WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed a New Year’s Eve proclamation delaying increased tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for a year, citing ongoing trade talks. Trump’s order signed Wednesday keeps in place a 25% tariff he imposed in September on those goods, but delays for another year a 30% tariff on […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is facing a new legal complaint from a group of government employees who are affected by a new policy going into effect Thursday that eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs. The complaint, filed Thursday on the employees’ behalf by the Human Rights Campaign, is in […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year. Democrats forced a 43-day government shutdown over the issue. Moderate Republicans called for […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan. Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath. […]
HONOLULU (AP) — A federal appeals court ruling on New Year’s Eve blocked Hawaii from enforcing a climate change tourist tax on cruise ships passengers, a levy that was set to go into effect at the start of 2026. Cruise Lines International Association challenged the tax in a lawsuit, arguing that the new law violates […]
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a misconduct case against the state’s attorney general after he defied court orders in a dispute over a law that gave the governor more power over the judiciary. A court-appointed panel last year found that Attorney General Austin Knudsen repeatedly attacked the integrity of the […]
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — The Trump administration has told another coal-fired power facility to remain open, this time ordering the owners of a Colorado electricity generating unit to keep it running beyond its Wednesday retirement date. Compliance will cost Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and the other owners of the Craig Station power plant […]
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Walt Disney World worker in Florida was injured while attempting to stop a large runaway prop boulder from rolling into seated spectators at the Indiana Jones live show. The worker at the “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios park was knocked to the ground by the […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four firms operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and designated four additional oil tankers, which the U.S. accuses of being part of a shadow fleet serving Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government, as blocked property. The action is part of the Trump administration’s monthslong pressure campaign on […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Wednesday it struck three more boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs, killing three people while others jumped overboard and may have survived. The statement by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees South America, did not reveal where the attacks occurred. Previous attacks have been in the Caribbean Sea and […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has ended the lease agreement for three public golf courses in Washington, a move that offers President Donald Trump an additional opportunity to put his stamp on another piece of the nation’s capital. The National Links Trust, the nonprofit that has operated Washington’s three public courses on federal land […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Jan. 6. riot at the U.S. Capitol “does not happen” without Donald Trump, former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers earlier this month in characterizing the Republican president as the “most culpable and most responsible person” in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Republican-led House […]
HOLBROOK, Ariz. (AP) — A prominent California farmer has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the shooting death of his estranged wife at her home in an eastern Arizona mountain community. Michael Abatti, 63, made his first appearance Wednesday in Navajo County Superior Court after being extradited from El Centro, California, where he […]
The Trump administration has said it is freezing child care funds to all states until they provide more verification and administrative data about the programs in a move fueled by a series of fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents. All 50 states will be impacted by the review, but the […]
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Farmers are now learning how much aid they can expect to receive from a $12 billion package that President Donald Trump announced earlier this month. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the figures Wednesday for how much aid per acre farmers can plan on for each row crop. The details arrived […]
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The Trump administration can continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers that provide abortions while a coalition of mostly-Democratic states challenge the cuts, a federal appeals court ruled. The decision Tuesday in one of multiple lawsuits filed after President Donald Trump signed tax breaks and spending […]
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man handed an illegal prison sentence years longer than the maximum penalty for his crime has been granted clemency by Mississippi’s governor, weeks after the man’s brother received clemency in a similar case. Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday that he was granting clemency to Maurice Taylor. The man’s brother, Marcus […]
New England Patriots defensive lineman Christian J. Barmore is facing a domestic assault and battery charge after his girlfriend told police he threw her to the ground in August at his home outside Boston. A criminal complaint issued Dec. 18 claims Barmore, 26, briefly took the woman’s phone, threw her to the ground and grabbed […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani will take his oath of office on a centuries-old Quran, marking the first time a mayor of New York City has used Islam’s holy text to be sworn in and underscoring a series of historic firsts for the city. When the 34-year-old Democrat becomes mayor shortly after […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Justice has expanded its review of documents related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to 5.2 million as it also increases the number of attorneys trying to comply with a law mandating release of the files, according to a person briefed on a letter sent to U.S. Attorneys. […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump issued the first vetoes of his second term on Tuesday, rejecting two low-profile bipartisan bills, a move that had the effect of punishing backers who had opposed the president’s positions on other issues. Trump vetoed drinking water pipeline legislation from Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a longtime ally […]
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The advice that legendary investor Warren Buffett offered on investing and life over the years helped earn him legions of followers who eagerly read his annual letters and filled an arena in Omaha every year to listen to him at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings. Buffett’s last day as CEO is Wednesday […]
Richard Smallwood, a gospel singer and recording artist nominated eight times for Grammy Awards, has died. He was 77. Smallwood died Tuesday of complications of kidney failure at a rehabilitation and nursing center in Sandy Spring, Maryland, his representative Bill Carpenter announced. Smallwood had health issues for many years, and music gave him the strength […]
