Associated Press stories, Page 289
CIA lays off some recently hired officers as Trump shakes up intelligence community
WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency will fire an unreleased number of junior officers as President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize and reshape the federal government reverberate through America’s intelligence community. The agency will review personnel hired within the past two years, an agency spokesperson said Thursday, and those officers...
Elon Musk tells Republican lawmakers he’s not to blame for federal firingsVideo
WASHINGTON — It’s not his fault. Billionaire Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he is not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers, including veterans, as pushes to downsize the government. Instead, he said in private talks this week that those decisions are left to the...
Devils get Dumoulin, Panthers add Sturm and Golden Knights reacquire Smith as NHL trades pile upVideo
The banged up New Jersey Devils wasted no time filling an area of need ahead of the NHL trade deadline, the defending champion Florida Panthers made an under-the-radar move that could pave the way for another deep playoff run and the Vegas Golden Knights brought back a member of their...
Browns restructure Watson’s contract to get under the salary cap, AP source saysVideo
Deshaun Watson’s contract has been reworked again by the Cleveland Browns as the team looks to clear salary cap space with the new league year less than a week away. A person with knowledge of the move told the Associated Press on Thursday that the latest restructuring of the quarterback’s...
Federal judge reinstates labor board member fired by President Trump
WASHINGTON — A federal judge agreed Thursday to reinstate a board member whom President Donald Trump removed from an independent labor agency. National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox sued Trump after he fired her and the agency’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, on Jan. 27. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell...
Private lunar lander may have fallen over while touching down near the moon’s south poleVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A privately owned lunar lander touched down on the moon with a drill, drone and rovers for NASA and other customers Thursday, but quickly ran into trouble and may have fallen over. Intuitive Machines said it was uncertain whether its Athena lander was upright near the...
Medical plane’s voice recorder likely wasn’t working for years before Philadelphia crash
PHILADELPHIA — The cockpit voice recorder was not working on a medical transport plane that killed seven people when it plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January and likely had not been functional for several years, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Thursday. The NTSB also...
Trudeau expects trade war between Canada and U.S. for the ‘foreseeable future’
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he welcomed indications that the U.S. would delay substantial tariffs on Canadian products for a month, but said Canada’s retaliatory tariffs would remain in place for now. U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has postponed 25% tariffs on most goods...
Without U.S. intelligence, Ukraine will struggle to strike targets inside Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. decision to stop sharing military intelligence with Ukraine hobbles its ability to strike and defend against the Russian army, and increases the pressure on it to accept a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration. Earlier in the week, the U.S. suspended weapons shipments...
Trump changes course and delays some tariffs on Mexico, Canada
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war. The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the...
Going, going, gone? One-of-a-kind card featuring Pirates star Paul Skenes heading to auction
Paul Skenes has been in the major leagues for less than a year. A piece of the Pittsburgh Pirates ace — well, OK, a piece of the jersey that Skenes donned during his first start last May — could be ready to join some elite company. A one-of-a-kind autographed baseball...
Second federal judge extends block preventing the Trump administration from freezing funding
BOSTON — A second federal judge on Thursday extended a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars. U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island granted the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen Democratic states after a...
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits falls as labor market remains sturdy
Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell last week as the labor market remains sturdy ahead of an expected purge of federal government employees. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 to 221,000 for the week ending March 1, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s significantly fewer...
Federal judge blocks NIH funding cuts to medical research, including at CMU
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from drastically cutting medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and cost jobs. The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer,...
Ancient humans made tools from animal bones 1.5 million years ago
WASHINGTON — Early humans were regularly using animal bones to make cutting tools 1.5 million years ago. A newly discovered cache of 27 carved and sharpened bones from elephants and hippos found in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge site pushes back the date for ancient bone tool use by around 1 million...
Mortgage rates have declined but could stay at a level that makes it tough to afford a home
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage rates have been mostly declining in recent weeks, helping encourage prospective home shoppers just as the spring homebuying season gets going. But the same factors that have pulled mortgage rates to their lowest level since December — signs that the U.S. economy is slowing and uncertainty...
The U.S. penny costs nearly 4 cents to make. But for 1 sector of souvenir sellers, it’s a living
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump talks of big change in his second term of office. But he’s not forgetting small change, either. Trump ordered the Treasury Department to stop making pennies with a Feb. 10 sentence on his social media account that followed years of conservatives pointing out that...
Hamas brushes off Trump’s threat and says it will only free hostages in return for lasting truce
CAIRO — The Hamas militant group on Thursday brushed off President Donald Trump’s latest threat and reiterated that it will only free the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Hamas accused Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to back out...
Facing Trump’s threats, Columbia investigates students critical of Israel
NEW YORK — Columbia University senior Maryam Alwan was visiting family in Jordan over winter break when she received an email from the school accusing her of harassment. Her supposed top offense: writing an op-ed in the student newspaper calling for divestment from Israel. The probe is part of a...
How Trump justifies his tariffs — from budget balancing to protecting ‘the soul’ of America
WASHINGTON — To President Donald Trump, “tariff” is more than “the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” something he says often. Tariffs, in Trump’s view, are also a cure for a number of the nation’s ills and the tool to reach new heights. Most economists see taxes paid on imports...
At the Voice of America, the Trump administration is moving swiftly to assert its vision
As it has with other government agencies, the Trump administration is moving swiftly to assert its vision at the Voice of America. As it does so, a question hangs in the air: Is the news organization’s journalistic mission, which dates to World War II, in for some fundamental changes? Within...
The House censures Democratic Rep. Al Green for disrupting Trump’s joint address to Congress
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday voted to censure an unrepentant Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, for disrupting President Donald Trump’s address to Congress. Green was joined in the well of the House by more than 20 fellow Democrats as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the censure resolution. Green and some...
Veterans fired from federal jobs say they feel betrayed, including some who voted for Trump
Nathan Hooven is a disabled Air Force veteran who voted for Donald Trump in November. Barely three months later, he’s now unemployed and says he feels betrayed by the president’s dramatic downsizing of the federal government that cost him his job. “I think a lot of other veterans voted the...
Chargers release edge rusher Joey Bosa after 9 seasons with franchiseVideo
The Los Angeles Chargers released Joey Bosa on Wednesday night, ending the edge rusher’s nine-season tenure with the franchise. The move was expected due to Bosa’s large salary cap number and injury history. Bosa had a cap number of $36.47 million for the 2025 season, but the Chargers will save...
Broadway musical ‘Hamilton’ cancels plans to play Kennedy Center in 2026
NEW YORK — The megahit Broadway musical “Hamilton” is pulling out of plans to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., next year, citing President Donald Trump’s shakeup of the art institution’s leadership. “Our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be...
