Top General News

US drug control agency will move to reclassify marijuana in a historic shift, AP sources say

Apr. 30, 2024 13:40 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The DEA’s...

Judge raises threat of jail in hush money trial as he holds Trump in contempt, fines him $9,000

Apr. 30, 2024 13:29 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. And if he does it again, the judge warned, he...

Columbia University threatens to expel student protesters who occupied administration building

Apr. 30, 2024 13:23 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide. The school...

Shootout that killed 4 law officers began as task force tried to serve a warrant, police say

Apr. 30, 2024 12:21 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A shootout that killed four law enforcement officers and wounded four others in North Carolina began as officers approached a home to serve a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm, police said. Some of the officers who rushed to the Charlotte...

Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others

Apr. 30, 2024 13:38 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said. A 36-year-old man was subdued with a stun gun and arrested on suspicion...

Democrats say they will save Speaker Mike Johnson's job if Republicans try to oust him

Apr. 30, 2024 13:30 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats will vote to save Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s job should some of his fellow Republican lawmakers seek to remove him from the position, Democratic leaders said Tuesday, likely assuring for now that Johnson will avoid being ousted from office like his...

Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah 'with or without a deal' as cease-fire talks with Hamas continue

Apr. 30, 2024 12:41 PM EDT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Tuesday to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the almost 7-month-long war, just as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas...

Mammograms should start at 40 to address rising breast cancer rates at younger ages, panel says

Apr. 30, 2024 12:34 PM EDT

Regular mammograms to screen for breast cancer should start younger, at age 40, according to an influential U.S. task force. Women ages 40 to 74 should get screened every other year, the group said. Previously, the task force had said women could choose to start breast cancer...

'Hell's Kitchen' and 'Stereophonic' lead Tony Award nominations, 2 shows honoring creativity's spark

Apr. 30, 2024 13:23 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two Broadway shows celebrating the spark of sonic creativity — the semi-autobiographical Alicia Keys musical “Hell’s Kitchen," and the play "Stereophonic" about a '70s rock band recording a star-making album — each earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, a list...

Haiti's transitional council names new prime minister in hopes of quelling stifling violence

Apr. 30, 2024 13:32 PM EDT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose former Sports Minister Fritz Belizaire as the country's prime minister Tuesday as it presses forward in its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence. ...

Latest General News

Why Israel is so determined to launch an offensive in Rafah. And why so many oppose it

Apr. 30, 2024 13:52 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is determined to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town, a plan that has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there. Even as the U.S., Egypt and...

FEMA administrator surveys Oklahoma tornado damage with the state's governor and US senator.

Apr. 30, 2024 13:52 PM EDT

A Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator said Tuesday that “our heart aches for the loss of life” in tornadoes that left four dead and about 100 injured in Oklahoma. FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell joined Gov. Kevin Stitt and Sen. James Lankford in surveying the...

The Latest | UN court won't block German military aid to Israel amid war in Gaza

Apr. 30, 2024 13:46 PM EDT

The top U.N. court has rejected Nicaragua's legal effort to force Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel amid the devastating war in Gaza. However, the International Court of Justice declined Tuesday to throw out the case altogether. The court will still hear arguments from...

US drug control agency will move to reclassify marijuana in a historic shift, AP sources say

Apr. 30, 2024 13:40 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The DEA’s...

Summer Movies: 5 breakout stars to watch in 'Sing Sing,' 'Quiet Place, 'Horizon' and more

Apr. 30, 2024 13:40 PM EDT

A breakout moment in Hollywood can happen at any age and stage. This summer at the movies, there are plenty of talents to discover, from the formerly incarcerated man whose story inspired the film he stars in to the “It” bully whose childhood dream of playing an ape in a movie came true. ...

Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others

Apr. 30, 2024 13:38 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said. A 36-year-old man was subdued with a stun gun and arrested on suspicion...

To fend off tourists, a town in Japan is building a big screen blocking the view of Mount Fuji

Apr. 30, 2024 13:36 PM EDT

FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO, Japan (AP) — The town of Fujikawaguchiko has had enough of tourists. Known for a number of scenic photo spots that offer a near-perfect shot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, the town on Tuesday began constructing a large black screen on a stretch of a sidewalk to...

Zimbabwe's ZiG is the world's newest currency and its latest attempt to resolve a money crisis

Apr. 30, 2024 13:36 PM EDT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Out with the Zimbabwe dollar, in with the ZiG. Zimbabwe on Tuesday started circulating a new currency to replace one that has been battered by depreciation and often outright rejection by the people. The ZiG was introduced electronically in early April, but...

Number of FBI intelligence database searches on Americans has dropped in last year, report says

Apr. 30, 2024 13:36 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of FBI searches of a vast foreign intelligence repository for information about Americans and people in the United States plummeted over the last year from the prior 12 months, according to a U.S. government report released Tuesday. The release of the...

Alicia Keys, Brian d’Arcy James, Daniel Radcliffe and more react to earning Tony Award nominations

Apr. 30, 2024 13:34 PM EDT

Singer Alicia Keys says she was unable to speak after her semi-autobiographical show “Hell’s Kitchen” earned 13 nods when the nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards were announced Tuesday. “These are very, very special moments,'' said nominee and veteran star Brian d’Arcy...