National News

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ex-girlfriend resumes testimony about his sexual interests

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘ recent ex-girlfriend returned to the witness stand Friday in his sex trafficking trial, after testifying that he pressured her into drug-fueled sex marathons similar to those described by another former girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. The woman using the pseudonym “Jane” is among several witnesses at […]
1 year ago
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers a speech at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st an...

Pentagon watchdog investigates if staffers were asked to delete Hegseth’s Signal messages

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon watchdog is looking into whether any of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s aides was asked to delete Signal messages that may have shared sensitive military information with a reporter, according to two people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The inspector general’s request focuses on how […]
1 year ago
FILE - The exterior of a Sheetz store in Altoona, Pa., is shown Friday, Feb. 23, 2007. (J.D. Cavric...

Government moves to drop Sheetz discrimination case as Trump targets key civil rights tool

Federal authorities are moving to drop a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Sheetz convenience store chain, part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to halt the use of a key tool for enforcing the country’s civil rights laws. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws, confirmed it has begun […]
1 year ago
The Warrick Power Plant operates Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Newburgh, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bick...

Planet-warming emissions dropped when companies had to report them. EPA wants to end that

LEOPOLD, Ind. (AP) — On the ceiling of Abbie Brockman’s middle school English classroom in Perry County, the fluorescent lights are covered with images of a bright blue sky, a few clouds floating by. Outside, the real sky isn’t always blue. Sometimes it’s hazy, with pollution drifting from coal-fired power plants in this part of […]
1 year ago

The Latest: Trump-Musk relationship appears to implode

After long months when Trump and Musk appeared united in their chaotic mission to remake Washington, their relationship imploded this week. It began with Musk complaining about the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda, which the president at first took in stride. Eventually , Trump let slip that he was disappointed in his former adviser, prompting […]
1 year ago
FILE - Midea's fridges are seen at an electronic shop in Beijing on Nov. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy W...

Midea recalling 1.7 million of its popular air conditioners due to mold concern

Midea is voluntarily recalling about 1.7 million of its popular U and U+ Smart air conditioners because pooled water in the units may not drain fast enough, leading to mold growth. The news comes as temperatures are rising across the U.S. and the official start of summer rapidly approaches. The Midea air conditioners fit in […]
1 year ago
Steven Muleme, of Uganda, Executive Director of Visual Echoes for Human Rights Advocacy (VEHRA), Es...

Global LGBTQ+ advocates gather ‘on Trump’s doorstep’ at World Pride despite travel anxiety

WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before she was to deliver opening remarks to World Pride’s human rights conference in Washington, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, said she was denied entry to the United States after her visa was revoked due to her travels to Cuba earlier this year. Opoku-Gyimah, widely known as Lady […]
1 year ago
Kim Wilcox casts his ballot in the Omaha municipal election at Black Elk Elementary School, Tuesday...

Federal vs. state power at issue in a hearing over Trump’s election overhaul executive order

BOSTON (AP) — Democratic state attorneys general on Friday will seek to block President Donald Trump’s proposal for a sweeping overhaul of U.S. elections in a case that tests a constitutional bedrock — the separation of powers. The top law enforcement officials from 19 states filed a federal lawsuit after the Republican president signed the […]
1 year ago
Palestinians gather for Eid al-Adha prayers beside the ruins of a mosque destroyed by Israeli bomba...

Gaza marks the start of Eid with outdoor prayers amongst the rubble and food growing ever scarcer

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes early Friday, with little hope the war with Israel will end soon. With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were forced to hold the […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump, seated and center, listens during a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commi...

Takeaways from AP’s report on the business interests of Trump’s surgeon general pick

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. surgeon general has repeatedly said the nation’s medical and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans’ health. Yet as Dr. Casey Means has criticized scientists, medical schools and regulators for taking money […]
1 year ago
Harvey Weinstein appears for his retrial at a Manhattan court, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in New York...

Jury deliberations resume in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial

NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan jury resumed deliberations Friday in sex crimes retrial after ending its first day without reaching a verdict in a case that encapsulated the #MeToo movement. The panel, which was handed the case Thursday morning, has requested to hear a readback of some testimony from two of Weinstein’s accusers, as […]
1 year ago
The Chahta Immi Cultural Center displays artifacts characters wore in the movie "Sinners" on Thursd...

‘Sinners’ puts ‘truth on screen’ for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

CHOCTAW, Miss. (AP) — It’s a small part in a big movie, but for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, their scene in “Sinners” is a huge deal. The horror movie blockbuster, starring Michael B. Jordan as a gangster turned vampire slayer, paints a brief but impactful portrait of the tribe using Choctaw actors and […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the Whi...

Trump and Musk break up, and Washington holds its breath

WASHINGTON (AP) — Maybe it was always going to end this way, with two billionaires angrily posting about each other on social media, fingers flying across pocket-sized screens as their incandescent feud burned hotter by the minute. But even if the finale was predictable, that didn’t make it any less shocking. After long months when […]
1 year ago
FILE - Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer, left, and journalist Megyn Kelly, attend a confirmat...

Trump’s surgeon general pick criticizes others’ conflicts but profits from wellness product sales

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. surgeon general has repeatedly said the nation’s medical, health and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans’ health. Yet as Dr. Casey Means has criticized scientists, medical schools and regulators […]
1 year ago

Jury awards California prosecutor $3 million after she says she was forced out of her position

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) — A jury in California on Thursday awarded more than $3 million in damages to a former Orange County prosecutor who alleged the county’s district attorney targeted her and forced her out of her position after she tried to protect women in the office from retaliation for accusing a supervisor of […]
1 year ago
An employee makes a cake inside Walmart Supercenter on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in North Bergen, N....

Walmart’s cake decorators stir up some rivalry with their affordable creations

NEW YORK (AP) — Inside a Walmart store in New Jersey, a worker puts the finishing touches on a cake with an edible ink Sponge Bob on top. A colleague creates a buttercream rosette border for a different cake, while another co-worker frosts a tier of what will be a triple-deck dessert. It’s graduation season, […]
1 year ago
FILE - In this image taken from police body camera footage provided by Los Angeles Sheriff's office...

Officer who used excessive force allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor after felony conviction

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy will serve four months in prison on a misdemeanor conviction for using excessive force after the new Trump-appointed U.S. attorney offered an unusual plea deal despite a jury convicting him of a felony. The victim’s attorney asked a federal appeals court to reinstate the felony conviction, […]
1 year ago
Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings poses for a photo before the Liberty Awards National Dinner, in New...

Lambda Legal, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ rights, exceeded fundraising goal by $105M

NEW YORK (AP) — The nonprofit legal aid group Lambda Legal, which advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, has raised $285 million at a time when attacks on the rights of gay, intersex and transgender people have again intensified Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings announced the results on Thursday, saying the group exceeded its original fundraising goal […]
1 year ago

Rangers in Alaska recover the body of a man who died from a fall on North America’s tallest peak

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Mountaineering rangers in Alaska recovered the body of a Seattle man who died after falling 3,000 feet (about 900 meters) from a climbing route on Mount McKinley. Alex Chui’s body was transferred to the state medical examiner Wednesday, the Denali National Park and Preserve said in a statement. Two other members […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump speaks as he holds a box containing a key before presenting it to Elon Musk,...

The implosion of a powerful political alliance: Trump and Musk in their own words

Last Friday, President Donald Trump heaped praise on Elon Musk as the tech billionaire prepared to leave his unorthodox White House job. Less than a week later, their potent political alliance met a dramatic end Thursday when the men attacked each other with blistering epithets. Trump threatened to go after Musk’s business interests. Musk called […]
1 year ago
FILE - Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Col...

Detained Columbia graduate claims ‘irreparable harm’ to career and family as he pleads for release

NEW YORK (AP) — A Columbia graduate facing deportation over his pro-Palestinian activism on campus has outlined the “irreparable harm” caused by his continued detention as a federal judge weighs his release. Mahmoud Khalil said in court filings unsealed Thursday that the “most immediate and visceral harms” he’s faced in his months detained in Louisiana […]
1 year ago
FILE - The federal courthouse stands in Fargo, N.D., June 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)Credi...

A judge tells federal agencies they can’t enforce anti-trans bias policies against Catholic groups

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two federal agencies cannot punish Catholic employers and health care providers if they refuse for religious reasons to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients or won’t provide health insurance coverage for such care to their workers, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Peter Welte, the chief […]
1 year ago
FILE - Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry talks to reporters outside the Supreme Court, Jan. 7,...

As Louisiana’s governor faces ethics charges, his lawyer raises bar for future ethics investigations

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana is poised to adopt new measures that watchdogs warn raise barriers to holding public officials accountable via the state’s ethics board. The legislation was drafted by the personal attorney of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who faces charges brought by the board for violating state ethics laws. Proponents say the measures […]
1 year ago
FILE - Army soldiers look at the border wall next to a surveillance vehicle in Sunland Park, N.M., ...

Peruvian migrant acquitted in the first trial over the new militarized zone at US-Mexico border

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A Peruvian woman who crossed the U.S. border illegally was acquitted Thursday of unauthorized access to a newly designated militarized zone in the first trial under the Trump administration’s efforts to prosecute immigrants who cross in certain parts of New Mexico and western Texas. Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez, 21, […]
1 year ago