QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador is preparing a “major offensive” against criminal organizations set to begin this weekend with logistical support from the United States, the interior minister said Wednesday. Speaking to a local radio station, Interior Minister John Reimberg also urged citizens to observe a curfew from March 15-30 in the provinces of Guayas, […]
NEW YORK (AP) — The Pentagon has not permitted photographers to cover Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s last two briefings on the war in Iran, and hasn’t explained the change in longstanding policy. A Pentagon spokesman, Joel Valdez, declined to comment for this story. The Defense Department under Hegseth has had a contentious relationship with the […]
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new Iowa law bans local nondiscrimination protections on the basis of gender identity after the state became the first in the U.S. to rollback its civil rights code last year. The preemption law took effect Tuesday, as soon as Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it. It prevents cities and […]
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic-led states alarmed by the prospect of federal immigration officers patrolling the polls during this year’s midterm elections are taking steps to counter what they see as a potential tactic to intimidate voters. New Mexico this week became the first state to bar armed agents from polling locations in response […]
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The new U.S. ambassador to South Africa was summoned to explain his criticism of the country’s policies, the South African foreign minister said Wednesday, as a diplomatic rift continues. Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III made the comments at a meeting of business leaders on Tuesday. He challenged the South African government over […]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft is throwing its weight behind Anthropic in asking a federal court to block the Trump administration’s designation of the artificial intelligence company as a supply chain risk. Microsoft, in a legal filing, is challenging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s action last week to shut Anthropic out of military work by labeling […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man was taken into custody on Wednesday after driving his van into a security barrier outside the White House, authorities said. The Secret Service said the man crashed into the temporary security barrier just before 6:30 a.m. He was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service’s uniformed division, the agency […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden is breaking her silence about Joe Biden’s decision to abruptly end his 2024 presidential reelection bid under pressure from Democrats concerned about his age, health and viability against Republican Donald Trump in a rematch of their 2020 campaign. A political spouse for nearly 50 years, Jill Biden said she has […]
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Nearly two decades ago, Virginia gave tech companies a tax break on equipment and software, and they began to build. The state became a data center hub, and they kept building. Residents bemoaned the noise while they built some more. Artificial intelligence boomed, and the power grid strained — still, more […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted is scheduled to testify remotely Wednesday in Akron in the high-profile corruption trial of two former FirstEnergy Corp. executives. As a defense witness for former CEO Chuck Jones and former lobbyist Michael Dowling, Husted is likely to be asked to corroborate details of the many meetings, […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing jittery global markets and drooping poll numbers since launching a war on Iran, President Donald Trump has cycled from calls for “unconditional surrender” to sounding amenable to an end state in which Iran trades one hard-line ayatollah for another. Shifting comments from the Republican president and his top aides are adding […]
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — There could be another McAuliffe representing Virginia soon. Dorothy McAuliffe — the former first lady, onetime state department official and wife of then-Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe — said Wednesday that she will run for Congress, putting a prominent name into the mix for a newly drawn district. “We need a leader […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to visit Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to argue that his policies can steady an economy facing shock waves from the war on Iran and to try and defeat one of the few congressional Republicans who has dared to defy him. In Cincinnati, the president is touring Thermo […]
DORAL, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted he had the answer for Republicans anxious about losing their congressional majority this year: build on an already strict national voter identification law to ban mail ballots and restrict transgender rights. “It’ll guarantee the midterms,” he told Republicans gathered in the ballroom of his golf course just […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday that the Senate will consider a bill to impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements in elections, but says “the votes aren’t there” to pass it through a marathon talking filibuster sought by President Donald Trump. Trump has said he won’t sign any other legislation until the bill […]
SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state lawmakers were within their rights when they declined to issue press passes to three conservative media figures, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a case that echoes a national discussion over who qualifies as a journalist. The Democratic-controlled Washington House of Representatives early this year declined to issue press credentials […]
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday approved a defense agreement allowing the temporary presence of U.S. military and civilian personnel inside its borders, widely seen as a victory for the Trump administration, which has sought to strengthen its presence in Latin America. The Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, was approved […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday granted clemency to a man on death row who was scheduled to be executed Thursday even though he did not personally kill anyone. Ivey commuted Charles “Sonny” Burton’s death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton, 75, was convicted of capital […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The office that enforces ethics standards for attorneys in the nation’s capital has accused Justice Department official Ed Martin of professional misconduct for a threatening letter that he sent to Georgetown Law School’s dean last year, when Martin was the top federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C. Martin was the interim U.S. Attorney […]
MIAMI (AP) — Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking to dismiss a criminal indictment for money laundering, blaming President Donald Trump and his allies for seeking its prosecution as part of a “campaign of retribution” against those they blame for his 2020 election loss. Smartmatic’s parent company, UK-based SGO Corporation, was added to a criminal […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Federal judges in Milwaukee announced Tuesday that have decided not to extend interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel’s appointment beyond next week. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Schimel in November to a 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which is headquartered in Milwaukee and covers the […]
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge has rejected a request for a new trial for a Venezuelan man convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration. Lawyers for Jose Ibarra argued his constitutional rights were violated when the judge declined two defense motions before […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Tuesday rejected U.S. allegations that it detains foreigners to obtain leverage over other countries, saying Afghan authorities arrest people for violating laws not to make a deal. The U.S. State Department on Monday announced the designation of Afghanistan as a sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing it of […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — It is as captivating as it is divisive: the tale of two Chinese American athletic geniuses who have so much in common but make such different choices. Eileen Gu, a 22-year-old freestyle skier, and Alysa Liu, a 20-year—old figure skater, were both born to Chinese immigrants in California, and both were brought […]
