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Sharon Van Etten poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

For Sharon Van Etten, making her latest album was both spiritual and psychological

June 9, 2025

Sharon Van Etten’s bandmates had one stipulation when she told them her idea for the name of her seventh album. They didn’t mind her calling it “Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory,” as long as they didn’t have to talk about their respective attachment styles. Van Etten’s process for the album was unlike anything she has done as a solo artist. That’s because she wrote the songs with her band from the ground up. Van Etten says that collaborative process made her reflect on the familial dynamics that exist within a band as she gears up for their fall tour announced Monday.

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In this image taken from June 8, 2025, video by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office in Rutherford County, Tennessee, shows the airlifting of a zebra named Ed that had evaded capture for several days after it ran away from its owner. (Rutherford County Sheriff's Office via AP)

A runaway pet zebra has been captured in Tennessee

June 9, 2025

A runaway pet zebra has been captured in Tennessee. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office says Ed was captured Sunday in a pasture. He was airlifted to an animal trailer. Video posted by the sheriff’s office shows Ed wrapped in a net with his head sticking out as he is carried by the helicopter to the waiting trailer. The zebra had been on the loose since May 31. It was spotted and filmed running along Interstate 24 before disappearing into the woods. Ed quickly became the subject of internet memes.

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Tony Awards highlights: Radio City becomes the room where it happens for a ‘Hamilton’ reunion

June 9, 2025

Cole Escola of “Oh, Mary!” promised Mom a call, and also thanked a Grindr date. A “Maybe Happy Ending” writer kept reminding everyone that he’s single. Audra McDonald brought the room to a reverent hush with a powerhouse rendition of “Rose’s Turn” from “Gypsy,” but lost the Tony this time to Nicole Scherzinger of “Sunset Blvd.” Notable Tony moments also included a much-awaited “Hamilton” original cast reunion performance that had everyone singing along. Big winners were the charming robot-themed musical “Maybe Happy Ending” and the play “Purpose” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. “Succession” still has legs and Gavin Creel was remembered throughout.

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Misty Copeland broke barriers in ballet. Now she’s retiring and moving to ‘the next stage’

June 9, 2025

Trailblazing ballerina Misty Copeland has decided to move on to what she calls “the next stage” in her career. Copeland broke barriers at American Ballet Theatre. Ten years ago she became the first female Black principal dancer in the company’s 75-year history. Now, after an October farewell gala, she is leaving the company she joined a quarter-century ago as a teenager. Copeland says she wants to focus on other aspects of her career. The 42-year-old has authored a number of books, including the “Bunheads” series, with a a second installment coming soon. She has made a film with her production company and works toward diversity and inclusion in dance with her Misty Copeland Foundation.

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Nina Stemme says farewell to Isolde after 126 performances

June 9, 2025

Soprano Nina Stemme sung her 126th and final performance of Isolde in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Marian Anderson Hall. Accompanied by tenor Stuart Skelton mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, baritone Brian Mulligan, Stemme had tears in her eyes after the final notes. She has been a top choice in the demanding role since 2003 but at 62 said it was time to concentrate on roles for older sopranos. Music director music Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who had never conducted the opera before, will conduct a new production at New York’s Metropolitan Opera next year with Lise Davidsen debuting her take on Isolde.

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FILE - Terry Moran of "Nightline" speaks during the ABC Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2007. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

ABC’s Terry Moran is suspended following his social media post calling Trump and Miller haters

June 9, 2025

ABC News has suspended veteran correspondent Terry Moran for a since-deleted social media post calling Trump administration deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller a “world class hater.” Moran was quickly condemned by officials in the Republican administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance, who says Americans should think of this when they watch ABC News’ coverage. Moran’s Sunday morning post on X said President Donald Trump is a hater, too, but for Miller, “his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment.” New York-based ABC News says it stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and “does not condone subjective personal attacks on others.”

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This combination of photos shows Mariah Carey at the third annual Recording Academy Honors in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2024. left, Snoop Dogg at an appearance in Ventura, Calif on Oct. 2, 2020, center, .and Jamie Foxx at the Los Angeles premiere of "Number One on the Call Sheet," on March 12, 2025. (AP Photo)

BET Awards to celebrate 25th anniversary with major star power from Kendrick Lamar to Mariah Carey

June 8, 2025

The BET Awards is bringing major star power — including Kendrick Lamar, Mariah Carey, and Jamie Foxx — to celebrate its 25th anniversary on Monday. Lamar leads the pack with 10 nominations, including album of the year for his critically acclaimed project “GNX.”  His ubiquitous diss track “Not Like Us,” emanating from the Drake feud, received nominations for video of the year and viewer’s choice award. The awards will air live on June 9 from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. EDT.

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Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial, Friday, June 6, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Jury in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial is set to resume deliberations

June 8, 2025

The jury in Harvey Weinstein’s New York sex crimes retrial is set to resume deliberations. The panel of seven women and five men will resume weighing two counts of criminal sex act and one count of rape Monday. The 73-year-old former movie mogul has pleaded not guilty. One juror on Friday asked to be removed from the case, but the judge told him he had to keep deliberating. Weinstein was originally found guilty in 2020 of rape and sexual assault in a verdict considered a landmark in the #MeToo movement. The conviction was overturned, leading to his retrial.

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Anthony Weiner knocks on a resident's door while capaigning for a seat on the New York City Council, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Who’s that knocking at your door? It’s Anthony Weiner on a comeback tour

June 8, 2025

Former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner is attempting a political comeback with a candidacy for the New York City Council. The effort comes years after his once-promising political career imploded in sexting scandals that culminated in a prison sentence after he had illicit online contact with a child. The Associated Press accompanied Weiner on a recent weekday as he knocked on dozens of doors in an apartment complex in the lower Manhattan district he’s hoping to represent. Most people he spoke with appeared happy and surprised to see him. No one pressed him about his scandals.

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FILE - FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference at the Manassas FBI Field Office, March 27, 2025, in Manassas, VA. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, File)

Under Patel, FBI heightens focus on violent crime, illegal immigration. Other threats abound, too

June 8, 2025

The FBI under the leadership of Director Kash Patel has made fighting violent crime and illegal immigration top priorities. That effort brings the bureau into alignment with the vision of President Donald Trump, who has made a crackdown on illegal immigration, cartels and transnational gangs a cornerstone of his administration. The FBI said in a statement that its dedication to investigating terrorism had not changed but acknowledged that it “continuously analyzes the threat landscape” and makes adjustments as necessary. Yet some are concerned the heightened focus on violent crime and immigration risks diverting attention from some of the complicated criminal and national security threats for which the bureau has long borne primary responsibility for investigating.

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FILE - A plane flies over Oakland Alameda Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Unsubstantiated ‘chemtrail’ conspiracy theories lead to legislation proposed in US statehouses

June 8, 2025

State legislatures are passing bills to ban weather modification and geoengineering based on decades-old “chemtrails” conspiracy theories, moving the fringe theory from online into actual public policy. Most recently, legislators in Louisiana passed such legislation, which is now on the governor’s desk. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee already signed a similar bill into law last year and one in Florida has passed both the House and the Senate. More than a dozen states have introduced their own measures, some of which have already failed and others that are making their way through the legislative process.

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Select list of winners at the 2025 Tony Awards

June 8, 2025

For one musical, there was no “maybe” about its happy ending at the Tony Awards. “Maybe Happy Ending” won the best new musical award Sunday and “Purpose” took home best new play. The leading actors in a play trophies went to Sarah Snook for “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and Cole Escola for “Oh, Mary!” Darren Criss for “Maybe Happy Ending” and Nicole Scherzinger for “Sunset Blvd.” won the leading awards for musicals. Kara Young notched her second consecutive Tony for “Purpose.” “Eureka Day” won best revival of a play and “Sunset Blvd.” won for best revival of a musical.

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Law enforcement stand during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

After tear gas and street fires, a Los Angeles community cleans up as National Guard troops arrive

June 8, 2025

Local residents in one Los Angeles-area community cleaned up streets and erased graffiti while expressing dismay at the damage caused during violent clashes between protesters and immigration authorities over the weekend. Ernest Melendrez is one. He woke up early Sunday to shovel tear gas pellets and other charred and broken detritus from his neighborhood’s streets, the remnants of a battle the night before. Melendrez wore a mask covering his nose and mouth but he coughed often. It wasn’t enough to protect him from remaining tear gas still in the air. Given the breadth of the damage, he and his neighbors say they’re angry they were being left to clean up the mess.

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Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., greets people during a "Get Out the Vote" rally, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in Elizabeth, N.J. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

It’s the economy, estúpido: New Jersey governor’s race tests Democrats’ efforts to win back Latinos

June 8, 2025

The New Jersey gubernatorial primary has emerged as a crucial test for Democrats seeking to regain Latino support nationally. This election highlights the challenges in traditionally blue areas where the party’s decline in this racial demographic has been more pronounced than in battleground states. President Donald Trump vastly narrowed the Democratic margins in New Jersey and New York, even flipping some heavily Latino towns. Inflation was an even bigger concern among Hispanics, than it was for white voters last fall. Strategists, unions, organizers and politicians have begun to pivot away from immigration and recentering their messaging around the economy.

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FILE - A child holds an iPhone at an Apple store on Sept. 25, 2015 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

Chinese hackers and user lapses turn smartphones into a ‘mobile security crisis’

June 8, 2025

Hackers tied to China’s government have tried repeatedly to access the phones of prominent Americans, part of Beijing’s sprawling cyberespionage efforts. Smartphones and other mobile devices present significant national security and cybersecurity risks, as foreign government hackers exploit vulnerabilities in mobile networks and apps to spy on people and steal secrets. And people’s careless use of mobile devices to share sensitive information is another concern. National security experts say that mobile security hasn’t kept up as mobile devices and networks have proliferated, making them a significant vulnerability in the nation’s cyber defenses.

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Mohammad Sharafoddin, left, and his wife, Nuriya, right, show a photo of their niece in Afghanistan who won't be able to travel to the U.S., under the new travel ban, during an interview at their home in Irmo, S.C., on Saturday, June 7 2025. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Travel ban may shut door for Afghan family to bring niece to US for a better life

June 7, 2025

Mohammad Sharafoddin, his wife and young son managed to make it out of Afghanistan as refugees nine years ago, at one point walking 36 hours in a row over mountain passes. Sharafoddin hoped his wife’s niece could follow them to their new home in South Carolina. But President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from Afghanistan and 11 other countries appears to have shut that door. Sharafoddin says his niece wants to be a doctor, and it is especially hard because she can’t study in her home country under the Taliban, who returned to power in 2021 .

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Trump officials are vowing to end school desegregation orders. Some parents say they’re still needed

June 7, 2025

Six decades after the federal government ordered Concordia Parish to desegregate its schools, the district remains racially divided. Black students make up more than 92% of Ferriday High School, while 15 minutes away, Vidalia High is 62% white. Yet state and local officials say it’s time to free Concordia Parish and other districts from court-ordered desegregation orders dating back decades. In a stunning shift that reverses decades of policy, they have allies in the federal government. The Trump administration has vowed to lift more desegregation plans from the 1960s. Civil rights activists say it would leave families with little recourse when they face discrimination.

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Tony Awards offer many intriguing matchups in a star-studded season

June 7, 2025

A pair of singing androids. Two Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. A drunken Mary Todd Lincoln. A musical with a corpse as its hero. A “Romeo and Juliet” with teddy bears and rave music. Not to mention George Clooney. Broadway has had a stuffed season with seemingly something for everyone and now it’s time to recognize the best with the Tony Awards. They’re set for Sunday night on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ with Cynthia Erivo as host. Broadway buzz is usually reserved for musical but this year plays powered by A-list talent are driving the conversation.

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The South Dakota State Penitentiary sits north of downtown Sioux Falls on Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Sarah Raza)

South Dakota is on track to spend $2 billion on prisons in the next decade

June 7, 2025

South Dakota is on a path to invest $2 billion into its corrections facilities in the next decade as a result of its stringent crime laws. The inmate population is projected to soar 30% in the next 10 years because of recent laws that keep people behind bars for longer. Now the state is expected to make decisions about where these prisons will go and how much to spend. Lawmakers have yet to reconsider the laws driving the inmate population surge or suggest prison alternatives. Without those, experts say the state is sure to run out of prison space soon.

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Women embrace before a community vigil at the Boulder Jewish Community Center to mark an attack in Boulder, Colo., Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, Pool)

Boulder Jewish Festival proceeds with enhanced security and focus on healing after attack

June 7, 2025

This year’s Boulder Jewish Festival is being reimagined to focus on community healing. That comes after an attack during a weekly gathering of a group that has been calling for Hamas to release Israeli hostages. The cultural celebration kicks off Sunday morning at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall — the same location where police say a man yelled “Free Palestine” and threw Molotov cocktails at the demonstrators. The man, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged with attempted murder and other crimes in a Colorado court. The festival will center the demonstrators’ cause — raising awareness of the 58 people believed to still be in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

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A person wearing rainbow heart sunglasses watches the World Pride parade, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Cloudy skies can’t dim joy as thousands fill nation’s capital for World Pride parade

June 7, 2025

Gray skies and drizzle gave way to sunshine, multicolored flags and celebrations as the nation’s capital hosted the World Pride parade. Tens of thousands of people participated Saturday in parades and other festivities, in defiance of what activists say is an unprecedented assault on the LGBTQ+ community that challenges the rights many have fought for over the years. World Pride culminates on Sunday with a rally, street protest and concert.

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This image provided by the Chicago Police Department shows police officer Krystal Rivera. (Chicago Police Department via AP)

Chicago police say an officer was accidentally shot and killed by her partner

June 7, 2025

Chicago police officials say an officer killed this week was accidentally shot and killed by her partner after they encountered someone with a rifle when they chased a suspect into an apartment. The officer who died was identified as 36-year-old Krystal Rivera. She is survived by a 10-year-old daughter. In a statement Friday, police say the partner was the only person who fired a weapon at the scene. And they say a squad car carrying Rivera to the hospital crashed and caught on fire Thursday night before she was transported in another vehicle.

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Runway's third-annual AI Film Festival kicks off with a screening at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Wyatte Grantham-Philips)

Film festival showcases what artificial intelligence can do on the big screen

June 7, 2025

Artificial Intelligence’s use in filmmaking is growing. And an annual festival is showcasing what this technology can do on screen today. The third-annual AI Film Festival organized by Runway, a company that specializes in AI-generated video, kicked off in New York this week — with ten short films from around the world making their debut on the big screen Thursday night. “Total Pixel Space,” by Jacob Adler, took home the top prize. Creating a coherent film using generative AI is no easy feat. It can take a long list of directions and numerous, detailed prompts to get even a short scene to make sense and look consistent. Still, the scope of what this kind of technology can do has grown significantly since Runway’s first festival in 2023.

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Protesters gather at the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons after federal immigration authorities conducted an operation on Friday, June 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Federal authorities arrest dozens for immigration violations across Los Angeles

June 7, 2025

Federal immigration authorities say they arrested 44 people Friday across Los Angeles. The detentions prompted clashes outside at least one location as a crowd gathered in protest. Demonstrators massed outside a federal detention center demanding authorities release the detainees. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says the arrests were designed to “sow terror” in the nation’s second largest city. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office says a judge had issued a search warrant for one business related to the employer using fictitious documents for its workers. The arrests come as the Trump administration ramps up immigration arrests to fulfill President Donald Trump’s call for mass deportations.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pauses in the door of his office to answer questions from reporters about his strategy to advance President Donald Trump's spending and tax bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump’s tariffs could pay for his tax cuts — but it likely wouldn’t be much of a bargain

June 7, 2025

The tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill would likely gouge a $2.4 trillion hole in the federal budget. The president has a patch handy, though. His sweeping levies on imports – the tariffs that have disrupted world trade, shaken financial markets and created uncertainty for businesses – would probably plug the gap, raising enough money to pay for all or most of his income and business tax cuts. That’s the budget math anyway. Actually using import taxes – tariffs – to finance a big chunk of the federal government would be a painful and perilous undertaking, budget wonks say.

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., arrives to speak with reporters about the spending and tax bill embraced by President Donald Trump and Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump’s big bill also seeks to undo the big bills of Biden and Obama

June 7, 2025

Chiseling away at President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Rolling back the green energy tax breaks central to President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. At its core, the Republican “big, beautiful bill” is more than just an extension of tax breaks approved during President Donald Trump’s first term at the White House. The package is an attempt to undo, little by little, the signature domestic achievements of the past two Democratic presidents. House Speaker Mike Johnson says Republicans are going “to do what we said we were going to do.” But the bill’s spending cuts pointed at the Democratic-led programs are causing the most political turmoil.

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President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

What it would take to convert a jet from Qatar into Air Force One to safely fly Trump

June 7, 2025

President Donald Trump grew impatient with how long it was taking to finish new planes to serve as Air Force One, so he started to look for other options. He found one in a luxury jumbo jet that Qatar was willing to sell — and now may be turning into a divisive gift. Assuming legal issues around the transfer are resolved, the next question is how long it will take to refurbish the Boeing 747 for presidential travel. That could span years and cost billions of dollars, meaning he might not get to use the plane during his term. If he’s in a rush and wants to cut corners, it’s a matter of how much risk he’s willing to take.

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This undated photo provided by the Wenatchee Police Department shows Travis Caleb Decker who the police are asking the public for help in locating the Washington state father who is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. (Wenatchee Police Department via AP)

Search expands for former Army soldier accused of killing his 3 young daughters in Washington state

June 6, 2025

Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters. Law enforcement officers from an array of state and federal agencies are looking for Travis 32-year-old Caleb Decker after the girls were found dead at a remote campsite outside Leavenworth on Monday. They have been identified as 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker. The girls’ mother reported them missing May 30 when Caleb Decker failed to return them to her home in Wenatchee after a scheduled visit.

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Why a Minneapolis neighborhood sharpens a giant pencil every year

June 6, 2025

Residents will gather Saturday in a scenic Minneapolis neighborhood for an annual ritual — the sharpening of a gigantic No. 2 pencil. The 20-feet-tall pencil was sculpted out of a mammoth oak at the home of John and Amy Higgins. The beloved tree was damaged in a storm a few years ago. But the Higginses saw it not so much as a loss, but as a chance to give the tree new life. The sharpening ceremony on their front lawn has evolved into a spectacle that draws hundreds of people to the Lake of the Isles neighborhood, complete with music and pageantry.

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FILE - President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The 911 presidency: Trump flexes emergency powers in his second term

June 6, 2025

Call it the 911 presidency. Despite insisting that the United States has rebounded from calamity under his watch, President Donald Trump is harnessing emergency powers unlike any of his predecessors. Whether it’s leveling punishing tariffs, deploying troops to the border or sidelining environmental regulations, Trump has relied on rules and laws intended only for use in extraordinary circumstances like war and invasion. An analysis by The Associated Press shows that 20% of Trump’s 150 executive orders have included some kind of emergency declaration, a proportion that far exceed those issued by any other recent president during entire four-year terms.

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FILE - Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears greets visitors prior to the start of the Senate Session at the Virginia Capitol, Jan. 25, 2022, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

A Virginia Democrat hunts for votes in rural pockets where MAGA has strengthened its grip

June 6, 2025

Democrat Abigail Spanberger often campaigns in rural Virginia districts that President Donald Trump won by large margins. In the general election to be Virginia’s next governor, she is competing for voters in places where Democrats have struggled in recent elections. Spanberger’s efforts to gain ground in ruby-red parts of Virginia come as Democrats have nationally shown more interest in small-town America. The terrain may be new for Democrats nationally but it’s familiar ground for Spanberger. She hopes to benefit from growing concern about the impact of Trump’s policies on rural areas.

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FILE - Ralph Leroy Menzies appears in Third District Court for a competency hearing in West Jordan, Utah, Monday, Nov 18, 2024. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Utah judge rules a convicted killer with dementia is competent to be executed

June 6, 2025

A Utah judge has ruled that a convicted killer who developed dementia while on death row for 37 years is competent enough to be executed. Ralph Leroy Menzies was sentenced to die in 1988 for killing mother of three Maurine Hunsaker. Despite his recent cognitive decline, Menzies “consistently and rationally understands” why he is facing execution, Judge Matthew Bates wrote in a court order. Menzies had previously selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would become only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977. The Utah Attorney General’s Office is expected to file a death warrant soon. Menzies’ lawyers say they plan to appeal the ruling.

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FILE - People walk around the California State Capitol, Aug. 5, 2024, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, File)

Power bills in California have jumped nearly 50% in four years. Democrats think they have solutions

June 6, 2025

California lawmakers advanced several reform measures this week to rein in utility profits, slash electricity bills and potentially save consumers billions of dollars. The legislation is part of Democrats’ agenda to tackle the sky-high costs of living. California ratepayers pay some of the highest power bills in the country. Utilities say they need to increase rates to pay for wildfire mitigation projects, among other things. The legislation would limit utilities’ ability to collect a return for shareholders and provide credits to customers during summer months, among other things. Republicans, utilities and the California Chamber of Commerce said it would only increase costs.

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FILE - Washington Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond departs federal court after pleading not guilty to obstruction of justice and other charges, May 19, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Former DC police officer sentenced to 18 months for lying about leaking info to Proud Boys leader

June 6, 2025

A retired police officer was sentenced on Friday to serve 18 months behind bars for lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the Proud Boys extremist group’s former top leader, who was under investigation for burning a Black Lives Matter banner in the nation’s capital. Shane Lamond was a lieutenant for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., when he fed information about its banner burning investigation to then-Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio. Last December, after a trial without a jury, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., convicted Lamond of one count of obstructing justice and three counts of making false statements.

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President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US, Chinese officials to meet in London next week for new round of trade talks

June 6, 2025

Senior U.S. administration officials will meet with a Chinese delegation on Monday in London for the next round of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, President Donald Trump said Friday. The meeting comes after a phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the U.S. president described as a “very positive” conversation as the two countries attempt to break an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. side in the trade talks. “The meeting should go very well,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Friday afternoon.

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FILE - Elon Musk flashes his T-shirt that reads "DOGE" to the media as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Supreme Court allows DOGE team to access Social Security systems with data on millions of Americans

June 6, 2025

The Supreme Court has handed the Trump administration two victories in cases involving the Department of Government Efficiency, including giving it access to Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. The court’s majority sided Friday with the Trump administration in its first Supreme Court appeals involving DOGE, the effort recently led by Elon Musk. The three liberal justices dissented in both cases. One decision halted an order from a judge in Maryland restricting the team’s access to the Social Security Administration under federal privacy laws. The other reined in orders seeking transparency at DOGE in a lawsuit filed by a watchdog group.

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President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Judge says administration can dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services

June 6, 2025

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has denied a request to halt the Trump administration’s further dismantling of an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the country. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had previously agreed to temporarily block the Republican administration. But on Friday, he wrote that recent court decisions suggested that the lawsuit brought by the American Library Association and others belonged in a separate court dedicated to hearing contractual claims. In March, President Donald Trump ordered that the Institute of Museum and Library Services and several other federal agencies be reduced to minimal functions.

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Candles, flowers, and notes are placed at a makeshift memorial in San Antonio, on Thursday, June 5, 2025, for voice actor Jonathan Joss who was recently killed. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

What to know about fatal shooting of ‘King of the Hill’ actor Jonathan Joss as co-stars pay tribute

June 6, 2025

It remains unclear what prompted the fatal shooting of Jonathan Joss. But police say they are looking into whether his sexual orientation played any role in his death. The Native American voice actor is best known for his work on the animated television series “King of the Hill.” Joss’ husband has claimed the person arrested for the shooting yelled “violent homophobic slurs” before opening fire. San Antonio police initially said they had found no evidence indicating the killing was related to Joss’ sexual orientation. On Thursday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus walked back that statement, saying whether Joss’ sexual orientation is tied to his death is still being investigated.

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FILE - The Supreme Court is pictured, Jan. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Supreme Court will hear Alabama appeal in bid to execute man found to be intellectually disabled

June 6, 2025

The Supreme Court will consider making it harder for convicted murderers to show their lives should be spared because they are intellectually disabled. That’s according to an order released early on Friday after an apparent technological glitch. It’s the second time in about a year that an online error resulted in an early release from the high court. The justices’ action comes in an appeal from Alabama, which is seeking to execute Joseph Clifton Smith. He was sentenced to death for killing a man in 1997. When it’s argued in the fall, the case could be the first in which the Supreme Court cuts back on its 23-year-old landmark ruling that barred the death penalty for people who are intellectually disabled.

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FILE - A drone carries a mortar shell as soldiers take part in the U.S.-led Immediate Response 25 military exercise in Petrochori, Greece, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

Trump’s new drone orders aim to counter threats while encouraging flying cars and supersonic flights

June 6, 2025

President Donald Trump has signed three executive orders dealing with drone regulations and encouraging the development of flying cars and supersonic flights. The orders will help clear the way for companies to use drones beyond operators’ line of sight, while also imposing restrictions to help protect against terrorism, espionage and public safety threats. Drones are used in a variety of ways, including rescue operations, power line inspections and even package delivery. But the war in Ukraine highlighted some of the potential threats from drones that concern officials as the World Cup and Olympics approach in the U.S. White House officials said regulations have slowed the development of supersonic flights and flying cars.

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Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy speaks during a news conference to provide a status update on Newark Liberty International Airport at the Department of Transportation in Washington, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Transportation chief seeks to weaken fuel economy standards, calls Biden-era rule ‘illegal’

June 6, 2025

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says Biden-era fuel economy standards for gas-guzzling cars and trucks are illegal and moved to reverse the rules. He said Friday that the previous administration “ignored statutory requirements” that barred consideration of electric vehicles when setting standards. Experts say a revised fuel economy rule is likely to lead to increased tailpipe pollution and higher prices for consumers at the pump. Meanwhile, Senate negotiations over a massive budget bill include language that would remove fines penalizing automakers that don’t meet federal fuel economy standards. The two moves together could slow the country’s demand for electric vehicles.

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FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, claps as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk prepares to depart after a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show on Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Musk could lose billions of dollars depending on how spat with Trump unfolds

June 6, 2025

Elon Musk stands to lose billions of dollars in his fight with President Donald Trump. The feud between Musk and Trump could mean Tesla’s plans for self-driving cars hit a roadblock. SpaceX might fly fewer missions for NASA and might not carry out Trump’s plan to send astronauts back to the moon. Starlink could get fewer overseas satellite contracts. And the social media platform X may lose advertisers. Experts said on Friday that the extent of the fallout is unclear, however. It all depends on Trump’s appetite for revenge.

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A young man arrives at a travel agency on Thursday, June 5, 2025, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Trump banned travel from 12 countries, but included some exceptions to avoid legal battles

June 6, 2025

The new travel ban on citizens of 12 countries that restricted access to people from seven others includes some exceptions. Part of the administration’s efforts to withstand the legal challenges that a similar policy known as the “Muslim ban” faced during its first administration. Some exceptions apply only for specific countries, like Afghanistan. Others are for most of the countries on the list, or are more general and unclear, like the policies for foreign visitors planning to come to the U.S. for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

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President Donald Trump, left, speaks during a meet withGermany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, not pictured, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, from right, and Vice President JD Vance listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

State Dept says current US visas from travel ban countries will not be revoked

June 6, 2025

The State Department has instructed U.S. embassies and consulates not to revoke visas previously issued to people from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries now under President Donald Trump’s new travel ban, which goes into effect next week. In a cable sent on Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions, the department said that “no action should be taken for issued visas which have already left the consular section.” The cable, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suggests there should be no issue for current visa holders from the affected countries entering the United States after the restrictions take effect on June 9 at midnight ET.

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Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, gives his opening remarks during a Senate Committee on the Judiciary joint subcommittee hearing to examine District Judges v. Trump, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Senate Republicans revise ban on state AI regulations in bid to preserve controversial provision

June 6, 2025

Senate Republicans have made changes to their party’s sweeping tax bill in hopes of preserving a new policy that would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence. Republicans are proposing to block states from receiving federal funding for broadband if they regulate AI. That’s a change from a provision in the House’s bill that simply banned any current or future AI regulations by the states. Senators unveiled the revised language Thursday night. The proposed ban has angered state lawmakers in Democratic and Republican-led states and alarmed some digital safety advocates. But leading AI executives warn a “patchwork” of state AI regulations would cripple innovation.

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FILE - People appear in Josie Robertson Plaza in front of The Metropolitan Opera house at Lincoln Center in New York on March 12, 2020. . (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Met singers’ union gets 5% increase partly funded by $5M appropriation from New York state

June 6, 2025

The Metropolitan Opera and the union for its soloists and chorus have announced a one-year agreement on a contract. It includes a 2.5% wage increase plus an additional temporary 2.5% hike that followed the labor group’s assistance in securing a $5 million appropriation in New York state’s budget. The deal between the Met and the American Guild of Musical Artists starts Aug. 1 and runs through July 31, 2026. It must be ratified by the union. AGMA also represents dancers, full-time actors, stage managers, stage directors and choreographers. The Met said AGMA helped lobby the state government for the appropriation, and the additional 2.5% rise will sunset when the deal expires.

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FILE - In this April 24, 2020 file photo, customers lineup outside a Michaels store in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Michaels completes acquisition of Joann’s intellectual property and fan-favorite labels

June 6, 2025

Craft labels from the now-shuttered fabrics seller Joann are making their way to a new home: Michaels. The Michaels Companies announced on Thursday that it had completed its purchase of Joann’s intellectual property and private label brands — in an acquisition that arrives as the Texas-based crafting chain works to expand its own fabric, sewing and yarn offerings. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Joann announced it would be going out of business back in February, just one month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time within a year.

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Workers put up fencing around Dupont Circle ahead of the World Pride Parade, Friday, June 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

As World Pride flows straight into the military parade, DC officials say they’re ready for anything

June 6, 2025

Officials in the nation’s capital generally express full confidence in their ability to handle large, complicated events and huge crowds. That expertise will be put to the test over the next eight days as the District of Columbia hosts massive events on back-to-back weekends. The two wildly divergent events carry the extra possibility of counter-protests or disruption, and that adds a layer of anxiety to the logistical hassles. June 7 and 8 brings the peak of the two-week World Pride celebration with two days of mass gatherings on Pennsylvania Avenue. Then while the cleanup from World Pride is still happening, preparations will immediately begin for the much-hyped June 14 military parade to celebrate the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army — and President Donald Trump’s birthday.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth salutes during a ceremony at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Transgender troops face a deadline and a difficult decision: Stay or go?

June 6, 2025

As transgender service members face a deadline to leave the U.S. military, hundreds are taking the financial bonus to depart voluntarily. But others say they’ll stay and fight. For many, it’s a wrenching decision to end a career they love. And they’re angry they’re being forced out by the Trump administration’s renewed ban on transgender troops serving in the military. For others, it’s a call to arms. Active duty service members have until Friday to identify themselves and begin to leave the military voluntarily. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the changes are what America voted for, and the Pentagon is “leaving wokeness & weakness behind,” and that includes “no more dudes in dresses.”

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Renée Elise Goldsberry talks new album, whether ‘Hamilton’ return is an option and EGOT aspirations

June 6, 2025

Renée Elise Goldsberry is most inspired by artists bold enough to take a career leap, even when there’s no guarantee of a safe landing. Over the years, Goldsberry spent her celebrated career surrounded by fearless risk-takers. Now, the Tony and Grammy winner, best known for her breakout role in the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” is taking a bold move of her own. She’s stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist for her debut album, “Who I Really Am.” The album is a 13-track project filled with soul, funk, blues and gospel vibes featuring a reimagined version of her iconic “Hamilton” song “Satisfied,” which was originally penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Goldsberry portrayed Angelica Schuyler in “Hamilton.”

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FILE - A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer listens during a briefing, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Migrants and ICE officers contend with heat, smog and illness after detoured South Sudan flight

June 6, 2025

The Trump administration says migrants placed on a deportation flight originally bound for South Sudan are now being held in a converted shipping container on a U.S. naval base in Djibouti, where the men and their guards are contending with baking hot temperatures, smoke from nearby burn pits and the looming threat of rocket attacks. Officials outlined grim conditions in court documents filed Thursday before a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to swiftly remove migrants to countries they didn’t come from. The judge in Boston found the Republican administration violated his order by swiftly sending eight migrants from countries including Cuba and Vietnam to East Africa.

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FILE - A relief sculpture rests on a gate to the entrance of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Judge puts temporary hold on Trump’s latest ban on Harvard’s foreign students

June 5, 2025

A federal judge late Thursday temporarily blocked a proclamation by President Donald Trump that banned foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard University. Trump’s proclamation, issued Wednesday, marked his administration’s latest attempt to cut off Harvard from a quarter of its student body, which accounts for much of the elite university’s research and scholarship. Hours earlier, Harvard had filed a legal challenge asking the federal judge to block Trump’s order, calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of White House demands. In an amended lawsuit filed Thursday, Harvard said the president was attempting an end-run around a previous court order.

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Harvey Weinstein appears for his retrial at a Manhattan court, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, Pool)

Jury deliberations to resume in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial

June 5, 2025

Jurors will resume deliberating in Harvey Weinstein’s New York sex crimes retrial after the ending their first day without reaching a verdict. The seven-woman, five-man jury returns to their closed door discussions Friday as they revisit a case that encapsulated the #MeToo movement. The jury is considering two counts of criminal sex act and one count of rape against the 73-year-old Oscar-winning movie producer. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty.  Sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein propelled the #MeToo movement in 2017. He was eventually convicted of sex crimes in New York and California, but the New York conviction was overturned, leading to the retrial.

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‘Sinners’ puts ‘truth on screen’ for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

June 5, 2025

The blockbuster horror film “Sinners” features the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in a short, but impactful scene. For some Choctaw, it is the first time they’ve heard their language and seen their culture accurately portrayed on screen. The filmmakers set out with the goal of authenticity in mind, hiring Choctaw consultants and actors to ensure the movie did the tribe justice. “Sinners” producers didn’t stop with Choctaw consultants; they enlisted a small army of experts who advised on the confluence of cultures mingling in the 1930s Mississippi Delta, where the film is set.

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President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump and Musk break up, and Washington holds its breath

June 5, 2025

Insiders have speculated about a potential falling-out between Donald Trump and Elon Musk for months. It never seemed to happen — until Thursday. The world’s most powerful man and its wealthiest began attacking each other in a spectacle that left Washington breathless. The feud began with Musk’s criticism of Trump’s legislative agenda, which would increase the deficit while eliminating tax incentives that have helped his electric automaker Tesla. Trump responded by threatening to cut government subsidies and contracts for Musk’s companies, and things only escalated from there.

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FILE - Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer, left, and journalist Megyn Kelly, attend a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Secretary of Health and Human Services post, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Trump’s surgeon general pick criticizes others’ conflicts but profits from wellness product sales

June 5, 2025

President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. surgeon general has said the nation’s medical and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans’ health. Yet as Dr. Casey Means has criticized scientists and regulators for taking money from the food and pharmaceutical industries, she has promoted dozens of products in ways that put money in her own pocket. The Associated Press found Means set up deals with an array of businesses and, in some cases, promoted companies in which she was an investor or adviser without consistently disclosing the connection.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent walks at the White House, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US declines to label China a currency manipulator, but blasts its transparency policies

June 5, 2025

The U.S. declined to label China a currency manipulator in a new Treasury report, but accuses Beijing of standing out among America’s major trading partners for lacking transparency. Treasury’s semi-annual report to Congress comes as the Trump administration seeks to strike a trade deal with China, averting a trade war that has been brewing between the two nations. A Treasury official told reporters previewing the report that the U.S. could in the future find evidence that China is manipulating its currency and will make a determination in the fall whether China has been manipulating the renminbi, also known as RMB. The U.S. labeled China a currency manipulator in 2019.

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FILE - In this image taken from police body camera footage provided by Los Angeles Sheriff's office, a Sheriff's deputies arrests a couple in a grocery store parking lot in Lancaster, Calif., on June 24, 2023. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Officer who used excessive force allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor after felony conviction

June 5, 2025

A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy will serve four months in prison on a misdemeanor conviction for using excessive force after the new Trump-appointed U.S. attorney offered an unusual plea deal despite a jury convicting him of a felony. The victim’s attorney asked a federal appeals court to reinstate the felony conviction, but the court declined to do so on Thursday. Deputy Trevor Kirk was found guilty of a felony after being recorded tackling and pepper-spraying a woman in 2023. When U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli took office, federal prosecutors offered Kirk a plea deal for a misdemeanor. Kirk was sentenced to four months in prison on Monday.

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Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings poses for a photo before the Liberty Awards National Dinner, in New York, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Lambda Legal, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ rights, exceeded fundraising goal by $105M

June 5, 2025

The legal aid group Lambda Legal has raised $285 million at a time when attacks on the rights of gay, intersex and transgender people have again intensified. The nonprofit, which advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, said Thursday that they exceeded their original fundraising goal by $105 million. CEO Kevin Jennings said the group launched the campaign quietly in 2022 in response to a wave of bills in state legislatures that targeted gay, trans and intersex communities. They plan to spend $80 million in the next five years, in part to hire more attorneys.

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FILE - Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Detained Columbia graduate claims ‘irreparable harm’ to career and family as he pleads for release

June 5, 2025

A Columbia graduate facing deportation over his pro-Palestinian activism on campus has outlined the “irreparable harm” caused by his continued detention as a federal judge weighs his release. Mahmoud Khalil said in court filings unsealed Thursday that the “most immediate and visceral harms” he’s faced during his months in custody relate to missing out on the birth of his first child. He also cited potentially “career-ending” harms from the ordeal, noting that Oxfam International has already rescinded a job offer. Khalil’s statement was among a number of legal declarations submitted by his lawyers highlighting the wide-ranging impacts of his arrest.

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A Louisiana state police SWAT member works the scene on Iberville Street as police pursue a fugitive that escaped from a New Orleans jail, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Authorities investigating a new social media post by a New Orleans jail escapee on the run

June 5, 2025

Authorities are investigating an Instagram photo showing a man who identifies himself as Antoine Massey, a fugitive still at large after escaping more than two weeks ago from a New Orleans jail. Authorities say they became aware Thurdsay of the social media post, which shows a man with Massey’s same facial tattoos. Authorities are not sure when or where the photo was taken but they say they are treating the post as real. Earlier this week, authorities raided a home where they believed Massey had recorded videos posted on social media while on the run. They say they only found some clothing he apparently wore on video.

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FILE - Students sit on the front steps of Low Memorial Library on the Columbia University campus in New York City, Feb. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Top US universities raced to become global campuses. Under Trump, it’s becoming a liability

June 5, 2025

Three decades ago, foreign students at Harvard University accounted for just 11% of the total student body. Today they account for 26%. Like other prestigious U.S. universities, Harvard has admitted booming numbers of foreign students in recent decades. The college has been cashing in on its global cache to recruit the world’s best students. Yet universities’ race to the top of global rankings has made them vulnerable to a new line of attack. President Donald Trump is using his control over the nation’s borders as leverage in his quest to reshape American higher education. On Wednesday, Trump barred nearly all foreigners from entering the country to attend Harvard.

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Strawberry the kitten appears on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at the Associated Press bureau in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon)

Welcome to kitten season, when animal shelters need all the help they can get

June 5, 2025

It’s kitten season in warm-weather areas and animal shelters need all the help they can get. Now is the time of year when most cats give birth. That produces a surge of kittens. Shelters tend to get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. As a result, more foster homes are needed. There’s a false perception out there that cat foster families shoulder all expenses. Animal welfare advocate Hannah Shaw, known on social media as the Kitten Lady, says nowadays that’s not true. Most shelters and rescues help out. That includes training and supporting cat foster parents.

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FILE - Chiefs signs and logos are displayed Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

New York won’t rescind Native American mascot ban despite Trump’s threat of cutting federal funds

June 5, 2025

New York education officials have refused to rescind the state’s ban on Native American mascots and team names, despite threats from the Trump administration that it risks losing federal funding. State officials suggested in a letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday that they could instead broaden the state ban to include names and mascots derived from other racial or ethnic groups that the department deems offensive. The federal agency last week determined New York’s ban is discriminatory because names and mascots that are still permitted are also derived from other racial or ethnic groups, such as the “Dutchmen” and the “Huguenots.”

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FILE - Army soldiers look at the border wall next to a surveillance vehicle in Sunland Park, N.M., Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

Peruvian migrant acquitted in the first trial over the new militarized zone at US-Mexico border

June 5, 2025

A Peruvian woman who crossed the U.S. border illegally has been acquitted of unauthorized access to a newly designated militarized zone along the southern border. Thursday’s ruling capped the first trial to use a new legal approach by the Trump administration to impose penalties on immigrants who cross the border illegally. Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez was arrested last month near the West Texas town of Tornillo after she entered the U.S. from Mexico. In addition to being charged with entering the country illegally, she was charged with accessing a military zone.

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FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012, file photo, students walk through the University of Texas at Austin campus near the school's iconic tower in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

What to know as Trump administration targets tuition breaks for students without legal status

June 5, 2025

The quick end to a Texas law that granted in-state public university tuition prices to students who lack legal resident status stunned immigrant advocates and state Democrats, who call it a cruel punishment for hardworking students that will ultimately hurt the state’s economy. In one of the Trump administration’s latest moves to crack down on immigration, the Justice Department on Wednesday sued to block the so-called “Texas Dream Act.” A few hours later, a federal judge declared it unconstitutional. The lighting ruling ended a policy that since 2001 has helped tens of thousands of students get into college and has spawned similar laws in two dozen states.

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Candles, flowers, and notes are placed at a makeshift memorial in San Antonio, on Thursday, June 5, 2025, for voice actor Jonathan Joss who was recently killed. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Police consider whether ‘King of the Hill’ actor’s sexual orientation played a role in his killing

June 5, 2025

Authorities in Texas say investigators are looking into whether the sexual orientation of “King of the Hill” voice actor Jonathan Joss played a role in his shooting death. Joss’ husband has claimed the person who killed the actor yelled “violent homophobic slurs” before opening fire outside his home in San Antonio on Sunday night. A day after the shooting, San Antonio police issued a statement saying they had found “no evidence whatsoever to indicate that Mr. Joss’ murder was related to his sexual orientation.” But during a news conference Thursday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus walked back that previous statement.

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FILE - Bottles of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey line the shelves of a liquor outlet in Montpelier, Vt., Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman sees sales fall as Trump trade conflicts weigh on spirits producers

June 5, 2025

Spirits maker Brown-Forman is reporting weaker sales as it confronts challenging market conditions amid trade conflicts and pinched consumer spending. The Louisville, Kentucky-based maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey said Thursday its full-year net sales were down 5% from the year-ago period, and fell 7% in the fourth quarter. Net income was down 15% for the full fiscal year and plunged 45% in the fourth quarter. The quarterly drop came as Brown-Forman and other U.S. spirits producers who rely heavily on foreign sales started feeling the reverberations from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plans. Brown-Forman also offered a sobering assessment for the coming year.

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FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Supreme Court tosses Mexico’s $10B lawsuit claiming US gunmakers have fueled cartel violence

June 5, 2025

The Supreme Court is tossing out a $10 billion lawsuit Mexico filed against top U.S. firearm manufacturers alleging the companies fuel cartel gun violence. The unanimous Thursday ruling comes under U.S. laws that largely shield gunmakers from lawsuits. Mexico has strict gun laws, but thousands of guns are smuggled in by the country’s drug cartels annually. The National Shooting Sports Foundation calls the ruling “a tremendous victory for the firearm industry.” Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it strongly disagreed with the decision and President Claudia Sheinbaum pointed to a second suit the country filed in Arizona.

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Harvey Weinstein appears for his retrial at a Manhattan court, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, Pool)

Jury deliberations begin in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial

June 5, 2025

Jurors have begun deliberating in Harvey Weinstein’s New York sex crimes retrial, ending the first day without reaching a verdict. The seven-woman, five-man jury went behind closed doors Thursday to decide a case that encapsulated the #MeToo movement. The jury is considering two counts of criminal sex act and one count of rape. The 73-year-old Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. A series of sexual misconduct allegations against the Oscar-winning movie producer propelled the #MeToo movement in 2017. He later was convicted of sex crimes in New York and California. But the New York conviction was overturned, leading to the retrial.

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FILE - President Donald Trump speaks at U.S. Steel Corporation's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant, Friday, May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

What Trump ordering an investigation into Biden’s actions might mean legally and politically

June 5, 2025

President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into pardons and other executive actions issued by his predecessor, Joe Biden — launching an unprecedented effort to show that the Democrat hid his cognitive decline and was otherwise too mentally impaired to do the job. Trump, who turns 79 this month, has long questioned the mental acuity and physical stamina of Biden, and his now directing his administration to use governmental investigative powers to try and back up those assertions. Biden, 82, and now undergoing treatments for prostate cancer, dismissed Trump’s actions as “ridiculous.” Legal experts say a president’s right to issue pardons is absolute and expect that the legal consequences of Trump’s order are unlikely to be greater than the political impact.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the American Compass's The New World Gala in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

US hits International Criminal Court judges with sanctions over investigation into Israel

June 5, 2025

The Trump administration is slapping sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court over the tribunal’s investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. The State Department said it would impose travel bans on the ICC judges, who hail from Benin, Peru, Slovenia and Uganda. The move is just the latest step the administration has taken to punish the ICC and its officials for investigations undertaken against Israel and the United States.

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In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, smoke rises from cargo vessel Morning Midas approximately 300 miles south of Adak, Alaska, June 3, 2025, as the crew of a cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire. (U.S. Coast Guard/Courtesy Air Station Kodiak via AP)

Salvage crew bound for the site of a cargo ship fire off the coast of Alaska

June 5, 2025

A salvage team is expected to arrive early next week at the scene of a cargo ship that was carrying about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico when it caught fire in waters off Alaska’s Aleutian island chain. The ship’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, says a tug carrying salvage specialists and special equipment is expected to arrive at the location of the Morning Midas around Monday. A separate tug with firefighting and ocean towage capabilities also was being arranged. The company said the Morning Midas remained afloat as of Thursday morning. The 22-person crew was rescued, with no injuries reported.

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For Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves’ co-star 10 years ago and once again, ‘Ballerina’ is a pirouette

June 5, 2025

Years before Ana de Armas was using an ice skate to slice a neck in “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,” she co-starred with Keanu Reeves in a much different film. But since the 2015 erotic thriller “Knock Knock,” de Armas’ rise to stardom has been one of the most meteoric of the last decade. Now, 10 years after those scenes with Reeves, de Armas is for the first time headlining a big summer action movie. In “Ballerina,” de Armas’ progressive development as an unlikely action star reaches a butt-kicking crescendo as she inherits the mantle of one of the most esteemed, high-body-count franchises.

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This image from video provided by the Department of Health and Human Services shows Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking alongside Food and Drug Administration administrator Dr. Martin Makary, left, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, as they announce that the government would no longer endorse the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children or pregnant women. (Health and Human Services via AP)

Who’s in charge? CDC’s leadership ‘crisis’ apparent amid new COVID-19 vaccine guidance

June 5, 2025

The CDC, a $9.2 billion-a-year agency tasked with reviewing life-saving vaccines, monitoring diseases and watching for budding threats to Americans’ health, is without a clear leader. The leadership vacuum at a foremost federal public health agency has existed for months, after President Donald Trump suddenly yanked his first pick for CDC director in March. A hearing for his new nominee — the agency’s former acting director Susan Monarez — has not yet been scheduled because she has not submitted all the paperwork necessary to proceed, according to a spokesman for Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who will oversee the nomination.

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Arrest made in theft of instruments stolen from the rock band Heart at New Jersey venue

June 5, 2025

Authorities have made an arrest in the theft of two irreplaceable instruments owned by members of the rock band Heart that were stolen from a venue in New Jersey last weekend. Atlantic City police say surveillance video initially led them to the 57-year-old Pleasantville man. They say he was later seen on video walking through various parts of the city, trying to sell the instruments, and he eventually sold one while the other remains unaccounted for. The man has been charged with burglary and theft.

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FILE - The Apple logo is displayed at an Apple store, Jan. 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Apple loses bid to halt court ruling that blocks some fees from its iPhone app store

June 5, 2025

A three-judge appeals panel rejected Apple’s request to pause an April 30 order banning the company from charging a fee on in-app iPhone transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system in a two-page decision issued late Thursday. The setback threatens to divert billions of dollars in revenue away from Apple while it tried to overturn the order reining in its commissions from e-commerce within iPhone apps. Apple sought to put the order on hold shortly after it was issued as part of a stinging rebuke that also held the company in civil contempt of court. It marked the latest twist in a long-running legal battle with Epic Games.

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FILE - A hiring sign is displayed at a grocery store in Northbrook, Ill., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits last week rises to highest level in eight months

June 5, 2025

Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in eight months last week but remain historically low despite growing uncertainty about how tariffs could impact the broader economy. New applications for jobless benefits rose by 8,000 to 247,000 for the week ending May 31, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the most since early October. Analysts had forecast 237,000 new applications. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs. The four-week average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week gyrations during more volatile stretches, rose by 4,500 to 235,000, the most since late October.

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FILE - The then Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of U.S. Air Force Central, speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)

Trump taps senior Air Force commander for European Command

June 5, 2025

President Donald Trump is tapping an Air Force fighter pilot with extensive experience as a commander in the Middle East to be the next head of U.S. European Command. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich is currently the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He would also take over as the supreme allied commander, Europe, if his nomination is confirmed by the Senate. Most recently Grynkewich served as commander of Air Forces in the Middle East, including air operations in support of the conflict in Israel, from 2022 to 2023.

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Tom Felton will become Draco Malfoy again — this time, on Broadway

June 5, 2025

The original Draco Malfoy from the “Harry Potter” movies will slip into his old role on Broadway this winter in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Tom Felton will be making his Broadway debut in the role, beginning performances at the Lyric Theatre on Nov. 11 and playing through March 22, 2026. Malfoy was Potter’s nemesis in the books and eight movies. But in the play set 19 years after the events of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” Potter’s son Albus becomes friends with Malfoy’s son Scorpius at Hogwarts.

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An image taken from Joint Base Lewis-McChord surveillance footage depicts two men identified by the Army Criminal Investigations Division as suspects in an assault and robbery in the 75th Ranger Central Operations Facility on June 1, 2025, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. (Army Criminal Investigations Division via AP)

2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say

June 4, 2025

Investigators say two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included explosives and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend. A criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court says Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday at their home in Lacey, near Olympia. Federal court records did not list an attorney for either man. The complaint says one of the men told investigators they had been stealing equipment from the base for the past two years to sell or trade, and investigators found about $24,000 in cash at the home.

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Lucy Trout, from Olympia, Wash., watches as an abandoned ship is transported to shore on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Flying boats make for a rare sight as Washington clears an island of derelict vessels by helicopter

June 4, 2025

The Washington Department of Natural Resources has been using one of its firefighting helicopters to haul abandoned boats off an uninhabited island in the southernmost reaches of Puget Sound this week. The vessels are flown to the mainland to be deconstructed later. The state agency opts to airlift boats out when a water removal would disrupt the marine bed or surrounding environment too much. Officials say this week’s operation was the largest the department has undertaken. Since the boat removal program began in 2002, the department has hauled out more than 1,200 derelict vessels.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., center, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, speak with reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Thune’s first big test as Senate leader has arrived with Trump’s tax bill

June 4, 2025

Only six months into the job, Senate Majority Leader John Thune faces a massive challenge as he tries to quickly pass President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts package. While most of his Republican senators are inclined to vote for it, he can still only lose four votes. To get it done by July 4, Thune has to figure out how to balance the demands of different Republicans. It’s a complicated and risky undertaking, one that is likely to make or break the first year of Thune’s tenure and his evolving relationship with Trump.

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FILE - Steve Kramer is seated June 5, 2024, at Superior Court, in Laconia, N.H., during his arraignment in connection with charges of voter suppression and impersonating a candidate. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, Pool)

Consultant behind AI-generated robocalls mimicking Biden goes on trial in New Hampshire

June 4, 2025

A political consultant who sent voters artificial intelligence-generated robocalls mimicking former President Joe Biden last year is set to go on trial. Steven Kramer has admitted orchestrating a message that was sent to thousands of voters two days before New Hampshire’s Jan. 23, 2024, primary. The message featured a voice similar to Biden’s and suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting ballots in November. The trial begins on Thursday. Kramer faces 11 felony charges related to voter suppression and 11 misdemeanor charges of impersonating a candidate. he faces decades in prison if convicted.

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FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012, file photo, students walk through the University of Texas at Austin campus near the school's iconic tower in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Federal judge blocks Texas law allowing in-state tuition for students without legal residency

June 4, 2025

A federal judge has blocked a Texas law that has for decades given college students without legal residency in the U.S. access to reduced in-state tuition, swiftly ruling in favor of the latest effort by the Trump administration to to crack down on immigration into the country. The 2001 law was one of the first in the nation to allow students without legal residency to attend public colleges and universities at the same cost as in-state residents. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration in its latest effort to crack down on immigration into the country.

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FILE - The Amazon logo is displayed, Sept. 6, 2012, in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

Amazon planning $10B investment in North Carolina for data center and AI campus

June 4, 2025

Amazon is expanding its cloud computing infrastructure and artificial intelligence activities into a rural North Carolina county. The company said Wednesday it intends to invest $10 billion toward building a campus in Richmond County. This will bring a shot in the arm to a region where textile and apparel jobs dried up a generation ago. Amazon said its investment should create at least 500 jobs and support thousands more through construction and data center supply chain providers. Gov. Josh Stein says the investment is one of the largest in state history.

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FILE - Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, appears in Manhattan state court in New York, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP, File

Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing said he ‘had it coming,’ according to prosecutors

June 4, 2025

Six weeks before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel last December, Luigi Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and expressed that killing the executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming.” Manhattan prosecutors revealed the comments in a court filing Wednesday. The Manhattan district attorney’s office quoted extensively from Mangione’s handwritten diary as they fight to uphold his state murder charges. Mangione’s lawyers want the state case thrown out, arguing that those charges and a parallel federal death penalty case amount to double jeopardy. The 27-year-old Mangione has pleaded not guilty in both cases. No trial dates have been set.

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In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, smoke rises from cargo vessel Morning Midas approximately 300 miles south of Adak, Alaska, June 3, 2025, as the crew of a cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire. (U.S. Coast Guard/Courtesy Air Station Kodiak via AP)

22 crew members rescued from lifeboat in North Pacific after ship carrying 3,000 cars catches fire

June 4, 2025

All crew members are safe after a fire broke out aboard a cargo ship south of Alaska’s Adak Island. The ship was carrying 3,000 vehicles, including nearly 800 electric vehicles, bound for Mexico. Smoke was first seen coming from a deck loaded with the electric vehicles. The ship’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said the 22 crew members began fighting the fire immediately but couldn’t bring it under control. The crew members abandoned ship in a lifeboat and were rescued by a merchant vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard says it was working with Zodiac Maritime to determine how to recover the ship and what will be done with it.

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FILE - People vote at the Allegiant Stadium polling place, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Bipartisan deals on voting and election changes are rare. It just happened in one swing state

June 4, 2025

In a bipartisan move, Nevada’s Democratic-controlled Legislature has passed a last-minute bill supported by the Republican governor that will require photo ID to vote in person. It’s a longtime Republican priority that Democrats have long opposed, including during the last legislative session. But Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager brokered the deal with Gov. Joe Lombardo in exchange for expanded mail ballot drop boxes. Yeager called it a tough but necessary concession because of time constraints and recent voter support for the measure. The compromise represents a form of bipartisan dealmaking that has been especially scarce in recent years as the country’s political divisions have deepened, especially around any potential reform to voting and election laws.

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FILE - This is the Voice of America building in Washington, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Congressional letter obtained by AP outlines drastic job cuts expected at Voice of America

June 4, 2025

Sharp job cuts at the state-run Voice of America are outlined in a letter to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press. The cuts would reduce personnel at the state-run service that provides news to other countries from more than 1,000 to 81, according to the letter sent Tuesday. The Voice of America has been largely silent since mid-March, when the administration put most of its staff on administrative leave and terminated the arrangements of contract workers. President Donald Trump says he believes the service speaks with a liberal bias. A VOA employee who is suing the government to keep the service operational says it’s absurd to think it can run with these staffing levels.

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In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the John Lewis-class replenishment oiler USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) conducts a replenishment at sea in the Atlantic Ocean, Dec. 13, 2024. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Maxwell Orlosky/U.S. Navy via AP))

San Francisco leaders blast Trump for trying to erase gay rights icon Harvey Milk’s name from ship

June 4, 2025

Leaders in San Francisco are blasting the Trump administration for stripping the name of gay icon Harvey Milk from a U.S. naval ship. Milk is a revered figure in San Francisco history. He was a city supervisor who was fatally shot along with Mayor George Moscone in 1978 by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White. Just last month, California marked what would have been Milk’s 95th birthday with proclamations heralding his kindness and calls for unity. Milk’s close friend Cleve Jones called the move an attempt by the Republican administration to distract the public from more serious issues.

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Tanks and other military vehicles are transported via railroad to Washington, D.C. for an upcoming parade for the Army's 250th anniversary, Monday, June 2, 2025, at Fort Cavazos near Killeen, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Army leaders defend parade and border spending as Congress presses for answers

June 4, 2025

Army leaders are defending spending as much as $45 million to add a parade to the service’s 250th birthday celebration on June 14, saying it will help boost recruitment. They are responding to members of Congress who argue that the money could be better spent on troops’ barracks or other priorities. Members of the House Armed Services Committee also said during Wednesday’s hearing they are concerned that the Defense Department is shifting about $1 billion from a variety of accounts — including base housing — to cover the costs of shoring up the defense of the southern border.

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FILE - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrives during a hearing on the Georgia election interference case in Atlanta, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Slitz, Pool, File)

Long-running Young Thug gang trial to end without any murder convictions

June 4, 2025

The long-running gang case involving Atlanta rapper Young Thug will end without a single murder conviction. The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, and 27 others were indicted more than three years ago on gang and racketeering charges. A trial in the case lasted about a year and was plagued by problems. The last remaining murder charge was dropped Monday. Prosecutors said they were locking up a violent street gang. But critics slammed their use of song lyrics and social media posts. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was also criticized for overcomplicating the case by using the state’s anti-racketeering law.

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What is Fusarium graminearum, the fungus US authorities say was smuggled in from China?

June 4, 2025

Federal prosecutors have charged two Chinese researchers with smuggling a crop-killing fungus into the U.S. last summer. The charges against Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu come amid heightened political tensions between the two countries. They are accused of trying to smuggle in the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which causes a disease called Fusarium head blight that can wipe out crops such as wheat, barley and maize and rice. It’s unclear why someone would want to smuggle the fungus because it is already found throughout the Upper Midwest and parts of the Eastern U.S. The Department of Agriculture says it causes more than $1 billion in U.S. crop losses annually.

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Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Jury deliberations near in Weinstein sex crimes retrial

June 4, 2025

Jurors in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial are due to start deliberating Thursday. The seven-woman, five-man jury will start its private discussions after getting legal instructions from the judge. Closing arguments concluded Wednesday. The 73-year-old Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman in 2013 and forcing oral sex on two others in 2006. Jurors will be sifting through what they gleaned from dozens of witnesses, scores of documents and two days of closing arguments. Weinstein is being retried because a New York appeals court overturned his 2020 conviction.

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A judge has halted CoreCivic, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, from housing immigrants facing possible deportation in a shuttered facility that the private prison operator now calls the Midwest Regional Reception Center, in Leavenworth, Kan., pictured Monday, March 3, 2025, unless it can get a permit from frustrated city officials. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)

Judge blocks private prison operator from housing ICE detainees at shuttered Kansas center

June 4, 2025

A judge has blocked a private prison operator from housing immigrants facing possible deportation in a shuttered Kansas City area detention center unless it can get a permit from frustrated city officials. Leavenworth County Judge John Bryant agreed Wednesday to grant the city of Leavenworth’s request for a temporary restraining order after a packed courtroom hearing. CoreCivic is one of the nation’s largest private prison operators. It had claimed in legal filings that halting the opening of the 1,033-bed facility would cost it $4.2 million in revenue each month. City officials told the judge they expected the arrival of migrants apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was imminent.

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FILE - The entrance to the Labor Department is seen near the Capitol in Washington, May 7, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Inflation data threatened by government hiring freeze as tariffs loom

June 4, 2025

The Labor Department has cut back on the inflation data it collects because of the Trump administration’s government hiring freeze, raising concerns among economists about the quality of the inflation figures just as they are being closely watched for the impact of tariffs. The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces the monthly consumer price index, said Wednesday that it is “reducing sample in areas across the country” and stopped collecting price data entirely in April in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Provo, Utah. It also said it has stopped collecting data this month in Buffalo, New York.

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