National News

FILE - A Social Security card is displayed on Oct. 12, 2021, in Tigard, Ore. The go-broke dates for...

Medicare and Social Security go-broke dates pushed up due to rising health care costs, new SSA law

WASHINGTON (AP) — The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security ‘s trust funds have moved up as rising health care costs and new legislation affecting Social Security benefits have contributed to earlier projected depletion dates, according to an annual report released Wednesday. The go-broke date — or the date at which the programs will […]
1 year ago
FILE - Josh Weil talks to a group of supporters during a Get Out the Vote event in Ocala, Fla., Mon...

Josh Weil announces 2026 Senate run to challenge Ashley Moody in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Democrat Josh Weil, who raised millions of dollars for an unsuccessful U.S. House campaign in Florida, said Wednesday that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2026. If he were to become the Democratic nominee, Weil would challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody. She is a former state attorney general […]
1 year ago
FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS R...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial takes a day off due a juror’s illness

NEW YORK (AP) — A juror’s vertigo on Wednesday ended another day of the sex trafficking trial for music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs before it began. Prosecutors had expected to rest their case by Friday after presenting evidence for the last six weeks, but the delay means they are unlikely to finish until Monday. Judge […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump speaks as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, Wed...

‘Nobody knows:’ Trump won’t say whether he will move forward with US strikes on Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump would not say Wednesday whether he has decided to order a U.S. strike on Iran, a move that Tehran warned anew would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it happens. “I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters at the White […]
1 year ago
tennessee gender-affirming care...
MARK SHERMAN, The Associated Press

Supreme Court OKs Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for kids

 The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, a stunning setback to transgender rights.
1 year ago
FILE - Virginia State Sen-elect, Ghazala Hashmi speaks to supporters at a Democratic victory party ...

Ghazala Hashmi wins Democratic nomination for Virginia lieutenant governor

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The candidates for Virginia’s lieutenant governor are set to make history after Sen. Ghazala Hashmi won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor on Wednesday. Hashmi is the first Muslim and the first Indian-American to be nominated to appear on the ballot for a Virginia statewide office. She defeated five other candidates, […]
1 year ago
FILE - A sign reading "cancel student debt" is seen outside the Supreme Court, June 30, 2023, in Wa...

How to improve your credit score if you’ve missed student loan payments

NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of Americans are seeing their credit scores drop now that the U.S. government has resumed referring missed student loan payments for debt collection. But there are things you can do to help your score rebound. Courtney Alev, consumer advocate at Credit Karma, said it’s understandable that people have missed payments […]
1 year ago
FILE - President Donald Trump talks to workers as he tours U.S. Steel Corporation's Mon Valley Work...

Nippon Steel finalizes $15B takeover of US Steel after sealing national security agreement

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel said Wednesday they have finalized their “historic partnership,” a deal that gives the U.S. government a say in some matters and comes a year-and-a-half after the Japanese company first proposed its nearly $15 billion buyout of the iconic American steelmaker. The pursuit by Nippon Steel for […]
1 year ago
FILE - President Joe Biden speaks at the Memorial Amphitheater after laying a wreath at The Tomb of...

Joe Biden to attend Juneteenth celebration at historic AME church in Texas

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Joe Biden will be attending a Juneteenth celebration at a historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Galveston, Texas. The former Democratic president’s plans were confirmed by a person with knowledge of them but not authorized to discuss logistics publicly. In 2021, Biden signed legislation that established Juneteenth as a federal […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott A...

Supreme Court OKs Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors, big loss for transgender rights

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, a stunning setback to transgender rights. The justices’ 6-3 decision in a case from Tennessee effectively protects from legal challenges many efforts by President Donald Trump’s Republican administration and state governments to roll back protections for transgender people. […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott A...

Supreme Court clears the way for temporary nuclear waste storage in Texas and New Mexico

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday restarted plans to temporarily store nuclear waste at sites in rural Texas and New Mexico, even as the nation is at an impasse over a permanent solution. The justices reversed a federal appeals court ruling that invalidated the license granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to a […]
1 year ago
FILE - Andy Jassy, Amazon president and CEO, attends the premiere of "The Lord of the Rings: The Ri...

Amazon CEO Jassy says AI will reduce its corporate workforce in the next few years

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy anticipates generative artificial intelligence will reduce its corporate workforce in the next few years as the online giant begins to increase its usage of the technology. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy said […]
1 year ago
Workers install panels at a solar project Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Galena, Alaska. (AP Photo/Joh...

In rural Alaska, a village turns to solar and biomass energies to cut diesel and save money

GALENA, Alaska (AP) — Eric Huntington built his dream cabin nestled in the wilderness of central Alaska, eventually raising two daughters there. But over the years, he learned that living in this quiet, remote village came with a hefty cost. Every year, the Huntington family spent about $7,000 on diesel to heat the cabin during […]
1 year ago
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommitte...

The Latest: Hegseth taking questions as Trump demands Iran’s surrender to Israel

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is returning to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for another potentially combative hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee as airstrikes between Iran and Israel threaten a potentially devastating wider war. President Donald Trump has demanded Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that joining the Israeli strikes […]
1 year ago
FILE - A hiring sign is displayed at a retail store in Chicago on Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo...

US unemployment claims dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels, the Labor Department said Wednesday. U.S. jobless claims ticked down from 250,000 the week before Economists had forecast 250,000. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose to 245,500, the highest […]
1 year ago
In this image provided by Varsity Spirit, cheerleaders compete during a Varsity Spirit event in Mar...

Cheerleaders can now go pro: Varsity Spirit’s new league offers pay

Varsity Spirit is starting a professional cheerleading league that promises to pay athletes, joining the crowded niche sports market that already includes softball, volleyball, 3-on-3 basketball, lacrosse, indoor football and more clamoring for both fans’ attention and their dollars. Pro Cheer League is billed as the first professional cheerleading league for athletes 18 and older […]
1 year ago
FILE - Pills spill in an arrangement photo of prescription Oxycodone in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Le...

A judge could advance Purdue Pharma’s $7B opioid settlement after all 50 states back it

All 50 U.S. states have agreed to the OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma ’s latest plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids. A judge on Wednesday is being asked to clear the way for local governments and individual victims to vote on it. Government entities, emergency room doctors, insurers, families of children […]
1 year ago
In this courtroom sketch, Vance Boelter, right, who is charged with killing one Minnesota lawmaker ...

Man charged with killing prominent lawmaker could face a rarity for Minnesota: the death penalty

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing a prominent Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another could face something that is a rarity for Minnesota but could become more common under the Trump administration: the death penalty. Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911, and the state’s last execution was a botched hanging in 1906. But federal […]
1 year ago
FILE - Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is e...

Trial in Idaho college student killings could face a new delay

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — With jury selection less than six weeks away, the trial in the stabbing deaths of four university students in Idaho could be delayed again as defense attorneys argue they need more time to prepare and that intense publicity has threatened Bryan Kohberger’s right to a fair trial. Judge Steven Hippler will […]
1 year ago
FILE - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fields questions on the Pentagon budget from the House Arm...

Hegseth faces more grilling from Congress as Iran-Israel conflict escalates

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is returning to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for the last in a series of often combative hearings before lawmakers, who have pressed him on everything from a ban on transgender troops to his use of a Signal chat to share sensitive military plans. The questions — which also […]
1 year ago
From left, Lisa Turnquist and Carrie Spyva-McIlvaine place a bouquet of flowers at a growing memori...

Prosecutors set to present evidence against man charged with hate crime in Boulder attack

DENVER (AP) — Federal prosecutors are expected to lay out their evidence on Wednesday against a man who told investigators he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people” when he threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators raising awareness of Israeli hostages. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, is scheduled to appear in federal court in […]
1 year ago

Things to know about the retrial of Karen Read in the killing of her police officer boyfriend

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The jury is set to return for its third full day of testimony Wednesday in the second murder trial of Karen Read, who is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend. Jurors began deliberations late last week, more than a month after the trial started. Tuesday’s deliberations included several questions […]
1 year ago
FILE - Chef Anne Burrell attends City Harvest Presents The 2025 Gala: Carnaval, on April 22, 2025, ...

Anne Burrell, TV chef who coached the ‘Worst Cooks in America,’ dies at 55

NEW YORK (AP) — TV chef Anne Burrell, who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of “Worst Cooks in America,” died Tuesday at her New York home. She was 55. The Food Network, where Burrell began her two-decade television career on “Iron Chef America” and went on to other shows, confirmed her death. The […]
1 year ago
FILE - Republican state senator Blake Miguez converses before the swearing in of the Louisiana stat...

Conservative Louisiana state Sen. Blake Miguez announces bid to run for US Sen. Bill Cassidy’s seat

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana state Sen. Blake Miguez officially launched his bid on Tuesday to unseat fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in 2026. Miguez is the latest GOP challenger to Cassidy, who has been chastised by his party for being one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict President Donald Trump […]
1 year ago