National News

People arrive for a funeral service for Brown University shooting victim Ella Cook, Monday, Dec. 22...

Hundreds mourn Brown University sophomore Ella Cook, killed in campus shooting

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A Brown University sophomore who was killed in an attack at the Rhode Island university was remembered Monday as “smart, confident, curious, kind, principled, brave,” at a funeral in her home state of Alabama. Hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham to remember Ella Cook, 19. […]
11 months ago
FILE - National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin smiles during an interview at the Rosie the R...

Betty Reid Soskin, oldest National Park Service ranger, dies at 104

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — Betty Reid Soskin, who rose to national fame as the oldest National Park Service ranger and used the spotlight to talk about the African American experience during World War II, has died. She was 104. Her family and the park service announced her death through social media, saying she was surrounded […]
11 months ago
Two men walk past a business in downtown Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas ...

Takeaways from AP’s report on a beef plant closure that threatens to unravel a small Nebraska town

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A small town in rural Nebraska is losing its biggest employer, a Tyson Foods’ beef plant, which will be laying off 3,200 workers next month in a town of around 11,000 people. Lexington, Nebraska, is expected to lose hundreds of families who will be forced to move away in search of […]
11 months ago
People take photos while walking through the San Francisco Botanical Garden's Winter Cathedral exhi...

Golden Gate Park’s dazzling holiday light display brings joy to the season

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new night-time holiday display featuring music, colors and more than a million twinkling lights in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is delighting children and adults. There are towering peonies and fields of lights on the mile-long ( 1.6-kilometer) illuminated trail at the city’s Botanical Garden. Artists created whimsical water lilies […]
11 months ago
FILE - Shelves display bottles of bourbons for sale at a Pennsylvania fine wine and spirits store, ...

Cloudy future for bourbon has Jim Beam closing Kentucky distillery for a year

Bourbon maker Jim Beam is halting production at one of its distilleries in Kentucky for at least a year as the whiskey industry navigates tariffs from the Trump administration and slumping demand for a product that needs years of aging before it is ready. Jim Beam said the decision to pause bourbon making at its […]
11 months ago
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Saturday, Dec....

Trump holds an event with Rubio and Hegseth during vacation as tensions with Venezuela mount

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump is gathering with top national security officials on Monday, a meeting that comes as the U.S. Coast Guard steps up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administration’s escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Secretary of […]
11 months ago
President Donald Trump displays an executive order reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug...

NSA employee sues Trump administration over order on transgender rights and two ‘immutable’ genders

A transgender employee of the National Security Agency is suing the Trump administration and seeking to block enforcement of a presidential executive order and other policies the employee says violate federal civil rights law. Sarah O’Neill, an NSA data scientist who is transgender, is challenging President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order that required the […]
11 months ago

College student deported during Thanksgiving travel describes ICE officer’s intimidation

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Massachusetts college student who was deported while trying to visit family for Thanksgiving said an immigration officer told her it wouldn’t matter if she spoke to a lawyer, she was going to be removed from the country anyway. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old freshman at Babson College, was flown […]
11 months ago

Families demand justice as Colorado judge reviews plea deals for funeral home owners

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge will consider on Monday whether to accept the latest plea agreements for two former funeral home owners accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building. The previous plea agreements that called for up to 20 years in prison for Carie and Jon Hallford were rejected by […]
11 months ago
The Paramount Pictures water tower is seen in Los Angeles, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, with the Hollyw...

Larry Ellison guarantees $40.4 billion in Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount is sweetening its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from Larry Ellison, who is putting up billions of dollars to back the deal for his son’s company. On Monday, Skydance-owned Paramount announced that Larry Ellison — the founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison — […]
11 months ago
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters following the weekly policy lunch...

Schumer urges Senate to take legal action over Justice Department’s staggered Epstein files release

NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat urged his colleagues Monday to take legal action over the Justice Department’s incremental and heavily redacted release of records pertaining to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a resolution that, if passed, would direct the Senate to file or join lawsuits aimed […]
11 months ago
Steam rises from chimneys during the night shift at the Tyson Foods' beef plant in Lexington, Neb.,...

A small town’s American Dream is at risk. What happens when its biggest employer shuts down?

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — On a frigid day after Mass at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in rural Nebraska, worshippers shuffled into the basement and sat on folding chairs, their faces barely masking the fear gripping their town. A pall hung over the room just as it hung over the holiday season in Lexington, Nebraska. “Suddenly […]
11 months ago

Trump administration pauses 5 offshore wind projects on the East Coast

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it is pausing leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the East Coast due to unspecified national security risks identified by the Pentagon. The pause is effective immediately and will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense […]
11 months ago
As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a...

“60 Minutes” holds off on airing critical piece on Trump deportation policy

AP Media Writer (AP) — CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday didn’t air a planned story on Trump administration deportations of immigrants to El Salvador, pulling it only hours before airtime at the direction of new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. The story, where correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spoke to deportees who had been sent to El Salvador’s […]
11 months ago

Flash flooding in northern California leads to soaked roads, water rescues and one death

REDDING, Calif. (AP) — Heavy rain and flash flooding soaked roads in northern California, leading to water rescues from vehicles and homes and at least one confirmed death, authorities said. In Redding, police said they received numerous calls for stranded motorists on Sunday who tried to drive through flooded areas. One person in Redding died, […]
11 months ago
FILE - An instacart logo and an instacart webpage are seen in New York, Sept. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Ri...

Instacart ends a program where users could see different prices for the same item at the same store

NEW YORK (AP) — Instacart said Monday that it’s ending a program where some customers saw different prices for the same product ordered at the same time from the same store when using the delivery company’s service. The program was meant to help grocers and other retailers learn more about what kinds of prices customers […]
11 months ago
Chuck Dietrick poses for a portrait at his home in Anna, Texas, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/...

Most US adults aren’t making year-end charitable contributions, new AP-NORC poll finds

NEW YORK (AP) — Most Americans aren’t making end-of-year charitable giving plans, according to the results of a new AP-NORC poll, despite the many fundraising appeals made by nonprofits that rely on donation surges in the calendar’s final month to reach budget targets. The survey, which was conducted in early December by The Associated Press-NORC […]
11 months ago

Asian shares advance, yen slips after AI stocks push higher on Wall Street

Shares surged higher Monday in Asia and U.S. futures rose after a rebound in AI-related stocks like Nvidia spurred a rally on Wall Street. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.9% to 50,455.07, helped by hefty gains for computer chip makers and other companies benefiting from the boom for artificial intelligence. Semiconductor maker Tokyo Electron jumped 6.7% […]
11 months ago
Associated Press reporter Anne D'Innocenzio helps out a customer at Macy's flagship store, Friday, ...

Smile and spritz three times: What I learned working at a Macy’s perfume counter

NEW YORK (AP) — December is a notable time for fragrance. The month accounts for one-quarter of the high-end perfumes, colognes, body mists and other scented beauty products sold annually in the United States, according to market research firm Circana. Fragrances of all kinds and prices also have taken off as a popular purchase, outperforming […]
11 months ago
Customers walk into Macy's flagship store, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamu...

Department stores try to distinguish themselves as beauty lovers turn to TikTok and Amazon

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s shoppers like Quinn Kelsey who keep department store executives up at night. The 38-year-old Denver resident gets makeup ideas from TikTok videos and other social media content, not salespeople at beauty counters. She uses an AI chatbot to get product recommendations that fit her budget and to see how a […]
11 months ago
FILE - Pedestrians walk in front of the Plaza Hotel in New York, April 11, 1995. (AP Photo/Marty Le...

‘Home Alone 2’ nailed holiday travel chaos, but flight rules make movie’s plot less plausible today

Panic erupts in the McCallister household as soon as the day begins. The parents’ alarm clock never rings, bags and coats spill across the floor, and the family barrels out the door to catch a flight to Florida. The pandemonium intensifies at the airport. There, the McCallisters must dodge fellow holiday travelers and luggage as […]
11 months ago
A school bus carries children at the end of a school day at Sixth Ward Middle School in Thibodaux, ...

The rise of deepfake cyberbullying poses a growing problem for schools

Schools are facing a growing problem of students using artificial intelligence to transform innocent images of classmates into sexually explicit deepfakes. The fallout from the spread of the manipulated photos and videos can create a nightmare for the victims. The challenge for schools was highlighted this fall when AI-generated nude images swept through a Louisiana […]
11 months ago
Kilmar Abrego Garcia listens during a rally ahead of a mandatory check at the Immigration and Custo...

Federal judge to decide whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia should return to immigration custody

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday will hear arguments about whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be returned to immigration custody after being free for just over a week. Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation to El Salvador has become a lightning rod for both sides of the immigration debate, had been in immigration […]
11 months ago
A school bus carries children at the end of a school day at Sixth Ward Middle School in Thibodaux, ...

Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled

THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — The teasing was relentless. Nude images of a 13-year-old girl and her friends, generated by artificial intelligence, were circulating on social media and had become the talk of a Louisiana middle school. The girls begged for help, first from a school guidance counselor and then from a sheriff’s deputy assigned to […]
11 months ago