Politics

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her husband Paul arrive at the funeral services for Clive Davis at...

Paul Pelosi in hit-and-run in Napa County wine country, car left with major damage, authorities say

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘s husband was involved in a hit and run on Friday in California’s wine country that left one car with “major damage,” according to local authorities, who said that the 86-year-old could face misdemeanor charges for the collision. Paul Pelosi was driving his brown convertible in […]
2 months ago
A flight of F-18s, F-35s and a F-22 fly past a picture of President Donald Trump hanging on the U.S...

Fireworks, heat and politics: America celebrates its 250th birthday

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 250th anniversary of American independence is colliding with a country gripped by political polarization and a heat wave bearing down on millions of people across multiple states as celebrations get underway across the United States on Saturday. The signing of the Declaration of Independence, one of history’s most celebrated articulations of […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Friday, July 3, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. , for...

Trump pardons former Abramoff partner, 9 people convicted of violating vehicle emissions controls

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned 11 people, including a former business partner of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and nine people identified by the White House as having helped people bypass emissions control systems on vehicles. The acts of clemency come as Trump has issued a slew of pardons in his second […]
2 months ago
FILE - Panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at the President's House Site in Independence...

Court says the US can install historical panels at the site of Washington’s Philadelphia home

An appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration can reinstall its interpretive panels at the site of President George Washington’s home in Philadelphia. The signs would be in the same area where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. A National Park Service spokesperson did not immediately return messages asking […]
2 months ago
FILE - Pope Leo XIV delivers his blessing as he visits Pavia's Cathedral, northern Italy, on June 2...

Pope urges US to recommit to founding ideas of protecting life, human dignity on 250th anniversary

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV prayed Friday for the United States to recommit itself to its founding ideals of protecting life and human dignity as he participated remotely in an event on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. History’s first U.S.-born pope recalled America’s tradition of welcoming migrants and […]
2 months ago
FILE - President-elect Donald Trump, from right, talks with Usha Vance and Vice President-elect JD ...

Trump reads a children’s book on Usha Vance’s podcast, then riffs on past presidents and himself

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump joined second lady Usha Vance on her podcast where guests read picture books to children, but Trump, who is notorious for veering off script, offered a running commentary on his predecessors, his physique, and how he’s spending his time in the White House. In Trump’s appearance on Vance’s “Storytime […]
2 months ago
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, speaks with NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Eur...

NATO commander says Europe has backfilled most gaps from US cutbacks on military equipment

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO’s top commander told The Associated Press on Friday that European allies have filled most of the holes created by a U.S. decision to cut back military contributions in times of crisis. U.S. Gen. Alex Grynkewich urged Europeans to make more equipment available after the U.S. signaled on June 3 that it […]
2 months ago
Dawn Spears, left, and her grandson, Giizhig, 9, right, prepare tomatoes for planting Tuesday, Apri...

Tribes hope Farm Bill can feed more people and preserve Indigenous culture

HOPKINTON, R.I. (AP) — At Ashawaug Farm in southwest Rhode Island, Dawn and Cassius Spears preserve their Indigenous knowledge of agriculture through the cultivation and keeping of three Narragansett heritage crops: white corn, succotash beans and crookneck squash. They would like to expand their farm’s reach beyond their farm stand, but it’s challenging. Like many […]
2 months ago
Drones put on a show in the sky near independence hall in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 2, 2026. (...

Extreme heat bears down as America 250 celebrations ramp up. Trump heads to Mount Rushmore

WASHINGTON (AP) — Festivities commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence from Great Britain kick into higher gear across the United States on Friday as celebrations are balanced with efforts to stay safe as much of the country bakes under extreme heat. President Donald Trump will travel to South Dakota to deliver a speech and […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump greets supporters after arriving on a Freedom 250 train, Wednesday, July 1, ...

Trump got the Senate candidates he wanted. How much will he spend to help them?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump reshaped this year’s U.S. Senate map by sidelining some Republican incumbents and promoting loyalists to replace them. Now the question is whether he’ll put his money where his mouth is. With four months to go until November’s elections, it’s still unclear how much MAGA Inc., the country’s largest political […]
2 months ago
FILE - President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan duri...

Trump’s ties to Erdogan sold him on this year’s NATO summit. Turkey may win big in other ways

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has berated and belittled many of his European counterparts expected to attend next week’s NATO summit in Turkey. But host Recep Tayyip Erdogan has drawn on his close ties with the U.S. president to secure his presence at the Ankara event — an appearance that may even come with […]
2 months ago

Man with a Tibetan flag dies after setting himself on fire in front of UN headquarters

NEW YORK (AP) — A man holding a Tibetan flag in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York has died after setting himself on fire on Thursday, according to officials. Law enforcement responded to a 911 call at about 6:30 p.m. and found a 52-year-old man with severe burns throughout his body, according […]
2 months ago
Ballots are inspected the day after California's primary election at the Los Angeles County Ballot ...

Democratic governors press US Postal Service to drop plan tied to Trump’s election order

A group of Democratic governors asked the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday to withdraw its proposed rule seeking to implement an executive order from President Donald Trump to create a federal list of eligible voters and potentially limit who can receive a ballot in the mail. The president signed the order in March. It directs […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump, second right, tours the East Potomac Park golf course alongside a person ca...

Judge seeks stronger Trump assurances on plans for DC golf course project

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday demanded firmer commitments from the Trump administration that it would not go ahead with plans to renovate a historic golf course in Washington, D.C., until the matter was resolved in court, pointing to comments by the president as an indication that the changes could be moving ahead. […]
2 months ago
FILE - Georgia general election 2020 ballots are loaded by the FBI onto trucks at the Fulton County...

The FBI is directing hundreds of analysts to its probe of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election

ATLANTA (AP) — The FBI has asked its field offices across the country to dedicate more than 200 staffers to its investigation of the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County. A memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press calls for the FBI to “surge” 260 investigative analysts and staff operations specialists to the effort, which […]
2 months ago
FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 202...

ICE arrests 10,000 in 5 days, a sharp late-June surge in Trump’s deportation push

WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 10,000 people over a five-day period at the end of June, marking a major push by the agency tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportations agenda. The arrest numbers, obtained from a person familiar with the information who spoke anonymously to discuss data that has […]
2 months ago
Signage and security fencing warns of explosives along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ahead o...

Former Olympian indicted on felony charge in what Trump called Reflecting Pool vandalism

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympian was indicted Thursday on a felony charge in what President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Reflecting Pool. David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in Washington, D.C. court. He previously told The Associated Press that he reached into […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump arrives on the Freedom 250 train, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D., ...

Democrats accuse Trump-linked fundraisers of fraud over diverted donations for America’s anniversary

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consultants tied to President Donald Trump may have engaged in financial fraud, tricking donors who wanted to support the nation’s bipartisan 250th anniversary organizer into sending their money instead to a rival group set up by his administration, according to a report released Thursday by House Democrats. The report draws in part […]
2 months ago
Douglas DePodesta, special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Office, speaks with reporters at th...

Top FBI agent in Chicago abruptly leaving post after being pushed to retire, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the FBI’s Chicago field office is abruptly leaving his position, according to a resignation message he sent to colleagues and multiple people familiar with the situation who said he was told to retire. Douglas DePodesta has served as special agent in charge in Chicago, one of the FBI’s largest […]
2 months ago
FILE - M23 rebels escort government soldiers and police who surrendered to an undisclosed location ...

UN experts report widespread peace deal violations in eastern Congo

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — All parties in eastern Congo’s worsening conflict are violating peace terms and committing abuses, U.N. experts said in a report seen by The Associated Press Thursday. The Congolese army and the M23 rebel group, along with its Rwandan backers, have failed to implement a December peace agreement initiated by the Trump […]
2 months ago

Rescue teams in Venezuela cling to hope as US rebuffs criticisms of government earthquake response

CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela (AP) — Black smoke from fires in flattened buildings and the smell of decomposing bodies spread across ruins Thursday, eight days after Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes, while rescue teams pulled on a thread of hope that they might still find survivors trapped beneath the rubble. As officials carried body bags and stacked […]
2 months ago
Madeline Capodilupo poses for a photo at a farmers market in Bedford, N.H., Tuesday, June 30, 2026....

‘Awesome.’ ‘Sad.’ ‘Let’s keep democracy going.’ Americans weigh in on state of a 250-year-old nation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Across the United States, many Americans are celebrating their country’s 250th birthday by closing their ears to all the partisan shouting. All the fingernails-on-chalkboard screeching out of Washington. All the clamor of social media agitprop. Instead, in varied ways, they are tuning into their own personal concepts of America the Beautiful. In […]
2 months ago
Mickelina Papotto, of Salem, Ore., left, and Lorie Odegaard, of Gaithersburg, Md., fan themselves w...

Finding freedom from the heat on July 4th will be a challenge in eastern US

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Heat as oppressive as British colonial rule is bearing down on the eastern U.S. heading into the long Fourth of July weekend, prompting some communities to cancel, postpone or otherwise alter their Independence Day plans. Dangerous, record-breaking heat will continue across much of the central and eastern U.S. through Friday and […]
2 months ago
The Supreme Court is seen Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)Credit:...

The Supreme Court tackled race, history and the law in fraught and reflective major rulings

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court just wrapped up a term that yielded significant rulings in cases involving race and discrimination that could have lasting effects on U.S. politics and society. Justices were at times bitterly divided — and critical of one another — in rulings that winnowed key provisions of a landmark voting rights […]
2 months ago