Politics

United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addresses a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Gro...

Pentagon chief’s plane diverted to UK due to cracked windshield on flight from Brussels back to US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plane made an unscheduled landing in the United Kingdom because a windshield cracked on a flight back to the U.S. from a NATO meeting and all aboard are safe, the Pentagon said. The plane landed “based on standard procedures,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on […]
12 months ago
South Carolina Election Commission Chairman Dennis Shedd speaks at the commission's meeting on Wedn...

Head of South Carolina elections fired after voting machine contract had unexplained $4M overrun

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Election Commission is trying to figure out how a contract for new machines for voting for $28 million ended up costing the agency $4 million more. The investigation into buying the 3,200 ballot scanners in 2024 has led to the firing of the head of the election agency […]
12 months ago

Judge dismisses young climate activists’ lawsuit challenging Trump on fossil fuels

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit from young climate activists seeking to block President Donald Trump’s executive orders promoting fossil fuels and discouraging renewable energy. The activists said the orders would worsen global warming, threatening their lives and violating their constitutional rights. Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice […]
12 months ago
President Donald Trump greets Argentina's President Javier Milei, as he arrives at the White House,...

US is working on doubling aid to Argentina to $40 billion by tapping private funding sources

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is looking to provide an additional $20 billion in financing for Argentina through a mix of financing from sovereign funds and the private sector. That would come on top of the $20 billion credit swap line that the U.S. Treasury pledged to Argentine President Javier Milei and his government […]
12 months ago
Students from Columbus, Ohio, wait outside a barrier as U.S. Capitol Police watch over the East Pla...

Judge says she’s inclined to block the Trump administration from firing workers during the shutdown

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge said Wednesday she was inclined to block President Donald Trump’s administration for now from firing workers during the government shutdown, saying she believed the evidence would ultimately show they were illegal and in excess of authority. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston made the comments during a hearing on […]
12 months ago

County judge in Chicago area bars ICE from arresting people at court

CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County’s top judge on Tuesday night signed an order barring ICE from arresting people at court. Cook County includes Chicago, which has seen a federal immigration crackdown in recent months. Detaining residents outside courthouses has been a common tactic for federal agents, who have been stationed outside county courthouses for weeks, […]
12 months ago
FILE - An illegal mining camp, sits along the Quito River, the Atrato River's main tributary, near ...

UN warns Colombia over mercury contamination in Atrato River, calls crisis a human rights emergency

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The United Nations warned that mercury contamination from illegal gold mining in Colombia’s Atrato River basin has created a “serious and ongoing human rights crisis,” threatening the health and survival of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities who depend on the river for food, water and culture. In a letter made public on […]
12 months ago
FILE - The entrance to Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton is seen on Sept. 22, 2015, in Oceanside, Ca...

This family visit to a military based ended with ICE deporting a Marine’s dad

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Parents of a U.S. Marine were detained by federal immigration officials and one of them was later deported after visiting family members at a California military base, a case that has drawn attention to how the government’s immigration crackdown is touching military families. Steve Rios, a Marine from Oceanside, California, told […]
12 months ago
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinn...

Democratic governors form a public health alliance in rebuke of Trump administration

A group of Democratic state governors has launched a new alliance aimed at coordinating their public health efforts. They’re framing it as a way to share data, messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy — and as a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s administration, which they say isn’t doing its job in public […]
12 months ago
U.S. Rep. Cory Mills listens to the proceedings in Third Judicial Circuit court in Lake City, Fla.,...

Florida judge grants protective order against US Rep. Cory Mills at request of ex-girlfriend

LAKE CITY, Florida (AP) — A Florida judge has granted a protective order against Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Mills at the request of a former girlfriend who claimed that he threatened to release nude images of her and physically harm her future boyfriends after she broke up with him. Under the order issued Tuesday by […]
12 months ago
The Capitol is seen under gray skies on the thirteenth day of the government shutdown, in Washingto...

Democrats say they won’t be intimidated by Trump’s threats as the shutdown enters a third week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Entering the third week of a government shutdown, Democrats say they are not intimidated or cowed by President Donald Trump’s efforts to fire thousands of federal workers or by his threats of more firings to come. Instead, Democrats appear emboldened, showing no signs of caving as they returned to Washington from their […]
12 months ago
FILE - Texas state Rep Gina Hinojosa speaks during a rally to protest against redistricting hearing...

Texas Democrat Gina Hinojosa enters race for governor

Texas Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa entered the race for governor Wednesday, criticizing Republican Gov. Greg Abbott as beholden to big donors in an uphill bid to become the first Democrat to hold the office since 1995. Hinojosa, who represents Austin, joins a race that has been without big-name challengers and overshadowed in Texas by […]
12 months ago
FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, on Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo...

The 2026-27 FAFSA application is live. Here’s what to know

NEW YORK (AP) — The Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2026-27 school year has officially opened. Despite the U.S. government shutdown, the Education Department will continue to process the FAFSA. If you plan to attend college next year, Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at The National Association of Student Financial Aid […]
12 months ago
FILE - A boy plays near a building, where some people trafficked under false pretenses are being fo...

Cambodia urges fair process as US and UK pursue Prince Group’s Chen Zhi in global scam case

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s government said Wednesday it hopes the U.S. and Britain have sufficient evidence in their pursuit of Prince Holding Group and its Chairman Chen Zhi, after both governments imposed coordinated sanctions accusing the Cambodian conglomerate of running massive online scams and using forced labor. Cambodia’s Interior Ministry spokesman Touch Sokhak […]
12 months ago
FILE - Students line up to vote at a campus polling place at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La...

Why a Supreme Court case from Louisiana will matter for the future of the Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voting rights activists were relieved in 2023 when, in a surprise to some, the Supreme Court upheld the most important remaining element of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling forced Alabama and later Louisiana to redraw their congressional maps to give Black residents greater representation, moves that eventually sent two additional Black […]
12 months ago
FILE - A sign that reads "Closed due to federal government shutdown," is seen outside of the Nation...

Federal workers endure financial strain and fear layoffs as the government shutdown drags on

WASHINGTON (AP) — With every passing day of the government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay face mounting financial strain. And now they are confronting new uncertainty with the Trump administration’s promised layoffs. Little progress has been made to end the shutdown as it enters its third week, with […]
12 months ago
FILE - Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., questions witnesses during a hearing of a special House committe...

Rep. Seth Moulton says he will challenge Sen. Edward Markey for Massachusetts seat

BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a moderate Massachusetts Democrat, said Wednesday that he will challenge U.S. Sen. Edward Markey for the Democratic nomination in next year’s Senate race, arguing it’s time for the party to embrace a new generation of leadership. The announcement makes the race one of the most anticipated primary contests […]
12 months ago
Travelers walk through the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Thursday, ...

The government shutdown is putting a renewed spotlight on the cracks in the US aviation system

A startling message came over the radio from an air traffic control tower near Los Angeles less than a week into the federal government shutdown: “The tower is closed due to staffing.” Without enough air traffic controllers to guide planes into and out of Hollywood Burbank Airport, the tower went dark for almost six hours […]
12 months ago
FILE - A man scoops up portions of wheat to be allocated to each waiting family after distribution ...

UN’s World Food Program warns donor cuts are pushing millions more into hunger

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations’ food aid agency said Wednesday that severe funding cuts from its top donors are hurting its operations in six countries and warned that nearly 14 million people could be forced into emergency levels of hunger. The World Food Program, traditionally the U.N.’s most-funded agency, said in a new report […]
12 months ago
FILE - The Social Security Administration's main campus is seen in Woodlawn, Md., Jan. 11, 2013. (A...

Social Security cost-of-living increase announcement delayed by government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The ongoing government shutdown is delaying the announcement of the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for tens of millions of beneficiaries. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the 2024 Social Security COLA announcement will now be Oct. 24. It is timed to the September Consumer Price Index, which also has not yet been released. […]
12 months ago
FILE - Workers prepare an oil containment boom at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif., May...

Trump officials back firm in fight over California offshore oil drilling after huge spill

When the corroded pipeline burst in 2015, inky crude spread along the Southern California coast, becoming the state’s worst oil spill in decades. More than 140,000 gallons (3,300 barrels) of oil gushed out, blackening beaches for 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, polluting a biologically rich habitat for endangered whales and […]
12 months ago
Government officials watch protesters gathering in Chicago, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (Anthony Vazque...

Trump’s approval on immigration drops among AAPI adults, new AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of aggressive immigration enforcement measures from the Trump administration, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults are more likely to hold a negative view of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration, a new AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll finds. About 7 in 10 AAPI adults nationwide disapprove of Trump’s approach on […]
12 months ago
FILE - The Supreme Court is seen in the distance, framed through columns of the U.S. Senate at the ...

Supreme Court takes up GOP-led challenge to Voting Rights Act that could affect control of Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the civil rights movement, that could gut a key provision of the law that prohibits racial discrimination in redistricting. The justices on Wednesday are hearing arguments for the second time in a case […]
12 months ago
The Freedom Tower is seen in downtown Miami on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)Credit:...

Florida judge temporarily blocks transfer of downtown Miami land for Trump’s presidential library

A Florida judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the planned transfer of prime downtown Miami land for Donald Trump’s future presidential library. The move by Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz came after a Miami activist alleged that officials at a local college violated Florida’s open government law when they gifted the sizable plot of real estate to […]
12 months ago