Associated Press

Associated Press

Justice Department directs states to hold on to 2024 election records as it seeks their voter data

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is ordering officials in more than two dozen states to preserve records from the 2024 election as part of a campaign to force states to turn over detailed voter records despite repeated court losses. The Justice Department sent letters to 29 states and the District of Columbia instructing election […]
22 days ago

Prosecutor brought in to lead investigation of Trump foes says he has resigned his position

WASHINGTON (AP) — An ally of President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has resigned from his post leading a Justice Department investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president. “I did in fact resign,” Joe diGenova told The Associated Press, calling it an “honor and a privilege” to […]
22 days ago

Body camera video offers a rare look inside an immigration raid at a NY factory

The sprawling snack-food factory in upstate New York appeared to be closed when a small army of immigration officers arrived after 9 a.m. Following a brief discussion of whether to force their way inside, a manager opened the front door. Over the next several hours, body cameras were running as federal authorities from several agencies […]
22 days ago

California governor signs laws aimed at protecting kids from risks of social media, AI chatbots

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of laws Thursday aimed at protecting children from the risks of technology, including social media and AI chatbots. The laws will penalize large social media companies up to $1 million per child if they are found negligent of harming children through their platforms, […]
22 days ago

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer asks the judge to spare her a second trial for killing her children

BOSTON (AP) — Lindsay Clancy shouldn’t be tried a second time for killing her three young children because prosecutors don’t have enough evidence, her lawyer told a judge Thursday, saying the court should decide she’s not guilty by reason of insanity. Eleven of 12 jurors were ready to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility last Friday, […]
22 days ago

Appeals court cites detention of Japanese Americans in ruling blasting Trump immigration policy

The Trump administration’s policy of holding immigrants without a chance for release on bond is illegal and “harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history,” including the mass detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, a divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became […]
22 days ago

Surrogate asks the Supreme Court to intervene over care for a sick baby

A California couple’s surrogate who refused their wishes to have an abortion has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a custody dispute over the 4-week-old child who was born with a serious heart defect. McKenna West filed the emergency order Wednesday, widening a legal battle over surrogacy and abortion that has won the […]
22 days ago

Whitmer rethinks Line 5 tunnel permits, ramps up shutdown pleas after court ruling

State environmental regulators are reviewing permits they recently granted for the Line 5 tunnel project, in light of a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision that raised the bar for environmental reviews. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Phil Roos, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, announced the development Wednesday in a press […]
22 days ago

Smithsonian marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 with a display of rare artifacts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seat belts and a flight attendant call button from the doomed United Airlines Flight 93. A purse filled with keys and a wallet recovered from the World Trade Center site. The telephone that sat on U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson’s desk when his wife, Barbara, called from a hijacked airplane. The Smithsonian’s […]
22 days ago

Former hockey players at University of Michigan sue, say they were sexually abused decades ago

DETROIT (AP) — More than a dozen former hockey players are suing the University of Michigan, alleging their coach and other staff were aware of sexual hazing that included the forced shaving of their genitals and other abuse by teammates decades ago. “The abuse was ritualized, meticulously planned, and sadistic. … Enduring sexual abuse was […]
22 days ago

Trump wants to send Americans money. Congress and economists don’t seem thrilled with the idea

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s pitch to send Americans $5,000 checks should Republicans prevail in the November midterms is drawing scorn from some members of Congress — the very people who have constitutional authority over federal spending. Economists and other political observers are voicing concerns about the potential effects on inflation and the national balance […]
22 days ago

Across the US, high school sports provide a sense of community — and, for some, a way out

The phone calls started coming long before the lights at “The Pit” flickered on for the first time this fall. “When will the senior citizen passes be available?” Aliquippa High athletic director Jennifer Damico’s office heard more than once as the latest season of Quips football inched forward. At the school about 30 minutes northwest […]
22 days ago

Ontario premier hopes Republicans lose House and Senate as Trump trade war escalates

TORONTO (AP) — Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday he hopes U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republicans lose both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, saying voters should punish Trump politically for his escalating trade war with Canada. “Hopefully he’s going to lose the Senate. He’s going to lose Congress. I hope so, and […]
22 days ago

Fire in eastern Congo kills at least 24 students at 2 schools

BUKAVU, Congo (AP) — A fire on Thursday in Bukavu, eastern Congo, killed at least 24 students, the rebel administration that controls the city said. The spokesperson for the M23 rebel group, Lawrence Kanyuka, said 19 girls and five boys were killed, adding that 29 people were being treated at local medical facilities. The fire […]
22 days ago

Appeals court hands Trump a loss on mail voting as Supreme Court considers his executive order

WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court on Thursday upheld a block on President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting, a decision that comes as the Supreme Court considers the same case and states have already started sending out ballots for the high-stakes midterm elections. The three-judge panel refused to lift a preliminary injunction against […]
22 days ago

Appeals court hands Trump a loss on mail voting as Supreme Court considers his executive order

WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court on Thursday upheld a block on President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting, a decision that comes as the Supreme Court considers the same case and states have already started sending out ballots for the high-stakes midterm elections. The three-judge panel refused to lift a preliminary injunction against […]
22 days ago

Kimmel says interview with James Talarico won’t air on TV under pressure from the FCC

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said the agency that regulates television “threatened” the show and that an interview with James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, will not air on television but on YouTube — thus bypassing any control or regulation by the Federal Communications Commission. It’s not the first time a TV […]
22 days ago

Judge accused of enabling immigrant to escape ICE gets a rare public reprimand

BOSTON (AP) — The highest court in Massachusetts on Thursday issued a public reprimand against a district court judge who was accused of allowing an immigrant to escape U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. The case dates back to 2018 when Judge Shelley Joseph was accused of colluding with the immigrant’s attorney and a court […]
22 days ago

Trump promises $500 Obamacare rebate checks for 1M enrollees in 30 states

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is promising $500 rebate checks to an estimated 1 million Affordable Care Act enrollees across 30 states, whom the White House alleges were overcharged by the Biden administration for exchange fees. The promise comes after Trump pledged Wednesday to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of […]
22 days ago

US home sales weaken to slowest pace in more than a year as mortgage rates, home prices climb

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes declined in August to their slowest annual pace in more than a year as home shoppers grappled with rising mortgage rates and home prices. Existing home sales fell 2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, the National Association of Realtors said […]
22 days ago

Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies pledges $100M to cut US maternal mortality rate in half

Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America, the bipartisan campaign founded by Olivia and Tom Walton’s nonprofit Heartland Forward, announced a $100 million pledge Thursday to make giving birth in the United States safer. The five-year commitment aims to cut the maternal mortality rate in the United States in half by 2031. “For millions of moms in […]
22 days ago

The push to remove lead pipes is on. Thousands of water systems still don’t know where theirs are

Kathryn Pilgrim knew the century-old Victorian she bought in Dunkirk, New York, came with old plumbing. She replaced pipes she suspected of containing lead and later installed a kitchen filter designed to remove heavy metals. But six years after buying the house, she still can’t be sure that her tap water is lead-free because she […]
22 days ago

Little Mercury may be shrinking faster than scientists expected

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A new study shows that little, wrinkly Mercury may be shrinking faster than expected, the cosmos’ version of a grape shriveling into a raisin under the sun. Scientists from the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Space Research reported Thursday that Mercury’s shrinkage may be 30% greater than previously believed — […]
22 days ago

Wholesale prices moved higher last month in latest sign of stubborn inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale inflation picked up last month after cooling earlier this summer as higher oil and gas prices stemming from the Iran war are keeping costs elevated. The Labor Department’s producer price index — which captures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 5.4% in August from a year ago, up from 4.7% […]
22 days ago