Aid approval brings Ukraine closer to replenishing troops struggling to hold front lines
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian commander Oleksiy Tarasenko witnessed a frightening shift last month in Russia’s efforts to punch through Kyiv’s defense of the industrial region known as the Donbas.
Israel’s military intelligence chief resigns over failure to prevent Hamas attack on Oct. 7
TEL AVIV, Israel — The head of Israeli military intelligence resigned on Monday because of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the stunning failure to anticipate or quickly respond to the deadliest assault in Israel’s history.
Rail spikes hammered, bullet train being built from Sin City to the City of Angels
LAS VEGAS — A $12 billion passenger bullet train linking Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area was dubbed the first true high-speed rail line in the nation on Monday, with the private company building it predicting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
An unprecedented trial opens with two visions of Trump
NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors delivered a raw recounting of Donald Trump’s seamy past Monday as they debuted their case against him to jurors, the nation and the world, reducing the former president to a co-conspirator in a plot to cover up three sex scandals that threatened his 2016 election win.
The circus Trump wanted outside his trial hasn’t arrived
NEW YORK — Donald Trump was evidently not happy with what he saw out the window of his chauffeured SUV as he rode through lower Manhattan on Monday morning for the beginning of opening arguments in his first criminal trial.
Toxic: How the search for the origins of COVID-19 turned politically poisonous
BEIJING — The hunt for the origins of COVID-19 has gone dark in China, the victim of political infighting after a series of stalled and thwarted attempts to find the source of the virus that killed millions and paralyzed the world for months.
When it comes to government planes and political trips, who pays for a president’s campaign travel?
WASHINGTON — It’s no simple matter to move the commander in chief from point A to B, and it’s even more complicated when the president is seeking a second term.
Ukrainian and Western leaders laud US aid package while the Kremlin warns of ‘further ruin’
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian and Western leaders on Sunday welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Kremlin warned that passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.
Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, mostly children, as US advances aid package
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally.
Earth Day: How one grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too.
Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements today, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week.
About 1,300 people from Myanmar flee into Thailand after clashes broke out in a key border town
BANGKOK — About 1,300 people have fled from eastern Myanmar into Thailand, officials said Saturday, as fresh fighting erupted at a border town that has recently been captured by ethnic guerillas.
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza’s south kills at least 9 Palestinians in Rafah, including 6 children
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The House votes for possible TikTok ban in the US, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon
WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation Saturday that would ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform’s China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon.
Biden signs bill extending a key US surveillance program after divisions nearly forced it to lapse
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation reauthorizing a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse. Barely missing its midnight deadline, the Senate had approved the bill by a 60-34 vote hours earlier with bipartisan support, extending for two years the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Biden thanked congressional leaders for their work.
The House passes billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle. Next is the Senate
WASHINGTON — The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.
Trump cancels rally because of weather, proving the difficulty of balancing a trial and campaign
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Donald Trump had to cancel his first planned rally since the start of his criminal hush money trial because of a storm Saturday evening in North Carolina, an added complication that highlights the difficulty the former president faces in juggling his legal troubles with his rematch against President Joe Biden.
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.
BNSF Railway says it didn’t know about asbestos that’s killed hundreds in Montana town
HELENA, Mont. — BNSF Railway attorneys told a Montana jury Friday that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of an asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.
Mandisa, ‘American Idol’ star and Grammy winning Christian music singer, dies at 47
Mandisa, the Christian music singer who competed on “American Idol” and then pursued a Grammy Award-winning career, has died. She was 47.
