February 10, 2025 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will need the Supreme Court, with three justices he appointed, to enable the most aggressive of the many actions he has taken in just the first few weeks of his second White House term. But even a conservative majority with a robust view of presidential power might balk at some of what the president wants to do. The court gave Trump major victories last year that helped clear away potential obstacles to his reelection, postponing his criminal trial in Washington, D.C., then affording immunity from prosecution for official actions. But Trump’s first term was marked by significant defeats — as well as some wins — at the court.
February 9, 2025 6:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump keeps cranking out executive orders designed to remake the government while his ally and adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, hunts for more ways to upend the federal workforce. In his third week, Trump also provoked and then called off trade wars with Canada and Mexico but allowed one with China to move forward. He seemingly made light of potentially thorny political issues while insisting he was serious about the United States seizing Gaza, emptying out its residents and redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” It was an idea that friend and foe alike around the world rejected.
February 9, 2025 5:57 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas-led militants have released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages and Israel has freed 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fifth exchange of a ceasefire that has paused the war in Gaza. The hostages’ condition and scenes of Hamas forcing them to speak in the handover sparked outrage in Israel. Families again feared for the dozens of others still held in Gaza. Not all are alive. It could increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire. Up next are talks on the truce’s more difficult second phase, when Hamas is to release dozens more hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire.
February 9, 2025 5:53 am
LONDON (AP) — Ever since Winston Churchill coined the phrase, politicians have extolled the “special relationship” between the United States and Britain. Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, Britain will settle for a merely functional relationship with its former colony turned most important ally. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is racing to bolster its diplomatic and economic defenses for a turbulent new trans-Atlantic era. University College London historian Kathleen Burk, who is an expert on U.S.-U.K. relations, says the relationship is in uncharted waters. British officials say Starmer hopes to visit Washington in the coming weeks, but he has yet to receive an invitation from Trump.
February 9, 2025 5:50 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said an elevated U.S. security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program. Kim has previously made similar warnings, but his latest statement implies again that he won’t likely embrace President Donald Trump’s overture to meet him and revive diplomacy anytime soon. State media said Sunday that Kim called a U.S. push to boost a trilateral military partnership with Japan and South Korea a “grave” security challenge. Kim was cited as reaffirming “the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces.”
February 8, 2025 9:34 am
Nearly three years after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, his troops are making steady progress on the battlefield. Kyiv is grappling with shortages of men and weapons. And a new U.S. president could soon halt Ukraine’s massive supply of military aid. Russian and Western analysts say Putin is closer than ever to achieving his objectives in the battle-weary country, with little incentive to come to the negotiating table, no matter how much U.S. President Donald Trump might cajole or threaten him. Both are signaling their readiness for discussions on Ukraine -– by phone or in person -– using a combination of flattery and threats.
February 8, 2025 9:28 am
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israel is releasing 183 Palestinian prisoners in the latest exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, part of a ceasefire that has paused the war but whose future is uncertain. Israel views the security prisoners as terrorists, while Palestinians see them as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long military occupation. Nearly every Palestinian has a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel at some point, for militant attacks or lesser offenses like rock-throwing, protesting or membership in a banned political group. Some are held for months or years without trial.
February 8, 2025 4:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has dealt President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk their first big setback in their dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, ordering a temporary halt to plans to pull thousands of agency staffers off the job. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given the thousands of USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave just 30 days to move back to the U.S. on government expense. Both moves would have exposed the U.S. workers and their spouses and children to unwarranted risk and expense, the judge said.
February 8, 2025 4:01 am
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities say a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome has been located on sea ice and all 10 on board are dead. Mike Salerno is a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard. He says rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. A Coast Guard photo shows the plane’s splintered body and debris lying on the ice. Two people in brightly colored emergency gear circle the wreckage. The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot. It lost contact less than an hour after takeoff.
February 8, 2025 1:41 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. winter virus season is in full force, and by one measure is the most intense in about 15 years. One indicator of flu activity is the percentage of doctor’s office visits driven by flu-like symptoms. According to data posted Friday, that level last week was higher than the peak of any winter flu season since 2009-2010. So far this season, the CDC estimates, there have been 13,000 flu deaths — including at least 57 children. The flu has forced schools to shut down in some states. One Texas district closed for three days because 650 students and 60 staff were out one day last week. (Photo: AP)
