HOUSTON (AP) — Texas Democrat James Talarico launched his general election campaign for the U.S. Senate Wednesday by framing his Republican opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, as part of a corrupt political establishment that uses power to serve itself rather than the people. Talarico has given Democrats their best chance in years of winning […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Happy, a Bronx Zoo elephant who gave researchers new insight into the animal’s behavior and became the crux of a closely watched animal rights case, has been euthanized at age 55, the zoo said Wednesday. The Asian elephant was put to sleep Tuesday at the zoo where she lived for almost […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Wednesday struck another vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two men. U.S. Southern Command posted video on social media showing a boat resting on the water before being struck by an explosion. The last few seconds of the video show smoke and fire […]
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Wednesday that aims to shield California elections from federal interference, saying he expected President Donald Trump’s administration to try to meddle in this year’s midterm elections. The law, which took effect immediately and came days before next Tuesday’s primary, prohibits any person — including federal agents — from accessing voter […]
The Trump administration on Wednesday placed additional sanctions on Iran as part of a sprawling economic pressure campaign during the war, this time targeting the country’s newly created agency that is trying to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The move, first reported by The Associated Press, is the latest U.S. effort to use […]
MIAMI (AP) — The Trump administration has quietly instructed federal prosecutors in Miami to avoid pursuing criminal investigations into Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials, in the latest sign of warming relations between the White House and the […]
There are millions of chemical tanks around the U.S., and experts say it is exceedingly rare for them to fail as long as they are properly maintained and inspected. Yet this past week, there were two major hazardous chemical emergencies on the West Coast. A large tank containing a corrosive chemical at a Longview, Washington, […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Blocking someone from entering a house of worship, or acting in a way that makes worshippers entering the building fear for their safety, is now a crime in New York under a law approved after a series of raucous demonstrations outside synagogues. The law, signed Tuesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, also […]
NEW YORK (AP) — A former truck and bus driver charged in an assassination plot against an Iranian American writer who authorities said was targeted for death by the Iranian government was given a 10-year prison sentence on Wednesday by a federal judge. The judge, Lewis J. Liman, sentenced Jonathan Loadholt, 37, of Staten Island, […]
Fair housing organizations filed a lawsuit Wednesday over a federal rule change that they say would reverse decades of lending protections and open the door to discrimination against Black people, Latinos and other minorities. The federal lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., takes aim at a change made earlier this year by the Consumer Financial Protection […]
When Rory McIlroy won the Masters for the second year in a row, Kalshi shared a photo of him on Instagram with the words, “Wait he’s goated.” When a video of NBA player Damian Lillard recovering from an injury circulated online, Kalshi’s main competitor Polymarket posted, “The league is cooked.” If you don’t know what […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden feared her husband was having a stroke as she watched then-President Joe Biden stumble through a disastrous debate performance that led to the end of his 2024 reelection campaign, the former first lady said in a recent interview. “I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that […]
NEW YORK (AP) — FIFA is under fresh scrutiny for sky-high World Cup ticket prices and sales tactics that fans say left them with worse deals than they wanted. The attorneys general in New York and New Jersey, which is hosting eight World Cup matches including the final, announced Tuesday that they are investigating whether […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX Starship launches are on hold pending an investigation into last week’s test flight. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that the hourlong spaceflight resulted in a mishap based on the performance of the mega rocket’s first-stage booster. Minutes after Starship blasted off from Texas on Friday, the booster separated […]
Attorneys for former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon argued in a court filing Wednesday that recent examples of grand jury misconduct by the U.S. Department of Justice across the country warrant the release of transcripts from the normally secretive proceedings in his case. Lemon pleaded not guilty in February to federal civil rights […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shrey Parikh finished third in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee before making a stunning exit from his school bee last year. Now in his final year before he ages out of the competition, he’s fully committed. The 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, works with three coaches. He pays for word lists […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — He boasted of fixing city fountains and power-washing a local pool — making careful distinctions between sandblasting versus pebble-blasting — and detailing efforts to repair brick walkways in a public park. But this wasn’t a small-town mayor assuring a few dozen community members at a town hall that municipal improvement efforts would […]
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Democratic members of Congress visited a federal immigration detention center in New Jersey on Wednesday, where protesters have been demonstrating in recent days and asserting that detainees are on a hunger strike. U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a Manhattan Democrat, said after touring Delaney Hall in Newark that detainees were refusing to […]
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A robot being developed at Duke University is almost ready to face the world, in any direction. Instead of trying to copy symmetrical shapes from nature by building robots that look like people, dogs or insects, engineering professor Boyuan Chen and his team focused on uniformity in action, or what he […]
INTERLOCHEN, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan summer arts camp and boarding school where Jeffrey Epstein has been accused of meeting at least two his victims will tear down a lodge that once bore his name. The Interlochen Center for the Arts said this week that its board of trustees has approved a plan to demolish […]
A South Carolina jury heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of a store owner charged with murder in the 2023 fatal shooting of a Black 14-year-old, with the prosecutor calling it unprovoked and “heinous” while a defense lawyer insisted it was an act of defense. Chikei Rick Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has approved a settlement package designed to rein in groundwater pumping along one of North America’s longest rivers and ensure enough water reliably makes it from New Mexico to Texas, ending a long-running dispute over management of the Rio Grande. In a brief agreements first proposed last […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a generational contest between sitting congressmen, freshman Rep. Christian Menefee defeated veteran Rep. Al Green in a Democratic primary runoff for a Houston-area district created last year by an unusual Republican-led redistricting effort. Green, known for his protests during President Donald Trump’s speeches, has served in Congress since 2005. He became […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alabama on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to use a congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections, despite a court ruling that the redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against Black people. The state’s Republican leadership filed an emergency appeal with the justices a day after a three-judge court refused […]
