National News

After Airbus issue, DOT says airlines don’t have to cover passenger expenses amid aircraft recalls

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued new guidance telling airlines they do not have to cover passenger expenses, such as meals or hotel stays, when flight cancellations or long delays are caused by aircraft recalls. The guidance, released on Wednesday, comes after widespread disruptions last month amid the busy Thanksgiving travel period in the […]
11 months ago

Gas explosion in San Francisco Bay Area damages homes, sends heavy smoke into air

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A gas explosion started a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood on Thursday, damaging several homes and sending heavy smoke into the air. Local outlets said there are possible injuries from the Hayward explosion. A spokesperson with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said a construction crew damaged an […]
11 months ago
Keisha Burse looks at items for sale at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, Tuesday, D...

US national park gift shops ordered to purge merchandise promoting DEI

The Trump administration is expanding its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion by ordering national parks to purge their gift shops of items it deems objectionable. The Interior Department said in a memo last month that gift shops, bookstores and concession stands have until Dec. 19 to empty their shelves of retail items that run […]
11 months ago
FILE - A medical marijuana plant grows at CRC on July 23, 2024, in Pike County, Ala. (AP Photo/Kim ...

Alabama commission approves licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries as program eyes 2026 start

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission on Thursday approved licenses for dispensaries, a key step to making medical marijuana available in the state after years of delay. Commission Chairman Rex Vaughn estimated the products will be available in the spring of 2026. The state’s medical marijuana program has been delayed by false […]
11 months ago
President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters during a rally marking the anniversary of the Battle ...

US sanctions Venezuelan President Maduro’s 3 nephews as pressure campaign ratchets up

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions on three nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, among others, on Thursday as President Donald Trump looks to inflict further pressure on the South American nation. The new sanctions on Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores and Efrain Campo come a day after Trump announced that the U.S. had seized […]
11 months ago
FILE - Students in graduation garb walk by a pro-Palestinian tent encampment on the steps of Sproul...

California colleges settle antisemitism complaints with Jewish groups and individuals

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two California colleges have reached settlements with Jewish organizations and individuals who filed complaints alleging antisemitism arising from pro-Palestinian campus protests, including a $60,000 payment to an Israeli sociologist and dance researcher who says she was not rehired by the University of California, Berkeley despite the popularity of her class. UC […]
11 months ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears before the House Committee on Homeland Security on ...

Meeting about FEMA reforms abruptly canceled, AP source says

A meeting by a council appointed by President Donald Trump that was meant to announce recommended reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency was abruptly canceled Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The FEMA Review Council was scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. EST, and Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem, the […]
11 months ago
FILE - Anna Hicks prepares a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at the Andrews County Health Depart...

Hundreds are quarantined in South Carolina as measles spreads in 2 US outbreaks

Measles outbreaks are growing along the Utah-Arizona border and in South Carolina, where hundreds are in quarantine. Between Friday and Tuesday, South Carolina health officials confirmed 27 new measles cases in an outbreak in and around northwestern Spartanburg County. In two months, 111 people have been sickened by the vaccine-preventable virus. More than 250 people, […]
11 months ago
FILE - Community members gather for a vigil honoring the life of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukranian refugee...

Man accused of killing Ukrainian refugee on train appears in federal court

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The man accused of killing a Ukrainian refugee on a commuter train in North Carolina’s largest city appeared in federal court on Thursday, as his attorneys seek a hearing to determine whether he is mentally incompetent to face the charge against him or possibly the death penalty. Decarlos Brown Jr. and […]
11 months ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during the House Committee on Homeland Security on C...

Noem links the seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela to US antidrug efforts

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday linked the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela to the Trump administration’s counterdrug efforts in Latin America as tensions escalate with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Noem’s assertion, which came during her testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee, provided the Republican administration’s […]
11 months ago
FILE - A diving team and police boat is seen near a wreckage site in the Potomac River, from Ronald...

Senators seek to change bill that allows military to operate just like before the DC plane crash

Senators from both parties pushed Thursday for changes to a massive defense bill after crash investigators and victims’ families warned the legislation would undo key safety reforms stemming from a collision between an airliner and Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. The head of the National Transportation Safety Board investigating the crash, […]
11 months ago
FILE - Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, testifies before a Senate committee hearing on Cap...

These are the key AI players on the cover of Time’s ‘Architects of AI’ magazine

NEW YORK (AP) — Accompanying Time’s annual person of the year selection Thursday is a magazine cover that resembles the “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” photograph from the 1930s showing eight of the “ Architects of AI ” sitting on the beam. “This was the year when artificial intelligence’s full potential roared into view, and when […]
11 months ago

Digital platform aims to preserve journalism from outlets closed or threatened

NEW YORK (AP) — A new digital platform designed to combat censorship is being established to preserve the archives of news outlets that have been shut down or are facing extinction in authoritarian countries. The platform is called Kronika, Russian for “chronicle,” in honor of The Chronicle of Current Events, which kept track of human […]
11 months ago
FILE - Mike Lindell walks into federal district court for a defamation trial, June 5, 2025, in Denv...

‘MyPillow Guy’ and Trump supporter Mike Lindell says he’s running for Minnesota governor in 2026

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) — Mike Lindell, the fervent supporter of President Donald Trump known to TV viewers as the “MyPillow Guy,” officially entered the race for Minnesota governor Thursday in hopes of winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. “I’ll leave no town unturned in Minnesota,” Lindell told The Associated Press in […]
11 months ago
FILE - Kilmar Abrego Garcia joins supporters in a protest rally outside the Immigration and Customs...

Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be immediately released from immigration detention

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from immigration detention on Thursday while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must release Abrego Garcia from custody immediately. “Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El […]
11 months ago
FILE - Co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan poses during a promotional photo shoot for, "Star Wars: The ...

‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ rarities are in Lawrence Kasdan’s university archive

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Researchers, documentary filmmakers and others will soon be able to get their hands on screenwriter and director Lawrence Kasdan’s papers at his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Archivists are about a quarter of the way through cataloging the 150-plus boxes of material that document the 76-year-old filmmaker’s role in […]
11 months ago
FILE - Pages from the U.S. Affordable Care Act health insurance website healthcare.gov are seen on ...

The Senate is set to vote on two rival health plans. Here’s what’s at stake for Americans

NEW YORK (AP) — When the U.S. Senate votes on rival, partisan health bills on Thursday, they’ll have two chances to address expiring COVID-era subsidies that will otherwise result in millions of Americans saddled with higher insurance costs in the new year. But with neither piece of legislation expected to pass, the problem is yet […]
11 months ago

What are the 10 largest US lottery jackpots ever won?

The Powerball jackpot has grown to an estimated $1 billion for Saturday night’s drawing after lottery officials said no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Wednesday night. The U.S. has seen more than a dozen lottery jackpot prizes exceed $1 billion since 2016. Here is a look at the largest U.S. jackpots won and the […]
11 months ago
(AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS...

Office holiday parties can be dreadful for introverts and people with social anxiety

NEW YORK (AP) — The year the radio station company where he worked held its holiday party at a dive bar, Ryan Arnold walked in and saw coworkers passing around a tall glass boot filled with beer. He heard the office manager belting out ‘80s power ballads between whiskey shots. Arnold’s first thought was, “When […]
11 months ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem raise her arm before the House Committee on Homeland Securi...

Homeland Security Secretary Noem defends Trump’s hard-line immigration policies under scrutiny

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defiantly defended the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies on Thursday during a House committee hearing, portraying migrants as a major threat faced by the nation that justifies a crackdown that has seen widespread arrests, deportations and a dizzying pace of restrictions on foreigners. Noem, who heads the […]
11 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with business leaders in the Roosevelt...

Trump’s handling of the economy is at its lowest point in AP-NORC polling

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s approval on the economy and immigration have fallen substantially since March, according to a new AP-NORC poll, the latest indication that two signature issues that got him elected barely a year ago could be turning into liabilities as his party begins to gear up for the 2026 midterms. Only […]
11 months ago
This photo provided by Joel Brennan's campaign shows Democratic candidate for Wisconsin governor Jo...

Joel Brennan, former top Evers aide, joins crowded 2026 Wisconsin governor race

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Joel Brennan, a former top official in Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, announced Thursday that he is running to succeed the two-term Democrat, joining a crowded primary field for the 2026 election. Brennan, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, told The Associated Press that he would be a governor who both fights […]
11 months ago
FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output fro...

Open AI, Microsoft face lawsuit over ChatGPT’s alleged role in Connecticut murder-suicide

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The heirs of an 83-year-old Connecticut woman are suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft for wrongful death, alleging that the artificial intelligence chatbot intensified her son’s “paranoid delusions” and helped direct them at his mother before he killed her. Police said Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, a former tech industry […]
11 months ago
Jakelin Pasedo's three-year-old son washes his hands in the Miami-area motel room where Pasedo and ...

Families set off on migration journeys and find themselves torn apart

MIAMI (AP) — During the first Trump administration, families were forcibly separated at the border. Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration authorities and separated from their families during prolonged detention inside the country. Three recent migrants told The Associated Press that their journeys were sources of deep pain and uncertainty […]
11 months ago