U.S./World category, Page 21
Trump administration to rejoin offshore drilling agencies separated after 2010 Gulf oil spill
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Friday it is combining two agencies that were separated in the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The Interior Department said the overhaul would increase efficiency and speed up permitting for offshore oil and gas drilling. The new Marine Minerals Administration will bring...
ICE agent in Illinois’ Broadview Six incident texted about being famous ‘among lefties’
CHICAGO — On the day after the “Broadview Six” indictment was filed in October charging a group of local Democratic officials and other protesters with conspiracy to impede law enforcement, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent whose vehicle was allegedly damaged in the incident texted a Facebook post about the...
Trump again looks to cut NASA budget by billions of dollars
Despite the wave of enthusiasm of this week’s moonshot launch of Artemis II, President Donald Trump once again wants to chop billions of dollars from the agency, including its science missions, according to documents released Friday by NASA. Trump last year sought to reduce NASA’s budget by about $6 billion,...
12-year-old arrested in death of a classmate who was hit in the head by a metal water bottle
A 12-year-old has been arrested in connection with the death of a classmate who was hit in the head with a metal water bottle during an alleged bullying incident at a Los Angeles school, authorities said Friday. The juvenile, whose age and gender have not been made public, was arrested...
Colorado SNAP soda ban on hold, but Gov. Polis plans order to end state spending on sugary drinks and alcohol
DENVER — Colorado’s proposed ban on allowing the largest food assistance program to pay for soft drinks is on hold while a lawsuit against the federal government plays out, but Gov. Jared Polis is planning an executive order to limit state soda purchases. The proposed change would prevent the Supplemental...
Lawyers say up to 75 women expected to benefit from Bank of America settlement in Epstein sex abuse
NEW YORK — Lawyers say up to 75 women who were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein since 2008 may benefit from a $72.5 million fund set up as part of a settlement Bank of America reached with lawyers representing the women. U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff gave the deal...
New Jersey state troopers rescue bear cub from highway ditch
UNION TOWNSHIP, N.J. — State police troopers came to the rescue of a bear cub found in a ditch along the side of a major interstate highway in northern New Jersey. Troopers from the Perryville station responded shortly before 1:40 p.m. Wednesday to milepost 12.2 on I-78 eastbound in Union...
Pope Leo XIV to carry cross for entire procession, the 1st pontiff to do so in decades
ROME — Pope Leo XIV will personally carry the wooden cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope carries the cross to every station. “I think it will...
Artemis II’s moon-bound astronauts capture Earth’s brilliant blue beauty as they leave it behind
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon. NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century. The first photo taken by...
China says peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan are advancing
BEIJING — Peace talks between Afghanistan’s Taliban government and Pakistan are advancing, China’s government said Friday, two days after those countries resumed conversations following weeks of fighting that have killed hundreds. “The consultation process is being steadily implemented and advanced,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. Xi Jinping’s government...
Good Friday is a unique and solemn day for Christians, with ancient prayers and fervent processions
MIAMI — Good Friday is a unique — and uniquely solemn — day in the Christian calendar. It commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus, ahead of what’s a central tenet of faith for believers — his resurrection two days later on Easter Sunday, according to the Gospels. This year,...
Russia launches daytime strikes on Ukraine, killing 5, as Kyiv holds door open for Easter truce
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian strikes killed at least five people across Ukraine on Friday, including in a “massive” missile and drone attack near the capital, local authorities reported. Ukrainian officials claim the Kremlin is changing its tactics to increase civilian suffering, shifting to daytime barrages and preparing to target more...
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to crack down on ‘bad landlords’ — but he has to find them
NEW YORK — On a recent weeknight, three tenants of an aging Bronx building were trading apartment horror stories inside a packed ballroom lined with city bureaucrats. The occasion was the third in a series of “rental rip-off hearings,” a new forum launched by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for...
Trump budget seeks $1.5T in defense spending alongside cuts in domestic programs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has proposed boosting defense spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released Friday, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on U.S. military investments over domestic programs. The sizable increase for the Pentagon, some 44%, had been telegraphed by the Republican president...
2 U.S. aircraft shot down as war in Iran escalates with at least 1 crew member missing
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. military planes were shot down in separate incidents on Friday, and while one crew member was rescued in Iran, the whereabouts of at least one other was unknown — marking a dramatic escalation since the war began nearly five weeks ago. It was the first time...
A look at how the Epstein files dogged Pam Bondi’s time as attorney general
NEW YORK — After Pam Bondi became U.S. attorney general last year, conservative influencers, online sleuths and others who wanted the government to disclose all it knew about Jeffrey Epstein thought they might have a champion in the Department of Justice. So did Jess Michaels, one of the legions of...
Trump offers murky path forward for Republicans as Iran war clouds midterm elections
NEW YORK — This is not the run up to the midterm elections that Republicans wanted. A year and a half after winning the White House by promising to lower costs and end wars, Donald Trump is a wartime president overseeing surging energy costs and an escalating overseas conflict that...
Cuba pardons 2,010 people as the U.S. pressures the island’s government
HAVANA — The Cuban government said Thursday it would release 2,010 prisoners in a move that comes while the Trump administration puts extreme pressure on the island’s government with a suffocating oil blockade. The announcement said the pardons were a “humanitarian gesture” in connection with Holy Week and didn’t mention...
Artemis II astronauts rocket toward the moon after spending a day around Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Artemis II astronauts fired their engines and blazed toward the moon Thursday night, breaking free of the chains that have trapped humanity in shallow laps around Earth in the decades since Apollo. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans...
Trump unveils 100% tariff on some patented drugs on ‘Liberation Day’ anniversary
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could slap long-threatened pharmaceutical tariffs of up to 100% on some patented drugs from companies that don’t reach deals with his administration in the coming months. Companies that have signed a “most favored nation” pricing deal and are...
Hegseth asks the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down while U.S. wages war against Iran
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, to step down, the Pentagon said Thursday, as the United States wages a war against Iran. A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed that George has...
Macron voices European frustration with Trump for criticizing NATO
Mounting European frustration with President Donald Trump, and defiance of his wishes on the war with Iran, bubbled over Thursday, when President Emmanuel Macron lashed out at the American leader for his shifting war goals and his undermining of the NATO alliance. “When we’re serious, we don’t say the opposite...
Dizzying U.S. fuel prices are determined by factors largely outside of a gas station’s control
DES MOINES, Iowa — The near-daily changes in U.S. gas prices are dizzying for drivers, who are left feeling frustrated and cash-strapped by the highest fuel costs since 2022. With the Iran war pushing up prices worldwide, the U.S. average for a gallon of gas topped $4 on Tuesday, according...
University of Wisconsin president refuses to leave after being told to resign or be fired
MADISON, Wis. — The president of the 25-campus Universities of Wisconsin said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday that he’s been told to either resign or be fired, but has been given no reason and won’t step aside from the 165,000-student system. Jay Rothman, president of...
Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist who oversaw Justice Department upheaval, is out as his attorney general
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that Pam Bondi is out as his attorney general, ending the contentious tenure of a loyalist who upended the Justice Department’s culture of independence from the White House, oversaw large-scale firings of career employees and moved aggressively to investigate the Republican president’s perceived...
