AP National News

By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The largest union for federal employees is planning to lay off more than half of its staff nationwide after President Donald Trump’s executive actions have rapidly weakened the organization’s finances, the union said Thursday. The American Federation of Government Employees will move ahead with

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press The federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan accidentally filed an internal memo that poked holes in the Trump administration’s strategy to kill New York’s toll on driving in Manhattan — arguing the government should change tactics if it wants to block the nascent program. The memo, intended for a U.S. Department

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The trial of former Tennessee House speaker and his onetime chief of staff on bribery, kickback and money laundering charges began on Thursday with defense attorneys arguing that the pair did nothing illegal. The case accuses former Republican Rep. Glen Casada and his former aide Cade Cothren of taking taxpayer money

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press A new first-of-its-kind law enacted in North Dakota could shield agrochemical manufacturer Bayer from lawsuits claiming it failed to warn customers that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer. Though the immediate effect may be small, given that North Dakota is among the least populated U.S. states, Bayer is

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Most adults catching a flight in the U.S. starting May 7 will be required to present a passport or an upgraded state-issued identification card that meets federal REAL ID standards. The requirement is 20 years in the making, but with just weeks to go, not everyone is ready for it.

By The Associated Press The National Weather Service will resume translating its products for non-English speakers. The weather service paused the translations this month because its contract with the provider had lapsed. Experts said the change could put non-English speakers at risk of missing potentially life-saving warnings about extreme weather. The weather service said Thursday

By HOLLY RAMER and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked Trump administration directives that threatened to cut federal funding for public schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, which

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Ashley Dayer’s dream of winning a National Science Foundation grant to pursue discoveries in bird conservation started when she was an early-career professor with an infant in her arms and a shoestring laboratory budget. Competition is intense for NSF grants, a key source of funding for science research at

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press For years, proponents of green energy have argued that a slow, inefficient permitting process in the United States hinders a transition to clean sources of electricity. “Permitting reform,” as it’s called, is needed to unleash green energies like solar and wind, which don’t emit greenhouse gases that cause climate change,

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press A man set a bonfire using wooden pallets in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens and left them without fully extinguishing the blaze, sparking a quick-moving wildfire with smoke affecting air quality in the New York City area, authorities said Thursday. Authorities arrested Joseph Kling, 19, of Waretown, New Jersey, and charged

By JOSH BOAK and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans’ trust in President Donald Trump to bolster the U.S. economy appears to be faltering, with a new poll showing that many people fear the country is being steered into a recession and that the president’s broad and haphazardly enforced tariffs will cause prices

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State lawmakers across the U.S. have introduced at least 240 anti-China proposals this year, aiming to ensure public funds don’t buy Chinese technology or even T-shirts, coffee mugs and key chains for tourists. They’re also targeting sister-city relationships between American and Chinese communities. After years celebrating

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man who dropped his appeals and said he deserved to die for a 2010 rape and murder was executed Thursday evening, using his final words to apologize to the woman he killed. James Osgood, 55, was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. following a three-drug

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — Grieving relatives and survivors of a mass shooting at a 2022 July Fourth parade recounted harrowing details for hours in a packed courtroom this week, telling a judge that the attack has done long-lasting damage. But the man who admitted to carefully planning the shooting, and

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz pledged Wednesday night to do everything in his power to protect Minnesotans from the chaos that he said President Donald Trump has unleashed on the country and the world. Delivering his annual State of the State speech to a joint session of

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — The State Bar of Texas rescinded a speaking invitation to the NAACP’s president after the civil rights group challenged the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Education Department, citing new rules over speaking topics the bar says could be deemed political. Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president and

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has charged an alleged high-ranking member of Tren de Aragua in Colombia with terrorism offenses, making the first case of its kind against a member of the gang the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization, officials said Wednesday.

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is the latest judge at odds with the Trump administration. In a scathing rebuke, she characterized the government as acting in “bad faith” by refusing to provide information about what it has done to try to free Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a prison in El

By PHILIP MARCELO and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A woman and toddler whose remains were discovered scattered along an oceanfront highway not far from the victims of Long Island’s infamous Gilgo Beach killings were identified Wednesday as a U.S. Army veteran from Alabama and her daughter. Tanya Denise Jackson, 26, of

By MARK VANCLEAVE and HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press NORTHWOOD, Iowa (AP) — Iowans attending a forum Wednesday hosted by Sen. Chuck Grassley started to turn on each other as the lawmaker faced heated questions about President Donald Trump ‘s first months in office. The room of about 100 people in north-central Worth County, near the

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press A federal judge temporarily halted her order requiring the Trump administration to provide information on its efforts so far, if any, to retrieve a man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The seven-day pause ordered by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Wednesday came with the agreement of lawyers

By KATE PAYNE Associated Press/Report for America TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida students who were traumatized by the 2018 Parkland school shooting — and last week’s deadly shooting at Florida State University — are urging the Republican-controlled statehouse not to roll back gun restrictions passed in the wake of the killing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas

By AMANDA SWINHART Associated Press BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A large crowd of supporters and advocates gathered outside a Vermont courthouse Wednesday to support a Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University and was arrested during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship. Mohsen Mahdawi, a

By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press CHATSWORTH, N.J. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire engulfing part of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens has not resulted in any injuries, officials said Wednesday, though it’s expected to grow before forecast rain later this week. The fire in southern New Jersey’s Lacey and Ocean townships has grown to more than 20

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Anjan Roy was studying with friends at Missouri State University when he got an email that turned his world upside down. His legal status as an international student had been terminated, and he was suddenly at risk for deportation. “I was in literal shock, like, what the

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — When Random House Publisher Andrew Ward met recently with staff editors to discuss potential book projects, conversation inevitably turned to current events and the Trump administration. “It seemed obvious that we needed to look back to the country’s core documents,” Ward said. “And that we

By PETER SMITH Associated Press As he does one day each month, the Rev. Robert Turner hit the road from his home in Baltimore last week and traveled — on foot — 43 miles (69 kilometers) to Washington. He arrived by evening on April 16 outside the White House, carrying a sign that called for

By VALERIE GONZALEZ and GISELA SALOMON Associated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Hubert Montoya burst out laughing when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security emailed to say he should leave the country immediately or risk consequences of being deported. He is a U.S. citizen. “I just thought it was absurd,” the Austin, Texas, immigration attorney

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein ’s #MeToo retrial opened Wednesday, giving a new jury a fresh look at familiar rape and sexual assault allegations — plus a newly added claim from a former model. For the first time, prosecutors publicly identified Kaja Sokola and detailed

BARNEGAT TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire burning in New Jersey on Tuesday forced thousands of people to evacuate and closed a stretch of a major highway. The Garden State Parkway, one of New Jersey’s busiest highways, was closed between Barnegat and Lacey townships, according to the New Jersey Fire Service. More than 1,300