National News

California cop was partying at festival while collecting $600,000 for fake injury, officials say

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California police officer was caught partying at the Stagecoach Music Festival while collecting more than $600,000 in workers’ compensation for a head injury that prosecutors allege was faked. Westminster officer Nicole Brown, 39, was charged Monday with 15 felonies of workers’ compensation and insurance fraud, the Orange County District […]
1 year ago
FILE - Billy, a male Asian elephant, roams in his habitat at the Elephants of Asia exhibit at the L...

Aging elephants moved from Los Angeles to Tulsa Zoo, but advocates say they should be at a sanctuary

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Billy and Tina, the last remaining elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo, were quietly moved this week to a zoo in Oklahoma despite a pending lawsuit seeking to have them transferred instead to an animal sanctuary where they could live out their days with more room to roam. The announcement last […]
1 year ago
FILE - President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump watch as the U.S. Army Golden Knights Pa...

Here’s what to expect at the Army’s 250th anniversary parade on Trump’s birthday

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army on Wednesday started loading up some of the tanks that will take to the streets of the nation’s capital during the 250th anniversary celebration of the service next month, which will feature hundreds of military vehicles and aircraft and thousands of soldiers. The event has grown extensively in scope and […]
1 year ago

Lawyer: Worker accused of aiding jailbreak says he shut off water to unclog toilet, not help escape

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A worker charged with aiding the New Orleans jailbreak by 10 prisoners shut off water to unclog a toilet, not to allow the men to cut the pipe to create an opening for their escape, the employee’s lawyer told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Sterling Williams, a 33-year-old maintenance worker at […]
1 year ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at the commencement for the United States Coast Guar...

Promising reform, Noem tells US Coast Guard Academy graduates they will lead a ‘brand new’ service

The U.S. Coast Guard is facing its largest readiness crisis since World War II, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday as she promised an overhaul of the service that she called the “point of the spear” in the nation’s defense. Noem, the keynote speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s commencement, outlined the Trump […]
1 year ago
Sam Altman, co-founder and chief executive officer, OpenAI, listens to testimony during a Senate Co...

OpenAI recruits legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive to work on AI hardware in $6.5B deal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI has recruited Jony Ive, the designer behind Apple’s iPhone, to lead a new hardware project for the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT. OpenAI said it is acquiring io, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. OpenAI said its CEO Sam […]
1 year ago

Massachusetts construction company to pay $11M in illegal dumping case

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s top legal chief announced Wednesday that a Massachusetts construction company has agreed to pay $11 million to settle criminal charges that it illegally dumped thousands of tons of contaminated fill in the Ocean State’s Capitol city during a highway construction project. According to Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office, Barletta […]
1 year ago

Louisiana lawmaker arrested on DWI and child endangerment charges after single-car crash

A Louisiana lawmaker is facing criminal charges after striking a concrete barrier while allegedly driving impaired with his three children in the vehicle, state police said on Wednesday. Rep. Kyle M. Green Jr., a Democrat who represents a portion of south Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish, has been charged with a first-offense of driving while intoxicated, a […]
1 year ago
FILE - A member of the Army visits Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., Mo...

What is Memorial Day and how has it evolved from its Civil War origins?

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday that’s supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of travel and discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers. Iraq War veteran Edmundo Eugenio Martinez Jr. said the […]
1 year ago
This photo provided by Morgan Bennett-Smith shows a clownfish near an anemone in Kimbe Bay, off the...

Clownfish shrink their bodies to survive ocean heat waves

NEW YORK (AP) — To survive warming oceans, clownfish cope by shrinking in size. Scientists observed that some of the orange-striped fish shrank their bodies during a heat wave off the coast of Papa New Guinea. Fish that slimmed were more likely to survive. Heat waves are becoming more common and intense underwater due to […]
1 year ago
The Fulton County Superior Courthouse is seen, March 14, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)C...

Rapper Rod Wave faces more than a dozen charges, some involving a gun, in Georgia

ATLANTA (AP) — The rapper known as Rod Wave faces more than a dozen charges, some involving a gun, after he turned himself in to sheriff’s officials in Georgia on Tuesday. Wave, whose real name is Rodarius Green, voluntarily surrendered to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office on warrants stemming from an April 21 police call […]
1 year ago

Federal judge blocks Trump’s firing of two Democratic members of privacy oversight board

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s firing of two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The ruling Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ends the lawsuit brought by two of the three fired board members in February. The five-member board is an independent watchdog […]
1 year ago
FILE - A 13-year-old private Boeing aircraft that President Donald Trump toured on Saturday to chec...

Defense Department accepts Boeing 747 from Qatar for Trump’s use

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a gifted Boeing 747 from Qatar for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department will “work to ensure proper security measures” on the aircraft to make it safe for use by the president. […]
1 year ago
FILE - Shakira performs at MetLife Stadium on Friday, May 16, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (Photo...

Measles is very contagious. Here’s how to avoid it

New Jersey health officials are asking people who went to last week’s Shakira concert at MetLife Stadium to monitor for measles symptoms because a person went to see the singer while infectious. There is no confirmed outbreak in New Jersey, but the U.S. and North America are seeing high measles activity this year — including […]
1 year ago
In this photo combo Bruce Springsteen, left, appears at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festiva...

Springsteen doubles down on political criticism with a digital EP that includes anti-Trump comments

There’s no retreat or surrender from Bruce Springsteen — or from President Donald Trump, for that matter. The rock star released a digital EP on Wednesday with four songs recorded live in Manchester, England last week, along with two of his addresses to the audience that attacked Trump’s “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.” The Boss […]
1 year ago

Massachusetts 19-year-old pleading guilty to stealing, extorting teacher and student private data

BOSTON, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts college student will plead guilty to stealing millions of students’ and teachers’ private data from two U.S. education tech companies and extorting it for ransom, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Assumption University student Matthew Lane, 19, is accused of using stolen login credentials to access the computer network of […]
1 year ago
Some students react as Columbia University's acting president Claire Shipman speaks during Columbia...

Over boos, Columbia University president notes Mahmoud Khalil’s absence at graduation

NEW YORK (AP) — The head of Columbia University gave a commencement speech Wednesday acknowledging the absence of student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was due to receive his diploma this week but is instead in a Louisiana jail facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. The brief address drew loud boos and chants […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump greets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House, Wednesday...

Trump hosts Ramaphosa for talks as South African leader looks to salvage relationship with US

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for White House talks Wednesday at a moment when relations between the two countries are at a nadir, with Trump laying into South African officials on widely rejected charges of allowing a “genocide” against minority white farmers. South African officials have strongly […]
1 year ago
A truck outside a Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission hearing about proposed bear hunting with signs...

Florida considers controversial black bear hunt amid strong opposition

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ten years ago, Florida held a black bear hunt that resulted in more than 300 animals killed in just two days before it was halted early. It was controversial from the start and hasn’t happened since — until possibly later this year amid strong opposition once again. The Florida Fish […]
1 year ago

Trump administration will evaluate request to sell leases for seabed mining of critical minerals

The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will consider selling leases to extract minerals from the seabed off the South Pacific island of American Samoa, a potential first step in a wider industry push to allow deep-sea mining that environmentalists oppose because they say it could irreparably harm marine ecosystems. The Department of Interior said […]
1 year ago
A one bitcoin token reflects as it is placed on a mirror in Prague, Czech Republic, Sunday, May 11,...

Bitcoin hits new price highs as crypto industry scores wins

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency reached price levels not seen since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The digital asset traded above $109,400 Wednesday morning, a huge increase from recent lows of about $75,000 last month. Several other cryptocurrencies have seen similar large gains in recent days. That includes Trump’s […]
1 year ago
FILE - Former New York State Trooper, Thomas Mascia, center, leaves Nassau County District Court af...

Former New York state trooper pleads guilty to faking his own shooting

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state trooper pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that he shot himself then falsely claimed he was wounded by an unknown gunman on a Long Island highway, prompting a regionwide search. Thomas Mascia agreed to serve six months in jail, followed by five months of probation and continued […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May20, 2025, in Washi...

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group. The Justice Department’s latest emergency appeal to the high court concerns whether DOGE, which has been central to President […]
1 year ago
FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters just after House Republicans na...

Trump’s ‘beautiful’ bill spans more than 1,000 pages. Here’s what’s inside it

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are getting closer to passing President Donald Trump’s tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to pass the package over unified Democratic opposition by Memorial Day. House committees have labored for months on the legislation, which exceeds 1,000 pages and is titled the “One […]
1 year ago