Associated Press

Associated Press

Newsom signs $352B spending plan and reflects on signature policies before he leaves office

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a nearly $352 billion spending plan Monday that delays some cuts to healthcare programs, increases funding for childcare and sets aside money to help speed up the state’s vote count ahead of the November election. The plan, which avoids major cuts or significant new spending, is […]
1 month ago

Jury finds alleged MS-13 members guilty of murder and racketeering in Nevada

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A jury convicted three men who prosecutors say were members of the violent MS-13 gang in a federal racketeering case involving nine killings in Las Vegas and Los Angeles between 2017 and 2018. Jose Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, David Arturo Perez-Manchame and Joel Vargas-Escobar were found guilty of multiple charges, including murder […]
1 month ago

Isaac ‘Ike’ Flores, longtime AP correspondent who covered Castro and Cuba, dies at 93

NEW YORK (AP) — Isaac Flores, whose decades-long career included meeting Fidel Castro and covering Cuba for The Associated Press as a resident American correspondent on the island after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, has died. He was 93. Flores, who went by the name Ike Flores in his byline, died June 12 at […]
1 month ago

Charlie Kirk’s parents and widow to attend key hearing for the man accused of his killing

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Charlie Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, will attend a key hearing in his murder case next week in Utah, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Prosecutors will aim to show during the weeklong […]
1 month ago

Trump nominates acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to be agency’s permanent chief

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he will nominate Keith Sonderling to be the secretary of labor, elevating him from the agency’s acting director two months after Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid abuse-of-power allegations. Sonderling, a lawyer who has held a variety of acting positions and leadership roles across Trump’s government, was previously the […]
1 month ago

Nursing gains ‘professional’ label for student loans after judge’s ruling, but theology now dropped

WASHINGTON (AP) — Students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy and several other fields will be eligible to take out higher federal student loan amounts — at least for now — after a federal judge blocked part of a Trump administration rule that held them to lower limits. The U.S. Education Department issued a […]
1 month ago

Alaska Supreme Court says man with same name as US Sen. Dan Sullivan is eligible for primary ballot

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is qualified to run for the seat and ordered election officials to place him on the August primary ballot, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. The ruling came hours after arguments Monday and just days […]
1 month ago

Arkansas will move forward with a ban on using SNAP for candy and soda despite recent court ruling

Arkansas is moving forward with its plan to ban government food aid from being used to buy candy and soda beginning on Wednesday, even though a federal judge ruled last week that similar restrictions in other states violated federal law. Announcing the plan on Monday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders cited an urgent need to combat […]
1 month ago

Michigan parents charged with murder in death of 7-year-old son who weighed 255 pounds

The parents of a 7-year-old Michigan boy who weighed 255 pounds (116 kilograms) when he died have been charged with murder, torture and child abuse, prosecutors said. “Clearly the parents were feeding the child improperly, to say the least,” Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Monday. “He wasn’t getting the nutrition he needed.” Casper O’Brien […]
1 month ago

Colorado court rejects November ballot initiatives aimed at redrawing congressional districts

Colorado voters will not get a say this November on whether to replace the state’s congressional districts with ones that could help Democrats win additional seats in future elections. The state Supreme Court on Monday struck down a series of proposed ballot initiatives that would have sidestepped the state’s independent redistricting commission and authorized new […]
1 month ago

Self-exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui gets 30 years in US prison for fraud conviction

NEW YORK (AP) — A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men was sentenced Monday to 30 years in a U.S. prison for a massive financial fraud. Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a U.S.-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced by U.S. District […]
1 month ago

Virginia to allow recreational marijuana to be sold in retail stores beginning in 2027

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Five years after becoming the first Southern state to legalize possession of marijuana, Virginia has approved a legal way to sell it to recreational users. State budget legislation enacted Monday will allow up to 350 cannabis shops to open across Virginia beginning July 1, 2027. The move marks the latest expansion […]
1 month ago

Director Carl Rinsch is sentenced to prison in $11M fraud case over unfinished Netflix show

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood writer-director Carl Rinsch was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison after being convicted of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million for a never-finished sci-fi series. Supporters including Keanu Reeves had asked the court to show him leniency. Rinsch, best known for the 2013 samurai fantasy film “47 Ronin,” […]
1 month ago

San Francisco Archdiocese agrees to pay $395 million to settle child sex abuse lawsuits

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese has agreed to pay $395 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Monday. San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will have to write an apology letter to each survivor as part of the settlement. The settlement also […]
1 month ago

More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the US hours before the earthquakes are missing

MIAMI (AP) — More than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble, according to survivors. A deportation flight from Miami arrived in Caracas hours before Wednesday’s earthquakes. On board were 146 […]
1 month ago

Echoes of deadly Arizona wildfire with 3 firefighters killed in Colorado-Utah blaze

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — A wildfire that killed three firefighters along the Colorado-Utah border is one of the deadliest for firefighters since an Arizona wildfire 13 years ago. The Yarnell Hill Fire that killed 19 firefighters on June 30, 2013, remains the deadliest event on record for U.S. firefighters since the Sept. 11, 2001, […]
1 month ago

What the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Cook case means for Federal Reserve independence

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday said the Federal Reserve, unlike any other agency in Washington, has a measure of independence from the presidency and day-to-day politics. But the court didn’t define to what extent. The case is the latest round in an unprecedented fight between the Fed and President Donald Trump. More […]
1 month ago

FDA panel on peptides will include experts who promote the unproven chemicals favored by RFK Jr.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When U.S. health officials meet next month to reconsider a list of controversial peptide drugs, they will hear from a new set of voices: doctors and pharmacists with deep financial ties to the burgeoning industry of unproven chemicals. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday released its list of participants for an […]
1 month ago

New Mexico governor says state could seek billions after DEA let fentanyl hit streets

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s governor said Monday that state officials could pursue billions of dollars in civil damages after revelations that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents repeatedly allowed shipments of fentanyl to flow into drug-plagued communities as investigators sought to build bigger cases. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vowed to take her outrage […]
1 month ago

Supreme Court ruling gives a reprieve to states with grace periods for receiving mail ballots

States that allow mail ballots to be counted after Election Day reacted with relief Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Republican effort to outlaw the practice. A decision favoring the state of Mississippi over the Republican National Committee delivered an immediate reprieve to the 14 states with grace periods for regular mail ballots, […]
1 month ago

Iran says this. The U.S. says that. A look at the trickiest issues in the unresolved conflict

The United States and Iran have less than 60 days to negotiate a permanent end to the war, but they still seem to be at odds over the interim deal they reached this month. It’s not even clear when the two sides will meet again. “The situation is sensitive and complex,” a senior Iranian negotiator, […]
1 month ago

Royalties. Teaching gigs. A concert in Puerto Rico. Financial forms offer view inside Supreme Court

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was gifted concert tickets in Puerto Rico last year as members of the high court continued to accept international teaching gigs and receive royalties for books they have written, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday that provide insight into how the justices spend time off the bench. Sotomayor’s disclosure […]
1 month ago

JetBlue pilot reports hitting drone as plane approached JFK airport to land Monday morning

A JetBlue pilot reported hitting a drone as he approached JFK International Airport to land in New York Monday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident that happened as the plane passed through 3,000 feet (914 meters) around 7:15 a.m. as it was crossing the coastline. The plane landed safely without any additional […]
1 month ago

Luigi Mangione’s federal trial in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing postponed until January

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s federal trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will now begin in January, a judge said Monday, delaying it from the fall. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she was postponing the federal trial so Mangione’s lawyers can focus on his state murder trial, which is scheduled […]
1 month ago