National News

A sign blaming Sacramento policies for high gas prices is displayed at a Chevron gas station in Ala...

Newsom’s office warns Californians to avoid Chevron this holiday weekend, citing high gas prices

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in a spat with a major oil company over who is to blame for the state’s high gas prices, with the Democratic governor’s office urging drivers not to fill up at Chevron stations over Memorial Day weekend. “Pro tip: unbranded gas comes from the same refineries, […]
6 months ago
FILE - Camp director Mary Liz Eastland is questioned during a hearing on a suit against Camp Mystic...

Texas board faults Camp Mystic leader for inaction during deadly flood

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas board has suspended the nursing license of Camp Mystic’s co-director in a scathing order that accused her of not helping children evacuate during last year’s catastrophic floods that killed 25 girls and two teenage counselors. It’s one of the state’s first actions against a member of the family that […]
6 months ago
FILE - Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows speaks with reporters during the National Associate ...

Judges in Maine and Wisconsin dismiss Justice Department’s attempts to force turnover of voter rolls

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal judges in Maine and Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking to compel the states to hand over detailed voter registration information. U.S. District Judge James Pederson in Wisconsin said the state’s voter registration list is not a record that can be requested under […]
6 months ago
FILE - Jack Avery of Why Don't We performs during 103.5 KISS FM's Jingle Ball at the Allstate Arena...

Ex-girlfriend of boy band member charged with trying to hire a hitman to kill him

The former girlfriend of a member of the boy band Why Don’t We has been charged with trying to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill him as part of a custody dispute over their now 7-year-old daughter, prosecutors said. Gabriela Gonzalez, a 24-year-old with a large social media following, was charged Tuesday […]
6 months ago
FILE - Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a concession speech fo...

Takeaways from the Democratic National Committee’s long-awaited autopsy report on 2024 election

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s never a good sign when a report comes with a big red disclaimer at the top of each page, but that’s what happened on Thursday when the Democratic National Committee belatedly released its controversial autopsy report on the 2024 election. “This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC,” […]
6 months ago
FILE - United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, atte...

UN council urged to use ‘every means at its disposal’ to press Hamas to disarm

UNITED NATIONSto (AP) — The official overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza urged the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to use “every means at its disposal” to press Hamas to disarm, warning that every act of violence in the Palestinian territory risks “unraveling” the agreement. Nickolay Mladenov, high representative of the Board of Peace, an […]
6 months ago
FILE - Candidate Tina Peters speaks during a debate for the state leadership position, Feb. 25, 202...

Colorado Democrats censure governor for conspiracy theorist sentence commutation

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Colorado Democrats voted overwhelmingly to censure one of their own, Gov. Jared Polis, for commuting the prison sentence of Tina Peters, the election conspiracy theorist who amplified President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that mass fraud caused his 2020 election loss. About 90% of the state party’s roughly 700 Central Committee […]
6 months ago
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends at a press conference at the US Embassy in Rome, Friday, ...

Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump raises new threat of military action

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and America’s top diplomat on Thursday again raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump said previous U.S. presidents have considered intervening in Cuba […]
6 months ago
FILE - The Department of Health and Human Services building is seen in Washington, April 16, 2025. ...

The Trump administration expands its use of AI in the hunt for healthcare fraud

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday announced it is supercharging its use of artificial intelligence to police how states and other recipients of federal health dollars are auditing their programs. The move is intended to tamp down risks of fraud and save the government money. The department […]
6 months ago
FILE - A poster outside a roundtable about an online safety bill, hosted by first lady Melania Trum...

Two men charged with creating AI-generated porn under new law targeting ‘deepfakes’

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography. Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew […]
6 months ago
FILE - The Treasury Department building is pictured at dusk in Washington, June 6, 2019. (AP Photo/...

US sanctions Lebanese lawmakers, security officials over Hezbollah influence

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Hezbollah-affiliated parliamentarians, state security officials, and allies of the militant group were hit with U.S. sanctions Thursday, for allegedly seeking to preserve the Iran-backed group’s influence over Lebanese state institutions and obstruct disarmament efforts. It’s the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, one from the […]
6 months ago
Detail of a pair of worn blue jeans in Phoenix, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)Credit: A...

Through much of the American experience, blue jeans have been a common thread

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Americans want to show their patriotism, they often don red, white and blue clothing, or sometimes even drape themselves in the U.S. flag. But if you truly want to embody the country’s zeitgeist, just slip on your favorite blue jeans. You probably already own at least one pair, just like […]
6 months ago
FILE - A SpaceX logo is displayed on a building, May 26, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape ...

A look at the SpaceX IPO by the numbers

Elon Musk is all about big numbers — billions, trillions – and you can find them sprinkled throughout an extraordinary document he just filed to take his rocket maker public. Running more than 250 pages, the prospectus for his SpaceX stock debut shows spending at a massive scale — greater than the economic output of […]
6 months ago
FILE - Associated Press sports writer Howard Fendrich is shown in this undated file photo. (AP Phot...

Howard Fendrich, award-winning AP national sports writer and tennis expert, dies at 55

Howard Fendrich, a national sports writer for The Associated Press whose persistent reporting and detail-rich prose brought readers inside dozens of taut Grand Slam tennis finals, record-breaking Olympic moments and harrowing trips down Alpine ski slopes, has died. He was 55. Fendrich died Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his wife Rosanna Maietta said. […]
6 months ago
Postcard collector Peter Meggison, holds up two examples of large letter postcards from places acro...

Colorful ‘Greetings from’ postcards reflected American innovation, idealism

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Greetings from Concord, New Hampshire. Postcards emblazoned with “Greetings from” a state, city or tourist attraction advertise more than just the tiny scenes squeezed into 3D letters. They also reflect American innovation and idealism in both their production and popularity. So-called large-letter postcards weren’t new when a German immigrant named Curt […]
6 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Ov...

Trump says he’s postponing signing an executive order on AI out of concern it would hurt AI industry

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump called off a Thursday signing ceremony for a new order on artificial intelligence because he worried it could dull America’s edge on AI technology. Trump said he was postponing the signing because he didn’t like what he saw in the order’s text. He announced the change hours before the […]
6 months ago
FILE - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., right, speaks as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., left, looks on during ...

Lawmakers warn data protection rules don’t protect key sites, including White House and CIA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration spent almost a year crafting regulations to block U.S. adversaries from buying commercial data gathered from cell phones at the federal government’s most sensitive locations. The resulting rules, however, have a few gaps. Left off the list of 736 sensitive locations were the White House, Congress and the CIA’s […]
6 months ago
FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2016, file photo, heavy equipment is seen at a site where sections of the Da...

A decade after Standing Rock protests, contentious segment of Dakota Access oil pipeline gets OK

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Federal officials on Thursday gave final approval for the Dakota Access oil pipeline to continue operating its contentious Missouri River crossing, an outcome that comes nearly a decade after boisterous protests against the project on the North Dakota prairie. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant the key easement […]
6 months ago
New Mexico State Police respond to home in Mountainair, N.M., where authorities say several people ...

What to know the mysterious deaths in New Mexico linked to unknown substance

MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. (AP) — Investigators in New Mexico are trying to identify a mysterious substance that may have contributed to the deaths of three people and led to more than a dozen first responders being briefly quarantined. Authorities were called to a suspected drug overdose Wednesday and found four people who were unresponsive inside a […]
6 months ago

New York City residents will get a chance to purchase $50 World Cup tickets

NEW YORK (AP) — Some lucky New York City residents will soon get a chance to snag cheap seats to this summer’s high-priced World Cup. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that 1,000 tickets costing $50 will be made available to residents of the city of more than 8 million for the most watched sporting event […]
6 months ago
Newport News Circuit Court Judge Rebecca M. Robinson speaks during the trial of Ebony Parker on fel...

Judge dismisses charges against ex-administrator accused after student shot teacher

A judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a former school administrator accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun hours before a teacher was shot. Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson in Newport News, Virginia, issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, […]
6 months ago

Atlantic hurricane season forecast to be milder than normal thanks to El Nino

A developing El Nino that is forecast to get quite strong will likely dampen the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, but it won’t make the potentially deadly storms disappear, federal and outside meteorologists predict. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued its seasonal outlook for the Atlantic, giving a 55% chance of a below-average […]
6 months ago
FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associate...

Facing intense internal pressure, DNC releases post-election autopsy

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a critical study of the party’s performance in the 2024 campaign on Thursday, bowing to intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives who had publicly demanded the release of the post-election autopsy. The 192-page report, which was concluded last December and authored by Democratic […]
6 months ago

Former Detroit Mayor Duggan cites toxic political climate, suspending his run for Michigan governor

DETROIT (AP) — Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Thursday that he is suspending his campaign for Michigan governor citing an increasingly “toxic” political climate due to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran and skyrocketing gas prices. Duggan, a longtime Democrat, was running as an independent to replace Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who can’t run […]
6 months ago