First over-the-counter birth control pill gets FDA approvalVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials have approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, which will let American women and girls buy contraceptive medication from the same aisle as aspirin and eyedrops. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it cleared Perrigo’s once-a-day Opill to be sold without a prescription, making it...
Tornado touches down near Chicago’s O’Hare airport amid severe weather warningsVideo
CHICAGO — The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday following warnings of severe weather for the city. There were no immediate reports of injuries. A confirmed tornado was on the ground around 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in...
Former Trump supporter who got caught up in Jan. 6 conspiracy theory sues Fox NewsVideo
DOVER, Del. — A former Donald Trump supporter who became the center of a conspiracy theory about Jan. 6, 2021, filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, saying the network made him a scapegoat for the U.S. Capitol insurrection. Raymond Epps, a former Marine who said he was...
Pennsylvania budget still in turmoil over school vouchers and equity funding case
HARRISBURG — A court’s ruling earlier this year that the way Pennsylvania funds public schools is unconstitutional helped make education spending one of the thorniest issues in state budget negotiations. Along with a partisan divide over spending taxpayer money to help students attend private and religious schools, education funding has...
Capitol riot suspect arrested near Obama’s home will remain jailed until trial, judge rules
WASHINGTON — A man charged in the Capitol riot who had guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested near former President Barack Obama’s Washington home will remain in jail while he awaits trial, a federal magistrate judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia...
West Virginia state health officer to join board overseeing opioid fund distribution
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s state health officer was selected Wednesday to represent one of the hardest-hit regions of the state for drug overdoses on the board of a private foundation that will be distributing the majority of the state’s more than $1 billion in opioid settlements. Dr. Matthew Christiansen,...
Suspect in Larry Nassar stabbing said ex-doctor made lewd remark watching Wimbledon
WASHINGTON — A prisoner suspected of stabbing Larry Nassar at a federal penitentiary in Florida said the disgraced former sports doctor provoked the attack by making a lewd comment while they were watching a Wimbledon tennis match on TV, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The...
Russia’s Defense Ministry: Wagner mercenaries surrendering their weapons to military
MOSCOW — Mercenaries of the Wagner Group are completing the handover of their weapons to the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a move that follows the private army’s brief rebellion last month that challenged the Kremlin’s authority. The disarming of Wagner reflects efforts by authorities to defuse the...
From airfares to used cars to groceries, slowing U.S. inflation eases pressure on households
WASHINGTON — Squeezed by painfully high prices for two years, America’s households have gained some much-needed relief with inflation reaching its lowest point since early 2021 — 3% in June compared with a year earlier — thanks in part to easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries....
Webb Space Telescope reveals moment of stellar birth, dramatic close-up of 50 baby starsVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet: the dramatic close-up of dozens of stars at the moment of birth. NASA unveiled the latest snapshot Wednesday, revealing 50 baby stars in a cloud complex 390 light-years away....
U.S. inflation falls to 3%, lowest level in over 2 years, as price pressures ease
WASHINGTON — After two years of painfully high prices, inflation in the U.S. has reached its lowest point in more than two years — 3% in June compared with 12 months earlier — a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have steadily slowed price increases across the economy....
FBI Director Chris Wray defends the ‘real FBI’ against criticism from House RepublicansVideo
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Chris Wray defended the “real FBI” during a contentious congressional hearing Wednesday, rejecting a litany of grievances from angry Republicans who are harshly critical of the bureau, threatening to defund some operations and claiming the Justice Department is unfair to political conservatives, including Donald Trump. Wray...
3 dead, 14 injured in Illinois crash of Greyhound bus and commercial vehicles
HIGHLAND, Ill. — Three people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, early Wednesday when a Greyhound bus crashed into three commercial motor vehicles along a highway in southern Illinois, state police said. Illinois State Police said an initial investigation indicates a Greyhound passenger bus and three commercial vehicles...
Few U.S. adults support full abortion bans, even in states that have them, an AP-NORC poll finds
The majority of U.S. adults, including those living in states with the strictest limits on abortion, want it to be legal at least through the initial stages of pregnancy, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds. The poll was conducted in late June, one...
Pence would ban abortions when pregnancies aren’t viable. His GOP rivals won’t say if they agree
NEW YORK — In a Republican presidential field full of candidates opposed to abortion rights, Mike Pence stands out in his embrace of the cause. The former vice president, who is seeking the White House in 2024, is the only major candidate who supports a federal ban on abortion at...
Senators call for Supreme Court to follow ethics code like other branches of government
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to Associated Press investigative stories on the Supreme Court, said Tuesday it was time for the justices to bring their conduct in line with the ethical standards of other branches of government. “If they just establish the basic standards of every other...
GOP hails him as Hunter Biden whistleblower; Feds say he was really Chinese agent who brokered Iran arms and oil deals
A think tank director and energy analyst hailed by Republicans as a Hunter Biden whistleblower illegally advanced Chinese interests in the U.S. and violated laws barring him from selling Chinese weapons and arranging Chinese purchases of Iranian oil, Manhattan federal prosecutors say. Gal Luft, 57, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, has...
Farmers pulls out of Florida property insurance despite efforts to stabilize the market
TALLAHASSEE — Farmers Insurance became the latest property insurance company to pull out of Florida on Tuesday despite repeated efforts by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature have made to try to calm the volatile market that is making homeownership less affordable. Farmers informed the state that it is...
Trump can be held liable in writer’s defamation lawsuit after Justice Department reverses course
NEW YORK — The Justice Department on Tuesday said that Donald Trump can be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape — a reversal of its position that Trump was protected because he was president when he made the remarks. In a...
Police: Items believed connected to Pa. jail escapee still being found; reward increasesVideo
WARREN — Authorities searching for a homicide suspect who used bedsheets to escape from a northwestern Pennsylvania jail last week say items found in the last 24 hours lead them to believe he is still in the area. Authorities added that reward money in the case has more than doubled....
Man who stormed Capitol while free on attempted murder charge gets over 3 years in prison for riot
A North Carolina man who stormed the U.S. Capitol while awaiting trial for shooting a teenager in the head was sentenced on Tuesday to more than three years in prison for attacking police officers with a flagpole during the riot. Matthew Jason Beddingfield, 22, was free on pretrial release for...
Leslie Van Houten, follower of cult leader Charles Manson, released from California prison
LOS ANGELES — Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten walked out of a California prison Tuesday after serving more than 50 years of a life sentence for her participation in two infamous murders. Van Houten “was released to parole supervision,” the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a...
A surging river floods Vermont’s capital as crews rescue more than 100 peopleVideo
ANDOVER, Vt. — A storm that dumped up to two months of rain in two days in Vermont and other parts of the Northeast brought more flooding Tuesday to communities marooned by water, including the state capital, where officials kept watch on a dam just upstream. There were signs of...
Wisconsin boy killed in sawmill accident was doing work allowed by state law, records suggest
MADISON, Wis. — A 16-year-old boy killed in an accident at a Wisconsin sawmill appears to have been doing work allowed by state child labor laws when he was injured, police records obtained Tuesday show. Michael Schuls was attempting to unjam a wood-stacking machine at Florence Hardwoods on June 29...
Powerball jackpot climbs to $725M — 2nd highest this year
The Powerball jackpot rose to $725 million after no one secured the jackpot in Monday night’s drawing. The winning numbers were white balls 2, 24, 34, 53, 58 and red Powerball 13. Two people, one in California and one in Iowa, matched all five white balls but missed on the...
