Associated Press

Associated Press

The number of Americans applying for jobless aid slips to 203,000 as layoffs remain low

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining at historic lows as layoffs are rare and most Americans enjoy job security. Jobless claims slipped to 203,000 last week from a revised 207,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths […]
1 month ago

ICE officer charged in Minneapolis shooting released in Texas after immediate extradition rejected

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis was released from a Texas jail Thursday, after a judge refused to order his return to Minnesota. Christian Castro was released at the break of dawn from a detention center […]
1 month ago

Exclusive: RFK Jr. said a Samoa trip had nothing to do with vaccines. New documents refute that

NEW YORK (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeatedly told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation last year that a 2019 visit to Samoa before a deadly measles outbreak had “ nothing to do with vaccines.” New documents obtained by The Associated Press and The Guardian refute that testimony. Kennedy, then […]
1 month ago

Nepal floods highlight growing glacier risks in warming Himalayas

BENGALURU, India (AP) — The deadly flash flood in Nepal on Wednesday was likely caused by a huge chunk of a glacier that broke off and temporarily dammed a river, according to preliminary investigations by scientists. That may have led to the backed-up water surging downstream with enormous force a few hours later, they suggested. […]
1 month ago

Republicans face a midterm verdict as Iran war drags on months longer than Trump promised

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Mike Gibbons sat out the presidential election two years ago, frustrated that Democrat Kamala Harris did not take a stronger stand against Israel’s war in Gaza and unable to bring himself to cast a vote for Republican Donald Trump. That is not his plan this year. The 33-year-old restaurant server in […]
1 month ago

Regional powers seek off-ramp from Iran war, and other Middle East developments

JERUSALEM (AP) — Regional powers sought an off-ramp from the war with Iran as another tanker attack was reported in the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran dismissed Washington’s latest sanctions. Elsewhere in the Middle East, a Jerusalem court acquitted a man accused of beating a Catholic nun but ordered him to undergo years of psychiatric […]
1 month ago

Chinese foreign minister calls for US and China to ‘overcome obstacles’ ahead of presidential summit

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s foreign minister said his country and the United States should overcome obstacles between the nations ahead of an expected summit next month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Wang Yi met with U.S. ambassador to China David Perdue on Wednesday and called on both sides to “focus […]
1 month ago

Asian stocks are mixed after Wall Street losses following economic updates

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday following modest losses on Wall Street, while oil prices declined. U.S. futures were trading higher after Nvidia’s latest quarterly earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations as demand for its advanced artificial intelligence chips surged. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% to 66,162.72. Multinational investment holding […]
1 month ago

Michigan Democrats want to fight Trump. First they have to stop fighting each other

SAUGATUCK, Mich. (AP) — When Democrats gathered this week in a West Michigan congressional district they’re trying to flip blue, they wanted to talk about the cost of living under President Donald Trump. But it didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to a controversy dividing their party. One attendee chided U.S. Rep. Hillary […]
1 month ago

After six months of Iran war, US goals have shifted. The Strait of Hormuz is now a top concern

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump launched the war with Iran in late February, he initially forecast it would last four to five weeks. Six months later, there’s still no off-ramp in sight despite Trump’s repeated assertions that the war has been won or a deal to resolve it was nearly complete. A June […]
1 month ago

Time limits and a midnight cutoff: Meta’s new rules for kids go further, but critics say not enough

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Kids under 18 will soon see a host of changes to their Instagram and Facebook experiences thanks to a historic $18 billion settlement Meta Platforms reached Wednesday with 48 U.S. states. Besides the money, which will be paid out over a decade, Meta has agreed to strengthen its age estimates to […]
1 month ago

Zelenskyy’s direct plea helped unlock Russia sanctions in the Senate. What’s next is uncertain

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the U.S. Capitol hours after Lindsey Graham’s funeral to an unusually attentive audience. Half the Senate gathered for the closed-door meeting. Senators set their mobile phones down and focused their attention. Along with representatives from the House, they listened as Zelenskyy fielded questions about his country’s […]
1 month ago

California and the federal government battle over hospice fraud, as victims lose coverage and care

LOS ANGELES (AP) — At 71 and a few years into retirement, Linda Henry felt like she was in good health, and only went to her doctor in Southern California for the occasional checkup. So it was a shock when she found out in 2024 that she had been enrolled in hospice, a specialized end-of-life […]
1 month ago

Tate brothers’ extradition fight back in Miami court as brothers seek release on bond

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge will consider Thursday whether social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate should remain in custody as they challenge their extradition to face rape and sex trafficking charges in the United Kingdom. The Tates have remained in a federal detention center in Miami since making a brief court appearance after […]
1 month ago

Closing arguments are set to begin in Lindsay Clancy’s trial in the killings of her 3 children

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Closing arguments are set for Thursday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother accused of strangling her three young children in a case that has drawn attention to postpartum mental health. Proceedings are expected to resume around 9 a.m. in Plymouth Superior Court. The prosecution and defense will […]
1 month ago

Small plane crashes in water next to remote Alaska coastal town

SELDOVIA, Alaska (AP) — A small plane crashed into shallow waters next to a remote coastal town in Alaska on Wednesday, and rescuers were forced to wait for the tide to go out in order to reach it, according to officials. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board and whether anyone […]
1 month ago

More than 550 missing in Tibet after floods that left hundreds also missing in Nepal

UDIN DHUNGA, Nepal (AP) — China’s Xinhua News Agency said mudslides Wednesday caused by a glacial collapse in Tibet have left 558 people missing, while police in Nepal reported Thursday morning that at least 162 were killed after massive flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China left hundreds of tourists, workers and […]
1 month ago

Military judge sets June 2028 trial date for alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

A U.S. military judge on Wednesday set a summer 2028 trail date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three others accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The trial is scheduled to begin June 5, 2028, 18 months later than the January 2027 start that prosecutors had requested. The additional time is needed to […]
1 month ago

Official leading Trump’s Gaza ceasefire effort criticizes Israel for its attacks

UNITED NATiONS (AP) — The official in charge of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for Gaza criticized Israel on Wednesday for its attacks on the war-battered Palestinian territory and warned that the alternative to the U.S. proposal is the next war. Nikolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace high representative, insisted to the U.N. Security Council […]
1 month ago

Fed governor Lisa Cook slams Trump’s renewed threat to fire her

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook said the Trump administration has no legal basis to remove her from the central bank’s governing board in a letter late Wednesday responding to renewed threats from the White House. Trump first sought to fire Cook a year ago over allegations that she commited mortgage fraud, which […]
1 month ago

A June date on the calendar, but no hearing yet for Bryan Kohberger’s plea challenge

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho judge has set the timeline for Bryan Kohberger’s attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students, and he is warning attorneys on both sides that he will hold any new evidence in the case to a strict legal standard. Fourth District Judge […]
1 month ago

A judge suspends charges against an ex-Marine arrested on Trump’s golf course with ammunition

TORRANCE, Ca. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday suspended criminal charges against a former U.S. Marine arrested at President Donald Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf course with ammunition and a gun in his vehicle. He is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. Los Angeles County Judge John Lonergan Jr. sent Jeanine John Taele, 38, to a mental health […]
1 month ago

A federal prisoner with no clear ties to Alaska advances in primary for the state’s US House seat

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A man who is serving time in a federal prison in New York advanced on Wednesday from the primary for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat. Eric Hafner, a registered Democrat, also ran for the seat in 2024 and secured a spot on the general election ballot that November despite a challenge […]
1 month ago

How Dolly Parton’s love of the Great Smoky Mountains helped transform her hometown

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dolly Parton didn’t just sing lovingly about her Tennessee mountain home. She spent her life elevating an often-overlooked region to showcase what long inspired her music and sparked a tourism boom that forever changed those living against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains. And it is because of that deep […]
1 month ago