Politics

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks during a primary election night watch party ...

Democrat Graham Platner says he plans to withdraw from Maine Senate race after sexual assault claim

SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) — Graham Platner said Wednesday that he plans to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race in Maine after facing an allegation of sexual assault, shuttering an insurgent campaign that had withstood months of controversy only to implode and imperil Democrats’ attempt to regain power in Washington. Platner’s exit will most likely force […]
2 months ago
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, arrives at the Capitol ...

Republicans see their grip on Senate tighten amid Democrats’ dysfunction in Maine

NEW YORK (AP) — As Democrats scramble to contain a political disaster in Maine, the Republicans on the front lines of the GOP’s fight to hold the U.S. Senate majority are breathing a sigh of relief. For much of the year, Republican operatives have been quietly considering the real possibility that their party might lose […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump arrives for a media conference at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesd...

New attacks raise questions about what comes next in the Iran war

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he’s not sure he wants a deal anymore and says the U.S. should “finish the job.” But he also insists that continued attacks do not mean a return to war or long-term action. The confusion and uncertainty in […]
2 months ago
Law enforcement officers work the scene after a federal agent with the Memphis Safe Task Force shot...

Second person in 4 days is fatally shot in Memphis by federal task force member

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A member of a federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis shot and killed a person there on Wednesday, the second fatal shooting by a task force member in four days. The Wednesday shooting occurred while U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were serving a drug warrant out of Shelby County at around […]
2 months ago
Airforce One sits on the tarmac before U.S. President Donald Trump departs following the NATO summi...

In a surprise swap, Trump flies back from Turkey in an old Air Force One, not the Qatari-gifted jet

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump flew home from a NATO summit in Turkey on an old baby blue Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet he arrived in, a surprise swap that came as the U.S. and Iran once again began trading strikes. Trump […]
2 months ago
FILE - People gather during a vigil for 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Bor...

Houston shooting marks at least the 8th fatality in US immigration sweeps

The fatal shooting of a Houston man by a federal immigration officer Tuesday marks at least the eighth death during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign, and the first fatality amid a newly intensified push by the administration to carry out its mass deportations agenda. Department of Homeland Security officials said in a statement that […]
2 months ago
U.S. President Donald Trump, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and Britain's Prime Minister Keir S...

Takeaways: Trump leaves NATO summit declaring ‘a lot of love’ with allies after a rocky start

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — NATO’s summit in Turkey on Wednesday had threatened to go off the rails even before U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterparts sat down to work. But the leaders renewed their vow to defend each other should any of them come under attack. It came despite a fresh storm of old […]
2 months ago
Danielle Grisolano brings her dogs Lincoln and Pepper with her to vote in the Democratic primaries ...

The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on states to change election practices

President Donald Trump’s administration is threatening to withhold some federal funding from states that don’t make changes to voting practices and is warning state election officials that they face arrest if they don’t remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Letters to states and grant application details are the latest in a line of actions by Trump’s […]
2 months ago
FILE - E. Jean Carroll arrives at Manhattan federal court, Jan. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ed...

Judge orders E. Jean Carroll be paid $5M after jury found Trump sexually abused and defamed her

NEW YORK (AP) — E. Jean Carroll can be paid the $5 million that was set aside after a jury found three years ago that President Donald Trump sexually abused her in 1996 before he became president and defamed her after she publicly revealed the attack, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan […]
2 months ago

Son demands independent probe after father shot and killed by ICE officer in Houston

HOUSTON (AP) — A Mexican national fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Houston had no criminal convictions during his decades living in the U.S. and was driving a crew to a homebuilding site when he was killed, his family and a Texas congresswoman said Wednesday. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo worked for 35 […]
2 months ago
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks during a primary election night watch party ...

What to know about Graham Platner and the Maine US Senate race

SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) — Democrat Graham Platner has so far been mum on whether he’ll drop out of the Maine U.S. Senate race after a former girlfriend accused him of sexual assault. Platner, who denies the allegation, has faced considerable pressure from his own party to quit the race. The first-time candidate also has been […]
2 months ago
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is seen as its sign remains covered by a tarp, F...

Judges deny request to return Trump’s name to Kennedy Center pending an appeal

A three-judge panel on Wednesday denied a request from the Kennedy Center’s board to keep President Donald Trump’s name on the institution while the board appeals an earlier ruling that dubbed the name change illegal and had it rescinded. It’s another setback for the board of trustees, of which Trump is chairman, in a saga […]
2 months ago

With Le Pen sentencing, France’s presidential election veers into the extraordinary

PARIS (AP) — France already faced one of the world’s most important elections next year. Now it has one of the more unusual. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen ’s decision to run for the presidency for a fourth time means that someone found guilty not once but twice of embezzling public funds will campaign to […]
2 months ago
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester looks back past Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting ...

The Latest: Defense disputes DNA evidence in Charlie Kirk assassination hearing

The preliminary hearing for the man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk is set to resume Wednesday afternoon, with defense attorneys expected to keep questioning the reliability of DNA testing that prosecutors say links the defendant to the suspected murder weapon. Prosecutors are trying to convince state District Judge Tony Graf that they have […]
2 months ago
FILE - The prediction market app Polymarket is displayed on a mobile phone, April 16, 2026, in Chic...

Polymarket is in a high-stakes race to win back trust as it recommits to the US market

NEW YORK (AP) — After four years in exile, the prediction market platform Polymarket has begun a well-funded campaign to sell a new version of itself to the American public. To do so, the company is trying to convince policymakers, regulators, the public and prospective customers that the business it is building onshore is a […]
2 months ago
FILE - Rabbi Levi Shemtov speaks to the crowd before he lights the Menorah during the annual Nation...

New AP-NORC poll reveals sharp divides among US Jews over Israel and Gaza

As Israel’s actions continue to divide America’s Jewish communities nearly three years into the latest war in Gaza, a new AP-NORC poll reveals that some of the biggest gaps are between religious and secular Jews. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research makes clear that for many U.S. Jews, support for […]
2 months ago

The Latest: Danish prime minister vows to defend Greenland during NATO summit in Turkey

Speaking at the NATO summit in Turkey a day after U.S. President Donald Trump again expressed a desire for the U.S. to control Greenland, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “Greenland is of course not for sale.” “We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people right for self-determination,” she said. “And […]
2 months ago
FILE - A boy and a girl collect water from a hose connected to a well at a mosque in Deh Mazang, Ka...

UN officials urge Western nations to engage with Afghanistan to prevent it sliding into instability

It is crucial for Western nations to engage with Afghanistan to prevent the country from sliding back into instability that could have repercussions far beyond its borders, two top United Nations officials said. “The lesson of (the) recent past is that ignoring Afghanistan is not a good thing to do,” the United Nations High Commissioner […]
2 months ago

DNA evidence from Charlie Kirk assassination disputed by defendant’s lawyers

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Lawyers for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk are expected to keep questioning the reliability of DNA testing that prosecutors said links the defendant to the suspected murder weapon when a weeklong hearing continues Wednesday. A member of Tyler Robinson’s defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the […]
2 months ago
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, acknowledges applause at a campaign event Sun...

Platner may be finished, but voters’ hunger for change and willingness to take risks will remain

With Graham Platner’s campaign teetering from an allegation of sexual assault, there’s no shortage of people arguing that the 41-year-old Maine oysterman and progressive political neophyte was always too risky for a key Senate race. However, it’s likely more candidates will follow his path in the future. That’s because Platner’s starburst candidacy followed an increasingly […]
2 months ago
FILE - Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan leaves the federal courthouse after a hearing in...

Former Wisconsin judge to be sentenced after conviction in obstructing arrest of Mexican immigrant

Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted of felony obstruction for helping an immigrant evade federal officers in a case that highlighted President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court. Dugan, 67, faces up to five years in prison after a jury convicted her on Dec. 19. […]
2 months ago
A cameraman records seized evidence at a news conference at the Federal Building in Los Angeles, Tu...

Charges filed against Indian crime boss in assassination that strained Canada-India ties

Authorities announced charges against the leader of an Indian criminal group on Tuesday in connection with the political assassination of a prominent Sikh leader in Canada — a high-profile killing that strained the diplomatic relationship between Canada and India at the time. The charges were part of a massive law enforcement operation involving agencies across […]
2 months ago
Police work on Canal Street in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, after a shooting. (Jacob Lujan/Houst...

Immigration agent fatally shot a man in Houston during an enforcement operation, authorities say

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a man in Houston after he attempted to evade arrest in his vehicle during an operation Tuesday, the agency said. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the man ignored commands to stop and attempted to ram an agent who fired his […]
2 months ago
A couple sits on a bench on the grounds of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md., Saturday, Ju...

Maryland lawmakers to meet in August for special session on redistricting

Maryland lawmakers will meet for a special session next month to consider a constitutional amendment dealing with future congressional redistricting, legislative leaders announced Tuesday, following a failed effort earlier this year to redraw the state’s maps to boost Democrats. The move is the latest in the national battle over partisan redistricting, which has reshaped the […]
2 months ago