Ukraine says it has taken more ground and prisoners during its advance into Russia border region
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces pushed on with their major cross-border advance into Russia’s Kursk region for a second week Wednesday, claiming that they took more ground, captured more Russian prisoners and destroyed a bomber in attacks on military airfields. Assault troops advanced 1 to 2 kilometers (about a mile)...
Judge rejects Donald Trump’s latest demand to step aside from hush money criminal case
NEW YORK — Donald Trump has lost his latest bid for a new judge in his New York hush money criminal case as it heads toward a key ruling and potential sentencing next month. In a decision posted Wednesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan declined to step aside and said Trump’s...
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of the progressive ‘Squad,’ wins Democratic primary in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the progressive House members known as the “Squad” and a sharp critic of how Israel has conducted the war in Gaza, has won her primary race in Minnesota. Omar successfully defended her Minneapolis-area 5th District seat against a repeat challenge from...
Longest-held Russian dissident freed in swap says ‘colors get brighter by the day’ in his new life
BERLIN — Andrei Pivovarov knows there are about 1,000 hours in 42 days. Doing the math in his head and quietly marking milestones left in his sentence helped the Russian opposition politician survive more than three years in prison, much of it spent in complete isolation. “You have no one...
Ernesto becomes a hurricane after pummeling northeast Caribbean and knocking out power in the region
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday as it dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and left half of all customers in the U.S. territory without power as it threatened to become a major storm en route to Bermuda. The storm was located about 180 miles...
Americans give Harris an advantage over Trump on honesty and discipline, an AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris has a perceived advantage over former President Donald Trump on several leadership qualities such as honesty, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds, although Americans are slightly more likely to trust Trump on the economy and immigration. Nearly half...
Tim Walz leans into labor background at first solo campaign stop in Los AngelesVideo
LOS ANGELES — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz launched his first solo campaign stop as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate Tuesday by leaning into his union background and championing workers in a speech to a labor group in Los Angeles. The event comes exactly one week since Harris, the Democratic...
U.S. approves $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel amid threat of wider Middle East war
WASHINGTON — The United States has approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel, including scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles, the State Department announced Tuesday. Congress was notified of the impending sale, which includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs,...
Death Valley’s scorching heat kills 2nd man this summer
LOS ANGELES — California’s Death Valley National Park has claimed another life in its second heat-related death of the summer, park officials said Monday. On Aug. 1, a day where temperatures reached nearly 120 degrees, bystanders saw a man stumble back from the Natural Bridge Trailhead, a one-mile roundtrip trail,...
Tropical Storm Ernesto batters northeast Caribbean, aims at Puerto Rico as it strengthensVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Ernesto battered the northeast Caribbean on Tuesday as it took aim at Puerto Rico, where officials closed schools, opened shelters and moved dozens of the U.S. territory’s endangered parrots into hurricane-proof rooms. Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane overnight Tuesday as the...
Biden announcing $150 million in research grants as part of his ‘moonshot’ push to fight cancerVideo
NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden is zeroing in on the policy goals closest to his heart now that he’s no longer seeking a second term, visiting New Orleans on Tuesday to promote his administration’s “moonshot” initiative aiming at dramatically reducing cancer deaths. The president and first lady Jill Biden...
Auto workers union seeks NLRB investigation of Trump, Musk comments about firing striking workersVideo
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the two discussed on social media about Musk supposedly firing striking workers. In documents filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, the union alleges...
Trial begins in case of Florida woman who fatally shot Black neighbor during dispute
OCALA, Fla. — A Florida jury will determine whether a 60-year-old white woman was justified when she fired through the door of her central Florida apartment a year ago, killing a Black mother during an ongoing dispute over neighborhood children. In opening statements on Tuesday, jurors were told that shortly...
Want a Pa. liquor license? 20 available in PLCB auction
A stockpile of 20 expired restaurant liquor licenses in Pennsylvania are up for auction. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board opened bidding on Tuesday as part of its 13th auction since the passage of Act 39, a 2016 law that made sweeping changes to liquor sales in the state. The auction...
West Virginia dentist charged with invasion of privacy after camera found in employee bathroom, police say
WEIRTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia dentist faces charges after police said a concealed camera allegedly was found in his office’s employee bathroom. Dr. Jeremy Michael Crow turned himself in at the Weirton Police Department on Monday. Crow, 45, of Washington, Washington County, was charged with 39 counts of misdemeanor...
Initiative to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri constitution qualifies for November ballot
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters will decide in November whether to guarantee a right to abortion with a constitutional amendment that would reverse the state’s near-total ban on the procedure. The secretary of state’s office certified Tuesday that an initiative petition received more than enough signatures from registered voters...
Fraud trial of George Santos to begin next month with an anonymous jury
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — The federal fraud trial against former U.S. Rep. George Santos, slated to start in a matter of weeks, is coming into focus after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that jurors will have their identities kept secret from the public. They won’t, however, be required to fill...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom nudges school districts to restrict student cellphone use
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California and South Carolina could become the next states to limit cellphone use in schools, with state officials taking up the issue Tuesday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is sending letters to school districts, urging them to restrict students’ use of smartphones on campus. South Carolina’s State Board...
Ferguson police to release body camera footage of protest where officer was badly hurt
FERGUSON, Mo. — Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle will release body camera footage from a protest that turned violent on the 10th anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, resulting in a life-threatening brain injury to a Black police officer, police said. Doyle and other leaders will speak at a...
Ex-Kansas police chief who led a raid on a newspaper is charged with obstruction of justice
TOPEKA — A former Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice and is accused of persuading a potential witness to withhold information from authorities when they later investigated his conduct. The single charge against former Marion...
Ohio officer faces murder charge in shooting of pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting
COLUMBUS — An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday on murder and other charges in the shooting of Ta’Kiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant Black mother who was killed after being accused of shoplifting last August. Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb...
A trove of artifacts from Egypt’s last dynasty has been found in 63 tombs
CAIRO — A trove of artifacts from Egypt’s last dynasty has been discovered in 63 tombs in the Nile Delta area and experts are working to restore and classify the finds, an official with the country’s antiquities authority said Monday. The artifacts include gold pieces and jewelry dating to Egypt’s...
Banksy unveils new rhino art in an animal-themed collection that has popped up across London
LONDON — Street artist Banksy on Monday unveiled a new mural of a rhinoceros that looks like it is climbing on top of a car in London — the eighth animal-themed artwork he has posted in the past week in a collection that includes elephants, a goat, a wolf, pelicans...
Russia says it thwarted a Ukrainian charge to expand its incursion. Kyiv says it won’t occupy land
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia said Tuesday that its forces checked an effort by Ukrainian troops to expand a stunning weeklong incursion into the Kursk region, as a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Kyiv has no intention of occupying Russian territory. Russian army units, including fresh reserves, aircraft, drone teams and...
Burglary reported at a Trump campaign office in Virginia
ASHBURN, Va. — A burglary was reported over the weekend at a Virginia campaign office for former President Donald Trump, and authorities are investigating whether anything was stolen. It happened Sunday at an office in Ashburn being leased by the Trump for President 2024 campaign that also serves as the...
