FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the jury said Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed — a decision that left some parents in tears as they exited the courtroom. The jury’s recommendation…
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay $965 million to people who suffered from his false claim that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, a jury in Connecticut decided Wednesday. The verdict is the second big judgment against the Infowars host over his relentless promotion of the lie that the 2012 massacre never…
NEW YORK (AP) — Tens of millions of older Americans are about to get what may be the biggest raise of their lifetimes. On Thursday, the U.S. government is set to announce how big a percentage increase Social Security beneficiaries will see in monthly payments this upcoming year. It’s virtually certain to be the largest in four decades. It’s all…
(AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5, seeking to expand protection ahead of an expected winter wave. Tweaked boosters rolled out for Americans 12 and older last month, doses modified to target today’s most common and contagious omicron relative. While there wasn’t a big rush, federal health officials are urging that people seek…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is reevaluating America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia as the Riyadh-led OPEC+ alliance moves to cut oil production and Democratic lawmakers call for a freeze on cooperation with the Saudis. John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council at the White House, said Tuesday that Biden believes “it’s time to take another look at this relationship…
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A spacecraft that plowed into a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away succeeded in shifting its orbit, NASA said Tuesday in announcing the results of its save-the-world test. The space agency attempted the test two weeks ago to see if in the future a killer rock could be nudged out of Earth’s way. “This…
LONDON (AP) — King Charles III will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in a ceremony that will embrace the past but look to the modern world after the 70-year reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Tuesday’s announcement from Buckingham Palace comes amid speculation that the coronation will be shorter and less extravagant than the three-hour ceremony…
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — An army of 42,000 utility workers has restored electricity to more than 2.5 million businesses and homes in Florida since Hurricane Ian’s onslaught, and Brenda Palmer’s place is among them. By the government’s count, she and her husband, Ralph, are part of a success story. Yet turning on the lights in a wrecked mobile home that’s likely…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana, as his administration takes a dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people of color. He is also calling on governors to issue similar pardons for those convicted of state marijuana offenses, which reflect the vast majority…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has scheduled its next hearing for Oct. 13, pushing the investigation back into the limelight less than three weeks before the midterm election that will determine control of Congress. It will be the panel’s first public session since the summer, when lawmakers worked through a series of…
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon will hire 150,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees across its warehouses ahead of the holiday season. The announcement, made Thursday, shows the e-commerce behemoth is taking a less conservative approach to its holiday planning than Walmart, which said last month it would hire 40,000 U.S. workers for the holidays, compared to 150,000 in 2021. Amazon, which…
BANGKOK (AP) — A former police officer facing a drug charge burst into a day care center Thursday in Thailand, killing dozens of preschoolers and teachers and then shooting more people as he fled. At least 36 people were slain in the deadliest rampage in the nation’s history. The assailant, who was fired earlier this year, took his own life…
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries decided Wednesday to sharply cut production to support sagging oil prices, a move that could deal the struggling global economy another blow and raise politically sensitive pump prices for U.S. drivers just ahead of key national elections. Energy ministers cut production by a larger-than-expected 2 million barrels per day starting in November after gathering…
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.. (AP) — For the first time in 20 years, a Russian cosmonaut rocketed from the U.S. on Wednesday, launching to the International Space Station alongside NASA and Japanese astronauts despite tensions over the war in Ukraine. Their SpaceX flight was delayed by Hurricane Ian, which ripped across the state last week. “I hope with this launch we…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is headed to hurricane-ravaged Florida on Wednesday with a pledge that federal, state and local governments will work as one to help rebuild homes, businesses and lives — putting politics on mute for now to focus on those in need. Hurricane Ian has resulted in at least 84 people confirmed dead, including 75 in Florida, as hundreds…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. announced plans on Tuesday to provide an additional $625 million in military aid to Ukraine, a package that includes additional advanced rocket systems credited with helping the country’s military gain momentum in its war with Russia. President Joe Biden provided details on the latest package, which includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, artillery…
(AP) — Airlines will be required to give flight attendants at least 10 hours off duty between shifts, one more hour than currently, under a rule announced Tuesday by the Federal Aviation Administration. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said that the extra hour of rest would contribute to safety. The rule goes into effect in 30 days, and airlines have…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will soon deliver to Ukraine four more of the advanced rocket systems credited with helping the country’s military gain momentum in its war with Russia. The High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, will be part of a new $624 million package of aid expected to be announced on Tuesday, according to U.S. officials….
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Days after the skies cleared and the winds died down in Florida, Hurricane Ian’s effects persisted Monday, as people faced another week without power and others were being rescued from homes inundated with lingering floodwaters. Frustrations mounted in the path the storm cut through Florida, and the hurricane’s remnants, now a nor’easter, weren’t done with the U.S. The mid-Atlantic and…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court began its new term Monday with a new justice on the bench, the public back in the courtroom and a spirited debate in a case that pits environmental protections against property rights. The new member of the court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, wasted no time joining the lively give-and-take, asking questions throughout nearly two hours of arguments in…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday will survey damage from Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico, where tens of thousands of people are still without power two weeks after the storm hit. The Category 1 hurricane knocked out electrical power to the U.S. territory of 3.2 million people, 44% of whom live below the poverty line. Power has been restored to…
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Hurricane Ian made another landfall Friday, this time in South Carolina, after carving a swath of destruction across Florida earlier this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Ian’s center came ashore Friday afternoon near Georgetown with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph). Ian hit Florida’s Gulf Coast as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 150…
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday unveiled their plan to allow foreign baby formula manufacturers to stay on the market long term, an effort to diversify the nation’s tightly concentrated industry and prevent future shortages. The Food and Drug Administration said recent entrants to the U.S. market will have until October 2025 to make sure their formulas comply with…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday sanctioned more than 1,000 people and firms connected to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including its Central Bank governor and families of Security Council members, after President Vladimir Putin signed treaties absorbing occupied regions of Ukraine into Russia, in defiance of international law. The Treasury Department named hundreds of members of Russia’s legislature, leaders of the…
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A revived Hurricane Ian set its sights on South Carolina’s coast Friday and the historic city of Charleston, with forecasters predicting a storm surge and floods after the megastorm caused catastrophic damage in Florida and left people trapped in their homes. With all of South Carolina’s coast under a hurricane warning, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Six Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration in an effort to halt its plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans, accusing it of overstepping its executive powers. It’s at least the second legal challenge this week to the sweeping proposal laid out by President Joe Biden in late August, when he said his…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week for the sixth straight week, marking new highs not seen in 15 years, before a crash in the housing market triggered the Great Recession. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate climbed to 6.70% from 6.29% last week. By contrast, the rate…
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian carved a path of destruction across Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, cutting off the only bridge to a barrier island, destroying a historic waterfront pier and knocking out power to 2.5 million people as it dumped rain over a huge area on Thursday. Catastrophic flooding was threatened around the state as one of the…
DULUTH / FLORIDA — “Like we talked about earlier, at any minute we could just lose everything. Here we are, we just lost everything.” A family from Minnesota, now living in the wrath of Hurricane Ian. The Buck family traded in the snow for sand 20 years ago. Now they live in Bonita Springs, just South of Fort Myers —…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday warned oil and gas companies against increasing prices for consumers as Hurricane Ian neared landfall along Florida’s southwest coast. “Do not, let me repeat, do not use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people,” Biden said at the start of a conference on hunger in America. Biden said that…
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., (AP) — Hurricane Ian’s most damaging winds began hitting Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday, lashing the state with heavy rain and pushing a devastating storm surge after strengthening to just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status. Fueled by warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Ian grew to a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane overnight with top winds of 155…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is laying out its plan to meet an ambitious goal of ending hunger in the U.S. by 2030, including expanding monthly benefits that help low-income Americans buy food. The administration, in a plan released Tuesday, is also seeking to increase healthy eating and physical activity so that fewer people are afflicted with diabetes, obesity, hypertension…
HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba on Tuesday as a major hurricane, with nothing to stop it from intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 storm before it crashes ashore Wednesday in Florida, where officials ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate. Ian made landfall at 4:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55…
HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Ian was growing stronger as it approached the western tip of Cuba on a track to hit the west coast of Florida as a major hurricane as early as Wednesday. Ian was forecast to hit the western tip of Cuba as a major hurricane and then become an even stronger Category 4 with top winds of 140 mph…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce a new initiative Monday that would eventually allow consumers to see a more complete price on airline tickets — including baggage and change fees — before they buy, as the White House continues to search for ways to lower costs for Americans amid persistently high inflation. The White House says the proposed rule from the…
(AP) — Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Monday to expand use of its updated COVID-19 booster shot to children ages 5 to 11. Elementary school-aged children already received kid-sized doses of Pfizer’s original vaccine, a third of the dose given to everyone 12 and older — two primary shots plus a booster. If the Food and Drug Administration agrees, they would start…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress have officially objected to the results in four of the last six presidential elections, a partisan practice that has been legal for over a century but became much more fraught after a violent mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol last year. In an effort to prevent another Jan. 6, 2021, bills moving through the House…
SAN SALVADOR, Puerto Rico (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday the full force of the federal government is ready to help Puerto Rico recover from the devastation of Hurricane Fiona even as Bermuda and Canada’s Atlantic provinces were preparing for a major blast from the Category 4 storm. Speaking at a briefing with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in…
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S. because the windows can pinch a person’s fingers when being rolled up. Tesla says in documents posted Thursday by U.S. safety regulators that the automatic window reversal system may not react correctly after detecting an obstruction. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that’s a violation of federal safety…
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on every U.N. Security Council member to “send a clear message” to Russia that it must stop its nuclear threats in the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that his nuclear-armed country will “certainly use all means available to us” if its territory is…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has a new effort to show local governments what it can do for their communities, hosting North Carolina officials to highlight funding opportunities and hear firsthand how coronavirus relief, infrastructure dollars and other policies are faring locally. The event Thursday reflects an expansion of the use of the White House campus as pandemic restrictions have eased. It’s…
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Joe Biden declared at the United Nations on Wednesday that Russia has “shamelessly violated the core tenets” of the international body with its war in Ukraine as he summoned nations around the globe to stand firm in backing the Ukrainian resistance. Delivering a forceful condemnation of Russia’s seven-month invasion, Biden said reports of Russian abuses…
(AP) — A 99-day run of falling gasoline prices — a streak that gave consumers a glimmer of hope that red-hot inflation might be cooling — has ended, with pump prices still much higher than a year ago. The nationwide average price for a gallon ticked up less than a penny Wednesday, to $3.68 a gallon, according to AAA. That’s…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Intensifying its fight against high inflation, the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate Wednesday by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a third straight time and signaled more large rate hikes to come — an aggressive pace that will heighten the risk of an eventual recession. The Fed’s move boosted its benchmark short-term rate, which…
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company Wednesday, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, filed in state court in New York, is the culmination of the Democrat’s three-year civil investigation of Trump and the…
(Fox 9) — Americans are likely going to pay more to heat their home over the winter months. The average cost of heating a household is set to increase by 17.2% this winter, compared to winter last year, according to a forecast by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), an educational and policy organization for federal programs that help low-income families…
(AP) — U.S. doctors should regularly screen all adults under 65 for anxiety, an influential health guidelines group proposed Tuesday. It’s the first time the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended anxiety screening in primary care for adults without symptoms. The proposal is open for public comment until Oct. 17, but the group usually affirms its draft guidance. The recommendations are…
LONDON (AP) — The cannons have sounded, the bells have rung and the mourners have paid their respects. Now King Charles III faces the task of preserving a 1,000-year-old monarchy that his mother nurtured for seven decades but that faces an uncertain future. The challenge is immense. Personal affection for the queen meant that the monarchy’s role in British society was…
BEIJING (AP) — China’s government on Monday criticized President Joe Biden’s statement that American forces would defend Taiwan if Beijing tries to invade as a violation of U.S. commitments about the self-ruled island, but gave no indication of possible retaliation. Biden said “yes” when asked during an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” program whether “U.S. forces, U.S….
NEW YORK (AP) — When President Joe Biden announced a plan to forgive student loan debt, many borrowers who kept making payments during the pandemic wondered if they’d made the right choice. Borrowers who paid down their debt during a pandemic freeze that started in March 2020 can in fact get a refund — and then apply for forgiveness – but the process…
