Top General News

UCLA cancels classes after violence erupts on campus over the war in Gaza

May. 01, 2024 13:22 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dueling groups of protesters clashed overnight at the University of California, Los Angeles, shoving, kicking and beating each other with sticks after pro-Israel demonstrators tried to pull down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment. Hours earlier, police burst...

Student protests take over some campuses. At others, attention is elsewhere

May. 01, 2024 12:19 PM EDT

BOSTON (AP) — Boston College students held a protest rally against the Israel-Hamas war last week. Bullhorns were banned, lest the noise disturb studying for finals. Tents weren't allowed. Students who'd been arrested at other Boston campus protests were barred. After an allotted...

Blinken urges Israel and Hamas to move ahead with a cease-fire deal and says 'the time is now'

May. 01, 2024 12:45 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders Wednesday in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying “the time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war in Gaza. ...

Arizona's Democratic leaders get enough votes to repeal 19th century abortion ban

May. 01, 2024 16:04 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Democrats secured enough votes in the Arizona Senate on Wednesday to repeal a Civil War-era ban on abortions that the state’s highest court recently allowed to take effect. Voting wasn’t complete but the Senate had the 16 votes it needed to advance the bill. ...

Trump returns to his campaign facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order

May. 01, 2024 14:18 PM EDT

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Donald Trump on Wednesday is using a one-day break from his hush money trial to rally voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan, a day after he was held in contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order. His remarks...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to force a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson

May. 01, 2024 15:44 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Wednesday she would call a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson, forcing her colleagues to choose sides in a difficult showdown after Democratic leaders announced they would provide the votes to save the Republican...

United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy

May. 01, 2024 15:02 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Delegates voted 692-51 at...

This Texas veterinarian helped crack the mystery of bird flu in cows

May. 01, 2024 14:44 PM EDT

The first calls that Dr. Barb Petersen received in early March were from dairy owners worried about crows, pigeons and other birds dying on their Texas farms. Then came word that barn cats — half of them on one farm — had died suddenly. Within days, the Amarillo veterinarian was...

Rollout of transgender bathroom law sows confusion among Utah public school families

May. 01, 2024 13:57 PM EDT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah public schools have been rushing to prepare students and teachers as the state starts cracking down Wednesday on any school found not enforcing new bathroom restrictions for transgender people. Residents and visitors are required under state law to use...

News organizations have trust issues as they gear up to cover another election, a poll finds

May. 01, 2024 07:54 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Even as many Americans say they learn about the 2024 election campaign from national news outlets, a disquieting poll reveals some serious trust issues. About half of Americans, 53%, say they are extremely or very concerned that news organizations will report...

Latest General News

Federal Reserve says interest rates will stay at two-decade high until inflation further cools

May. 01, 2024 16:08 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday emphasized that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target. The Fed...

The Latest | In Israel, Blinken pushes Hamas to agree on Gaza cease-fire deal

May. 01, 2024 16:08 PM EDT

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel on Wednesday to press for a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war, saying “ the time is now ” and warning that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to reach an agreement to halt the war in Gaza. On his seventh visit...

Arizona's Democratic leaders get enough votes to repeal 19th century abortion ban

May. 01, 2024 16:04 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Democrats secured enough votes in the Arizona Senate on Wednesday to repeal a Civil War-era ban on abortions that the state’s highest court recently allowed to take effect. Voting wasn’t complete but the Senate had the 16 votes it needed to advance the bill. ...

Stock market today: Wall Street swings after Fed keeps interest rates high, downplays odds of a hike

May. 01, 2024 16:03 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks finished mixed after the head of the Federal Reserve said the cuts to interest rates that Wall Street craves so much are still likely, even if they’re delayed because of stubbornly high inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% Wednesday after seeing a big afternoon rally...

New US penalties against Russia target weapons development and countries aiding in sanctions evasion

May. 01, 2024 16:03 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on hundreds of companies and people tied to Russia's weapons development program, more than a dozen Chinese entities accused of helping Moscow find workarounds to earlier penalties, and individuals linked to the death of...

Mexican volunteer searchers say they've found a clandestine crematorium in Mexico City

May. 01, 2024 16:03 PM EDT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Volunteer searchers said they have found a clandestine crematorium on the edge of Mexico City, though it was unclear if evidence found at the scene would back up that claim. It's the first time in recent memory that anyone claimed to have found such a body...

AP PHOTOS: Workers rule the streets on May Day

May. 01, 2024 16:03 PM EDT

For one day, workers ruled the world’s biggest streets. Thousands strong marched Wednesday to mark May Day, the first day of the month when workers’ rights are celebrated in demonstrations around the globe. From Seoul to Paris, Istanbul to Berlin, they drew...

Louisiana won't immediately get a new majority-Black House district after judges reject it

May. 01, 2024 16:00 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A new congressional map giving Louisiana a second majority-Black House district was rejected Tuesday by a panel of three federal judges, fueling new uncertainty about district boundaries as the state prepares for fall congressional elections. The 2-1 ruling...

'I Saw the TV Glow' is one of 2024's buzziest films. It took Jane Schoenbrun a lifetime to make it

May. 01, 2024 15:52 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun is walking down a path in Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, looking for the pond they sat beside while working on the script to the film“I Saw the TV Glow.” Cemeteries aren’t often the chosen location for interviews but the place...

Nonstop Mideast coverage of Israel-Hamas war pauses for protests and police action at US schools

May. 01, 2024 15:49 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — After weeks of nonstop coverage of destruction and death in the Gaza Strip, media across the wider Middle East have latched onto the demonstrations roiling American university campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. For some, the protests and what they described as a...