National News

Boy struck by lightning in New York City’s Central Park says he feels lucky

NEW YORK (AP) — A 15-year-old boy says he feels “pretty lucky” after being struck by lightning in Central Park on Thursday when a round of thunderstorms swept through New York City. Yassin Khalifa, a high school sophomore, told WABC-TV he was in the park with friends enjoying a picnic when the storm suddenly rolled […]
1 year ago
Members of the California National Guard and U.S. Marines guard a federal building on Tuesday, June...

The Latest: Trump weighing moves against Iran and widens use of military in US

An appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids while California’s legal challenge continues. The court case could have wider implications as the president vows to expand deployments within the United States while prioritizing deportations from other Democratic-run […]
1 year ago
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger addresses a crowd at a rally at her alma mate...

Democrats in Virginia have a hefty fundraising advantage heading into November general election

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats in Virginia have built up a hefty fundraising advantage for their effort to reclaim the governor’s mansion in a November election that is seen as a bellwether for the party in power in Washington ahead of the 2026 midterms. Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA spy turned congresswoman, has a […]
1 year ago
A Sig Sauer P320 handgun is held by a Maine gun shop owner, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Rober...

Sig Sauer, faced with lawsuits over a popular pistol, gets protection in New Hampshire

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Faced with mounting lawsuits over a popular pistol, New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer asked for — and got — protection in the form of a new state law that makes it harder to take the gunmaker to court. Supporters in the Republican-led Legislature said the law was needed to help a major […]
1 year ago
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted an emergency temporary re...

Appeals court lets Trump keep control National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles during protests

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids. The decision halts a ruling from a lower court judge who found Trump acted illegally when he activated the soldiers over opposition from California Gov. […]
1 year ago
A band plays during a Juneteenth parade Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Galveston, Texas. (AP Photo/Dav...

Photos of Juneteenth celebrations commemorating end to slavery

Juneteenth celebrations took place across the U.S., commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved Black people in Texas learned of their freedom. While long honored by Black Americans, the holiday has gained broader recognition since becoming a federal holiday in 2021 under President Joe Biden, who attended an event in Galveston, Texas, where Juneteenth began. […]
1 year ago
Maryam Abu Shaar, 29, sits with her children inside their tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians...

UN: Violence against children in conflict reached ‘unprecedented levels’ in 2024, with Gaza worst

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Violence against children caught in multiple and escalating conflicts reached “unprecedented levels” last year, with the highest number of violations in Gaza and the West Bank, Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti, according to a United Nations report released late Thursday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ annual report on Children in Armed Conflict detailed […]
1 year ago
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Thu...

Trump is silent about Juneteenth on a day he previously honored as president

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump honored Juneteenth in each of his first four years as president, even before it became a federal holiday. He even claimed once to have made it “famous.” But on this year’s Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, the usually talkative president kept silent about a day important to Black Americans for […]
1 year ago
FILE - The exterior of Dodgers Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers is seen in Los Angeles on M...

ICE agents asked to leave Dodger Stadium parking lot, team says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers organization said Thursday that it asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to leave the Dodger Stadium grounds after they arrived at a parking lot near one of the gates. Dozens of federal agents with their faces covered arrived in SUVs and cargo vans to a lot […]
1 year ago

What to know about the fatal shooting at a Utah ‘No Kings’ rally

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah investigators sought help from the public as they worked to unravel who was at fault when a safety volunteer at a weekend “No Kings” rally fired at an alleged gunman and inadvertently hit and killed a protester. The safety volunteer, who has not been identified publicly, fired three rounds […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Shearon Harris nuclear plant is seen in Holly Springs, N.C., on June 14, 2013. (AP Photo...

North Carolina lawmakers finalize bill that would scrap 2030 carbon reduction goal

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators finalized a bill Thursday that would eliminate an interim greenhouse gas reduction mandate set in a landmark 2021 law, while still directing regulators to aim to cancel out power plant carbon emissions in the state within the next 25 years. With some bipartisan support, the state Senate voted […]
1 year ago
FILE - A server tends to customers in an outdoor dining area on The Promenade in Santa Monica, Cali...

Some US restaurants and servers oppose Republicans’ ‘no tax on tips’ budget proposal

Some segments of the U.S. restaurant industry don’t support President Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate federal taxes on tips, saying it would help too few people and obscure bigger issues in the way tipped workers are paid. The Independent Restaurant Coalition, which represents nearly 100,000 restaurant and bars, has appealed to Congress to reconsider the […]
1 year ago

New York police search for a suspect and a motive after 11 police vehicles are torched

NEW YORK (AP) — A man suspected of torching 11 New York City police vehicles in Brooklyn last week — the first of two such arson attacks in the last week — was previously arrested at pro-Palestinian protests and is wanted for damaging a statue at Columbia University last fall, police said. The NYPD on […]
1 year ago
This photo provided by Tennessee Department of Transportation shows Interstate 40 remains closed ne...

Flooding and rock slides close heavily damaged I-40 section in Smoky Mountains

HARTFORD, Tenn. (AP) — Heavy rain, flooding and a rock slide have again closed a section of the major cross country highway Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains. The slide and flood happened Wednesday afternoon around mile marker 450 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with […]
1 year ago
Iran israel...
Samantha Lomibao, KIRO 7 News

Seattle community rallies against fighting in Iran

On Wednesday, there was a big message of peace from people in Seattle’s Capitol Hill protesting missile strikes that have taken the lives of hundreds of people.
1 year ago
Farm workers plow the land for a strawberry field in Oxnard, Calif., on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (...

ICE raids and their uncertainty scare off workers and baffle businesses

WASHINGTON (AP) — Farmers, cattle ranchers and hotel and restaurant managers breathed a sigh of relief last week when President Donald Trump ordered a pause to immigration raids that were disrupting those industries and scaring foreign-born workers off the job. “There was finally a sense of calm,’’ said Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business […]
1 year ago
FILE - Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Ex...

SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas explodes, but no injuries reported

A SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas exploded Wednesday night, sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky. The company said the Starship “experienced a major anomaly” at about 11 p.m. while on the test stand preparing for the tenth flight test at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas. “A safety […]
1 year ago
FILE - The headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is seen with the American flag ...

Voice of America and Radio Farda’s Persian services cover Israel-Iran conflict despite cutbacks

In the early days of Israel’s attack on Iran, U.S.-operated Radio Farda, which broadcasts in the Persian language in Iran, debunked a state media report that an Israeli pilot had been shot down and captured. Its journalism has continued despite the Trump administration’s threat to its future, along with a Persian-language television outlet run by […]
1 year ago
FILE -The United Nations headquarters building is seen from inside the General Assembly hall, Sept....

These are 5 things the UN does that you may not have known

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations’ vast system has tackled everything from delivering life-saving humanitarian aid to providing crucial peacekeeping operations in conflict zones since it was established in the wake of World War II. As the international body closes in on 80 years, questions about its relevancy and efficiency have sharpened from supporters […]
1 year ago
Doug Corwin, president of Crescent Duck, picks up one of his ducks at the Crescent Duck Farm in Aqu...

Long Island’s last duck farm is quacking again after losing its entire flock to the bird flu

AQUEBOGUE, N.Y. (AP) — Doug Corwin knew there was a problem at his family’s commercial duck farm in Long Island when he spotted scores of dead or lethargic birds during a barn inspection in January. Within days, Crescent Duck Farm became a casualty of the global avian flu outbreak, one of many farms around the […]
1 year ago
(AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS...

New Hampshire’s Juneteenth celebration culminates with dance event

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — By the time the drumming and dancing starts Thursday, an organization that promotes African American history and culture in New Hampshire will have hosted nearly a dozen events to celebrate Juneteenth. The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire’s weekslong celebration will culminate with the rededication of the African Burying Ground Memorial […]
1 year ago
This combination of 2016, 2024 and 2017 photos shows, from left, Ashley D. Bell, Bernice A. King an...

Redemption Bank becomes the first Black-owned bank in the Rockies

Redemption Holding Co. has completed its acquisition of Utah-based Holladay Bank & Trust, making it the first time a bank has been owned by a Black-led investment group in the Western U.S. The newly formed Redemption Bank will be the first Black-owned bank in U.S. history not physically located within an economically vulnerable community, the […]
1 year ago
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger addresses a crowd at a rally at her alma mate...

In Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, Democrats reprise a 2018 roadmap for opposing Trump 2.0

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (AP) — Abigail Spanberger opened her general election bid for Virginia governor Wednesday using her high school alma mater near Richmond. “I grew up walking the halls of Tucker High School,” the former congresswoman says as she walks past a bank of lockers in her first ad since securing the Democratic nomination. […]
1 year ago
This image provided by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation shows the 2021 excavation of the origin...

Rebuilding one of the nation’s oldest Black churches to begin at Juneteenth ceremony

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held Thursday for the rebuilding of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches, whose congregants first gathered outdoors in secret before constructing a wooden meetinghouse in Virginia. The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg officially established itself in 1776, although parishioners met before then in fields and […]
1 year ago