AP National News

By TY ONEIL and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — From the southwestern U.S. to Minnesota, Iowa and even parts of New Jersey, it seemed that winter never materialized. Many communities marked their driest winters on record, snowpack was nearly nonexistent in some spots, and vegetation remains tinder dry — all ingredients

By STEPHANY MATAT, KATE PAYNE and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine won special elections Tuesday in two Florida congressional districts, bolstered by President Donald Trump’s endorsement to fill vacant seats in reliably Republican strongholds. Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, fended off a challenge

By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers won’t change state policies allowing transgender kids and teens to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identities amid heated nationwide debates over the participation of trans youth in athletics. Democratic lawmakers on the state Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports

By AMANDA SEITZ and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — As they readied to leave work Monday, some workers at the Food and Drug Administration were told to pack their laptops and prepare for the possibility that they wouldn’t be back, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Nervous employees — roughly

By PAUL WISEMAN and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking a blowtorch to the rules that have governed world trade for decades. The “reciprocal’’ tariffs that he is expected to announce Wednesday are likely to create chaos for global businesses and conflict with America’s allies and adversaries alike.

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers said repeatedly that a student-tracking database had been removed from a school safety bill, but parts of that plan survive. The Senate and House gave final approval to House Bill 268 on Monday, sending the response to September’s deadly shooting at Apalachee High School to

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Monday paused plans by the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, a week before they were scheduled to expire. The order by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco is a relief for 350,000

By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press Twenty staffers at a suburban Philadelphia charter school are facing charges related to the alleged physical abuse of students using painful, unapproved techniques to restrain and punish youths in a program meant to help them deal with emotional issues, authorities announced Monday. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said the

By ALI SWENSON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to overhaul the nation’s elections faced its first legal challenges Monday as the Democratic National Committee and a pair of nonprofits filed two separate lawsuits calling it unconstitutional. The Campaign Legal Center and the State Democracy Defenders Fund brought the

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Scientists who want to learn more about a tiny flower recently discovered in West Texas are hoping it will bloom again in a couple of weeks after rain finally fell in the area. Dubbed the wooly devil, the flower with furry leaves, purplish-striped petals and pops of

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nine Tennessee death row inmates are suing the state over its push for a new round of lethal injections after an execution was abruptly called off in 2022 and a follow-up investigation found scores of missteps in several executions. The lawsuit was filed March 14 in

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — As the trade wars launched by U.S. President Donald Trump continue to escalate, all eyes are on Wednesday. Trump has repeatedly called April 2 “Liberation Day,” with promises to roll out a set of tariffs, or taxes on imports from other countries, that he says

BISHOP, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters stopped the forward spread of a wildfire tearing through a remote area of eastern California, but evacuation orders for residents of hundreds of homes remained in place, officials said Monday evening. The Silver Fire erupted Sunday afternoon along Route 6 in Inyo County, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) northeast of

DETROIT (AP) — About a dozen people have been injured, including six children, following an apparent explosion and fire Monday morning at a 2-story apartment building in Detroit. The explosion was reported about 4 a.m., according to fire officials. When firefighters arrived, some people were in windows of the building “kind of hanging off ready

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A tree fell on a van in Michigan, killing three children, during a fierce weekend storm that swept the region and contributed to the death of an 84-year-old man in an Amish buggy in Indiana, authorities said Monday. Meanwhile, more potentially dangerous weather rolled across parts of the Southeastern U.S. Trees

By AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigration remains a strength for President Donald Trump, but his handling of tariffs is getting more negative feedback, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to immigration, the survey

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A court on Monday cleared the way for the release of investigative records from the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, as long as depictions of the deceased couple are blocked from view. The ruling from a New Mexico judge allows the

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) — Federal authorities are investigating a fire early Sunday that damaged the entryway to the headquarters of the Republican Party of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Agents working with local authorities recovered unspecified “incendiary materials” at the scene, said Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson Cody Monday. He declined to

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029.

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Maxim Naumov came to a stop in the middle of the ice, looked up at the sky and patted his heart. Then he mouthed a few words, in Russian, to his parents: “This is for you guys. You guys are with me. I love you both.”

SNOW HILL, N.C. (AP) — It had been decades since Greene Central High School’s band competed in North Carolina’s statewide competition for musicians. While band members hoped to do well, they weren’t prepared for the surprise they got. It started when band director Andrew Howell solemnly stepped onto the bus where his students from the

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman is facing multiple charges after she crashed into a family out for a walk in Brooklyn, killing a mother and her two children in what New York City Mayor Eric Adams described as a “tragic accident of a Shakespearean proportion.” Miriam Yarimi was charged hours after the Saturday afternoon

By The Associated Press Freezing rain brought down trees and power lines in Michigan and Wisconsin, cutting electricity for thousands of people Sunday in the upper Great Lakes region, while forecasters said severe weather was on its way to Tennessee. Winds topping 70 mph (112 kph) were possible for the middle of Tennessee, with a

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Officials in Minnesota are seeking answers in the case of a University of Minnesota graduate student who’s being detained by U.S. immigration authorities for unknown reasons. University leadership said Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the student Thursday at an off-campus residence. Officials said the school was not given advance notice about the

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — In an unexpected upset, the Jason Statham thriller “A Working Man” took No. 1 at the box office, besting the rapidly declining “Snow White,” according to studio estimates Sunday. Even after a lackluster debut, the Walt Disney Co.’s live-action remake was predicted to remain the

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press In New Mexico, police and prosecutors backed an effort to outlaw devices that convert pistols into machine guns. In Alabama, the governor made it a priority. Lawmakers in both states — one led by Democrats, the other by Republicans — responded this year with new laws making so-called Glock

By BOB THOMAS Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Chamberlain, the handsome hero of the 1960s television series “Dr. Kildare” who found a second career as an award-winning “king of the miniseries,” has died. He was 90. Chamberlain died Saturday night in Waimanalo, Hawaii, of complications following a stroke, according to his publicist,

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda and “the future

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says Wednesday will be “Liberation Day” — a moment when he plans to roll out a set of tariffs that he promises will free the United States from foreign goods. The details of Trump’s next round of import taxes are still sketchy. Most economic

By ERIC TUCKER and CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The executive order directed at one of the country’s most prestigious law firms followed a well-worn playbook as President Donald Trump roared down the road to retribution. Reaching beyond government, Trump has set out to impose his will across a broad swath of American