National News

People walk outside of a Federal Courthouse Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/...

Opening arguments set to begin in Meta’s federal trial over child safety

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Opening arguments are set to kick off Tuesday in a pivotal trial for Meta Platforms in a California federal court. Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking extensive financial damages plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram. Twenty-nine states sued the tech giant in […]
10 days ago
FILE - Law enforcement vehicles sit parked outside the Florida state prison in Starke, Fla., on Tue...

Florida set to carry out 13th execution this year in nation’s busiest death chamber

MIAMI (AP) — A Florida man convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding his mother-in-law is set to be executed Tuesday, continuing the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty in Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ‘ final term. William Frances Silvia, 61, would be the 13th prisoner put to death this year in […]
10 days ago
FILE - Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola, a Democrat, speaks during a campaign rally on May...

2 Dan Sullivans face off in Alaska’s US Senate primary, which also features a former congresswoman

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska voters are choosing candidates for November’s general election in a series of primary contests Tuesday, including a U.S. Senate race that will be among the most closely watched in the nation this fall. The campaign featured over a dozen contenders in each of the top races — for Senate, U.S. […]
10 days ago

Pennsylvania cocaine trafficking case has ties to 2 fraternities

More than a dozen people were criminally charged Monday over their alleged ties to a cocaine-trafficking ring in Pennsylvania that involved two fraternities and students. A total of 14 defendants — 13 of which were Penn State University students at or around the time of the alleged crimes in 2023 and 2024 — were charged […]
10 days ago
President Donald Trump returns a salute as he walks from Marine One to his limousine upon his arriv...

Trump’s slight of South Korea in favor of the North raises broader US security concerns

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea does not just slight a longtime ally but raises broader concerns about the security interests of the United States in Asia and elsewhere. Trump explained his decision by citing South Korea’s refusal to join his war against Iran and […]
10 days ago
FBI Director Kash Patel attends a news conference at the Department of Justice, Wednesday, August 5...

Judge blocks the Trump administration from moving FBI headquarters to DC office building

A U.S. judge on Monday blocked plans to move the FBI’s headquarters to a federal office building in Washington, finding that President Donald Trump’s administration illegally tossed out a previously approved plan to build a new facility nearby in Maryland. The ruling is the latest development in a yearslong battle over where to house the […]
10 days ago
United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, center, leaves the U.S. Department of Commerce f...

US, Canada hold last-minute talks to stop 50% U.S. tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Canada have wrangled for decades over trade, poking each other interminably over sore spots like Canadian softwood lumber imports and U.S. access to Canada’s protected dairy market. Somehow the two neighbors still managed to remain friends, allies — and trading partners. Canadian soldiers fought alongside Americans in Afghanistan […]
10 days ago
From left, Coalition for Open Democracy's Voter Education Coordinator Sarah Ortiz, summer student I...

Lawsuit Challenges NH Student ID Voter Restriction

From court challenges on student IDs to new requirements for absentee ballots, voting in 2026 will bring a number of changes for Granite-staters for students and residents who have moved in-state or between states. “The laws have changed a lot, so if you voted in 2025 or 2024, this year will be different,” said Olivia […]
10 days ago
FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 202...

ICE pitches legal insurance to help shield local officers who make immigration arrests

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct. The agency is proposing to subsidize liability insurance for state and local officers who are trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration laws, according to […]
10 days ago
President Donald Trump gestures to Nathaniel Rai, the boy lifeguard Ryder Williams, left, saved as ...

Teen lifeguard and boy he rescued are honored at White House after Trump saw dramatic viral video

WASHINGTON (AP) — A teenage lifeguard and the boy he rescued off the coast of California were reunited Monday at the White House as President Donald Trump honored both as heroes. “What you did was incredible, and everybody saw it,” Trump told the boys, referring to a viral video of the July rescue in Santa […]
10 days ago
FILE - Students work under Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights posters on display in a classroom at...

Supreme Court asked to review Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments in public schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — Civil rights advocates on Monday said they asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, teeing up a case that could set a new national standard for the limits of state-sponsored religious expression in classrooms. Over two dozen Texas families represented by […]
10 days ago
FILE - Dr. Jessica Early holds a vial of the combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at Pris...

US school vaccination rates inch down yet again and exemptions reach record high

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Monday. The fraction of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 4.2%, up from 3.6% the year before. That’s an estimated 155,000 children nationally during […]
10 days ago
Attorney General Todd Blanche listens as President Donald Trump speaks at the David Mack Center for...

Justice Department creates a new pathway to restore gun rights for some convicted of felonies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department finalized a rule Monday that will pave the way for people who’ve been barred from owning firearms because of criminal convictions to apply to have their gun rights reinstated. The Attorney General Todd Blanche is a victory for Second Amendment advocates who have long pushed for nonviolent people with […]
10 days ago
President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with lifeguard Ryder Williams in the Oval Office of the W...

Trump administration pauses contentious border construction in Texas’ Big Bend National Park

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in the Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits Texas to do an “on-the-ground evaluation.” The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan […]
10 days ago
Debris is seen along Hawaiʻi Belt Road near Pahala, Hawaii, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, after a severe ...

Muddy cleanup ahead as Tropical Storm Lala moves west of Hawaii

HONOLULU (AP) — Tropical Storm Lala left behind a muddy mess Monday caused by intense rainfall and flooding as it moved past Hawaii’s main islands. Lala weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Sunday after lashing the state without making landfall. The storm was projected to continue moving westward and was forecast to become […]
10 days ago
FILE - Fentanyl pills are displayed at a Drug Enforcement Administration research laboratory on Tue...

Justice Department watchdog to review DEA tactic that permitted deadly fentanyl to hit streets

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog on Monday announced a review of a controversial tactic in which federal law enforcement allowed fentanyl to hit the streets to build bigger cases against drug traffickers. The review will examine government policies and wiretap investigations in which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration may have learned […]
10 days ago
Lindsay Clancy watches the jury enter the room during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court i...

Prosecution rests in Lindsay Clancy murder trial. Defense now gets its turn calling witnesses

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors have finished presenting their case in the emotionally charged trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mom who has admitted killing her three young children but blamed her actions on her failing mental health. The prosecution rested its case Monday after three weeks of testimony. Clancy’s lawyer now gets his chance […]
10 days ago
FILE - Hayden Panettiere arrives at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 20, 2009, in Los Angele...

From ‘Nashville’ to ‘Remember the Titans,’ Hayden Panettiere’s notable roles and where to watch

Hayden Panettiere spent most of her life in front of a camera. The actor, who died Sunday at age 36, made her debut in a toy commercial when she was just 11 months old. From her soap opera beginnings and early breakout roles holding her own opposite acting legends, Panettiere had an undeniable presence that […]
10 days ago
FILE - Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti reacts during the second half of the College Football Playo...

The Latest: The AP Top 25 preseason college football poll is set to be released at noon

The wait is almost over. The 2026 AP Top 25 preseason poll drops at noon ET, giving college football enthusiasts a look at how voters view the top teams approaching the season. The Top 25 voters are decided by more than 60 journalists covering college football for AP members and other news organizations. They’re urged […]
10 days ago
Scott Conrad, left, Joseph Workman, second from left, Ronan Carey, in the boat, and Kesley Patterso...

Flooding risk remains as storms move from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) — Thunderstorms, heavy rain and flash flooding continued to threaten a swath of the U.S. from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic Monday, extending a deadly stretch of unsettled weather. The National Weather Service said repeated rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms would continue for one more day before a cold front sweeps […]
10 days ago
FILE - E. Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court after former President Donald Trump appeare...

Supreme Court again rebuffs Trump’s push to toss out $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday again rebuffed President Donald Trump’s push to throw out a jury’s $5 million finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The Republican president’s lawyers had asked the justices to reconsider […]
10 days ago
President Donald Trump speaks while meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office ...

Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows

Wealth, perhaps second only to loyalty, has been a prized attribute for Donald Trump during his second presidency. The number of people worth at least $100 million whom the Republican president has appointed to his administration is more than four times the combined total under the three previous presidents, according to a report from the […]
11 days ago
Hayden Panettiere heroes...
HANNAH SCHOENBAUM, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hayden Panettiere, who starred in the television series ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36

Hayden Panettiere, star of popular television series including "Heroes" and "Nashville," died Sunday at an apartment complex in South Carolina. She was 36.
11 days ago
FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Is...

The Latest: Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea

President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea as his war against Iran stretches the limits of U.S. aircraft carriers. Trump said South Korea wouldn’t help with his war against Iran and cited his good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The USS George Washington […]
11 days ago