National News

FILE - Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill speaks with attendees during an election night watch ...

Louisiana school board and federal government end 61 years of segregation monitoring

BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) — A Louisiana school board and the federal government have agreed to end more than 60 years of oversight meant to end segregation. The agreement was announced Thursday on the first day of classes for Bossier Parish Schools near Shreveport. “Dismissal of the case allows us the freedom to make our […]
2 months ago
Cassandra Barksdale, who says she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer due to a tissue labelling mista...

Georgia woman says she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and had hysterectomy due to labeling error

ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta-area woman alleges that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labeling error. Cassandra Barksdale and her attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Kaiser Permanente alleging the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain. According to the lawsuit, another […]
2 months ago
FILE - Marijuana clones are shown for sale in Santa Ana, Calif., April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. H...

US sees a big jump in nausea cases among frequent marijuana users in the hospital

NEW YORK (AP) — In the past year, the U.S. has seen a jump in frequent marijuana users going to the hospital with a nausea and vomiting condition, according to a report released Thursday. “The abruptness and sustained magnitude of the increase” is largely due to the condition getting its own diagnosis code last fall, […]
2 months ago
The drained Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is photographed from the Washington Monument, Wednesda...

FACT FOCUS: A look at Trump’s false and misleading claims about the Reflecting Pool

In April, President Donald Trump announced that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was being renovated to address long-standing cosmetic and structural issues. He initially promised a gleaming blue pool that would be fixed in a week at a cost of $1.5 million, much less than what previous administrations had paid for work on the national […]
2 months ago
The Gann Fire burns along a hillside near Copperopolis on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Calaveras Count...

Body found in California home burned by wildfire believed started by chain saw

SAN ANDREAS, Calif. (AP) — A dead body was found inside a central California home burned by a wildfire that investigators believe was accidentally started by sparks from a chain saw, authorities said Thursday. Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the blaze that has destroyed seven structures and scorched more than […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Was...

Trump signs 2 immigration actions to limit birthright citizenship and curb ‘birth tourism’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is once more trying to limit the number of people who are born in the country who can become American citizens, in a sign that even after his first attempt at limiting birthright citizenship was rejected by the Supreme Court, he’s ready to try again. […]
2 months ago
FILE - Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., listens during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommitte...

McConnell says he’s leaving rehabilitation center to continue recovery at home

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says he’s been discharged from a rehabilitation center and will continue his recovery from home. The former Senate leader was first admitted to the hospital on June 14. He disclosed weeks later that his hospitalization was the result of a fall and said he was undergoing […]
2 months ago
This photo provided by Sean Voysey Olson shows a large haboob dust storm Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in S...

Unusually intense haboob dust storms strike Phoenix twice this week

Dust storms that blanketed the Phoenix area in thick haze this week were among the most intense to hit the region in years, scientists said Thursday. The storms — called haboobs — occur throughout the U.S. Southwest when strong downdrafts from thunderstorms stir up loose dust and dirt that get blown along in front of […]
2 months ago
Lindsay Clancy grabs a tissue after witness Elaine Rossi, the nanny to the Clancy children, testifi...

Lindsay Clancy sobs as jurors view autopsy photos of the youngest of her 3 children she killed

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Lindsay Clancy sobbed uncontrollably Thursday as jurors viewed autopsy photos of the youngest of her three children who she strangled in 2023, until the court eventually had to take an unscheduled break. In the second week of her Massachusetts murder trial, prosecutors brought more friends, a former work colleague and her […]
2 months ago
More than 90 thousand rubber ducks are dropped into the Chicago River as part of the annual Chicago...

Rubber ducks by the thousands splash into Chicago River for annual Special Olympics fundraiser

CHICAGO (AP) — A deluge of 90,000 rubber ducks poured out of a truck on the Columbus Drive bridge and plunged into the Chicago River on Thursday, and then raced at a leisurely pace in the annual Chicago Ducky Derby. They floated for around 15 minutes before a winner and runner-up were plucked from the […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump dances after speaking at an event at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in L...

FACT FOCUS: Trump boasts about the economy but there’s more to the story

President Donald Trump has been extolling his economic accomplishments on social media and at events like a rally at a Las Vegas resort Wednesday. He touts recent record stock market highs and claims a boom in hiring, manufacturing and investment. Some of the claims are clearly true, some exaggerated, some unclear. Ahead of Nov. 3 […]
2 months ago
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Friday, July 24, 20...

SpaceX shares rise even as company insiders get a chance to sell for the first time

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock in Elon Musk’s space company is rising even as many SpaceX insiders were freed up to sell for the first time. Investors in SpaceX have pushed the shares down sharply in recent days in anticipation of insiders possibly selling in the first of several so-called lockup expirations that free them […]
2 months ago
Dr. Anthony Fauci departs after appearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affa...

Fauci contempt vote reflects the enduring politics of COVID

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci is sitting before Congress, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on TV debating COVID lockdowns and Americans can’t agree on what science to trust. If you squint, you might think it’s 2020 again. Six years after COVID-19 thrust the world into the fear and uncertainty of a global pandemic, […]
2 months ago
FILE - Kellogg's Froot Loops are displayed in a Costco in Pittsburgh, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene...

Kellogg says it’s removing artificial dyes from cereals by the end of this year

WK Kellogg said Thursday that it will remove artificial colors from all its cereals by the end of this year. The change comes a year ahead of schedule. Kellogg said last August that it would remove synthetic dyes from its cereals by the end of 2027. But the company said Thursday it has identified fruit- […]
2 months ago
(AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS...

In a post-pandemic world, job candidates feel caught between suits and hoodies

NEW YORK (AP) — The matching blazer and pants Dani McEwen wore to a job interview at an insurance company felt like a smart choice, until she noticed most of the employees had on T-shirts and jeans. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I probably looked like I was trying way […]
2 months ago
FILE - Hiring sign for sales professionals is displayed at a store, in Vernon Hills, Ill., Wednesda...

US likely added nearly 100,000 jobs in July, but market is still tough for young and unemployed

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the face of it, the U.S. job market has looked pretty stable this year. Hiring has been solid – if not exactly spectacular – after a lackluster 2025. But underneath the headline numbers, the job market is sending mixed and confusing signals. Companies in some industries can’t find enough workers and […]
2 months ago
FILE - Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, in M...

Trump administration moves forward with Head Start overhaul, proposing to eliminate regulations

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration said it plans to overhaul Head Start, tossing out many of the regulations that are the hallmark of the early education program for the nation’s poorest children. Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the federally funded preschool program, said the proposed changes would […]
2 months ago
FILE - The Food and Drug Administration seal is seen at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in ...

New kind of flu shot is on the way as the FDA approves Moderna’s mRNA-based vaccine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new kind of flu vaccine for older people, the first made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturer Moderna said. The shot, named mFlusiva, is intended for adults age 50 or older. Other brands of flu shots […]
2 months ago
Joe Shearer, who was diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from fighting in Iraq, poses for a por...

Iran war renews concerns about the lasting toll of traumatic brain injuries to US troops

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Joe Shearer was a Marine fighting in Iraq, a blast from an enemy mortar round knocked him down and made him vomit. He got up and kept going despite a searing headache. When a roadside bomb struck his Humvee convoy months later, the explosion’s shock wave swept through his body before […]
2 months ago
FILE - Mickelina Papotto, of Salem, Ore., left, and Lorie Odegaard, of Gaithersburg, Md., fan thems...

Where extreme heat is having the biggest impact on Americans’ lives, according to a new AP-NORC poll

Elisa Bracamonte has lived in Arizona her whole life, so she’s used to adjusting her schedule and outdoor activities around high temperatures, especially during the summer months. But the 74-year-old retired nurse from Tucson said she feels the heat has been impacting more of her day-to-day: summer plans with family members across the region, meetups […]
2 months ago
Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at...

Senate panel to vote on holding Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer questions

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci invoked his Fifth […]
2 months ago
Democratic congressional candidate State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, speaks during a campaig...

A new Tennessee congressional map that splits Memphis is making its debut in the state’s primary

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee congressional map that carved up a majority Black district in Memphis is making its electoral debut Tuesday in a primary election that will determine the nominees for a Republican attempt at a clean sweep of the state’s U.S. House districts in the midterms. The primaries were upended just […]
2 months ago
IndyCar Series driver David Malukas drives a race car down West Executive Drive during an event wit...

Trump’s IndyCar race: Doing 200 in a 25 mph zone with manhole cover-displacing torque

WASHINGTON (AP) — The speed limit along Pennsylvania Avenue is 25 mph. But the open-wheel race cars roaring through the longest straightaway of the upcoming Washington IndyCar race organized by President Donald Trump could be going nearly eight times that fast. “If we did that during the regular day, I think people would be put […]
2 months ago
FILE - An ad for the prediction market app Kalshi is displayed on a mobile phone Thursday, April 16...

Federal judge lets Utah enforce its anti-gambling laws on the prediction market Kalshi

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah can enforce its strict anti-gambling laws on prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, a federal judge ruled in a win for states seeking to rein in the popular betting platforms. Utah has been on the front lines of a battle between states and the federal government over who […]
2 months ago