Associated Press

Associated Press

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

US unemployment claims dip to 206,000 as layoffs continue to remain rare

WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly fewer Americans filed for unemployment claims last week as jobless claims remain at historically low levels and layoffs are still relatively rare. Filings for benefits dipped to 206,000 last week from a revised 207,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week […]
22 days ago

Across the US, ‘Friday night lights’ provide a sense of community — and, for some, a way out

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) — The phone calls, all asking the same question, 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 countdown to the latest season […]
22 days ago

The Latest: Trump makes dubious pledge to give every US adult $5,000 if GOP wins midterm elections

President Donald Trump has pledged to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections. The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit and concerns about inflation. Trump […]
22 days ago

Federal judge allows Missouri’s top court to hold contempt hearing in redistricting dispute

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has allowed Missouri’s top court to proceed with a contempt hearing Thursday for Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in a tense and twisting legal battle over whether new congressional districts supported by President Donald Trump can be used in the November election. Missouri’s top court previously […]
22 days ago

Republicans showcase their ‘big beautiful bill’ to voters, but the law’s impact has been mixed

WASHINGTON (AP) — Working to keep the majority in Congress, Republicans at the midterm convention in Dallas are showcasing their chief legislative accomplishment — the sweeping package of tax breaks, social service cuts and immigration enforcement that President Donald Trump signed into law. A year on, what’s known as the One Big Beautiful Bill — […]
22 days ago

Republican midterm convention provides Vance center stage moment as party faces midterm verdict

DALLAS (AP) — Republicans opened the second and final day of their midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday knowing that history is not on their side this election season, but counting on President Donald Trump to propel voters to protect their House and Senate majorities. They’re also setting the stage for what could come next, […]
22 days ago

Sept. 11 ranks among the most historic events in many Americans’ lifetimes, polling shows

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-five years later, the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, are still remembered as among the most important historic events in many Americans’ lives, according to a new poll. A the COVID-19 pandemic and the elections of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The polling points to the enduring legacy of 9/11, even […]
22 days ago

Travel scams are getting harder to spot. Here’s how to stay safe

NEW YORK (AP) — Pickpockets were once the biggest worry for travelers heading to new destinations on vacation. But travel scams have become more sophisticated, and scammers using new artificial intelligence tools have become better at creating fake websites and using stolen data to their advantage, said Florent Silve, an executive at Engine, a corporate […]
23 days ago

Tropical Storm Norbert forms in the Pacific Ocean and isn’t threatening land

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Norbert formed Thursday in the Pacific Ocean and wasn’t threatening land, forecasters said. The storm was about 685 miles (1,102 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) and […]
23 days ago

California officials allow plans for the country’s biggest kelp farm to move forward

California has long been farm country, and its oceans soon could be, too. State coastal officials voted Wednesday to allow a plan to build the United States’ largest kelp farm 6 miles (10 kilometers) off the Southern California coast to move forward as the Trump administration seeks to ramp up aquaculture in the Pacific Ocean. […]
23 days ago

China says it hopes to agree with US on tariff reductions ‘at an early date’

BEIJING (AP) — China and the U.S. hope to reach an agreement on lowering import taxes soon, a Chinese government spokesperson said Thursday, fueling expectations that an announcement could come when the leaders of the two countries meet in two weeks. Negotiators are striving to implement reciprocal tariff reductions on $30 billion of goods “at […]
23 days ago

Associated Press journalists who witnessed Sept. 11 remember what they saw, 25 years later

NEW YORK (AP) — Karen Matthews was getting her 3-year-old daughter ready for preschool in her Manhattan apartment on Sept. 11, 2001, when she heard a loud boom, unlike anything she’d ever heard before. Holding her child, she went outside. Around her, people stared up at a gash in the north tower of the World […]
23 days ago

Florida man faces execution for 1996 killing connected to ‘Hog Trail Murders’ in woods

A Florida man convicted in one of a series of suspected killings that became known as the “Hog Trail Murders” in the 1990s was scheduled Thursday to become the state’s 15th person executed this year. Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, was sentenced to die for the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery, whose […]
23 days ago

Asian shares fall and oil prices hold steady above $100 a barrel

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares skidded Thursday following a retreat on Wall Street as the price of crude oil again traded above $100 a barrel. U.S. futures were modestly higher. The price of Brent crude jumped 3.4% on Wednesday, surging above $100 a barrel for the first time since July. It fell back slightly early […]
23 days ago

Trump takes center stage at Republicans’ first midterm convention

DALLAS (AP) — Republicans are gathering in Dallas for the party’s first two-day midterm convention, with President Donald Trump at the center of the event. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
23 days ago

Trump, hoping to salvage midterms, makes dubious pledge to give every US adult $5,000 if GOP wins

President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, an extraordinary gambit to reverse his party’s sagging fortunes in November. The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s […]
23 days ago

Global heat stuck on high. Scientists say August was Earth’s hottest month they’ve measured.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Earth cooked to its hottest month on record in August, blowing far past a key climate threshold, due to the dangerous double whammy of human-caused climate change and a supersized El Nino, according to the European climate service Copernicus. August’s sizzle also helped push the globe and the United States to swelter […]
23 days ago

A pilot of the Amazon cargo plane that careened off Miami runway warned it was coming in too fast

MIAMI (AP) — One of the pilots of the Amazon cargo plane that careened off a Miami runway and killed five people repeatedly warned they were coming in too fast nearly two minutes ahead of time and at the last second urged them to abort the landing, according to highlights of the cockpit recording that […]
23 days ago

Former volunteer sues César Chavez nonprofits over failing to stop union leader from sexual abuse

One of the organizers who said she was sexually abused by Latino labor leader César Chavez decades ago has sued nonprofits tied to him. The complaint filed last week in Southern California is the first legal action since the explosive allegations surrounding Chavez were first reported by the New York Times in March. The newspaper […]
23 days ago

Man whose 16 grandchildren found living in filthy conditions is found incompetent to stand trial

McARTHUR, Ohio (AP) — A man whose 16 grandchildren were discovered living in squalid conditions at a rural southern Ohio home was found mentally incompetent to stand trial Wednesday. A judge in Vinton County accepted the findings of an evaluation report for Gary Siders Sr. Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer did not object to the […]
23 days ago

Coroner releases details of infants who died amid growing Pennsylvania measles outbreak

NEW YORK (AP) — The two measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania last month involved infants, and the virus itself caused one of the deaths, a Pennsylvania coroner confirmed Wednesday. Lancaster County’s coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said he told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of his conclusions. CDC officials, however, have not said whether they […]
23 days ago

Alcohol, whey and motorcycles are in the crosshairs of the US import ban on Canada products

NEW YORK (AP) — The trade war between the U.S. and Canada escalated again this week as the U.S. announced import bans on most alcoholic beverages from Canada, along with other products including whey, molasses and motorcycles. The U.S. had already imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian products — about 5% of […]
23 days ago