AP National News

SENECA, Kansas (AP) — A Catholic priest was shot and killed Thursday by a man who approached him at his parish rectory in the town of Seneca, Kansas, church officials said. “I am heartbroken to share the tragic news of the death of Fr. Arul Carasala, who was fatally shot earlier today,” Archbishop Joseph Naumann,

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to halt more than half a billion dollars in contracts and grants awarded to Brown University, adding to a list of Ivy League colleges that have had their federal money threatened as a result of their responses to

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department quietly decided in the final weeks of the Biden administration not to prosecute Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, effectively ending the corruption investigation that cast a long shadow over the political career of a close ally of President Donald Trump,

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press The Trump administration has laid off the entire staff of a $4.1 billion program that helps millions of low-income households pay for heat during the winter, unnerving state officials who are now wondering whether they will still receive millions of dollars in expected federal payments. The roughly two dozen workers

By DEVNA BOSE AP Health Writer A federal judge will temporarily block President Donald Trump’s administration from cutting billions in federal dollars that support COVID-19 initiatives and public health projects throughout the country. U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, appointed by Trump in 2019 but first nominated by former President Barack Obama, in Rhode Island said

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press A transgender college student declared “I am here to break the law” before entering a women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol and being led out in handcuffs by police. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen last month is the first they know of for violating transgender

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and DIDI TANG Associated Press A notice to customers dazzled by the low-priced products on Chinese shopping apps: the days of getting trendy clothing, tools and gag gifts that cost less than lunch delivered to your door in 10 days are probably numbered. President Donald Trump is ending a little-known but widely

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — At least seven people have been killed in a wide swath of violent storms and tornadoes that hit the South and Midwest, and officials are bracing for more severe weather and flooding in the coming days. The destruction is part of a potent storm system

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press Former Vice President Mike Pence will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his refusal to go along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election, Kennedy’s family announced Thursday. The award recognizes Pence “for putting his life and career

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer The U.S. Department of Energy said it has identified 16 federal sites, including storied nuclear research laboratories such as Los Alamos, where tech companies could build data centers in a push to accelerate commercial development of artificial intelligence technology. The sites are “uniquely positioned for rapid data center construction,

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump promised tariffs that would raise U.S. import taxes high enough to mirror what others assess as trade penalties on American goods. What he’s actually imposing is based on far more complicated math. Here’s a look at how the White House got its numbers: Why

By ALEXA ST. JOHN Associated Press Extreme weather is dangerous weather, and that’s particularly true for the heavy rainfall events that experts say are becoming more frequent with climate change. The powerful storms can pose threats ranging from falling limbs to downed power lines to drowning. Experts say disaster preparation and good planning can help

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — As a condition for receiving federal money, the Trump administration is ordering K-12 schools to certify that they are following federal civil rights laws and ending any discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion practices. A notice sent Thursday by the Education Department gives states and schools 10

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press New York City Mayor Eric Adams withdrew from the city’s Democratic primary on Thursday and said he would instead run for reelection as an independent, a move intended to buy him time to save a campaign deeply wounded by a bribery scandal and liberal anger over his warm relationship with

By TIFFANY STANLEY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — There is so much history between the walls of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has hosted funerals for Rosa Parks and Frederick Douglass and opened its pews to American presidents and civil rights icons. It made history again this year: Thanks to a lawsuit, Metropolitan AME

By AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX and JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s dramatic changes to the federal government haven’t emerged as an obvious political winner or loser, according to a new poll that indicates some Americans may be giving him the benefit of the doubt for now on his Department of Government

By ADRIAN SAINZ, GEORGE WALKER IV and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press LAKE CITY, Ark. (AP) — Standing alongside the twisted steel tractors on his family farm in northeast Arkansas on Thursday, Danny Qualls looked on while friends and relatives helped him begin cleaning up. The home where he spent his childhood but no longer lives

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Commissioners in a rural New Mexico county say pets are being snatched from front yards and livestock are being maimed and killed by endangered Mexican gray wolves that seem to have no fear of humans, prompting them to declare a state of emergency. In the

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor worked together in 2021 to enact a rare energy law in the South that sought to sharply reduce power plant emissions by 2030 and ultimately reach carbon neutrality. “Today, North Carolina moves strongly into a reliable and

By CEDAR ATTANASIO and JULIE WALKER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s “bodega cats” are beloved fixtures in the Big Apple — but they’re on the wrong side of the law. The convenience store cats that live at many of the city’s bodegas and delis look innocent enough, spending their days lounging

By ISABELLA O’MALLEY Associated Press Weather forecasters sometimes warn of storms that unleash rains so unusual they are described as 100-year or even 500-year floods. Here’s what to know about how scientists determine how extreme a flood is and how common these extreme events are becoming. What does a 100-year flood mean? Scientists use math

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press A federal judge on Wednesday pressed an attorney for the Environmental Protection Agency about whether the agency broke the law when it swiftly terminated $20 billion worth of grants awarded to nonprofits for a green bank by allegedly bulldozing past proper rules and raising flimsy accusations of waste and fraud.

Associated Press It’s International Fact-Checking Day, an event to highlight the work of fact-checkers around the world. In a message marking the day, Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the the International Fact-Checking Network, noted the recent challenges faced by fact-checkers, including a loss of funding and attacks on fact-checkers and their organizations. “This is indeed

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a Montana law that restricts transgender people’s use of bathrooms in public buildings. The measure, which Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into effect last week, threatened to deprive transgender people of their constitutional right to equal protection under the law, Montana District Court Judge Shane

By JOSH FUNK Associated Press Air traffic controllers at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport will be offered crisis counseling and additional supervision after a fight in the tower and another alarming near miss two months after a midair collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people. The Federal Aviation Administration said

By ALI SWENSON and CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press PEWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) — As the first news outlets began calling the Wisconsin Supreme Court election for the liberal candidate Susan Crawford, her opponent called her — to concede. Minutes later Tuesday night, the conservative-backed Brad Schimel took the stage at his watch party to acknowledge the

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An iconic pet reindeer beloved by many in Alaska’s largest city has been euthanized, just weeks after someone tampered with his cage and possibly poisoned him, his caretaker said Wednesday. “I don’t have an answer as to why he had to be put down other than

By AAMER MADHANI and SARAH PARVINI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon has put in a bid to purchase TikTok, a Trump administration official said Wednesday, in an eleventh-hour pitch as a U.S. ban on the platform is set to go into effect Saturday. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — DOGE’s days appear to be numbered. Elon Musk recently suggested that he will be done with his work in the near future. President Donald Trump told reporters this week that “at some point, he’s going to be going back” to running his companies. As far as the

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press In the 22 days since Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to a notoriously violent prison in El Salvador, his young son has sought comfort in the scent of his missing father’s clothes. “He shows me how much he missed Kilmar,” Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, said