National News

Asunta Washington, 38, poses for a photo in New Braunfels, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Ph...

Takeaways: What a new AP-KFF survey reveals about rural American voters

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll from The Associated Press in partnership with KFF finds that about half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, pointing to economic frustration among a key group that has backed Trump and other Republicans in recent elections. […]
1 month ago
Ed Westrick, 59, adjusts a roof on a small building at his rural home near Commerce, Texas, Friday,...

Economic frustration tests Trump’s standing with rural voters, new AP-KFF poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — About half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey that points to economic frustration among a key group that has backed Trump and other Republicans in recent elections. The Associated Press, in partnership with KFF, […]
1 month ago
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., walks onto the stage during a Get Out the Vote campaign event supportin...

Sen. Bernie Sanders unveils bill to ban artificial superintelligence and create Department of AI

Washington (AP) — Two leading progressive lawmakers, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar, are unveiling legislation Wednesday that would ban artificial superintelligence and create a federal agency to oversee advanced AI as some of the industry’s own leaders urge Congress to impose guardrails on the advancing technology. The bill, provided first to The Associated […]
1 month ago
Winners, judges and volunteers celebrate after the winners are announced at the end of Skid Row's i...

Photos of a talent show on Skid Row, where performers are part of the homeless community

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Skid Row held its first talent show, giving local homeless and formerly homeless residents a chance to share their talents and personal stories through original music, rap covers and Scripture readings. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
1 month ago
Deoujahne Darc performs during Skid Row's first annual talent show in downtown Los Angeles, Saturda...

At a talent show on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, the performers are all part of the homeless community

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wearing shiny heels, a thrifted dress and a red rose in her hair, Deoujahne Darc belted out an original song on a small, makeshift stage in the heart of Los Angeles’ Skid Row. “I saw the Lord in the face of a homeless man,” she sang, as the crowd swayed along. […]
1 month ago
FILE- A worker passes by robots from Chinese company Lens at the China International Supply Chain E...

A look at AI doomsday scenarios that researchers say could put humanity at risk

For years, artificial intelligence researchers have warned of ways the technology could wipe out humanity: AI bots could design an unstoppable disease, unleash a nuclear war, or transform all of Earth into paper clip factories, as one thought experiment goes. Debates inside the AI industry and beyond over the plausibility of these doomsday scenarios have […]
1 month ago
Henry Bailey, 7, from Kentucky signs his name to a tribute sign to the late Dolly Parton before a N...

Dolly Parton’s estate accuses her nephew of threatening violence and to destroy his aunt’s legacy

Dolly Parton ‘s estate accused the country music icon’s nephew of threatening to commit violence and destroy his aunt’s legacy and business empire in court filings submitted Tuesday and asked a judge to keep him away from its employees and business dealings. Court documents filed in Nashville offer the first signs of discord in a […]
1 month ago
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in ...

Trump says his ballroom will house a drone port. The Secret Service already has one next door

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s AI-fueled vision for a drone port he intends to install atop the new White House ballroom includes missile-bearing unmanned aerial vehicles and gun-toting troops, ostensibly to protect the 18-acre complex and the nation’s capital. A few hundred feet away, a drone port, run by the U.S. Secret Service and […]
1 month ago
President Donald Trump watches as balloons fall at the Republican convention Thursday, Sept. 10, 20...

Republicans dump cash into red states as they try to hold the line against Democrats in the midterms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are growing increasingly grim about their chances in November, with aligned groups pumping money into reliably red states and candidates scrambling to distance themselves from unpopular White House policies. From Texas to Ohio and Alaska to Iowa, campaigns are grappling with a fed-up electorate that is sour on the president and […]
1 month ago
FILE - President Donald Trump, right, walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome cere...

China’s Xi kicks off state visit to Washington on Wednesday with a rare planeside welcome from Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on Wednesday, he’s expected to get a rare greeting from President Donald Trump, who will be on the tarmac to welcome his counterpart’s plane instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House. Trump’s decision to greet Xi at Joint Base […]
1 month ago
FILE - Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday, June 25, 2026 in New York. (Ad...

Harvey Weinstein set to be sentenced for sexual assault after 6-year legal odyssey

NEW YORK (AP) — The first time Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to prison, reporters, advocates and the curious public crammed the courtroom to witness the disgraced Hollywood honcho’s #MeToo reckoning. Hours later, the world began shutting down as the COVID-19 pandemic raged. Now, after an overturned conviction and two retrials, Weinstein is set to be […]
1 month ago
FILE - The state of Texas execution chamber in Huntsville, Texas, is seen on May 27, 2008. (AP Phot...

Texas is set to execute a second man convicted in 2005 triple homicide

DALLAS (AP) — A man found guilty of fatally shooting three people during a 2005 attempted robbery at a rural Texas home is scheduled to be executed Wednesday, a week after the other man convicted in the killings was put to death. Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, is set to die by lethal injection at the state […]
1 month ago
This photo taken with a smartphone shows Steve Perry, of Kansas City, holding a sign in opposition ...

Trump-backed Missouri congressional map returns to the Supreme Court for the third time

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fight over Missouri’s congressional map returned to the U.S. Supreme Court for a third time late Tuesday, after an appeals court ordered the revival of new districts backed by President Donald Trump. The new map was drawn to help Republicans gain a U.S. House seat in the pivotal midterm elections, which […]
1 month ago
Heather Gerken, President of Ford Foundation, speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative, Tuesday,...

Bill Clinton calls on leaders to fill gaps left by ‘retreating governments’

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton opened this year’s Clinton Global Initiative conference Tuesday in New York, calling on attendees to promise to “step into the void created by retreating governments” following cuts by the United States and other nations to foreign assistance. “We know that we can’t completely fill the hole that […]
1 month ago
President of Naoero, David Ranibok Adeang addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General ...

A nation renamed stands up at the UN: ‘Say our name. Naoero.’

NEW YORK (AP) — His voice forceful and proud, he rose in front of the world’s largest gathering of leaders on behalf of his nation and announced that he had something important to say. The tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru, its president said, had altered its name — and reclaimed its heritage in […]
1 month ago
FILE - A memorial for the victims of the 2025 Camp Mystic flood stands, July 17, 2026, in Hunt, Tex...

Texas investigators seek evidence of manslaughter, other crimes in 27 flood deaths at Camp Mystic

Camp Mystic faces a criminal investigation that could include manslaughter or negligent homicide charges in the deaths of 27 girls amid devastating flooding in Texas last year, court documents show. In applications for search warrants executed last week, investigators sought to obtain the electronic communications of the camp’s owners, saying they could provide evidence of […]
1 month ago
Voters cast their ballots on the first day of early voting in Minnesota at the Elections & Voter Se...

Trump administration’s focus on noncitizen voting yields 160 arrests. Experts say cases remain rare

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration’s whole-of-government effort to find and prosecute noncitizens illegally on state voter rolls has resulted in about 1,600 voter fraud cases that have led to 160 arrests, Homeland Security Investigations senior official Matthew Millhollin said in a press briefing Tuesday. The numbers unveiled just six weeks before Election Day […]
1 month ago
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney is seen from behind a glass pane as he waits to meet with Preside...

Small bites from the UN: Music, a walkout and fighting gang violence

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Donald Trump spoke and made the diplomatic rounds. The U.N. secretary-general gave his final opening speech. And on the grounds of the United Nations, Greenland entered a bit of a new era. But there was lots more. While leaders from some of the world’s most powerful nations get most of the […]
1 month ago
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand speaks outside United Nations headquarters during the 81st se...

Canada’s top diplomat talks up its ‘middle powers strategy’ at UN

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Canada is embracing its growing prominence as a champion of “middle powers” at the U.N. General Assembly, Canada’s top diplomat said in an interview Tuesday as the international community’s biggest annual gathering got into gear. Prime Minister Mark Carney made a splash last winter by saying frankly that countries like his […]
1 month ago
A sign in support of news outlets is seen at the White House press room, Sept. 19, 2026, in Washing...

‘You should not be here,’ Trump tells CNN at UN as standoff with media outlets persists

NEW YORK (AP) — On a day of high-stakes diplomacy on the global stage, President Donald Trump began his United Nations visit by telling a prominent U.S. journalist, “You should not be here.” “It’s an honor to be here,” Trump said as he entered U.N. doors Tuesday ahead of his speech to the General Assembly […]
1 month ago
FILE - Delivery vans are parked during a protest staged as part of a countrywide National Day of Ac...

Justice Department charges Utah postal worker for dumping mail ballots in trash during state primary

A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in Utah threw out more than 300 mail ballots that were being sent to voters for the state’s June primary, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said during a news conference that 34-year-old Damon Matai Seei was arrested Tuesday and appeared in federal court […]
1 month ago
FILE - An inmate works outdoors during a hot summer day outside a Texas prison unit in Huntsville, ...

Judge orders Texas to have air conditioning at all prisons by end of 2029

DALLAS (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Texas to install air conditioning in all of its prisons, saying that inmates in lockups without it are being given punishments that violate their constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said in the 150-page order that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice must come up […]
1 month ago
This undated photo provided by Franciny Marchena shows her brother, Carlos Josue Marchena, who died...

Costa Rican man complained of lack of care for diabetes before his death in ICE custody, family says

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 36-year-old Costa Rican man whose family says he complained of missing insulin shots and meals to manage his diabetes is the third detainee to die in less than six months at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana. Carlos Josue Marchena Marchena was found unresponsive Sept. 18 at […]
1 month ago
President Donald Trump attends a meeting of the multinational political and security coalition "Shi...

Trump administration tells Congress it will admit 17,500 white South African refugees

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration plans to limit the number of refugees admitted to the country to 17,500 mostly white South Africans, the administration told Congress Tuesday, as it continues to transform a program that at one point served as a pathway to safety for people fleeing war and strife from countries around the […]
1 month ago