Top General News

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

Apr. 30, 2024 14:02 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 as he holds Trump in contempt, fines him $9,000 at hush money trial

Apr. 30, 2024 14:35 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 occupying an administration building

Apr. 30, 2024 14:26 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...

4 officers killed in North Carolina were at disadvantage as shots rained from above, police say

Apr. 30, 2024 13:53 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Four law enforcement officers in North Carolina who were killed while trying to capture a man immediately faced gunfire as they approached, unable to withstand shots from upstairs in a house, authorities said Tuesday. Still reeling from Monday's attack —...

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 13:56 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 a new prime minister in the hopes of quelling stifling violence

Apr. 30, 2024 14:17 PM EDT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose former Sports Minister Fritz Bélizaire as the Caribbean 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

Fired Google workers ousted over Israeli contract protests file complaint with labor regulators

Apr. 30, 2024 14:42 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dozens of Google workers who were fired after internal protests surrounding a lucrative contract that the technology company has with the Israeli government have filed a complaint with labor regulators in an attempt to get their jobs back. The complaint filed...

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao faces sentencing; US seeks 3-year term for allowing money laundering

Apr. 30, 2024 14:37 PM EDT

SEATTLE (AP) — Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, faces sentencing Tuesday in a Seattle courtroom, where U.S. prosecutors are asking a judge to give him a three-year prison term for allowing rampant money laundering on the platform. ...

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

Apr. 30, 2024 14:35 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...

Judge clears former Kentucky secretary of state Alison Lundergan Grimes of ethics charges

Apr. 30, 2024 14:33 PM EDT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Former Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes has been cleared of ethics charges stemming from allegations that the one-time Democratic rising star abused her access to voter registration data to benefit herself and fellow Democrats. Franklin...

The Latest | Stormy Daniels' former lawyer, others called to witness stand in Trump hush money trial

Apr. 30, 2024 14:31 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Witness testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial advanced on Tuesday with no fewer than three people taking the stand, including Gary Farro, who began testifying in the case last week. Among those called to the stand after defense attorneys concluded their...

A former Naval officer will challenge Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz in upcoming GOP primary

Apr. 30, 2024 14:29 PM EDT

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who angered many of his Republican House colleagues with his challenges that led to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster, has drawn a former U.S. Navy pilot as an opponent in August's GOP primary. Former Capt. Aaron Dimmock, who now is a business consultant,...

EPA bans consumer use of a toxic chemical widely used as a paint stripper but known to cause cancer

Apr. 30, 2024 14:28 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it has finalized a ban on consumer uses of  methylene chloride, a chemical that is widely used as a paint stripper but is known to cause liver cancer and other health problems. The EPA said its action will protect...

Columbia University threatens to expel student protesters occupying an administration building

Apr. 30, 2024 14:26 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...

2 men are charged with cutting down famous 150-year-old tree near Hadrian's Wall in England

Apr. 30, 2024 14:22 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Two men have been charged with cutting down the popular 150-year-old Sycamore Gap tree that toppled over on Hadrian's Wall last year in northern England, prosecutors said Tuesday. Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, were charged with causing criminal damage...

Campaign to build new California city submits signatures to get on November ballot

Apr. 30, 2024 14:21 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A wealthy Silicon Valley-backed campaign to build a green city for up to 400,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area has submitted what it says are enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November election. The campaign submitted more than 20,000...