Top General News
Trump chooses anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was building up a following with his anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, and becoming one of the world’s most influential spreaders of fear and distrust around vaccines. Now, President-elect Donald...
How Alex Jones' Infowars wound up in the hands of The Onion
The purchase of Alex Jones ' Infowars at a bankruptcy auction by the satirical news publication The Onion is the latest twist in a yearslong saga between the far-right conspiracy theorist and families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims. The sale was ordered after...
Powell says Fed will likely cut rates cautiously given persistent inflation pressures
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the Federal Reserve will likely cut its key interest rate slowly and deliberately in the coming months, in part because inflation has shown signs of persistence and the Fed's officials want to see where it heads next. ...
2 Israeli airstrikes hit Syria's capital and a suburb, killing 15 people, Syrian state media says
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Israel carried out at least two airstrikes on a western neighborhood of Damascus and one of the capital’s suburbs on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding another 16, Syria's state news agency said. The airstrikes on the Mazzeh neighborhood in...
New FDA rules for TV drug ads: Simpler language and no distractions
WASHINGTON (AP) — Those ever-present TV drug ads showing patients hiking, biking or enjoying a day at the beach could soon have a different look: New rules require drugmakers to be clearer and more direct when explaining their medications' risks and side effects. The U.S. Food and...
Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend
WASHINGTON (AP) — Suicides in the U.S. military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend that the Pentagon has struggled to abate, according to a Defense Department report released on Thursday. The increase is a bit of a setback after the deaths dipped slightly the previous year. ...
Trump hammered Democrats on transgender issues. Now the party is at odds on a response
ATLANTA (AP) — After losing the White House and both houses of Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue. There is plenty of second-guessing after...
Former Marine misused a combat technique in fatal chokehold of NYC subway rider, trainer testifies
NEW YORK (AP) — When Daniel Penny wrapped his arm around the neck of a homeless man on a Manhattan subway last year, the 25-year-old veteran appeared to be deploying a non-lethal chokehold long drilled into U.S. Marines. Done right, the maneuver should knock a person out without...
Masses flee homes in Haiti as gangs ratchet up violence amid political turmoil
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Masses of residents fled a running battle Thursday between gang members and police in one of the few neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital that hadn't already been fully taken over by gangs, as violence flared amid political turmoil. Families frantically...
Latest General News
Kentucky governor says investigators will determine what caused deadly Louisville factory explosion
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's governor pledged Thursday that investigators will find out what caused a deadly explosion that ripped apart a Louisville factory and left its shellshocked neighbors demanding answers. Louisville's mayor, meanwhile, signaled he'd like to see the...
The Latest: Trump selects anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary
President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump’s pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen. Dick Durbin...
In an AP interview, the next Los Angeles DA says he'll go after low-level nonviolent crimes
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The incoming district attorney for Los Angeles County, Nathan Hochman, said in an interview with The Associated Press that his first task upon taking office is to eliminate the “pro-criminal blanket policies” of one of California’s most high-profile progressive...
Giuliani's lawyers seek to withdraw from legal fight over $148M defamation judgment against him
NEW YORK (AP) — Two lawyers say they can no longer represent Rudy Giuliani in a legal fight over property he's been ordered to give up to satisfy part of a $148 million defamation judgment against him. They asked a judge to remove them from the case, citing disagreements with the former New York...
Tropical Storm Sara threatens to bring flash floods and mudslides to Central America
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — Tropical Storm Sara formed Thursday in the Caribbean Sea and began lashing the sparsely-populated Caribbean coast of Honduras with heavy rain. Sara was expected to cause life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides across portions of Central...
Middle East latest: Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza Strip
Human Rights Watch says Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including massive forced displacements that amount to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from parts of Gaza. Palestinians have been killed while evacuating under Israeli orders and in...
Judge hears case over Montana rule blocking trans residents from changing sex on birth certificate
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A state judge in Montana heard arguments Thursday over policies that block transgender people from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses. District Court Judge Mike Menahan did not immediately issue a ruling on the...
Attorneys say accused shooter in 2022 July 4th parade shooting denied lawyer during police interview
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — The man accused of killing seven people at a 2022 Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago was denied his constitutional right to legal representation while being interrogated by police hours after the shooting, defense attorneys alleged Thursday in court. ...
Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars at auction with Sandy Hook families' backing
The satirical news publication The Onion was named the winning bidder for Alex Jones' Infowars at a bankruptcy auction Thursday, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax. ...
Trump rewards legal defense team, picks lawyer Todd Blanche as No. 2 Justice official
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Todd Blanche, an attorney who led the legal team that defended the Republican at his hush money criminal trial, to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official. A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has...
