Politics

This combination photo shows Rebecca Bennett, a Democrat candidate for New Jersey's 7th Congression...

Kean returned to Congress after an unexplained absence. Now it’s time for his first and only debate

Tom Kean Jr., the Republican congressman from New Jersey whose four-month absence from the House this year went unexplained until he disclosed that he was being treated for depression, and Democrat Rebecca Bennett are readying for the first and only campaign debate Sunday night in their closely contested race. The approval rating is deeply underwater […]
3 minutes ago
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, questions Dr. Heidi Overton during her nomination hearing to become th...

Supreme Court vote shadows Maine Sen. Susan Collins in her first bid after abortion rights decision

GORHAM, Maine (AP) — For years, Planned Parenthood’s endorsement of Susan Collins was enough to persuade Erin Evans to vote for Maine’s longtime U.S. senator, believing that the moderate Republican would protect abortion access. Evans is now “just furious with myself” for those votes. The 56-year-old from Portland described Collins’ critical vote to confirm Brett […]
7 minutes ago
This photo taken with a smartphone shows a partial rainbow arching over boats docked in a harbor in...

‘Lower 48’ is a phrase to fight over in Alaska. It’s a fixture in the state’s US Senate contest

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — One of the most biting insults in Alaska politics is to be accused of being aligned with the “Lower 48,” code for candidates taking marching orders from powerful forces in the contiguous United States rather than sticking up for Alaskans. It’s a central theme of the Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, one […]
12 minutes ago

2 giant pandas set off to Atlanta zoo from China after Xi-Trump summit

BANGKOK (AP) — Two giant pandas departed Chengdu in southwestern China early Sunday for their new homes in Atlanta as part of an agreement between the Chinese and American governments. While in Washington for a three-day summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the pandas would arrive in Atlanta in […]
7 hours ago
Foreign Minister Thorgerour Katrín Gunnarsdottir of Iceland speaks during the 81st session of the ...

Small bites from the UN: Canada’s wider view, one chaotic rumor and reframing someone else’s words

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China and Russia got their turns to speak at the United Nations on Saturday, but that wasn’t call. Watchers from across the globe could find news that affected their lives at the U.N. General Assembly meetings. Here are a few moments: ___ Redefining Netanyahu’s words The foreign minister of Iceland, Thorgerdur […]
10 hours ago

Texas city council candidate who protested ICE shooting faces ‘riot participation’ charge

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas city council candidate was arrested Saturday morning on a misdemeanor charge for “riot participation,” a week after he was part of a protest against the shooting of a Venezuelan man by a federal immigration officer. Public jail records do not specify the date of Misael Ramos’ alleged rioting, but […]
14 hours ago
Foreign Minister Abdul Mateen of Brunei speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations Genera...

They said it: Leaders at the UN, in their own words

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Many leaders saying many things about many topics that matter to them, to their regions, to the world: That’s what the U.N. General Assembly invariably produces each year. And each year, certain voices dominate. Here, The Associated Press takes the opposite approach and spotlights some thoughts from leaders who might have […]
16 hours ago
A "Do Not Enter" sign is pictured on the fence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Art...

Kennedy Center put off planned repairs despite known structural issues, former employees allege

Kennedy Center officials were long aware of serious structural issues that they cited as new problems after the abrupt decision to close the performing arts venue this month, a group of former employees allege in a letter to Congress. The center’s executive director and chief operating officer, Matt Floca, did not treat the roofing issues […]
18 hours ago
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations Gener...

German, Russian foreign ministers have rare meeting at UN

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The German and Russian foreign ministers met Saturday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, holding what’s believed to be the first such tête-à-tête since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The meeting came as tensions between the European Union and Russia rose — and just before Russian Foreign […]
19 hours ago
President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force one at McGhee Tyson Airport, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, ...

CNN says it was left off Air Force One for Trump’s Saturday trip to a college football game

The White House left CNN off Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s trip Saturday to a college football game in Tennessee, marking the latest media restriction from the administration in an ongoing dispute with First Amendment implications. CNN, a member of the U.S. network video pool that rotates duties shooting and sharing video coverage […]
20 hours ago
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assem...

China, as usual, uses UN speech to promote global development as solution to world’s challenges

NEW YORK (AP) — A day after his boss met with President Donald Trump in Washington, China’s vice president unfurled the nation’s familiar list of global talking points, emphasizing development, issuing mild statements about the U.S. war with Iran, artificial intelligence and protectionism, and making no direct mention of Taiwan. Han Zheng’s speech to the […]
21 hours ago
FILE - Michael Davis, of Bellwood, Ala., picks up a sign supporting Doug Jones for governor after a...

Southern Democrats see hope for first time in years, seek to build on discontent of midterm voters

DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — People crowded shoulder to shoulder upstairs in a south Alabama coffee shop, in a region sometimes called the reddest in the heavily conservative state. They were there to hear Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee for governor and the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama. “Alabama has been under Republican […]
24 hours ago
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., talks about the policies of President Donald Trump a...

House Democrats plan vast oversight of Trump administration. Impeachment is an option

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations of President Donald Trump, his family and his administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections. The undertaking is a robust as it is daunting, spanning several House committees. With majority power comes bigger budgets […]
24 hours ago
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) runs the ball in the third quarter of the Longhorns' ...

Trump is attending a big college football game, and coaches are worried about disruptions

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — When President Donald Trump attends Saturday’s Texas vs. Tennessee college football game, it could mean more than tougher traffic and extra long security lines for fans. The disruptions caused by Trump’s visit could go all the way to the game on the field, with headaches for coaches and players, Longhorns coach […]
1 day ago

China and the US agree to set up a new AI safety channel, and to keep talking on trade, military

BANGKOK (AP) — China and the U.S. agreed to set up a channel for handling AI-related incidents and accelerate work on military crisis communications following a three-day summit between their leaders in Washington, both sides said in statements Saturday. The two sides agreed to keep working together on a Board of Trade on selected bilateral […]
1 day ago
FILE - Workers at a Medicaid call center in Jefferson City, Mo., field questions and review informa...

As work requirements kick in for Medicaid, some states are taking a tougher stance

Work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries begin across the U.S. in January, the result of President Donald Trump’s big 2025 tax cut and policy law, and a handful of Republican-led states are imposing tougher rules than the law requires. At issue is how someone can prove they are too medically frail to work. While federal […]
1 day ago
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi walks from the podium after speaking to the media during the...

Where things stand after Iran’s new pitch for a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz

It’s been a busy week for Iranian diplomacy that may have come to nothing. Iran’s president and foreign minister visited New York for the U.N. gathering of world leaders and proposed a deal with the Trump administration that would end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz in seven days. That’s if the U.S. […]
1 day ago
FILE - Piles of coal sit near a chemical plant in Datong, China, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han G...

China has kept its promise to stop funding overseas coal, but loopholes are helping coal expand

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Addressing the U.N. General Assembly in 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to stop funding overseas coal power plants in an effort to help curb climate change. Five years later, as the assembly meets this week, the world’s climate commitments are dangerously offtrack, and the phase down of coal is inching […]
1 day ago
FILE - People protest outside a federal immigration enforcement building in Broadview, Ill. on Sept...

Prosecutor accused of misconduct in ‘Broadview Six’ case resigns, says US attorney ‘scapegoated’ her

CHICAGO (AP) — A prosecutor who has been accused of misconduct over a failed attempt to bring felony charges against six protesters of the federal immigration crackdown in Chicago has resigned, saying she was being treated as a scapegoat after the case fell apart. In a scathing letter Thursday to Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney […]
2 days ago
President Donald Trump speaks during an arrival ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping in the G...

Trump administration uses rare authority to claw back nearly $1B in spending approved by Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.
2 days ago
Barham Salih walks on stage during the Clinton Global Initiative, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, in New...

UN refugee chief urges action from Security Council so displacement no longer crosses generations

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. refugee chief urged the world’s divided nations Friday to focus on ending conflicts and crises so the more than 117 million people forced to flee their homes can return, and not spend generations displaced in a foreign country. In his first speech to the U.N. Security Council since his […]
2 days ago
People pose for photos at United Nations headquarters during the 81st session of the United Nations...

UN tries to build momentum on pandemic preparedness, but hits a speed bump

NEW YORK (AP) — Six years after COVID-19 forced the U.N. General Assembly ‘s annual meeting of world leaders to go virtual for the first time ever, pandemics no longer dominate the conversation at the global gathering. Wars, natural disasters, geopolitical polarization and this year’s hot-button worry — artificial intelligence — have seized attention. But […]
2 days ago
In this photo taken with a smartphone, people opposing a congressional redistricting plan rally out...

Supreme Court rejects a Trump-backed Missouri congressional map for the third time

The Supreme Court on Friday turned away an attempt to use a new Missouri congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, potentially putting an end to a long-running legal dispute as absentee voting is underway in the midterm elections. The justices halted a federal appeals court ruling that would have revived the Republican-friendly map for […]
2 days ago
Television networks set up before President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, China's Preside...

A White House press ban was lifted this week. But the tensions and legal battle aren’t over yet

Journalists from three news outlets that President Donald Trump banned from White House grounds are back at the executive complex with TV cameras, laptops and microphones in hand. But the legal battle between Trump and some of the media that cover him is far from over. Here are some things to know about the White […]
2 days ago