National News

By  MARK SHERMAN WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday came to the rescue of Texas Republicans, allowing next year’s elections to be held under the state’s congressional redistricting plan favorable to the GOP and pushed by President Donald Trump despite a lower-court…

By  GARY FIELDS and DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is expected to submit plans for President Donald Trump’s new ballroom to a federal planning commission this month, about three months after construction began. Will Scharf, who was appointed by Trump as chairman…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy admiral told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth but grave questions and concerns remain as Congress scrutinizes an attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike on…

By  ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI made an arrest on Thursday in its nearly 5-year-old investigation into pipe bombs placed outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021,…

By  DASHA LITVINOVA Russian President Vladimir Putin says some proposals in a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, indicating in comments published Thursday that any deal is still some ways off. U.S. President Donald Trump has…

By  ALI SWENSON, LINLEY SANDERS and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifty-two-year-old Dinam Bigny sank into debt and had to get a roommate this year, in part because of health insurance premiums that cost him nearly $900 per month. Next year, those monthly fees…

By  JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — A high-stakes hearing in the New York murder case against Luigi Mangione resumed Thursday, a year to the day after prosecutors say he gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to…

By MATT OTT U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in more than three years last week, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decision on interest rates. The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits for the…

By  THALIA BEATY Americans gave $4 billion to nonprofits on GivingTuesday in 2025, an increase from the $3.6 billion they gave in 2024, according to estimates from the nonprofit GivingTuesday. More people also volunteered their time on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving this year, which fell on Dec.…

By  STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose near their record levels on Wednesday as mixed data on the economy kept alive hopes that a cut to interest rates is coming soon. The S&P 500 gained 0.3% and pulled…

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Steve Cropper, the lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter who helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. and the M.G.’s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics “Green Onions,” "(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the…

By  MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER NEW YORK (AP) — One of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell ‘s most vocal accusers urged judges on Wednesday to grant the Justice Department’s request to unseal records from their federal sex trafficking cases, saying “only transparency is likely to…

By  LISA MASCARO WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon knew there were survivors after a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike, according to two people familiar with the matter.…

By  BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI A monkey who spent several days on the lam after escaping from a truck that crashed on a rural Mississippi highway earlier this year now has a permanent home at a New Jersey wildlife refuge. Forrest, a young…

By  DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s decision to build a big ballroom where the East Wing once stood has significantly altered the visitor experience at the White House. Tourists enter through a different door now, and the tour is shorter because there…

By  MATTHEW DALY and ALEXA ST. JOHN WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to announce a proposal Wednesday to weaken vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks, according to several people familiar…

By  MICHELLE CHAPMAN There is a recall for more than 260,000 cases of shredded cheese sold in 31 states and Puerto Rico because of the potential for metal fragment contamination, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said…

By  JEFFREY COLLINS A deadly UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky stemmed from corporate choices that favored profits over safety, according to a lawyer who filed two wrongful death lawsuits Wednesday, which allege the company kept flying older aircraft without increasing maintenance beyond…

By  WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS NEW YORK (AP) — The end of 2025 is almost upon us. And it’s time to unpack Spotify Wrapped. On Wednesday, the music streaming giant delivered its annual recap — giving its hundreds of millions of users worldwide a look at…

By  ANDREW DALTON LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor who pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks before the “Friends” star’s overdose death is set to be the first of five people sentenced in the case on Wednesday. Perry’s family and…

By  STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market held steady on Tuesday as both bond yields and bitcoin stabilized. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% following its first loss in six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 185 points, or 0.4%,…