National News

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro gets into a car surrounded by news rep...

ICE officer to appear in federal court for alleged false statement in nonfatal Minneapolis shooting

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An immigration officer who is accused of shooting a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis early this year, and then lying to investigators about what happened, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Friday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro faces a federal count of […]
2 months ago
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks at the Republican convention in Dallas, Wednesday, Sept. ...

Attorney General Blanche’s appearances at political events blur Justice Department boundaries

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Todd Blanche is blurring traditional boundaries between politics and federal law enforcement with recent speeches at political events that mark a sharp departure from norms meant to protect the Justice Department from the appearance of partisan bias. Blanche took the stage this week at an event for a Republican Senate […]
2 months ago
Vice President JD Vance waves as he arrives on Air Force Two, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, at Joint Base...

JD Vance returns to Iowa as Senate and governor races heat up

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance is headed to Iowa for the second time this year to campaign for Republican majorities in Congress as he lays the groundwork for his own political ambitions. Vance will be the headliner Friday at a midterm rally in Council Bluffs, on the western edge of the once-Republican stronghold […]
2 months ago
FILE - Mark Twain Prize recipient Jon Stewart is introduced at the start of the 23rd annual Mark Tw...

Jon Stewart explains his ongoing philanthropic support of first responders

Jon Stewart says he never really decided to focus his charity efforts on first responders and their families. It just happened. The award-winning host of “The Daily Show” said he wanted to feel useful and support people who dedicated their lives to helping others. “These aren’t the X-Men,” Stewart told The Associated Press. “They’re not […]
2 months ago
Displaced Palestinians shelter inside a building heavily damaged during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaz...

Fatal building collapse highlights dangers plaguing Gaza nearly a year after ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The deadly collapse of a multistory building in Gaza has drawn new attention to the hardships facing Palestinians there nearly a year after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas promised to kickstart reconstruction. But as talks faltered, plans for rebuilding stalled. Many residents have since moved back into some […]
2 months ago
A image is seen on a screen as President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Gastonia Municipal A...

Trump refers to Black man from racially offensive 1988 campaign ad while stumping in North Carolina

As President Donald Trump tries to convince voters that Democrats have let crime run amok, he’s digging into the country’s political past to reference one of the most controversial campaign advertisements that relied heavily on racist tropes. During a campaign stop Wednesday in Gastonia, North Carolina, to stump for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley, […]
2 months ago
A voter casts a ballot in Henrico County, Va., on the first day of in-person early voting Friday, S...

Early voting begins in US midterm elections that could flip control of Congress

HENRICO, Va. (AP) — In-person voting for this year’s midterm elections began Friday, ushering in the final six weeks for Americans to decide which party they trust to lead Congress through a cost-of-living crisis, a prolonged war in Iran and other pressing issues. Election administrators say they are prepared and confident the vote will be […]
2 months ago
This photo taken with a smartphone, People walk past damage caused by Hurricane Lowell on Tuesday, ...

Kauai small businesses ask tourists to return after Hurricane Lowell, with aloha and some patience

Watching her staff happily hand out free meals for hundreds of residents outside their Wailua commercial kitchen, food truck co-owner Kelly Kakalia felt fulfilled. It was the day after Hurricane Lowell finished knocking out power, washing out roads and felling trees across Kauai, and Kakalia was focused on her community, not sales. The island where […]
2 months ago
FILE - The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Pho...

Judge strikes down Trump policy that cut millions in teacher-training money

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday struck down a 2025 order from the Trump administration that cut hundreds of millions of dollars in teacher-training money. U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts wrote in her order that the Education Department’s directive violated federal law and was arbitrary and capricious. In February 2025, the […]
2 months ago
FILE - Voters cast their ballots during the primary election in Windsor, Conn., Aug. 11, 2026. (AP ...

Virginia’s attorney general says DHS may have violated state election law after whistleblower report

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s attorney general said Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security may have violated several state laws after a whistleblower accused its employees of misrepresenting themselves on voter lookup tools to hunt for noncitizen voters. In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Attorney General Jay Jones demanded that DHS confirm […]
2 months ago
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during an interview with The Associate...

Preparing to leave office, with world beset by problems, UN chief talks of a way forward

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world is deeply divided and the U.N.’s most powerful body is paralyzed when it comes to ending conflicts. But there’s a way forward. So says the United Nations’ top official. On his way out of office at year’s end after nearly a decade, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres — known for […]
2 months ago

Jury convicts woman of negligent homicide in death of reporter covering Super Bowl in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana jury convicted a woman of negligent homicide on Thursday in the death of a Telemundo television reporter who had been visiting New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl, according to the Jefferson Parish district attorney’s office. Danette Colbert, 49, was also convicted of racketeering, as was her accomplice, 35-year-old […]
2 months ago
Postmaster General David Steiner speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the United...

Postal Service chief says work stopped on computer system key to Trump effort to limit mail voting

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top official at the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that the agency has stopped work on developing a controversial computer system that was central to President Donald Trump’s effort to limit mail voting after the Supreme Court rejected his executive order this week. “There’s an injunction so we’re not doing anything,” […]
2 months ago
United States Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby addresses the media at NATO headquarters in ...

Senators from both parties voice criticism about Pentagon briefing on US defense strategy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tensions are mounting between the Pentagon and Congress over the flow of information to lawmakers about the U.S. military’s priorities, with both Democrats and Republicans accusing a Defense Department leader of being frustratingly opaque. Some senators from both parties say they were left deeply unsettled Thursday after the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, […]
2 months ago
FILE - This image taken from video provided by Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, N.H., sh...

A judge rejects Pamela Smart’s latest bid for a new trial in 1990 accomplice to murder case

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire judge on Thursday dismissed the latest petition for a new trial from Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student more than three decades ago. Smart, 59, was a 22-year-old high school media coordinator when she began […]
2 months ago

Driver who slammed into LA bus before news helicopter crash to face murder charges, prosecutor says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The driver of an SUV who slammed into a Los Angeles bus will face murder charges, the district attorney said Thursday. The crash killed at least two people and injured six others in a prelude to a second deadly tragedy: the fiery crash of a TV news helicopter that was covering […]
2 months ago
FILE - A northern spotted owl flies after a mouse jumping off the end of a stick in the Deschutes N...

Trump administration allows inadvertent killing of endangered species

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Inadvertently killing endangered animals while logging a forest or building a dam would no longer be considered illegal under a new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act by federal officials, marking a sea change by President Donald Trump’s administration in how the landmark environmental law is enforced. A directive sent to […]
2 months ago
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. waves after speaking at the Republican co...

Kennedy tells anti-vaccine activists they have a friend in Trump’s White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave the keynote address Thursday at a conference of an anti-vaccine activist group he once chaired, telling the hundreds in attendance that they had a friend in President Donald Trump’s White House. It was Kennedy’s first time appearing at the Children’s Health Defense […]
2 months ago
FILE - The UN flag flies on a stormy day at the United Nations during the United Nations General As...

Russia and China veto US proposal for UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions on Iran

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and China vetoed a United Nations resolution Thursday that would have authorized U.N. experts to keep monitoring sanctions that were reimposed against Iran last year over its nuclear program. The U.N. Security Council sanctions are still in effect, which freeze Iran’s assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize […]
2 months ago

Michigan authorities advise shelter in place after small plane crash in Grand Traverse County

BLAIR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities in Michigan are advising residents to shelter in place after a small plane crashed in Grand Traverse County. There was no immediate word on any injuries, and the cause of the Thursday afternoon crash was not known. Witnesses reported hearing a loud crash, and images posted to social media […]
2 months ago
FILE - Former Connecticut deputy budget director Konstantinos "Kosta" Diamantis, left, accompanied ...

Ex-Connecticut official flees to Greece before sentencing for corruption

A former senior budget official for Connecticut’s Democratic governor is now a fugitive in Greece after fleeing the U.S. by boat and plane ahead of his sentencing for corruption, his lawyer and prosecutors told a federal judge on Thursday. Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, 70, also sent his attorney a 10-page email accusing Gov. Ned Lamont of […]
2 months ago
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stands with Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar Rivera, not s...

US approves visas for top Iranian leaders to attend UN high-level meeting even with sides at war

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has approved visas for top Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, to attend next week’s U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting in New York even as the two countries are locked in a stalemated war. The State Department said Thursday that it had approved visas for Iran’s “core […]
2 months ago
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve i...

Why the Federal Reserve is lifting rates now, and what it means

WASHINGTON (AP) — About six weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh announced that a divided central bank was keeping its key interest rate unchanged. But on Wednesday, the Fed’s rate-setting committee unanimously agreed to a rate hike, and nearly all policymakers signaled that a second increase later this year would likely be appropriate. So […]
2 months ago
FILE - This undated file photo provided by U.S. Central Command, shows Abu Zubaydah, date and locat...

Man accused of ties to bin Laden and tortured after 9/11 has 20-year Guantanamo detention reviewed

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A man initially accused of being a high-profile al-Qaida figure and who was tortured in CIA custody appeared Thursday at a hearing to review his detention at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he has been held for 20 years without charges. A U.S. government official said […]
2 months ago