National News

The map above shows the Russian occupation of Crimea and the partial occupation of four other regio...

What to know about Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula coveted by both Russia and Ukraine

Russia’s illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014 was quick and bloodless, and it sent Moscow’s relations with the West into a downward spiral unseen since the Cold War. It also paved the way for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during which Moscow illegally annexed more land from its […]
1 year ago

Stronger, bigger Hurricane Erin forecast to create dangerous surf along US coast

MIAMI (AP) — A stronger and bigger Hurricane Erin pelted parts of the Caribbean and was forecast to create dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week. It reintensified to a Category 4 storm with 130 mph (215 kph) maximum sustained winds late Sunday as its outer bands lashed the Virgin […]
1 year ago
FILE - China's Long March 2F rocket, carrying three astronauts for the Shenzhou 20 manned space mis...

Hijacked satellites and orbiting space weapons: In the 21st century, space is the new battlefield

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Russia held its Victory Day parade this year, hackers backing the Kremlin hijacked an orbiting satellite that provides television service to Ukraine. Instead of normal programing, Ukrainian viewers saw parade footage beamed in from Moscow: waves of tanks, soldiers and weaponry. The message was meant to intimidate, and it was also […]
1 year ago
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brus...

Zelenskyy brings Europe’s top leaders with him to meet Trump on ending Russia’s war

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s future could hinge on a hastily assembled meeting Monday at the White House as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brings with him an extraordinary cadre of European leaders to show U.S. President Donald Trump a united front against Russia. The European political heavy-hitters were left out of Trump’s summit with Russian President […]
1 year ago
Protestors hold up signs during the Fight The Trump Takeover Rally held at the State Capitol, Satur...

Texas Republicans set to resume push for redrawn US House maps

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans on Monday aimed to resume pushing through redrawn U.S. House district maps that would carve out a bigger GOP advantage in the 2026 midterm elections after state Democrats indicated they were ready to end a two-week walkout. In response, California Democrats are also moving ahead with their own reshaping […]
1 year ago
FILE - Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguilar-Curry, D-Winters, talks with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-...

California Democrats’ push for redistricting faces a tight legislative deadline

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Democrats are making a partisan push to draw new congressional districts and reshape the state’s U.S. House representation in their favor, but to pull it off, lawmakers returning to the Capitol on Monday face a tight deadline and must still win voters’ approval. Limits on federal immigration raids and advancing […]
1 year ago
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives for a joint press conference with President Donald Trump and...

Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the […]
1 year ago

Putin agrees that US, Europe could offer NATO-style security guarantees to Ukraine, Trump envoy says

NEW YORK (AP) — Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump that the United States and its European allies could offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the war, a U.S. official said Sunday. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who […]
1 year ago
FILE - Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson answers questions during a news conference at City Hall, Jan. ...

Black mayors of cities Trump decries as ‘lawless’ tout significant declines in violent crimes

As President Donald Trump declared Washington, D.C., a crime-ridden wasteland in need of federal intervention this week and threatened similar federal interventions in other Black-led cities, several mayors compared notes. The president’s characterization of their cities contradicts what they began noticing last year: that they were seeing a drop in violent crime after a pandemic-era […]
1 year ago
Crew members work on the Pond A2W site of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, Thursday, Ju...

Coastal communities restoring marshes, dunes, reefs to protect against rising seas and storm surges

In San Francisco Bay, salt ponds created more than a century ago are reverting to marshland. Along the New York and New Jersey coasts, beaches ravaged by Superstorm Sandy underwent extensive restoration. In Alabama, a rebuilt spit of land is shielding a historic town and providing wildlife habitat. Coastal communities nationwide are ramping up efforts […]
1 year ago
This is the back of the safety helmet worn by a steelworker listening to Pennsylvania Governor Josh...

Fatal explosion at U.S. Steel’s plant raises questions about its future, despite heavy investment

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The fatal explosion last week at U.S. Steel’s Pittsburgh-area coal-processing plant has revived debate about its future just as the iconic American company was emerging from a long period of uncertainty. The fortunes of steelmaking in the U.S. — along with profits, share prices and steel prices — have been buoyed […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is seen, Sept. 8, 2021, in Kittery, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F....

US seeks shipbuilding expertise from South Korea and Japan to counter China

WASHINGTON (AP) — American lawmakers are using a trip to South Korea and Japan to explore how the United States can tap those allies’ shipbuilding expertise and capacity to help boost its own capabilities, which are dwarfed by those of China. Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Andy Kim, D-N.J., who are scheduled to land in […]
1 year ago

From apps to matchmaking: the diverse ways American Muslims navigate finding marriage partners

Nura Maznavi got a kick out of learning that New York City Muslim mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdanimet his wife on Hinge. “It made me feel like less of a loser,” Maznavi said laughingly about meeting her own husband online more than 14 years ago, before apps like Hinge became a dating fixture for many people. […]
1 year ago
A black lab carved into a wooden pew is pictured in the Dog Chapel at Dog Mountain, a 150-acre dog ...

A massive mountain park in Vermont celebrates the bond between dogs and their humans

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) — Anne Pace has been hearing about Dog Mountain for years, but until earlier this month, had never made a trip to the park. “I really wanted to see this place,” she said, during a visit to the grounds with her one-year-old border collie, Tam. “I put a note up for […]
1 year ago
One of the U.S. Postal Service's new zero-emission electric Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV...

Republicans look to make a U-turn on federal commitment to electric vehicles for the Postal Service

WASHINGTON (AP) — A year after being lauded for its plan to replace thousands of aging, gas-powered mail trucks with a mostly electric fleet, the U.S. Postal Service is facing congressional attempts to strip billions in federal EV funding. In June, the Senate parliamentarian blocked a Republican proposal in a major tax-and-spending bill to sell […]
1 year ago

Three killed, eight injured in shooting in crowded New York club amid record low gun violence year

NEW YORK (AP) — Three people are dead and eight others wounded after a shooting in a crowded New York City club early Sunday morning. Investigators believe a shooter or shooters opened fire with multiple weapons at Taste of the City Lounge in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights after “a dispute” just before 3:30 […]
1 year ago
U.S. President Donald Trump, second right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin after...

Trump runs into the difficulty of Putin diplomacy and ending a long war

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening “severe consequences” and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine. Instead, Trump was the one who stood down, dropping his demand for a ceasefire […]
1 year ago
Rose Hammond poses in her home Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Sylvania Township, Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul S...

A decades-old rule lets drivers set speed limits on US roads. That could be changing

Rose Hammond pushed authorities for years to lower the 55 mph speed limit on a two-lane road that passes her assisted living community, a church, two schools and a busy park that hosts numerous youth sports leagues. “What are you waiting for, somebody to get killed?” the 85-year-old chided officials in northwest Ohio, complaining that […]
1 year ago
This image provided by EcoFlight shows an aerial view of a road winding through the pine-covered Bl...

Another gold rush could bring open pit mines to South Dakota’s Black Hills

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A gold rush brought settlers to South Dakota’s Black Hills roughly 150 years ago, chasing the dream of wealth and displacing Native Americans in the process. Now, a new crop of miners driven by gold prices at more than $3,000 an ounce are seeking to return to the treasured landscape, […]
1 year ago
Gene and Christine Corrigan stand outside their restaurant, The Lake House Restaurant & Lodge, in R...

He earned a small town’s trust. He owed $95 million in what authorities say was a Ponzi scheme

HAMILTON, N.Y. (AP) — For decades, Miles “Burt” Marshall was the man you went to see in a stretch of upstate New York if you had some money to invest but wanted to keep it local. Working from an office in the charming village of Hamilton, down the road from Colgate University, Marshall prepared taxes […]
1 year ago
FILE - First lady Melania Trump, left, watches as President Donald Trump and Russian President Vlad...

In letter to Putin, US first lady asks him to consider the children in push to end war in Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump took the unique step of crafting a letter that calls for peace in Ukraine, having her husband President Donald Trump hand-deliver it to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Friday meeting in Alaska. The letter did not specifically name Ukraine, which Putin’s forces invaded in 2022, but beseeched him to […]
1 year ago
FILE - Thirteen year-old Leland Mitsuing, right, of Saskatchewan, Canada competes in the Jr. Boys T...

The last dance? Organizers of North America’s largest powwow say 2026 will be the event’s final year

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — For decades, tens of thousands of people have descended upon Albuquerque for what is billed as North America’s largest powwow, a celebration showcasing Indigenous dancers, musicians and artisans from around the world. Organizers announced Saturday that 2026 will be the last time the cultural event is held, saying via email and […]
1 year ago
Activists carrying signs march to the White House to protest President Donald Trump's federal takeo...

Photos of ‘Free D.C.’ protest against Trump’s federal takeover of Washington police

WASHINGTON (AP) — A protest against Trump administration’s effort to overhaul policing in the District of Columbia drew scores to Dupont Circle before a march to the White House. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
1 year ago
FILE - Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023. (A...

Execution date set for Florida man who killed estranged wife’s sister and parents, set fire to house

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man who fatally stabbed his estranged wife’s sister and parents and then set fire to their house is scheduled for execution in Florida under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. David Pittman, 63, is set to die Sept. 17 in the record-extending 12th execution scheduled for […]
1 year ago