National News

Armed National Guard soldiers from West Virginia patrol the Mall near the Capitol in Washington, as...

Handling crime a strength for Trump as many in US see a ‘major problem’ in big cities: AP-NORC poll

WASHINGTON (AP) — As armed National Guard troops patrol the nation’s capital as part of an unprecedented federal takeover of Washington’s police department, handling crime is now a relative strength for President Donald Trump, according to the latest AP-NORC poll. Americans who aren’t happy about the Republican president’s handling of issues like immigration and the […]
1 year ago
Herpetologist Bennet Hardy holds a leaping red-legged froglet in a restoration pond that is part of...

Photos of red-legged frog, which conservationists are working to restore to its California habitat

THE SANTA ROSA PLATEAU ECOLOGICAL RESERVE, Calif. (AP) — Conservationists along the U.S.-Mexico border are working to restore the nearly vanished red-legged frog in its historical Southern California habitat. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, scientists took frog eggs from a small population in Mexico and introduced them into American ponds, where biologists used artificial intelligence to confirm […]
1 year ago

Trump’s push to oust Fed’s Lisa Cook unites anti-DEI effort, bid to control independent institutions

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s vow to fire Lisa Cook, an economist who is the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, kicked off another tense debate and likely legal battle over a major institution’s independence. It also marks another potential high-profile ouster of a Black leader from the […]
1 year ago
This photo provided by Noveon Magnetics, the Noveon Magnetics logo is visible inside the company's ...

Trump administration is investing in US rare earths in a push to break China’s grip

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. production of crucial components in electric vehicles, smartphones and fighter jets is set to expand rapidly in the coming years, as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to build up the critical mineral industry in the United States to work to break the chokehold that China has on the global supply […]
1 year ago
FILE - Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo speaks at the old Assembly Chambers in Carson City, Nev., May 30, 2...

Cyberattack shuts down Nevada state offices and websites, governor’s office says

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A cyberattack caused Nevada’s state offices to close for two days this week and rendered some state websites and phone lines unavailable, the governor’s office said Tuesday. Agencies will announce when their counters will reopen for in-person services, according to the technology office of Gov. Joe Lombardo, whose website was among […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters is photographer in Washington, May 5, 2...

Some FEMA staff are put on leave after signing dissent letter

Some employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who signed a public letter of dissent earlier this week were put on administrative leave Tuesday evening, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press. More than 180 current and former FEMA employees signed the letter sent to the FEMA Review Council and Congress on Monday critiquing […]
1 year ago
FILE - Nadine Menendez leaves a federal courthouse in New York, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Weni...

Prosecutors seek seven-year prison term for wife of ex-Sen. Bob Menendez

NEW YORK (AP) — The wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez should serve at least seven years in prison for playing a pivotal role in a bribery scheme that put the New Jersey Democrat behind bars for 11 years, prosecutors told a judge Tuesday. Nadine Menendez, age 58, was convicted in April, a year after […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Ova...

Trump’s Intel stake sparks cries of ‘socialism’ from his party, but he vows more deals are coming

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has a message for critics who think turning the U.S. government into a major stockholder of Intel is a “socialist” move: More is coming. “I will make deals like that for our Country all day long,” the president posted on Truth Social after critics piled on, adding later about […]
1 year ago
West Virginia National Guard soldiers patrol near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Wash...

Local DC cases are landing in federal courts. A judge says the results are problematic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing “the most illegal search I have ever seen in my life,” a magistrate judge is upbraiding the federal government for the way it has handled arrests in the District of Columbia this month and says the possible effects — violations of rights and the potential for illicit detentions — are not […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store logo in Pearl, Miss., is photographed, Sept. 12, 2023. ...

Cracker Barrel relents, says its old logo will return

Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize. In a post on its website, Cracker Barrel said it will retain its old logo, which features an older man in overalls sitting next to a barrel and the words […]
1 year ago
Members of the Colorado State Highway Patrol hazmat team get ready to enter the Davis Mortuary, Thu...

24 decomposing bodies removed from Colorado funeral home, investigators say

DENVER (AP) — Authorities said Tuesday they removed two dozen decomposing bodies and multiple containers of bones and likely human tissue after discovering remains last week behind a hidden door of a Colorado funeral home owned by the local county coroner. The homes of Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter and his brother, Davis Mortuary co-owner […]
1 year ago
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the James Br...

FBI agents who had accused bureau of politicization during Biden administration reach settlements

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has reached settlements with a group of current and former FBI agents who have said they were disciplined for invoking personal and political views, including about the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot and the COVID-19 vaccine, or for clashing with supervisors about approaches to investigations, their lawyers said Tuesday. […]
1 year ago
FILE - Former President Donald Trump attends the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil ...

Trump asks court to toss remaining civil fraud penalties after getting his massive fine thrown out

NEW YORK (AP) — Days after getting his staggering civil fraud penalty thrown out, President Donald Trump asked New York’s highest court on Tuesday to overturn his other punishments, including a multiyear ban on him and his two eldest sons holding corporate leadership positions. Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal with the state’s Court […]
1 year ago

Texas election map for 2026 are racially biased, voting-rights advocates say in lawsuit

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Voting-rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn a redistricting map drawn by Texas Republicans meant to favor the party in the 2026 midterm elections, saying it weakens the electoral influence of Black voters. The NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed the lawsuit in Texas. They accuse Texas […]
1 year ago

Trump’s law enforcement surge is alienating DC residents, senior officers say

WASHINGTON (AP) — A pair of senior Washington, D.C., police commanders acknowledged Tuesday that the ongoing federal law enforcement surge in the nation’s capital is alienating the population and damaging community relationships that will have to be mended in the future. “What relationships do we have to repair once this surge is over? I’m prepared […]
1 year ago

Book authors settle copyright lawsuit with AI company Anthropic

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A group of book authors has reached a settlement agreement with artificial intelligence company Anthropic after suing the chatbot maker for copyright infringement. Both sides of the case have “negotiated a proposed class settlement,” according to a federal appeals court filing Tuesday that said the terms will be finalized next week. […]
1 year ago
FILE - An online fundraiser on GoFundMe organized by the NAACP raises money for a Rochester family ...

Minnesota woman charged for using racial slur against Black child as her fundraising tops $800,000

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota prosecutors filed misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges Tuesday against a woman accused of using a racist slur against a Black child at a playground — an incident the woman has since used to raise more than $800,000 after she appealed for help with relocating. “Defendant wrongfully and unlawfully engaged in offensive, obscene, […]
1 year ago
FILE - Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte, speaks to reporters at the White ...

Lisa Cook is latest target for Bill Pulte, Trump’s housing regulator

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Bill Pulte was nominated as the country’s top housing regulator, he told senators that his “number one mission will be to strengthen and safeguard the housing finance system.” But since he started the job, he’s distinguished himself by targeting President Donald Trump ‘s political enemies. He’s using property records to make […]
1 year ago
Armed members of the South Carolina National Guard patrol inside the metro system, Tuesday, Aug. 26...

Photos of week three of Washington’s federal takeover, as troops on patrol start carrying guns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washingtonians are in their third week of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement patrolling their streets, now carrying firearms and drawing sporadic protests against President Donald Trump’s directive. For more photos, see the first week and second week of the federal crackdown in D.C. This is a photo gallery curated by […]
1 year ago

CSX railroad’s merger prospects derail as BNSF and CPKC make clear they aren’t interested in a deal

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The prospects for additional consolidation in the rail industry derailed this week when both of CSX’s potential partners said they weren’t interested in a deal. Investors widely speculated that CSX would be an acquisition target once rumors of merger talks between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern emerged over the summer, because […]
1 year ago
FILE - Tim Armstead, right, former speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, is sworn in as ...

Tim Armstead, a West Virginia Supreme Court justice and former House speaker, dies at 60

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Tim Armstead, a West Virginia Supreme Court justice who also served as Republican speaker of the House of Delegates during a 20-year legislative career, died Tuesday, the court announced. He was 60. Armstead died following a brief hospitalization, the court said in a statement without elaborating. Armstead was appointed to the […]
1 year ago
FILE - An American flag is burned during a march for Jayland Walker, July 6, 2022, in New York. (AP...

Trump’s order on flag burning could return the question to the Supreme Court

The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that if it were up to him, he would jail “every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” But the Constitution, the conservative hero noted in 2015, protects flag-burning as a form of free speech. And importantly: “I am not king” who can outlaw the act […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump, right, shakes the hand of Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano duri...

After Trump’s DOGE action, 300 million people’s Social Security data is at risk, whistleblower says

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 300 million Americans’ Social Security data was put at risk after Department of Government Efficiency officials uploaded sensitive information to a cloud account not subject to oversight, according to a whistleblower disclosure submitted to the special counsel’s office Tuesday. Whistleblower Charles Borges, who worked as the chief data officer at […]
1 year ago
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks during a news conference at River Point Park, Monday, Aug. 25,...

Trump’s threat to deploy troops to Chicago sparks fear and defiance in a city on edge

CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s threats to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago sent ripples through America’s third-largest city as many residents defended their home against Trump’s escalating rhetoric toward its violent crime, including claims it is a “killing field.” The threat of federal troops stirred a mix of fear, frustration and defiance for […]
1 year ago