Politics

Two men wade in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz with vessels anchored in the background, off Ban...

US pauses attacks on Iran for a second straight day and Tehran pauses, too

CAIRO (AP) — The United States paused its attacks on Iran for a second straight day Sunday and Tehran said it had done so too, as efforts continued to bring the countries back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire. It was not clear why the U.S. has […]
1 hour ago
Laura Loomer speaks during her interview with The Associated Press, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July ...

Exclusive: In a Ukrainian bomb shelter, Laura Loomer explains shift on Russia’s war

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Laura Loomer became infamous for spreading conspiracy theories online. Now, as she travels across Ukraine to see the damage inflicted by Russia in its yearslong war, she wants to admit that she fell for some falsehoods of her own. A close ally of President Donald Trump, Loomer has completely reversed her […]
2 hours ago
FILE - Cooling tower three with one and two in the background operate at the nuclear reactor facili...

As Trump boosts nuclear power, regulators seek to eliminate a longstanding radiation safety rule

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to eliminate a foundational safety principle that has for 50 years minimized the radiation people in the United States are exposed to and that has been adopted around the world. Currently, facilities such as nuclear plants, hospitals or academic institutions that use radioactive materials must ensure radiation exposures are […]
3 hours ago
Former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., speaks during a campaign rally on Saturday, July 18, 2026, in St. Lou...

Cori Bush and Wesley Bell’s rematch sets up key test for Democrats in Missouri

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Gripping a microphone outside the courthouse where the infamous Dred Scott case over slavery was argued in 1847, former Rep. Cori Bush portrayed her ouster from Congress as another historic setback set to be reversed. “We’re standing here saying, send back that descendant, send her back to the place that enslaved […]
4 hours ago
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters ahead of an address by President...

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries kicks off 100 days till midterms with affordability agenda

The stage is in battleground Pennsylvania. The stakes are control of the House. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday will unveil the party’s Fighting for an Affordable America agenda, as he kicks off 100 days until the midterm elections and works to focus voter attention ahead of November. In Pennsylvania’s 7th District, tucked in […]
6 hours ago

Airstrikes have paused and talks are pressing forward. But can the US and Iran take the off-ramp?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has paused its airstrikes on Iran after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, while diplomatic efforts have pushed forward to try to avert a return to all-out war. But it remains to be seen whether the U.S. and Iran are at an inflection point in a mercurial conflict that […]
15 hours ago
FILE - The United States Court of International Trade is seen in front of the Jacob K. Javits Feder...

Small businesses file lawsuits against Trump’s new sweeping tariffs

NEW YORK (AP) — Trump’s tariffs are headed to court — again. Two lawsuits filed by small businesses are challenging Trump’s sweeping tariffs announced Thursday that impose double-digit levies on 60 trading partners. The tariffs, implemented under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for what the Trump administration says is countries’ failure to […]
24 hours ago
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico speaks at a rally on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Eagle Pas...

Talarico is trying to win back Hispanics along the Texas border who swung toward the GOP

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — The black campaign bus with “Talarico for Texas” across its side came to a steaming stop at Memo’s Restaurant along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bibi Valdez’s eyes lit up. She marched in heels over to the bus, phone camera trained on its door, chatting about the locals whose political leanings shifted […]
1 day ago
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., rushes up the steps at the Capitol for final votes before the House of...

How to run for reelection in a messy Congress? It’s not easy

WASHINGTON (AP) — House leaders sent lawmakers home for summer campaigning after one of the rockiest sessions in recent memory as voters decide which party to put in power in Congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. For those seeking to stay in office, particularly the newest members, it can be a tough […]
1 day ago
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, welcomes United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres...

U.N. chief urges international community to back Syrians during visit to Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to the international community Saturday to support the people in Syria at the start of his first visit to the Arab country as U.N. chief, nearly two years after the fall of Bashar Assad. Guterres ‘ visit is the first by a UN secretary-general to the […]
1 day ago
Elizabeth Martínez pushes a shopping cart through a grocery store aisle on Thursday, July 2, 2026,...

The ‘rockets and feathers’ effect: Inflation eases but grocery bills do not

Economics has a term for what U.S. grocery prices have done in recent years: rockets and feathers. Rockets, because the cost of food eaten at home zoomed up in the aftermath of the pandemic. Feathers, because once prices rise, they’re slow to come down. That’s been frustrating for Americans hit with the sharpest increase in […]
1 day ago

Americans rewire their grocery shopping routines while digesting the biggest price jump in 50 years

What’s for dinner? Lately, at Apral Jack’s house, it’s whatever is on sale. Jack scouts an app for deals at her local supermarket before she buys groceries. When she reaches the store, she grabs the weekly circular to look for coupons she might have missed. If the shelf prices look too high, she scratches items […]
1 day ago
From left, U.S. Senate candidates Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson, Dr. Nirav Shah, and Jordan Wood pre...

Maine Democrats are meeting to pick a new Senate nominee to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Maine Democrats on Saturday will choose a new U.S. Senate nominee to face longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a contest that could decide control of the Senate, after Graham Platner dropped out of the race following an allegation of sexual assault. Support has coalesced around former state Senate President Troy […]
1 day ago
FILE - Turbines are visible at Sunrise Wind offshore wind farm that is under construction off the c...

Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has acknowledged in canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. The statement contradicts repeated assertions by Energy […]
2 days ago
People views displays at the Smithsonian museum a day after Independence Day celebrations honoring ...

Trump orders new signs outside Smithsonian saying some exhibits are inaccurate

President Donald Trump ordered his administration Friday to install signs in front of the Smithsonian Institution ‘s U.S. history museum telling visitors that some of the exhibits are inaccurate, his latest move to reshape how the story of the United States is told. Trump’s move follows a report released July 4 by his Domestic Policy […]
2 days ago
FILE - Shipping containers are seen ready for transport at the Guangzhou Port in the Nansha distric...

What to know about Trump’s latest tariffs

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump keeps finding ways to maintain a wall of tariffs around the American economy. On Friday, he rolled out new double-digit tariffs on imports from 60 U.S. trading partners, ostensibly for failing to do enough to prevent imports produced by forced labor. But the breadth of the levies — they […]
2 days ago
Ronaldo Salgado speaks during an oversight forum on Friday, July 24, 2026, in Houston, about the de...

Sons of man shot and killed by ICE in Houston demand accountability at congressional hearing

Two sons of a man shot by immigration officers in Houston this month testified at a congressional hearing Friday, describing the horror and confusion of learning their father had been killed, and demanding a transparent investigation into how he died and why. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed July 7, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers […]
2 days ago
FILE - Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers the Democratic response to President Donald Trump'...

Virginia study on groundwater, data centers calls for tighter water regulations

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia, the world’s largest data center hub, has released a long-delayed study that examined the state’s eastern region groundwater supply and the resource-hungry industry’s possible impact on it, finding declines are likely in a critical aquifer due to population growth and industrial use, and urging stricter regulations. Produced by environmental scientists, […]
2 days ago
FILE - U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks to the media during a press confe...

UN human rights chief faces opposition in vote to extend his term for another four years

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk faces a vote Friday for a second four-year term but is running into opposition from critics and some countries for his criticism of Israel’s attacks in Gaza and his approach to China’s crackdown on its Uyghur minority. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres quietly nominated the Austrian lawyer […]
2 days ago
President Donald Trump holds a championship ring during an event to honor the 2025 World Series cha...

Trump says US will investigate EU trade practices, claiming the bloc unfairly fined US tech giants

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says Friday that the United States will open a formal investigation into the European Union’s trade practices, claiming the bloc has unfairly levied billions of dollars of fines against Google, Apple and other U.S. tech giants. The Republican president made the announcement a day after the EU hit Google […]
2 days ago
FILE - A U.S. Army soldier walks past a Bradley fighting vehicle staged in West Potomac Park ahead ...

White House wants veterans to replace immigrant truckers who lost their licenses in crackdown

The Trump administration wants soldiers to consider becoming truck drivers when they leave the military to help replace the tens of thousands of immigrant drivers who lost their licenses in a crackdown this year. A new campaign launched Friday will promote programs that let veterans who recently drove large military vehicles skip the required skills […]
2 days ago

11 indicted in smuggling deaths of 7 migrants in rail cargo container in Texas

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A U.S. attorney announced a federal indictment on Friday against 11 people in the smuggling deaths of seven migrants who were hiding inside a sweltering rail cargo container in Texas in May. Six people were found dead inside the shipping container in a rail yard in Laredo, Texas, and another had […]
2 days ago
President Donald Trump is seen speaking from the East Room on a television in the West Wing of the ...

White House correspondents’ dinner, redux: What will Trump have to say?

When guests arrive for the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Friday at Washington’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, security will be much tighter, the guest list smaller, the partying pared down. That much, the correspondents’ association can control. What remains out of its control — and perhaps the biggest question — is what the dinner’s […]
2 days ago
FILE - Troy Jackson, Democratic candidate for governor, speaks to reporters at a campaign event on ...

What to know about Troy Jackson, Maine Democrats’ likely nominee for US Senate

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine Democrats who have been scrambling to tap a new nominee for a pivotal U.S. Senate race against Republican Susan Collins are expected to nominate Troy Jackson at a last-minute convention this weekend. Jackson, a progressive Democrat, is a former president of the state’s Democratic-controlled Senate who has been a fixture […]
2 days ago