Top General News
Biden and Trump, trading barbs, agree to 2 presidential debates, in June and September
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Wednesday agreed to hold two campaign debates — the first on June 27 hosted by CNN and the second on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC — setting the stage for their first presidential face-off to play out in just over a month. ...
Slovakia's populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections
BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday while greeting supporters at an event in an attempted assassination that shocked the small country and reverberated across Europe weeks before an election. ...
Russia's Putin arrives in China for state visit in a show of unity between the authoritarian allies
BEIJING (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin landed Thursday in Beijing for a two-day state visit to China, in a show of unity between the authoritarian allies as Moscow presses forward with a new offensive in Ukraine. Putin’s visit comes as Russia has become more...
Supreme Court orders Louisiana to use congressional map with additional Black district in 2024 vote
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Louisiana to hold congressional elections in 2024 using a House map with a second mostly Black district, despite a lower-court ruling that called the map an illegal racial gerrymander. The order allows the use of a map that...
The jurors in Trump's hush money trial are getting a front row seat to history -- most of the time
A gag order. The House Speaker turning up outside court. Angry denouncements of the judge overseeing the case. Some of the most explosive moments in Donald Trump's hush money trial have played out for most of the world to see — except for the people who are actually deciding his...
Netanyahu fends off criticism at home and abroad over his lack of a postwar plan for Gaza
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday fended off criticism that he is not planning for a postwar reality in the Gaza Strip, saying it was impossible to prepare for any scenario in the embattled Palestinian enclave until Hamas is defeated. Netanyahu...
Reported sex assaults in the US military have dropped. That reverses what had been a growing problem
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of reported sexual assaults across the military decreased last year, and a confidential survey found a 19% drop in the number of service members who said they had experienced some type of unwanted sexual contact, according to new figures obtained by The Associated...
Driver said he smoked pot oil, took medication before Florida crash that killed 8 Mexican workers
OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday. ...
Fewer US overdose deaths were reported last year, but experts are still cautious
NEW YORK (AP) — The number of U.S. fatal overdoses fell last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday. Agency officials noted the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, but that they still expect a drop when the final...
This, too, could pass: Christian group's rule keeping beaches closed on Sunday mornings may end
OCEAN GROVE, N.J. (AP) — In this seaside community that calls itself “God's Square Mile at the Jersey Shore,” all the land is owned by a religious group that has for generations enforced an 11th Commandment: Thou shalt stay off the beach on Sunday morning. But there are signs...
Latest General News
Barge hits bridge connecting Galveston and Pelican Island, causing partial collapse and oil spill
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A barge slammed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, spilling oil into waters near busy shipping channels and closing the only road to a small neighboring island. No injuries were reported. The impact sent pieces of the bridge, which...
Donald Trump asks New York’s high court to intervene in fight over gag order in hush money trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is seeking to have New York’s highest court intervene in his fight over a gag order that has seen him fined $10,000 and threatened with jail for violating a ban on commenting about witnesses, jurors and others connected to his hush money criminal trial. ...
Sen. Bob Menendez traded power for gold, cash, prosecutor alleges
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal jury was alternately introduced to Bob Menendez as a bribe-taking U.S. senator who betrayed his country and an American patriot Wednesday as a prosecutor and defense lawyer delivered contrasting visions of the once-powerful Democrat at the start of his New York...
An Arizona judge helped revive an 1864 abortion law. His lawmaker wife joined Democrats to repeal it
When it was Shawnna Bolick’s turn to speak, the words tumbled out of her. The conservative lawmaker was in the middle of a heated debate in the Republican-led Arizona Senate on a bill to repeal an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, and Democrats needed at least one more vote...
Driver said he smoked pot oil, took medication before Florida crash that killed 8 Mexican workers
OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday. ...
Anitta defends her Afro-Brazilian faith after new music video costs her some followers
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s biggest pop star, Anitta, has released a music video depicting rituals of the Afro-Brazilian faith Candomble, sparking controversy in a country where religious intolerance is all too common. Her track — pointedly named “Accept” — has been...
The Mirage casino, which ushered in an era of Las Vegas Strip megaresorts in the '90s, is closing
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The iconic Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip will shut its doors this summer after more than 30 years, the end of an era for a property credited with helping transform Sin City into an ultra-luxury resort destination. The July 17 closure will clear the...
Fire threat eases near Canada's oil sands hub, but a long, hot summer looms
The threat from a wildfire near Canada's oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, appeared to be easing on Wednesday, a day after it forced thousands of residents to evacuate and stirred memories of a damaging blaze nearly a decade earlier. Favorable winds were expected to push the...
Ship that struck Baltimore bridge had 4 blackouts before disaster. Here's what we know
The Dali container ship experienced a near-perfect storm of calamities before it struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, killing six people. But Tuesday's preliminary report by federal safety investigators leaves many questions unanswered. For example, the National...
Investigation continues into 4 electrical blackouts on ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse
BALTIMORE (AP) — The electrical blackouts experienced by the container ship Dali before it left Baltimore’s port were “mechanically distinct from” those that resulted in the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge hours later, according to congressional testimony Wednesday. ...
