Politics

Wisconsin Senate passes $133 million package to combat forever chemicals, sends bills to governor

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Legislature sent a $133 million plan to combat contamination from so-called forever chemicals to Gov. Tony Evers for his approval Tuesday, promising an end to years of squabbling between the Democratic governor and Republican lawmakers over how to address the issue. PFAS — short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances […]
6 months ago
Defense attorney Rachael Israel talks chats with former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones before the star...

Jury deliberating in corruption trial of ex-FirstEnergy executives accused of $4.3 million bribe

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jurors in Akron began deliberating Tuesday in the corruption trial of two fired FirstEnergy Corp. executives charged for their alleged roles in a sweeping $60 million bribery scheme that resulted in a lucrative bailout of two affiliated nuclear plants. Former CEO Chuck Jones and ex-senior vice president Michael Dowling face charges […]
6 months ago
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. enters the House Chamber before Presid...

A judge’s ruling halts momentum on RFK Jr.’s vaccine agenda

NEW YORK (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first year in the Trump administration racked up win after win for the longtime anti-vaccine crusader’s allies. Activists in the “medical freedom” movement were thrilled to see Kennedy fire all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, hire vaccine critics among […]
6 months ago
FILE - Democratic Gov. Janet Mills delivers her State of the State address, Jan. 30, 2024, at the S...

Mills and Platner spar over attack ad in intensification of Maine primary to face Susan Collins

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The campaign of U.S. Senate hopeful Gov. Janet Mills released an advertisement Tuesday criticizing comments posted online by her rival Graham Platner, in an intensification of their Maine Democratic primary battle. Mills and Platner are competing for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, whose seat is key […]
6 months ago
FILE -Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026...

How many rate cuts? Iran war upends Federal Reserve’s next steps

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Iran war has scrambled the Federal Reserve’s outlook on inflation and unemployment and will likely further delay interest rate cuts this year, putting off any relief for consumers struggling with high borrowing costs for home and car purchases. The spike in oil and gas prices presents already-divided Fed officials with a […]
6 months ago
FILE - Joseph Kent appears before a Senate Committee on Intelligence hearing for his pending confir...

What to know about the resignation of Joe Kent as Trump’s counterterrorism chief

The U.S. counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids. But Trump’s war in Iran and his alliance with Israel against the Islamic clerics who led the Tehran government were […]
6 months ago
President Donald Trump points to a bust of Winston Churchill as he speaks during a meeting with Iri...

Trump delays China trip until next month to focus on the war in Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is delaying a diplomatic trip to China that had been planned for months but began to unravel as he pressured Beijing and other world powers to use military might to protect the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Tuesday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval […]
6 months ago
Joe Kent FBI classified iran war...

Top counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigns over Trump’s Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat

Top counterterrorism official Joe Kent has resigned over President Donald Trump’s Iran war, saying Iran posed "no imminent threat to our nation."
6 months ago
This combination of book cover images show "Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a ...

Lukas prizes honor books on homelessness, the US Census and ancient India

NEW YORK (AP) — Books on homelessness, the U.S. Census and ancient India are among this year’s winners of prizes handed out by the J. Anthony Lukas Project, named for the late author and investigative journalist. The winners were announced Tuesday by the project’s administrators, the Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism […]
6 months ago
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters after a weekly Republican luncheon, ...

Republicans are launching a voting bill debate that could last days or even weeks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are launching an unprecedented effort on Tuesday to hold the Senate floor and talk for days about a bill that they know won’t pass — an attempt to capture public attention on legislation requiring stricter voter registration rules as President Donald Trump pressures Congress to act before November’s midterm elections. The […]
6 months ago
Palestinians mourn at the funeral of four members of the Odeh family who were killed in their car b...

UN rights report raises concerns of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in displacement of Palestinians in West Bank

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief’s office expressed concerns about possible “ethnic cleansing” in a new report on Tuesday, saying that Israel has accelerated the expansion of settlements in large parts of the occupied West Bank and the forced displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians. The report from the office of Volker Türk, […]
6 months ago
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks with reporters on the steps at the Capitol in Washington, Th...

Trump’s homeland security pick Mullin is poised to inherit a department beset by challenges

WASHINGTON (AP) — Should Sen. Markwayne Mullin be approved as the next secretary of Homeland Security, he will walk into the department’s sprawling Washington, D.C., campus with his work cut out for him. Immigration enforcement is at a crossroads. Disaster-hit states and their lawmakers are angry at delayed federal assistance. Frustrated travelers face long airport […]
6 months ago
FILE - Children draw in one of the classrooms at the Children's Promise Centers child care center i...

A $50 million push hopes to make child care a top issue in the midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — An advocacy group hoping to expand support for child and elder care plans to spend $50 million to back Democrats in congressional races, tying the costs of caregiving to the nation’s affordability debate. The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, created a decade ago, aims to make caregiver issues more salient in […]
6 months ago
Primary voters arrive to cast ballots at an official vote center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 3, 2026....

What’s in the voting bill that Republicans are pushing to the Senate floor

WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation that would require proof of U.S. citizenship for new voters has become a rallying cry for President Donald Trump, who claims that passage of the bill will “guarantee the midterms” for his Republican Party in November. The bill, which the Senate will take up as early as Tuesday, would require voters […]
6 months ago
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while travelin...

Trump team applying pressure to media: Tell the war’s story the way we see it

Through lectures, scoldings and outright threats, President Donald Trump and his aides are ratcheting up the pressure on journalists to cover the war in the Middle East the way the administration wants. The president has fumed on social media about stories he doesn’t like and berated a reporter on Air Force One. The government’s top […]
6 months ago
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), center, speaks as U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), left, and...

Illinois voters pick a new generation of Democrats for House, Senate after near-record retirements

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois voters are deciding primaries Tuesday for six open U.S. House and Senate seats that will spur a new generation of leadership in the state’s heavily Democratic congressional delegation. The retirement of longtime Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, has triggered a competitive campaign, drawing as candidates two sitting House members and the […]
6 months ago
A man walks along a deserted street where a part of the earthquake-destroyed Cathedral stands in do...

UN expert: Haiti has a chance now to tackle gang violence as new international force deploys

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Haiti has a chance now to tackle pervasive gang violence with a U.S.-initiated international force starting to deploy and a prime minister committed to providing alternatives for young gang members, the United Nations’ expert on human rights in Haiti said Monday. “We’re in a place now where the next few months […]
6 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order regarding a task force on fraud in t...

Trump says a former president had an Iran confession. Aides to his predecessors deny recent contact

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twice on Monday, President Donald Trump said he’d wrangled a confession of sorts from an Oval Office predecessor who he said had expressed regret in a private conversation about not attacking Iran the way Trump has been doing for more than two weeks. But there’s just a little problem: Representatives for the […]
6 months ago
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with supporters after filing his reelection paperwork Monday, M...

Lindsey Graham got a war with Iran. What will it cost the country and his party?

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — More than three decades after Lindsey Graham first arrived in Washington, he has everything he could ever want. The senator has President Donald Trump ‘s ear, a war in Iran and a well-funded path to reelection in his home state of South Carolina. Now it’s just a question of what those […]
6 months ago
FILE - Mine shafts 10, left, and 9, right, tower over the Resolution Copper Mining Company facility...

Apache women seek court intervention as federal land is turned over for copper mining

The transfer of federal forest land in Arizona to a pair of international companies that plan to mine one of the largest copper deposits in North America is complete, but a group of Apache women is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene as a last-ditch effort to stop the project. The title to the […]
6 months ago
FILE - A woman walks outside The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts on Feb. 2,...

Kennedy Center votes to shut down operations for 2 years and names a new president

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center’s board of directors voted on Monday to shut down operations for two years following this summer’s July 4 celebrations. The widely expected decision comes in the wake of numerous resignations and cancellations during President Donald Trump’s second term, although Trump himself has cited the need for repairs as a […]
6 months ago

Editorial Roundup: United States

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ March 16 The Washington Post says narrowing tax base won’t fund programs progressives want to provide One of the most consequential trends in American politics is that Democrats are increasingly discovering what Republicans have known for decades: Voters don’t like taxes. Now the gubernatorial […]
6 months ago
FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 202...

Afghan man who worked with US military dies after taken into ICE custody

HOUSTON (AP) — An Afghan immigrant whose family said had worked with U.S. forces in his home country died at a Texas hospital after having been detained by immigration authorities, according to officials. Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, died at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on Saturday, a day after having been taken into custody by U.S. […]
6 months ago
FILE - White House chief of staff Susie Wiles listens as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters...

Trump says chief of staff Susie Wiles has breast cancer but will keep working through treatment

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer but will continue working during her treatment, President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Monday. Trump said Wiles’ prognosis is “excellent” and described her as “one of the strongest people I know.” He said […]
6 months ago