Tesla faces new questions about how cars in self-driving mode handle poor conditions

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal auto regulators have escalated a probe of Tesla after several of its cars crashed while using its self-driving feature, just as CEO Elon Musk prepares to roll out a new model with no steering wheel or pedals. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a memo that it was […]
6 months ago

Asylum claim denied for the family of the boy in a bunny hat detained with his father, lawyer says

1. An immigration judge has denied the asylum claim of the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old boy photographed in a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack as he was detained with his father during the immigration crackdown that shook Minneapolis earlier this year, a family lawyer said. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — They were ordered deported […]
6 months ago

FCC approves merger of local television owners Nexstar and Tegna as two lawsuits seek to block it

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday said it had approved the merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna, the same day that two lawsuits trying to block the deal were announced. Nexstar said last August that it would buy Tegna for $6.2 billion. The deal would create a company that owns […]
6 months ago

Trump administration launches investigation of states that mandate health insurance covers abortion

The Trump administration said Thursday that it has launched investigations into 13 states that require state-regulated health insurance plans to cover abortion. The probes are the latest in a long-running dispute between the political parties on how to interpret a provision, known as the Weldon Amendment, that’s included in federal spending laws each year. It […]
6 months ago

Michigan synagogue posts photos of fire damage a week after armed man plowed truck into building

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan synagogue on Thursday posted drove a pickup truck into the building last week before killing himself. One image shows tables of fruits and snacks left uneaten when the midday attack occurred near an early childhood education room at Temple Israel in suburban Detroit. Photos reveal loose wires in the […]
6 months ago

Former ’19 Kids and Counting’ star Joseph Duggar is arrested on a child molestation charge

Former reality TV star Joseph Duggar is facing a child molestation charge in Florida, almost five years after his brother Josh, who also starred in the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting,” was convicted of downloading child sexual abuse images. Joseph Duggar, 31, was arrested in Arkansas, where he lives, and was awaiting extradition to […]
6 months ago

What ACA enrollees are cutting back on to afford health care, according to a new poll

NEW YORK (AP) — Lately, Priscilla Brown has had to choose between properly managing her Type 2 diabetes and affording other necessities, like gas in her car. Some days, she takes half or a third of her prescribed insulin dose — just to stretch it out longer. “Sometimes I don’t even take my medicine,” said […]
6 months ago

Mullin’s DHS nomination advances to full Senate despite opposition from Republican Rand Paul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Markwayne Mullin moved a step closer to becoming President Donald Trump’s next homeland security secretary after a Senate committee Thursday narrowly advanced his nomination. The 8-7 vote came after a contentious hearing Wednesday and sent the Cabinet nomination to the full Senate, which could act to confirm the Oklahoma Republican next […]
6 months ago

Pentagon seeks $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war, AP source says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war, a senior administration official says. The department sent the request to the White House, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private information. It’s an extraordinarily high number and comes on top of […]
6 months ago

RFK Jr. makes food sound like a miracle drug. Researchers say he often overstates the science

In the Trump administration’s campaign to promote healthy eating, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not stopped at his slogan urging people to “eat real food” to prevent disease. In recent speeches and podcast appearances, the nation’s health secretary also has claimed that diet can “cure” schizophrenia and diabetes and allow people to rid themselves of […]
6 months ago

Dolores Huerta ends her silence, champions decades of advocacy for marginalized groups

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It was Dolores Huerta who coined the slogan “Si, se puede” in 1972 when bringing together farmworkers in Arizona to fight a law that prohibited boycotts and strikes. Told it would be impossible to organize in the Southwestern state, her three-word Spanish-language response — which translates as “Yes, it can be […]
6 months ago

Iran war underscores risks of Trump’s relentless focus on oil

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump returned to office last year, he launched a crusade to shift the country away from renewable energy, drastically undoing the climate-friendly policies of his Democratic predecessor to focus instead on oil and other fossil fuels as the answer to his goal of American energy dominance. But the war […]
6 months ago

US Jews grapple with a surge in attacks and bitter rifts over Israeli policies

For many U.S. Jews, following current events these days can be emotionally tumultuous. Simultaneously, there is widely shared anger at the upsurge of attacks targeting their communities, and deep divisions within those communities over whether to support or oppose various policies and actions by Israel in the conflict-wracked Middle East. Just last week, there was […]
6 months ago

Trump faces his most difficult Iran war decision: Will he deploy US troops to seize uranium?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is facing perhaps the most daunting question of the war with Iran, one that could define his time in office: Will he put U.S. troops on the ground in Iran to secure some 970 pounds of enriched uranium that Tehran could potentially use to build nuclear weapons? Trump has […]
6 months ago

Belarus leader hosts US envoy for talks, latest step in his effort to improve ties with Washington

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday hosted a U.S. envoy for talks in the Belarus capital of Minsk, the latest step in the isolated leader’s effort to improve ties with the West. Lukashenko met with President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, according to the presidential press service. State […]
6 months ago

Joe Kent’s resignation over Iran war reignites antisemitism fears and debate over Israeli influence

It was no surprise when Joe Kent showed up on Tucker Carlson’s podcast a day after quitting his counterterrorism job in President Donald Trump’s administration. Here was a top official who resigned to protest the war with Iran turning to right-wing media’s leading critic of the conflict. “The Israelis drove the decision to take this […]
6 months ago

Many work to reconcile César Chavez’s labor rights activist legacy with sexual abuse allegations

PHOENIX (AP) — Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband marched and fasted alongside César Chavez. They helped him open a radio station in Phoenix and plastered their Mexican restaurant with photos and a mural of the widely admired Latino icon. So when Wilcox’s daughter called this week to inform them of sexual abuse allegations that […]
6 months ago

Iran hits back at multiple Gulf refineries after Israeli strike on its offshore gas field

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran intensified its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors’ energy sites Thursday, hitting a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and setting Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries ablaze as it struck back following an Israeli attack on its main natural gas field, a major […]
6 months ago

Iranian Americans mark Persian New Year with a mix of sadness and joy

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After thousands of Iranian demonstrators were killed in a January crackdown, Shima Razavi Gacek wanted to keep alive her family’s favorite springtime holiday traditions but didn’t feel like throwing her annual house party with a roaring bonfire ahead of Nowruz — the Persian New Year. Instead, the 46-year-old Los Angeles resident […]
6 months ago

Mullin presents a different vision for FEMA, sparking cautious hope

President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security presented a softer approach on federal emergency management in his Senate confirmation hearing, rejecting the idea of eliminating FEMA and pledging to undo some of his predecessor’s unpopular policies. The remarks by Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday raised hopes among disaster response managers that a […]
6 months ago

Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi meets with Trump as he seeks help securing the Strait of Hormuz

WASHINGTON (AP) — The meeting that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will have at the White House on Thursday originally seemed like a prime opportunity to have President Donald Trump’s ear before he embarked on a trip to China. But now, the war in Iran and Trump’s unsuccessful call for Japan and other nations to […]
6 months ago

State Department cut jobs with deep expertise in Middle East as Iran crisis escalates

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the escalating war in Iran, the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs would ordinarily be at the center of the geopolitical fray. Typically led by a veteran diplomat, the bureau’s role would be to coordinate U.S. foreign policy across an 18-country region, much of which has become a chaotic battlefield […]
6 months ago

Rapper Afroman wins lawsuit against police over mocking their 2022 raid in viral music videos

The Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman won a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Ohio sheriff’s deputies who sued him over music videos in which he used home security footage to mock their raid of his home. “We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!” the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, […]
6 months ago

César Chavez and Dolores Huerta led a movement that won better wages and conditions for farmworkers

Dolores Huerta and the late César Chavez are both labor rights icons credited with leading a movement that pushed growers to negotiate for better wages and working conditions for farmworkers. Their legacies are getting new attention after allegations emerged that Chavez, who died in 1993, sexually abused Huerta and other women and girls. Several celebrations […]
6 months ago