Politics

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to the press at the U.S. Mission to International Organiz...

Rubio hits 2 more International Criminal Court judges with sanctions over Israel prosecutions

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed sanctions on two more International Criminal Court judges over their role in investigating Israeli officials for possible war crimes during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that he had designated Judges Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of […]
9 months ago
FILE - New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Ova...

Mamdani has a place in NYC history. But which place in a centuries-long list of mayors?

NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani can claim multiple firsts when he becomes New York’s mayor Jan. 1. Besides being the first Muslim and first person of South Asian heritage elected to the office, the Democrat also is poised to shape city history by being the 112th mayor — rather than 111th, as he was […]
9 months ago
FILE - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on...

Trump administration moves to cut off transgender care for children

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions on transgender Americans. The sweeping proposals — the most significant moves this administration has taken so far to restrict the use of […]
9 months ago
Students work together on a science, technology, engineering and mathematics challenge, facilitated...

Rural schools hit by Trump’s grant cuts have few options for making up for the lost money

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When the funding for Shannon Johnson’s job as a school mental health counselor came to an abrupt end, two years into a five-year grant, she thought about the work left to be done. Johnson taught elementary and middle-school students in rural Kentucky how to navigate conflict, build resilience and manage stress […]
9 months ago
FILE - Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA speaks during the Turning Point Action conference...

Turning Point youth conference begins in Phoenix without founder Charlie Kirk

PHOENIX (AP) — Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization that Charlie Kirk turned into a political juggernaut, will convene its flagship conference on Thursday for the first time since the assassination of its charismatic founder, testing the durability of a fractious movement that helped return President Donald Trump to the White House. Kirk served […]
9 months ago
Katherine Carreño stands for a portrait Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Allison ...

Key findings of an AP analysis examining federal prosecutions of protesters

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has launched a months-long effort to prosecute people accused of assaulting or hindering federal officers while protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and military deployments. Attorney General Pam Bondi has vowed such offenders will face “severe consequences.” In a review of scores of criminal prosecutions brought by federal prosecutors, […]
9 months ago
Sidney Reid, 44, of Washington, poses for a portrait near where she was arrested while protesting i...

DOJ vowed to punish those who disrupt Trump’s immigration crackdown. Dozens of cases have crumbled

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal agent described her wounds as “boo-boos.” Nevertheless, the Justice Department aggressively pursued the alleged perpetrator. They jailed Sidney Lori Reid on a charge of felony assault, accusing her of injuring the agent during a July protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Washington, D.C. When grand jurors thrice declined […]
9 months ago
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz,...

Belgium demands ironclad guarantees of protection as EU leaders weigh a massive loan for Ukraine

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium insisted on Thursday that its European Union partners must provide ironclad guarantees that it will be protected from Russian retaliation before it would back a massive loan for Ukraine. At a high-stakes EU summit in Brussels, the 27-nation bloc’s leaders are set to decide on whether to use tens of billions […]
9 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at...

FACT FOCUS: Trump’s glowing account of progress is at odds with his government’s own stats

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s glowing account of progress under his watch Wednesday was out of tune with the experience of price-squeezed Americans and the story told by some of his government’s own statistics. In a speech from the White House, Trump assailed the record of his Democratic predecessor and boasted expansively about his […]
9 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at...

US announces massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion, including medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, a move that is sure to infuriate China. The State Department announced the sales late Wednesday during a nationally televised address by President Donald Trump, who made […]
9 months ago
Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, speaks during a Senate Commerce, Scie...

Senator pauses Coast Guard nomination over policy on swastikas, nooses and other hate symbols

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. senator said Wednesday that she is pausing the nomination for the top Coast Guard job because leaders appeared to have “backtracked” on a commitment to ensure that swastikas and nooses are considered hate symbols and prohibited from being displayed. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said Adm. Kevin Lunday’s nomination for Coast […]
9 months ago

US government admits negligence in helicopter-plane collision that killed 67 in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government admitted Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army played a role in causing the collision last January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people. The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims’ families said that […]
9 months ago
FILE - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the media during a news conference, Sept. 29, 2025,...

Court blocks Michigan ban on conversion therapy on free speech grounds

DETROIT (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked Michigan’s ban on conversion therapy for minors who are LGBTQ+, declaring it violates the First Amendment rights of therapists and counselors. In a 2-1 opinion, the court said the law illegally restricts speech that reflects the moral beliefs of therapists. It set aside a lower […]
9 months ago
President Donald Trump looks over after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White Hous...

Trump demands Venezuela pay for seized US oil assets after calling for ‘blockade’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump demanded Wednesday that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions. Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela when asked about his […]
9 months ago
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway speaks to reporters on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at her...

China sues after Missouri seeks to collect on $25 billion court judgement, prosecutor says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s top prosecutor said China is suing after the state pressed federal officials for help collecting on a roughly $25 billion court judgment related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday in a news release that China is demanding a public apology from the state in a […]
9 months ago
Dan Bongino, FBI deputy director, speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Thu...

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he plans to resign next month as bureau’s No 2 official

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Wednesday that he will resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief and tumultuous tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law enforcement job with provocative […]
9 months ago
Activists confronted a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the largely Somali ...

Minneapolis police chief criticizes ICE tactics after clash with protesters

Minneapolis’ police chief is criticizing federal immigration agents after a confrontation with protesters and an attempted arrest of a woman in which an officer kneeled on her back as she lay atop a snow bank and then tried to drag her to a car. Tensions have been rising in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as federal […]
9 months ago

Imprisoned Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell seeks release, citing ‘new evidence’

NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge on Wednesday to set aside her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, saying “substantial new evidence” has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial. Maxwell maintained in a habeas petition she has […]
9 months ago
Protesters gather as Law enforcement officers guard outside an ICE processing facility in the Chica...

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration policies limiting lawmakers’ access to ICE facilities

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in the nation’s capital has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies limiting members of Congress’ access to immigration detention facilities. The judge ruled on Wednesday that it is likely illegal for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to demand a week’s notice from members of Congress seeking to […]
9 months ago
Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump's pick to be NASA Administrator, speaks during a hearing of ...

Senate confirms Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator in do-over after Musk feud

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator on Wednesday, placing him atop the agency after a monthslong saga where President Donald Trump revoked his nomination as part of a feud with tech billionaire Elon Musk. Isaacman, who has promised to bring a business-minded approach to the […]
9 months ago
President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters during a rally marking the anniversary of the Battle ...

Some sanctioned oil vessels divert from Venezuela as Trump threatens blockade

MIAMI (AP) — Some oil vessels are diverting away from Venezuela after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving the South American country, a dramatic escalation in the White House’s pressure campaign on leader Nicolás Maduro. Trump said Tuesday on social media, in all caps, that he is […]
9 months ago
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walks to the auditorium to brief members of Congress on military str...

House rejects resolutions to limit Trump’s campaign against Venezuela and drug cartels

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans rejected a pair of Democratic-backed resolutions Wednesday that would have put a check on President Donald Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels and the nation of Venezuela. Democrats forced the votes using war powers resolutions as Trump has stepped up his threats against the South American nation […]
9 months ago
FILE - A man rides a bike to work at a U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research facility in Bo...

Trump administration moves to dissolve national climate research lab in Colorado

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, moving to dissolve a research lab that a top White House official described as “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.″ White House budget director Russ Vought criticized the lab in a social media post […]
9 months ago
FILE - A pump jack operates at sunset in the Permian Basin near Loving, N.M., May 20, 2025. (AP Pho...

Trump’s push to make oil drilling cheap again squeezes some states more than others

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Republican push to make drilling cheaper on federal land is creating new fiscal pressure for states that depend on oil and gas revenue, most notably in New Mexico as it expands early childhood education and saves for the future. The shift stems from the sweeping law President Donald Trump […]
9 months ago