Politics

FILE - A National Park Service worker stands near a pump placed next to the Lincoln Memorial Reflec...

Reflecting Pool’s botched repairs threaten to tarnish the National Park Service’s reputation

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s botched repairs at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have landed the National Park Service in a political predicament. The beloved federal agency, its iconic park rangers and other employees have been serving the public while managing controversial demands by the Republican president — from revising exhibits at parks and […]
4 days ago
Abdul El-Sayed departs following a news conference at the Spirit of Detroit shortly after winning t...

As Abdul El-Sayed breaks a barrier, anti-Muslim vitriol surges on multiple fronts

Abdul El-Sayed made history this month in Michigan by becoming the first Muslim nominated by the Democratic Party to run for the U.S. Senate. But elation among many of his fellow Muslim Americans was tempered by awareness of persisting and widespread anti-Muslim sentiment across much of the nation. Some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, swiftly […]
4 days ago
Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, speaks during a town hall meeting, Saturday...

Mission Improbable: A onetime Republican is trying to prove Democrats can win in Florida

LEESBURG, Fla. (AP) — Cyn Doyle is a self-described political cynic. So when David Jolly, the Republican-turned-independent who is now running for Florida governor as a Democrat, swung through this town dotted by lakes and Spanish moss, she had doubts. “How can you assure us,” the 71-year-old pressed, “that you won’t become another John Fetterman?” […]
4 days ago
FILE - Franklin Fuentes searches for missing relatives in the collapsed building where they lived t...

Colombia’s earthquake is déjà vu for Venezuelans. The government response is anything but

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — For the second time in two months, the ground was shaking in South America. Once again, families flooded social media with pleas for help finding missing loved ones under flattened buildings. Once again, governments across political divides and continents pledged aid. But in many ways, the contrast between Colombia’s 7.4-magnitude […]
5 days ago
The exterior of the Kennedy Center is seen, Friday, July 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Sc...

Kennedy Center board set to vote on whether to move forward with closure

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center’s board is expected to meet Thursday to consider plans for the performing arts venue’s future after a federal judge blocked an earlier move for a two-year closure that would allow for substantial renovations. Ahead of the meeting, the Kennedy Center’s management said it would present the board with three […]
5 days ago
FILE - Andrew Tate, left, watches his brother Tristan speak, outside a police station in Voluntari,...

Judge will hear whether Tate brothers should stay in custody as they fight extradition to the UK

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami will hear arguments Thursday over whether social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate should remain in custody as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking. U.S. Magistrate Lauren Louis will have a chance to question both sides […]
5 days ago
FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associate...

Democrats gathering to give final approval to 2028 presidential primary calendar

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democrats are gathering to finalize their 2028 presidential primary calendar this week, setting the stage for a wide open contest to succeed President Donald Trump and chart a path ahead as the party’s voters oscillate between progressive and more moderate candidates. The Democratic National Committee is expected to vote at its […]
5 days ago
FILE - Law enforcement officers kettle protesters outside Delaney Hall detention center Sunday, May...

DHS cites recent policy shift after not disclosing death of Guatemalan man who had been in custody

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — U.S. immigration officials said Wednesday that they didn’t publicly disclose the death of a Guatemalan man who had a seizure at a New Jersey detention center because they weren’t notified that he died after they sent him to the hospital. Jose Chajon-Raxon had the seizure July 19, a day after being […]
5 days ago
Catering trucks are parked at Air Force One on the tarmac as the motorcade carrying U.S. President ...

Rubio and Bessent stayed on decoy flight from Turkey as Trump switched planes, official says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The two most senior members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Turkey on what was effectively a decoy plane following an Iranian threat, while Trump was secretly moved to a smaller military jet, a senior […]
5 days ago
FILE - Afghan women care for their children in the malnutrition ward at Indira Gandhi Children's Ho...

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers detain two members of the UN political mission

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have detained two Afghan members of the U.N. political mission in the country, the United Nations said Wednesday, The Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence detained the two staffers in the western city of Herat on Sunday, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told U.N. reporters. He said the U.N. […]
5 days ago
New York Attorney General Letitia James, flanked by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, left, and New Yo...

ICE’s plan to give officers electric shock gloves draws outrage and fears of misuse

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to give officers gloves that deliver painful electric shocks faced criticism Wednesday from Democratic elected officials and civil rights advocates, who called it unnecessary and cruel. ICE plans to spend between $10 million and $20 million to outfit officers and agents with “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices,” according to a […]
5 days ago
FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium before a news conference, May 4, 202...

US government charges 11 people in scheme to obtain green cards through sham marriages

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Justice has charged nearly a dozen people with participating in a multimillion-dollar scheme to help hundreds of Chinese nationals fraudulently obtain green cards through sham marriages to U.S. citizens, officials said Wednesday. American citizens were paid as much as $30,000 to enter into bogus marriages with immigrants seeking lawful […]
5 days ago
People arrive for immigration court hearings in New York, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wen...

Law firm with ties to Trump administration declines offer to represent migrant children

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A small Texas law firm with ties to the Trump administration declined a $150 million federal contract it was offered to represent migrant children traveling alone to the U.S., authorities said Wednesday, raising long-term questions about who would represent them. The administration last week announced plans to award the contract to […]
5 days ago
FILE - White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press ...

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, youngest person to hold role, to leave at month’s end

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave at month’s end, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. Leavitt, 28, just recently returned to the White House after taking a brief leave for the birth of her second child in May. Leavitt, who served Trump as a […]
5 days ago
FILE - The offices of the Marion County Record weekly newspaper are seen in Marion, Kan., on Aug. 2...

A Kansas town will pay $850K to end a reporter’s lawsuit over a 2023 raid on her paper’s offices

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A small Kansas town has agreed to pay $850,000 to a former reporter at its weekly newspaper to end her federal lawsuit over a police raid of the paper’s offices in 2023 that ignited a national furor over press freedom. Now-retired Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn said in her lawsuit […]
5 days ago
FILE - In this photo taken from video released by Al Masirah TV channel shows a burning oil tanker ...

US strikes targeting Houthis killed 153 civilians in Yemen last year, Pentagon review says

Washington (AP) — U.S. airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last year killed more than 150 civilians, according to a Pentagon review of the attacks, which comes as concerns rise over civilian casualties during military campaigns under the Trump administration. The unclassified assessment, obtained by The Associated Press, was sent to Congress as part […]
5 days ago

Editorial Roundup: United States

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ Aug. 10 The Washington Post says America’s budget is on the precipice of catastrophe The budget of the federal government is the largest of any organization in human history. It’s larger than the entire economy of every foreign country except China. And it mostly […]
5 days ago
FILE - Tyler Robinson, accused of fatally shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in 4th...

Defense in Charlie Kirk’s killing say shooter hit the ‘intended target,’ did not endanger others

Lawyers for the man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk say he shouldn’t be eligible for the death penalty because the shooter “hit the intended target” during the assassination last year at a Utah event attended by thousands of people. Defendant Tyler Robinson’s attorneys say prosecutors have not proven that others who attended Kirk’s […]
5 days ago
David Crowley, Democratic candidate for Wisconsin governor speaks to supporters gathered at the She...

David Crowley’s razor-thin Wisconsin primary win sets up match against Trump pick

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — David Crowley’s razor-thin primary win over a democratic socialist in swing state Wisconsin sets up a match against a congressman who has voted with President Donald Trump 100% of the time, a dream scenario for Democrats and a potential nightmare for Republicans. Crowley overcame Francesca Hong in dramatic, narrow fashion in […]
5 days ago
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland...

The Latest: Trump says he was taken off Air Force One last month due to threat

President Donald Trump says he slipped away from Air Force One after a trip last month in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat he insisted didn’t scare him. Trump downplayed the extraordinary nature of the subterfuge involved in his flight, which saw him stow […]
5 days ago
Surrounded by security, President Donald Trump switches planes at U.S. Air Force Base, RAF Mildenha...

Why the elaborate ruse Trump used in Turkey isn’t like other secret presidential trips

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidents have taken secret overseas trips in the past for security reasons, with schedules and logistics kept classified until after the fact to protect the commander in chief. But not like the one President Donald Trump took in July. After a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump stowed away in an airport catering […]
6 days ago
FILE - A protester is silhouetted against a trans pride flag during a pro-transgender rights protes...

Medicaid says it will stop paying for some gender-affirming care for transgender minors

President Donald Trump’s administration said that Medicaid will stop paying for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender minors and the state Children’s Health Insurance Program won’t pay for the treatments for those under 19. The announcement is the latest in a series of policies from the administration aimed at transgender people that began the […]
6 days ago
Sean Reid of Rockingham, Vt., casts his ballot at the polling station in Rockingham during Vermont'...

Judge again bars Trump administration from implementing order that sought to limit mail voting

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ruled against President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to create a federal voter list and directly involve the U.S. Postal Service in election operations in a way that would limit mail voting. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani had already halted the order Trump signed in […]
6 days ago
FILE - Andrea Lucas, nominee to be a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, testifi...

Researchers, advocates rail against government’s efforts to end workforce data collection

Civil rights groups and researchers at a public hearing Tuesday called on a federal agency to continue its annual collection of workplace demographic data, arguing that a proposal to end the practice will undermine efforts to fight discrimination. Twenty-two speakers testified at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s hearing, which lasted more than two hours. Most […]
6 days ago