Top General News
Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An apparent Israeli drone attack on a major air base early near the central city of Isfahan activated Iranian air defenses early Friday. The strike came just days after Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on Israel. No Iranian...
The Latest | Iran says air defense batteries fire after explosions reported near major air base
Iran fired air defense batteries Friday reports of explosions near a major air base at the city of Isfahan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. It remained unclear if the country was under attack, but tensions remain high after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. The...
Jury selection could be nearing a close in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York
NEW YORK (AP) — A third panel of potential jurors will be questioned Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money case, drawing jury selection a step closer to completion in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. After a jury of 12 New Yorkers was seated Thursday, lawyers...
The Latest | Lawyers set to focus on picking alternates as Trump's hush money trial resumes
NEW YORK (AP) — Jury selection in the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump is set to resume Friday following a frenetic day Thursday that eventually saw all 12 jurors and one alternate sworn in after two previously seated jurors were dismissed earlier in the day. One...
Indians vote in the first phase of the world's largest election as Modi seeks a third term
NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians began voting Friday in a six-week election that's a referendum on Narendra Modi, the populist prime minister who has championed an assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics and is seeking a rare third term as the country's leader. People...
Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom
WASHINGTON (AP) — One woman miscarried in the restroom lobby of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a...
Chicago's response to migrant influx stirs longstanding frustrations among Black residents
CHICAGO (AP) — The closure of Wadsworth Elementary School in 2013 was a blow to residents of the majority-Black neighborhood it served, symbolizing a city indifferent to their interests. So when the city reopened Wadsworth last year to shelter hundreds of migrants, without seeking...
Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but transgender sports rule still on hold
The rights of LGBTQ+ students will be protected by federal law and victims of campus sexual assault will gain new safeguards under rules finalized Friday by the Biden administration. The new provisions are part of a revised Title IX regulation issued by the Education Department,...
AP Explains: 4/20 grew from humble roots to marijuana's high holiday
SEATTLE (AP) — Saturday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather — at 4:20 p.m. — in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal-weed states thank their customers with discounts. This year’s edition provides an occasion for...
Bitcoin's next 'halving' is right around the corner. Here's what you need to know
NEW YORK (AP) — Sometime in the next few days or even hours, the “miners” who chisel bitcoins out of complex mathematics are going to take a 50% pay cut — effectively slicing new production of the world’s largest cryptocurrency in half. That could have a lot of...
Latest General News
The Latest | G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict. Meanwhile, an apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defenses at a major air...
3 dead amid heavy flooding caused by record rain in the UAE
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Three people have died in the United Arab Emirates as a result of heavy flooding caused by record-setting rains this week, officials said Friday. A statement by the Philippine’s Department of Migrant Workers said two women suffocated inside...
BP defeated thousands of suits by sick Gulf spill cleanup workers. But not one by a boat captain
John Maas spent years buying and outfitting a 17-foot aluminum boat called the Superskiff 1 so he could take customers fishing for sea trout and flounder in the Gulf of Mexico. But before the Mississippi captain could make his first charter trip in 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon...
Jury selection could be nearing a close in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York
NEW YORK (AP) — A third panel of potential jurors will be questioned Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money case, drawing jury selection a step closer to completion in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. After a jury of 12 New Yorkers was seated Thursday, lawyers...
Indians vote in the first phase of the world's largest election as Modi seeks a third term
NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians began voting Friday in a six-week election that's a referendum on Narendra Modi, the populist prime minister who has championed an assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics and is seeking a rare third term as the country's leader. People...
Stock market today: Wall Street limps toward its longest weekly losing streak since September
Wall Street’s latest losing week looks to be coming to a relatively quiet close. U.S. stocks are drifting in early trading Friday, and oil prices are easing after briefly jumping overnight. The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower and on track for its third straight losing week. That would be its longest...
US sanctions fundraisers for extremist West Bank settlers who commit violence against Palestinians
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israeli-occupied West Bank settlers who have harassed and attacked Palestinians, as well as the founder of an organization whose members regularly assault Palestinians. ...
Italian court drops charges against migrant rescue ship crews and ends long-running legal battle
ROME (AP) — An Italian court on Friday dismissed a long-running case against the crew of three humanitarian organizations, dropping charges accusing them of collaborating with smugglers as they helped rescue thousands of migrants at sea. The judges in the Sicilian city of Trapani...
European Union official von der Leyen visits the Finland-Russia border to assess security situation
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The head of the European Union's executive branch said Friday that Finland's decision to close its border crossings with Russia over a surge in migrants is a security matter for the whole 27-member bloc to consider. European Commission President Ursula...
The West African Sahel is becoming a drug smuggling corridor, UN warns, as seizures skyrocket
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Drug seizures soared in the West African Sahel region according to figures released Friday in a new U.N. report, indicating the conflict-ridden region is becoming an influential route for drug trafficking. In 2022, 1,466 kilograms, (3,232 pounds), of cocaine...
