Politics

The Latest | Prosecutors likely to call just 2 more witnesses in Trump’s hush money case

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial said Friday that they expect to call just two more witnesses to the stand, potentially laying the ground for resting their case next week. One of those witnesses is expected to be Michael Cohen on Monday, two people familiar with the matter told The […]
8 hours ago

Judge directs Michael Cohen to keep quiet about Trump ahead of his hush money trial testimony

NEW YORK (AP) — With Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen expected to take the witness stand Monday, the judge in the former president’s hush money case issued prosecutors a stern warning: Get Cohen to stop his taunting posts and jabs at Trump. Judge Juan M. Merchan’s comments came as a dramatic and consequential week in […]
15 hours ago

UN to vote on resolution that would grant Palestine new rights and revive its UN membership bid

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote Friday on a resolution that would grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and call on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations. The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on […]
18 hours ago

Man paralyzed after being hit with a Taser while running from police in Colorado sues officer

DENVER (AP) — A man who said he was paralyzed after being hit with a Taser while running from police in Colorado filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against one of the officers, seeking $100 million in damages. Lawyers for Jacob Root, who was suspected of stealing a car, allege Officer Robert Comstock fired a Taser […]
20 hours ago

Guyana says it gave permission for the US military to fly 2 powerful jets over the capital

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana’s government on Thursday said it gave permission for the U.S. military to fly two powerful F/A-18F Super Hornet jets over its capital to demonstrate the close military and other forms of cooperation between this oil-exporting South American nation and the United States. The country had about three hours notice of […]
21 hours ago

Chinese billionaire gets time served, leaves country after New York, Rhode Island straw donor scheme

A Chinese billionaire who pleaded guilty to funneling illegal straw donations to politicians’ campaigns in New York and Rhode Island was sentenced Thursday to time served and quickly left the country as part of his deal with prosecutors to forfeit his green card. Hui Qin, 56, a Chinese film magnate with homes in Manhattan and […]
21 hours ago

Killing of an airman by Florida deputy is among cases of Black people being shot in their homes

The fatal shooting of a U.S. Air Force airman at his off-base apartment in the Florida Panhandle by a sheriff’s deputy brings to mind other instances of Black people being killed by law enforcement in their own homes as they’re going about their day. Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was killed on May 3 in […]
22 hours ago

Maine man sentenced to 27 years in prison in New Year’s Eve machete attack near Times Square

NEW YORK (AP) — A Maine man who admitted trying to kill three police officers with a machete in a terrorist attack near New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve 16 months ago was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Thursday in a courtroom packed with officers. The sentencing of Trevor Bickford in […]
22 hours ago

Biden administration will seek partial end to special court oversight of child migrants

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Biden administration will seek to partially end the 27-year-old court supervision of how the federal government cares for child migrants traveling alone, shortly after producing its own list of safeguards against mistreatment, an attorney involved in the case says. The Justice Department has told opposing attorneys it will ask a […]
1 day ago

Xavier University cancels UN ambassador’s commencement speech after student outcry

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Xavier University of Louisiana has reversed course and canceled Saturday’s planned commencement address by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield after news of her appearance sparked outrage among some students. University President Reynold Verret announced the decision in an email Wednesday to faculty, staff and students. “Everyone’s goal is […]
1 day ago

Court rejects Hunter Biden’s appeal in gun case, setting stage for trial to begin next month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden’s federal gun case should move forward, an appeals court ruled Thursday, setting the stage for the trial to begin next month in Delaware. Lawyers for the president’s son had asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling rejecting his bid to dismiss the case. But a […]
1 day ago

California to tap generative AI tools to increase services access, reduce traffic jams

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California could soon deploy generative artificial intelligence tools to help reduce traffic jams, make roads safer and provide tax guidance, among other things, under new agreements announced Thursday as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to harness the power of new technologies for public services. The state is partnering with five […]
1 day ago

Body camera video shows fatal shooting of Black airman by Florida deputy in apartment doorway

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff released body camera video Thursday showing a deputy outside an apartment door and firing immediately when it was opened by a Black man carrying a handgun pointed downward, a killing the family denounced as “unjustifiable.” Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden presented the video hours after the […]
1 day ago

The Latest | Judge denies defense’s 2nd request for mistrial in Trump’s hush money case

NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money case denied a second request from defense attorneys to declare a mistrial over porn actor Stormy Daniels’ testimony, which concluded Thursday. Judge Juan M. Merchan, echoing his denial Tuesday of the defense’s initial mistrial motion, said Trump’s lawyers had ample opportunities to object to […]
1 day ago

The Latest | Palestinians flee Rafah as Netanyahu vows to widen Gaza assault despite US warnings

Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings and fled the southern city of Rafah for other parts of Gaza, according to the United Nations. Israel has repeatedly threatened to invade Rafah, saying it’s the last stronghold of Hamas militants. Some 1.3 million Palestinians — over half […]
1 day ago

Failure to oust Speaker ‘MAGA Mike’ Johnson shows strength and weakness of his alliance with Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was Donald Trump who bestowed the “MAGA Mike Johnson” nickname on the House speaker the day he won the gavel. It is the Republican speaker himself who is proving whether it sticks. Johnson survived an ouster vote this week by one of Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor […]
2 days ago

Stormy Daniels delivers shocking testimony about Trump, but trial hinges on business records

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s defense attorney on Thursday accused Stormy Daniels of slowly altering the details of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, trying to convince jurors that a key prosecution witness in the former president’s hush money criminal trial cannot be believed. “You have made all of this up, right?” lawyer […]
2 days ago

New York City’s watchdog agency launches probe after complaints about the NYPD’s social media use

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City’s watchdog agency has launched an investigation into allegations that the city’s police department improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens. The city Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a statement Wednesday, saying it was prompted by recent requests from City […]
2 days ago

NYC real estate developer charged with driving into woman at pro-Palestinian protest

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York real estate developer was charged with felony assault after police said he hit a woman with his car during a pro-Palestinian demonstration led by students connected to the Columbia University protest movement. Reuven Kahane, 57, was arrested Tuesday morning after driving his car into a 55-year-old safety marshal […]
2 days ago

Pennsylvania will make the animal sedative xylazine a controlled substance

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign legislation to criminalize the misuse of a powerful animal tranquilizer called xylazine that is showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths, his office said Wednesday. Xylazine, which is being mixed into fentanyl and other illicit […]
2 days ago

Undercover operation nets arrests as New Mexico’s top prosecutor blames Meta for online predators

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s top prosecutor announced charges Wednesday against three men who are accused of using Meta’s social media platforms to target and solicit sex with underage children. The arrests are the result of a monthslong undercover operation in which the suspects connected with decoy accounts that were set up by the […]
2 days ago

Pete McCloskey, GOP congressman who once challenged Nixon, dies at 96

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Pete McCloskey — a pro-environment, anti-war California Republican who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day — has died. He was 96. A fourth-generation Republican “in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt,” he often said, McCloskey represented the 12th Congressional District for 15 years, running for president against an incumbent […]
2 days ago
Image: Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, is a member of the Washington House of Representatives....
Frank Sumrall

Rep. Caldier being investigated, again, after revealing redacted witnesses’ names

Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, publicly identified three people interviewed for an investigation to reporters last December.
2 days ago

House rejects Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from office

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried and failed in sudden action Wednesday to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, her long-shot effort swiftly and resoundingly rejected by Democrats and Republicans tired of the political chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood on the House floor and read a long […]
2 days ago