Answering your questions about President Trump’s vast new tariffs
WASHINGTON — After weeks of anticipation and speculation, President Donald Trump followed through on his tariff threats this week by declaring a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States. Global markets cratered the...
As markets implode, U.S. trading partners puzzle over whether there’s room for negotiations
BANGKOK — The impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’sblast of tariff hikes was reverberating across world markets Monday as America’s trading partners puzzled over whether there is room for negotiating better deals. Several countries said they were sending trade officials to Washington to try to talk through the crisis, which...
Trump administration orders national parks to remain open amid staffing shortagesVideo
The Trump administration has issued an order demanding that all national parks remain open amid severe staffing shortages — an action that one conservation group called “reckless and out of touch” as park personnel brace for millions of visitors this summer. “This order is intended to ensure that all national...
Judge says deportation of Maryland man to an El Salvador prison was ‘wholly lawless’
GREENBELT, Md. — The U.S. government’s decision to arrest a Maryland man and send him to a notorious prison in El Salvador appears to be “wholly lawless,” a federal judge wrote Sunday in a legal opinion explaining why she had ordered the Trump administration to bring him back to the...
Tentative deal reached in Republican fight over proxy voting for new parents
WASHINGTON — A tentative deal has been reached with the Florida Republican leading a bipartisan push to allow proxy voting in the U.S. House for new parents, potentially ending a standoff that halted legislative work for days and threatened to delay a vote this week to advance President Donald Trump’s...
Trump digs in his heels as global markets keep dropping over tariffsVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — President Donald Trump remained defiant on Monday as global markets continued plunging after his tariff announcement last week. He said other countries had been “taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA!” in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform. “Our past ‘leaders’ are to...
Colorado artist denies trying to distort Trump in portrait
A Colorado artist denies trying to distort Donald Trump’s likeness in a portrait that hung until recently in the state Capitol and says the president’s criticisms are hurting her business. She also disputed that the work drew a lot of complaints before Trump weighed in. Trump called the portrait by...
Rising rivers threaten South and Midwest after barrage of rain, tornadoes
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Rivers rose and flooding worsened Sunday across the U.S. South and Midwest, threatening communities already waterlogged and badly damaged by days of heavy rain and wind that killed at least 18 people. From Texas to Ohio, utilities scrambled to shut off power and gas, while cities closed...
No state has ended personal income taxes since 1980, but Mississippi and Kentucky may change that
About 45 years have passed since a U.S. state last eliminated its income tax on wages and salaries. But with recent actions in Mississippi and Kentucky, two states now are on a path to do so, if their economies keep growing. The push to zero out the income tax is...
Pope makes surprise appearance at St. Peter’s Square, 2 weeks after leaving hospital
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis made a surprise entrance to St. Peter’s Square during a special Jubilee Mass for the sick and health workers on Sunday, marking his first public appearance at the Vatican since leaving t he hospital two weeks ago after a life-threatening bout with pneumonia. The pontiff...
RFK Jr. visits epicenter of Texas measles outbreak after death of 2nd child who was infected
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the epicenter of Texas’ still-growing measles outbreak on Sunday, the same day a funeral was held for a second young child who was not vaccinated and died from a measles-related illness. Kennedy said in a social media post that...
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 32, mostly women and children
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 32 people, including over a dozen women and children, local health officials said Sunday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump about the war. Israel last...
Former German president warns of far right at 80th anniversary of Buchenwald liberation
VIENNA — Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis’ Buchenwald concentration camp on Sunday with warnings against “radicalization and a worldwide shift to the right” The governor of the state of Thuringia, Mario Voigt, and former German President Christian Wulff spoke at a ceremony in the...
After nearly 2,000 hours in office, Trump’s W.Pa. supporters all-in for tariffs, tough talk
President Donald Trump revels in the populism and nationalist rhetoric that riles up his base. This was evident on Wednesday. “This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in America’s history. It’s our declaration of economic independence. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said as...
Phone footage appears to contradict Israel’s account in troops’ killing of 15 Palestinian medics
UNITED NATIONS — Phone video from one of 15 Palestinian medics killed by Israeli forces last month appears to contradict Israeli claims that the medics’ vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire on them in southern Gaza. The footage shows the Red Crescent and Civil Defense...
Death toll in Russian missile strike in central Ukraine reaches 18
KYIV, Ukraine — The death toll from a Russian missile strike in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has risen to 18, including nine children, regional Governor Serhii Lysak said Saturday. A further 72 people were injured in Friday’s attack, the youngest a 3-month-old. About half of them remained...
Trump goes all in with bet that the heavy price of tariffs will pay off for Americans
WASHINGTON — Not even 24 hours after his party lost a key Wisconsin race and underperformed in Florida, President Donald Trump followed the playbook that has defined his political career: He doubled down. Trump’s move on Wednesday to place stiff new tariffs on imports from nearly all U.S. trading partners...
New study finds microplastics in chewing gum
Chewing gum fiends might want to think twice before popping in another piece of gum. A pilot study found that chewing gum can shed microplastics into saliva. Specifically, gum can release hundreds to thousands of microplastics per piece, which can potentially be ingested, according to the American Chemical Society. Microplastics...
IRS plans to cut up to 25% of staff, starting with closing its civil rights office, AP sources say
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The IRS plans to cut as many as 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the workforce — as part of layoffs that began Friday, two people familiar with the situation told the Associated Press. The job cuts will begin with the IRS Office of...
Interior secretary orders national parks to be open and accessible as workforce is cut
Under criticism for staff cuts across the country, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is directing national parks to “remain open and accessible” and says officials will ensure proper staffing to do so. The order, issued late Thursday, also calls for a detailed review of each park’s operating hours, trail closures and...
‘Kind’ father, 2 sons fatally struck by Amtrak train in Bucks County
PHILADELPHIA — It was quiet at the Bristol SEPTA station the day after three family members were killed after being struck by an Amtrak train Thursday evening, with passengers calmly boarding cars heading toward Philadelphia and the Bucks County community mourning the deaths. There were no obvious signs of the...
Judge moves legal case of international student at Tufts University to Vermont
BOSTON — A federal judge in Boston on Friday moved the case of a detained Tufts University doctoral student to Vermont, where the Turkish national was briefly held before being moved to an immigration detention facility in Louisiana. Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken by immigration officials as she walked along...
Officials say Russian strike in central Ukraine kills 14 people, including 6 children
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian ballistic missile strike Friday on a central Ukrainian city killed at least 14 people, including six children, Ukrainian officials said, as U.S. and European leaders pressed Russia to accept a ceasefire in the conflict. At least 50 people were wounded in the strike on Kryvyi...
U.S. must return Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador prison, judge says
GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to arrange for the return of a Maryland man to the United States after he was mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expelled Kilmar Abrego Garcia last month despite an immigration...
Nearly half of National Weather Service offices have 20% vacancy rates, and experts say it’s a risk
WASHINGTON — After Trump administration job cuts, nearly half of National Weather Service forecast offices have 20% vacancy rates — twice that of just a decade ago — as severe weather chugs across the nation’s heartland, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. Detailed vacancy data for all 122...
