By FATIMA HUSSEIN and SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. Treasury official has meet with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv to discuss U.S. financial support, enforcing sanctions on Russia and using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit in the war with Moscow. The visit by Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo came as Russia
Continue ReadingBy DINO HAZELL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Months after the nation’s capital bid an emotional farewell to its giant pandas, the National Zoo is expecting a renewed surge in panda-mania with the announcement that two more of the furry black-and-white icons will be coming to Washington. The zoo announced Wednesday that a fresh agreement
Continue ReadingBy LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore are assessing the country’s bridges after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The team includes students and faculty. They hope to determine whether other structures are similarly vulnerable. University officials say they hope policymakers will use the findings
Continue ReadingBy MICHAEL R. SISAK, JENNIFER PELTZ, ERIC TUCKER and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jury deliberations began Wednesday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, placing the outcome of the history-making case in the hands of a dozen New Yorkers who have vowed to be fair and impartial in the face of
Continue ReadingBy SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge overseeing a challenge brought by unions trying to undo Wisconsin’s law that bans nearly all collective bargaining for public workers appears to have signed a petition in 2011 to recall then-Gov. Scott Walker from office because of anger over that law. Dane County Circuit
Continue ReadingBy TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As corporations increasingly weave artificial intelligence technologies into the daily lives of Americans, California lawmakers want to build public trust, fight algorithmic discrimination and outlaw deepfakes that involve elections or pornography. The efforts in California — home to many of the world’s biggest AI companies —
Continue ReadingBy TRÂN NGUYỄN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As corporations increasingly weave artificial intelligence technologies into the daily lives of Americans, California lawmakers want to build public trust, fight algorithmic discrimination and outlaw deepfakes that involve elections or pornography. The efforts in California — home to many of the world’s biggest AI companies —
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Heat-related howler monkeys deaths in Mexico have been recorded in a total of four states, environmental authorities said. The Environment Department said late Tuesday that monkey deaths have now been recorded in a total of four states, mostly on the Gulf of Mexico. The department also said tests confirmed the primates
Continue ReadingBy JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Supreme Court is going to be entirely white for the first time in nearly two decades. Circuit Judge Jocelyn Newman was the lone Black candidate for the state Supreme Court seat coming open. The only African American on the high court is Chief Justice
Continue ReadingBy MELINA WALLING Associated Press Thanks to heavy use of nitrogen fertilizer, tiny organisms that flourish in farm fields emit nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas that can warm the planet more than carbon dioxide and stay in the atmosphere for over a century. Now some researchers think they’ve found a bacteria that can help.
Continue ReadingBy HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer PARIS (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz won the last five games to beat 176th-ranked qualifier Jesper de Jong 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the second round of the French Open. Heavy rain early in the day caused the postponement of 23 singles matches, so Alcaraz was lucky to get the
Continue ReadingBy TIA GOLDENBERG, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Wednesday it seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war that is now in its eighth month. The capture
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Three Black men are suing American Airlines, claiming they were discriminated against when ordered to leave a plane in January. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in New York. The men say they were told to leave a plane waiting to take off in Phoenix, and then noticed that
Continue ReadingYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say a massive explosion killed a bank employee, injured several other people and left an apartment building uninhabitable in Youngstown, Ohio. Police and emergency officials initially blamed natural gas, but the fire chief later said the cause is under investigation. The blast blew out part of the ground floor of
Continue ReadingBy Donald Judd, CNN Washington (CNN) — First lady Dr. Jill Biden on Wednesday urged Americans to “choose good over evil” by backing her spouse come November and defended her husband against concerns about his age. The first lady also offered a preview of Biden’s upcoming campaign travel during an interview on ABC’s “The View,”
Continue ReadingBy Mike Schwartz and Christian Edwards, CNN (CNN) — The war in Gaza will likely continue through at least the end of the year, an Israeli official warned Wednesday, seeming to dismiss the idea that fighting would end after the military offensive against Hamas in Rafah. Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said the year
Continue ReadingBy LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Jacqueline Stewart is leaving her post leading the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to return to the University of Chicago. Academy Museum veteran Amy Homma will succeed her as director and president, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Wednesday. Stewart, a prominent film scholar and Turner
Continue ReadingBy CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Cleveland branch of the Federal Reserve says that Beth Hammack, an executive at investment bank Goldman Sachs, would be its next president effective Aug. 21. Hammack, 52, has worked at Goldman Sachs since 1993. She was most recently the cohead of global finance, and has
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW LEE and VADIM GHIRDA Associated Press CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pledged $135 million in aid to Moldova for energy security and to counter Russian disinformation. The Western-leaning nation is struggling to blunt Russia’s push for influence that’s been buoyed by recent successes in its war in
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — Jury deliberations in Donald Trump’s criminal trial have begun following the delivery of jury instructions by the judge and a whirlwind day of closing arguments. Jurors began deliberations Wednesday after receiving instructions about the law governing the hush money case and what they can consider as they evaluate the former president’s
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