Business

AP Interview: Disinformation concerns mail voting expert

ATLANTA — Amber McReynolds, CEO of The National Vote at Home Institute, helped state and local election officials prepare for the record number of mailed ballots cast during last year's presidential election.

Middle East

GOP seeks political opening amid tense Israel-Hamas fighting

WASHINGTON — Republicans trying to drive a wedge between Democrats and chip away at President Joe Biden’s support are zeroing in on the violence in the Middle East, laying blame on his administration and aiming to make his liberal critics the face of the party heading into the midterm elections.

Politics

House to vote on independent panel to probe Jan. 6 attack

WASHINGTON — The House is poised to vote on a 9/11-style commission on the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a first step toward creating an independent, bipartisan panel that would investigate the siege and try to prevent it from happening again.

Business

Can monthly cash payments cut child poverty by nearly half?

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The check won't arrive until mid-July, but Katrina Peters already knows what she’ll do with her Child Tax Credit payments. The 20-year-old mother of three has applied to work as a driver with a food delivery app and the extra cash is earmarked for repairing, registering and insuring her car.

Latin America

US eases asylum restrictions at border amid legal challenges

MCALLEN, Texas — Domingo Antonio Zeledon traveled for nearly three weeks from his hometown in Nicaragua, leaving behind his wife and three youngest children to come to the United States with his 17-year-old son.

Politics

Congress OKs bill to fight hate crimes vs. Asian Americans

WASHINGTON — Congress approved legislation Tuesday intended to curtail a striking rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, sending President Joe Biden a bipartisan denunciation of the spate of brutal attacks that have proliferated during coronavirus pandemic.

Business

AP FACT CHECK: Hyperbole from Biden, GOP on state of economy

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and House Republicans alike are revising history when asserting that the new administration set records in U.S. job creation — either the best ever or among the worst, depending on the vantage point.

Business

WH memo sees economic strength where critics see fragility

WASHINGTON — White House officials are seeking to quell anxiety about inflation and the pace of hiring — issuing a memo Tuesday that highlights robust economic gains as the United States gets vaccinated and recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Middle East

Israel, Gaza violence overshadows Biden’s domestic plans

DEARBORN, Mich. — President Joe Biden’s efforts to spotlight his big infrastructure plans are suddenly being overshadowed by the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, the conflict sparking protests during his visit to a Ford electric vehicle center in Michigan as the White House faced growing pressure to intervene.

Business

US envoy: Fear of Taliban conquering Kabul are overblown

WASHINGTON — Predictions that the Taliban will quickly overrun Afghan government forces and conquer Kabul once U.S. and coalition forces have fully withdrawn are unduly pessimistic, Washington's special envoy to Afghanistan said Tuesday.

Business

‘Shared roots’: West Virginia senators key to Biden agenda

WASHINGTON — He’s known her for as long as he can remember, once challenging “Shel” to a heart-pumping zipline race down a rugged mountaintop.

Europe

US-Russia showdown looms as top diplomats meet in Iceland

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Top diplomats from the United States and Russia are set to square off this week in Iceland for their first face-to-face encounter that comes as ties between the nations have deteriorated sharply in recent months.

Politics

Former jailer seeks clemency for one death row inmate

COLUMBIA, S.C. — If Richard Moore is executed, he will have some say in how he goes — the electric chair or the firing squad.

Politics

Supreme Court throws abortion fight into center of midterms

WASHINGTON — In agreeing to hear a potentially groundbreaking abortion case, the Supreme Court has energized activists on both sides of the long-running debate who are now girding to make abortion access a major issue in next year’s midterm elections.

Business

Amid threats to members, House to vote on new security

WASHINGTON — Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, says it took time for him to stop constantly scanning his environment for threats when he returned from war 15 years ago.

U.S. News

Supreme Court to take up major abortion rights challenge

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to a showdown over abortion in a case that could dramatically alter nearly 50 years of rulings on abortion rights.

Business

Biden boosting world vaccine sharing commitment to 80M doses

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the coming six weeks as domestic demand for shots drops and global disparities in distribution have grown more evident.

General News

Biden raises cease-fire, civilian toll in call to Netanyahu

President Joe Biden expressed support for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, but stopped short of demanding an immediate stop to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian.

Business

AP source: NTSB chairman to step down at end of June

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board will step down from his position at the end of June, and the Biden administration is expected to nominate a fellow board member to replace him, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.

Business

Bidens paid 25.9% rate and earned $607,336, tax returns show

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has said the wealthy should pay more in taxes — and 25.9% of the first couple’s income went to the federal government in 2020.

Politics

Lawyer: US approves release of oldest Guantanamo prisoner

WASHINGTON — A 73-year-old from Pakistan who is the oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was notified on Monday that he has been approved for release after more than 16 years in custody at the U.S.

Business

Biden plan would pick winners, losers in move to green jobs

WASHINGTON — In Georgia, school bus-maker Blue Bird has visions of going from selling a few hundred electric buses annually to 15,000. In Michigan, Ford plans to produce an all-electric version of its F-150 pickup truck.

Politics

US sanctions Myanmar military and junta leaders for attacks

WASHINGTON — The U.S. placed more members of Myanmar’s ruling military junta on a financial blacklist Monday for the deadly attacks against civilians following the February coup in the southeast Asian nation.

Politics

Trump to speak at North Carolina GOP convention on June 5

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former President Donald Trump will speak at North Carolina’s annual state Republican Party convention next month, party officials announced Monday.

Politics

Gaetz associate pleads guilty to sex trafficking charges

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida politician who emerged as a central figure in the Justice Department’s sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz pleaded guilty Monday to six federal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of a plea deal.

Business

88% of children covered by monthly payments starting in July

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department said Monday that 39 million families are set to receive monthly child payments beginning on July 15.

Europe

Insider Q&A: Sophie Zhang, Facebook whistleblower

Sophie Zhang worked as a Facebook data scientist for nearly three years before was she fired in the fall of 2020. On her final day, she posted a 7,800-word memo to the company’s internal forum — such farewell notes, if not the length, are a common practice for departing employees.

Science

CDC director says mask turnaround based solely on science

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday defended the decision to ease mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, stressing that increasing political pressure had nothing to do with the abrupt shift in guidelines.

Politics

Virginia GOP nominee’s independence from Trump up for debate

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — If Glenn Youngkin was looking to pivot back to the political center after winning the GOP's nomination for governor in Virginia, Donald Trump made it a little tougher by giving the nominee a big bearhug of an endorsement.

Politics

In devotion to Trump, House GOP taps Stefanik for a top post

WASHINGTON — House Republicans elevated Rep. Elise Stefanik to a leadership post Friday, highlighting how the party whose lodestar has long been conservative policies increasingly views allegiance to Donald Trump as its indispensable key to electoral success.

Business

Granholm: Normal service at gas pump likely by late Sunday

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says the nation is “over the hump” on gas shortages following a ransomware cyberattack that forced a shutdown of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline.

Politics

Let’s face it: Washington adjusts to new mask guidance

WASHINGTON — Jill Biden says finally going mask-free feels like “we're moving forward.” A Republican senator says going unmasked "certainly helps the flow of conversation.”

Politics

Rep. Greene’s combative behavior could spark ethics review

WASHINGTON — A year before her election to Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene searched for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at her Capitol office, taunting the New York Democrat to “get rid of your diaper” and “talk to the American citizens,” as shown in video unearthed Friday by CNN.

Middle East

US sending new aid to Palestinians as conflict intensifies

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration notified Congress this week that it will send millions of dollars in U.S. assistance to the Palestinians aimed at promoting peace with Israel even as violence between the two sides rages.

Government and politics

Conservative group boasts of secret role in voting laws

The head of a national conservative group that is spending $24 million to push new voting restrictions told supporters it secretly helped draft legislation in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country.

Europe

Blinken heads to Iceland meeting with Russia on his mind

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to Europe and North Atlantic islands next week to put the Biden administration’s stamp on climate change policy in the Arctic and warn Russia against interference in the United States, Ukraine and elsewhere, the State Department said Friday.

Business

Biden to meet DACA recipients in immigration overhaul push

President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet Friday with six immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children who benefited from an Obama-era policy that protected them from deportation.

Politics

What insurrection? Growing number in GOP downplay Jan. 6

WASHINGTON — What insurrection?

Business

US vows to stand by ally Australia against China

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration vowed Thursday to stand by Australia in its worsening trade and other disputes with China.

Business

Judge refuses to free Capitol riot suspect linked to militia

A federal judge refused Thursday to free a Texas man whom authorities have accused of planning an attack on a social media company's facility after he returned home from storming the U.S. Capitol.

Politics

Biden, GOP senators upbeat, plan more infrastructure talks

WASHINGTON — After meeting at the White House, President Joe Biden and a group of Republican senators agreed to talk again early next week as negotiations intensified Thursday over a potentially bipartisan infrastructure package that could become one piece of the administration’s ambitious $4 trillion public investment plan.

Politics

Manchin courtship: WVa senator joins Jill Biden at clinic

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The White House's courtship of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin continued Thursday as the moderate Democrat joined first lady Jill Biden on a visit to West Virginia, days after he met with President Joe Biden.

Lifestyle

Marine Corps officer arrested for assault in Jan. 6 riot

An active duty Marine Corps officer seen on camera scuffling with a police officer and helping other members of the pro-Trump mob force their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6 has been charged in the riot, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Business

Company: Ex-Trump lawyer raiding nonprofit for personal use

Former Trump attorney and self-proclaimed “Kraken releaser” Sidney Powell has told prospective donors that her group, Defending the Republic, is a legal defense fund to protect the integrity of U.S.

Health

Poll: For unvaccinated Latinos, hesitancy isn’t the problem

WASHINGTON — Many Latinos are forgoing COVID-19 shots because of concerns about losing work hours, getting a bill, and for some, immigration worries. That's according to a new poll that offers insights into how to raise vaccination rates among the nation's largest ethnic minority.

Government and politics

Democrats search for a strategy to combat GOP voting laws

A small group of civil rights leaders gathered at Vice President Kamala Harris’ ceremonial office last week, discussing how to combat a wave of new Republican-backed laws restricting voting in several states.

Business

School nurses, health service corps part of $7.4B virus plan

WASHINGTON — The government is providing $7.4 billion to expand the nation's public health capacity, including hiring school nurses to vaccinate kids, setting up a health care service corps and bolstering traditional disease detection efforts, White House officials said Thursday.