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As storms move across Texas, 1 child dies after being swept away in floodwatersHOUSTON -- Storms in Texas brought additional rain Sunday to the already saturated Houston area where hundreds of people have been rescued from flooded homes and roads, while to the north in the Fort Worth area, a child died after being swept away when the car he was traveling in got stuck in floodwaters...
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Denial, uncertainty looming over Biden-Trump rematch 6 months out from Election DayWILMINGTON, N.C. -- This North Carolina voter is nervous. Will Rikard, a 49-year-old father of two, was among several hundred Democrats who stood and cheered for Joe Biden as the first-term president delivered a fiery speech recently about the billions of dollars he has delivered to protect the state's drinking water...
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Anti-war protesters leave USC after police arrive, while Northeastern ceremony proceeds calmlyStudents protesting the war in Gaza abandoned their camp at the University of Southern California early Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest, while Northeastern University's commencement ended peacefully at Boston's Fenway Park...
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Warren Buffett says AI may be better for scammers than society -- and he's seen howOMAHA, Neb. -- Warren Buffett cautioned the tens of thousands of shareholders who packed an arena for his annual meeting that artificial intelligence scams could become "the growth industry of all time." Doubling down on his cautionary words from last year, Buffett told the throngs he recently came face to face with the downside of AI. ...
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Hamas says latest cease-fire talks have ended. Israel vows military operation in 'very near future'JERUSALEM -- The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo after "in-depth and serious discussions," the Hamas militant group said Sunday, reiterating key demands that Israel again rejected. After earlier signs of progress, the outlook appeared to dim as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to resist international pressure to halt the war...
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Ukraine marks third Easter at war as it comes under fire from Russian drones, troopsKYIV, Ukraine -- As Ukraine marked its third Easter at war, Russia on Sunday launched a barrage of drones concentrated in Ukraine's east, wounding more than a dozen people, and claimed its troops took control of a village they had been targeting. Ukraine's air force said that Russia had launched 24 Shahed drones overnight, of which 23 were shot down...
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NerdWallet: Taking these financial steps could help post-divorce recoveryJamie Lima remembers his divorce six years ago as one of the most emotionally draining and financially challenging experiences of his life. As a result, he resolved to use his professional background as a certified financial planner to help other people going through similar situations...
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China sends a probe to get samples from the less-explored far side of the moon (5/3/24)TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side. It is the latest advance in China’s increasingly sophisticated space exploration program, which is now competing with the U.S., still the leader in space...
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Hope Hicks, ex-Trump adviser, recounts political firestorm in 2016 over 'Access Hollywood' tape (5/3/24)NEW YORK (AP) — Former White House official and Donald Trump adviser Hope Hicks took the stand Friday at the former president's hush money trial and recounted how his 2016 campaign became embroiled in a political firestorm over a recording in which he boasted about grabbing women without their permission...
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House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war (5/3/24)WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed legislation Wednesday that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws, the latest response from lawmakers to a nationwide student protest movement over the Israel-Hamas war...
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More than 2,100 people have been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses (5/3/24)LOS ANGELES -- Police have arrested more than 2,100 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings. One officer fired his gun inside a Columbia University administration building while clearing out protesters camped inside, a prosecutor's office confirmed...
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Biden: 'order must prevail' during campus protests over war in Gaza (5/3/24)WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that "order must prevail" as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear...
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Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story (5/3/24)NEW YORK -- Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president...
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United Methodists remove anti-gay language from official teachings on societal issues (5/3/24)CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- United Methodist delegates on Thursday removed a 52-year-old declaration from their official social teachings that deemed "the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching" -- part of a wider series of historic reversals of the denomination's longstanding disapproval of LGBTQ activity...
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Maryland officials release timeline, cost estimate, for rebuilding bridge (5/3/24)ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an estimated cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, a state transportation official said Thursday. The state plans to build a new span by fall of 2028, said David Broughton, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He said the cost estimate is preliminary, and detailed engineering specifics have not been confirmed...
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Senators want limits on government's use of facial recognition technology for airport screening (5/3/24)WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of senators is pushing for restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology by the Transportation Security Administration, saying they are concerned about travelers' privacy and civil liberties. In a letter on Thursday, the group of 14 lawmakers called on Senate leaders to use the upcoming reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration as a vehicle to limit TSA's use of the technology so Congress can put in place some oversight...
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Arizona's Democratic governor signs bill to repeal 1864 ban on most abortions (5/3/24)PHOENIX -- Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has relegated a Civil War-era ban on most abortions to the past by signing a bill Thursday to repeal it. Hobbs says the move is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health care in Arizona. The repeal of the 1864 law that the state Supreme Court recently reinstated won't take effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends, which typically happens in June or July...
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Hamas sending delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks in latest sign of progress (5/3/24)BEIRUT -- Hamas said Thursday that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks, in a new sign of progress in attempts by international mediators to hammer out an agreement between Israel and the militant group to end the war in Gaza...
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Trump calls judge 'crooked' after facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order (5/2/24)FREELAND, Mich. -- Donald Trump returned briefly to the campaign trail Wednesday and called the judge presiding over his hush money trial "crooked" a day after he was held in contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order...
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Tension grows on UCLA campus as police order dispersal of large pro-Palestinian gathering (5/2/24)LOS ANGELES -- Law enforcement on the UCLA campus donned riot gear Wednesday evening as they ordered the dispersal of over a thousand people who had gathered in support of a pro-Palestinian student encampment, warning over loudspeakers that anyone who refused to leave could face arrest...
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Police killed student outside Wisconsin school after reports of someone with a weapon, official says (5/2/24)MOUNT HOREB, Wis. -- Police shot and killed a student outside a Wisconsin middle school Wednesday after receiving a report of someone with a weapon, the state's attorney general said in the first law enforcement briefing on gunshots that sent children fleeing and prompted an hourslong lockdown of local schools...
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Federal Reserve says interest rates will stay at two-decade high until inflation further cools (5/2/24)WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday emphasized that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it doesn't plan to cut interest rates until it has "greater confidence" that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target...
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Experts fear 'catastrophic' college declines thanks to botched FAFSA rollout (5/2/24)WASHINGTON -- The last thing standing between Ashnaelle Bijoux and her college dream is the FAFSA form -- a financial aid application that's supposed to help students go to college, but is blocking her instead. She has tried to submit it over and over. Every time, it fails to go through...
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to force a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson (5/2/24)WASHINGTON -- Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Wednesday she would call a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson, forcing her colleagues to choose sides in a difficult showdown after Democratic leaders announced they would provide the votes to save the Republican speaker's job...
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Appeals court rejects climate change lawsuit by young Oregon activists against US government (5/2/24)SEATTLE -- A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday rejected a long-running lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists who argued that the U.S. government's role in climate change violated their constitutional rights. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously ordered the case dismissed in 2020, saying that the job of determining the nation's climate policies should fall to politicians, not judges. ...
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Arizona lawmakers vote to undo near-total abortion ban from 1864, with Gov. Hobbs expected to sign (5/2/24)PHOENIX -- The Arizona Legislature approved a repeal of a long-dormant ban on nearly all abortions Wednesday, sending the bill to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who is expected to sign it. Two Republicans joined with Democrats in the Senate on the 16-14 vote in favor of repealing a Civil War-era ban on abortions that the state's highest court recently allowed to take effect. ...
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Columbia University student journalists had an up-close view for days of drama (5/2/24)Student journalists on the Columbia University campus knew what was coming long before police with riot shields arrived to begin arresting the pro-Palestinian protesters. They had watched the situation spiral as the protesters stood their ground, refusing to abandon Hamilton Hall and using a pulley system to bring supplies into the building they had occupied...
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Florida's 6-week abortion ban takes effect as doctors worry women will lose access to health care (5/2/24)BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Florida's ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant, went into effect Wednesday, and some doctors are concerned that women in the state will no longer have access to needed health care...
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Biden to travel to North Carolina to meet with families of officers killed in deadly shooting (5/2/24)CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- President Joe Biden is expected to travel to North Carolina on Thursday to meet with the family members of four officers killed earlier this week in the deadliest attack on U.S. law enforcement since 2016. The president is scheduled to visit Wilmington across the state that day and is planning to add a stop in Charlotte to meet with local officials and the families of officers shot Monday while serving a warrant, according to a person familiar with the matter...
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United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy (5/2/24)CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- United Methodist delegates repealed their church's longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Delegates voted 692-51 at their General Conference -- the first such legislative gathering in five years. ...
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Drone footage shows devastation in Ukraine's strategic eastern city of Chasiv Yar as Russians near (5/2/24)KYIV, Ukraine -- Months of relentless Russian artillery pounding have devastated a strategic city in eastern Ukraine, new drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows, with barely a building left intact, homes and municipal offices charred and a town that once had a population of 12,000 now all but deserted...
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Blinken presses Hamas to seal cease-fire with Israel, says 'the time is now' for a deal (5/2/24)JERUSALEM -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas on Wednesday to accept the latest proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, saying the "time is now" for an agreement that would free hostages and pause the nearly seven months of war in Gaza...
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Highway collapse in southern China kills at least 36 people (5/2/24)BEIJING -- A section of a highway collapsed after heavy rains in a mountainous area in southern China, sending cars tumbling down a slope and leaving at least 36 people dead, authorities said Thursday. The Meizhou city government said that 23 vehicles have been found after a 58.7-foot long section of the highway gave way about 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Thirty other people had injuries, none of them life-threatening, a government statement said...
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US poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it'll remain controlled substance (5/1/24)WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country...
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Hush money trial judge raises threat of jail as he finds Trump violated gag order, fines him $9K (5/1/24)NEW YORK -- Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. If he does it again, the judge warned, he could be jailed...
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Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus (5/1/24)NEW YORK -- Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus. Shortly before officers entered the campus, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia authorizing officers to take action, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity...
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Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah 'with or without a deal' as cease-fire talks with Hamas continue (5/1/24)TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Tuesday to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the almost 7-month-long war, just as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to be gaining steam...
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United Methodists begin to reverse longstanding anti-LGBTQ policies (5/1/24)CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- United Methodist delegates began making historic changes in their policies on sexuality on Tuesday -- voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ policies. The delegates voted to delete mandatory penalties for conducting same-sex marriages and to remove their denomination's bans on considering LGBTQ candidates for ministry and on funding for gay-friendly ministries...
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4 officers killed in North Carolina were at disadvantage as shots rained from above, police say (5/1/24)CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Law enforcement officers with an arrest warrant demanded that a man come out of a house in North Carolina before four were killed by gunfire, the victims unable to survive shots coming from inside the dwelling, a witness and officials said Tuesday...
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Metro train collides with bus in downtown Los Angeles, injuring more than 50, 2 seriously (5/1/24)LOS ANGELES -- At least 55 people were hurt, two seriously, when a Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided Tuesday along a busy thoroughfare in downtown Los Angeles, officials said. The crash happened shortly before noon along Exposition Boulevard, near the USC campus and Natural History Museum, according to the LA Fire Department...
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Democrats say they will save Speaker Mike Johnson's job if Republicans try to oust him (5/1/24)WASHINGTON -- House Democrats will vote to save Republican Speaker Mike Johnson's job should some of his fellow Republican lawmakers seek to remove him from the position, Democratic leaders said Tuesday, likely assuring for now that Johnson will avoid being ousted from office like his predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy...
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The top UN court rejects Nicaragua's request for Germany to halt aid to Israel (5/1/24)THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The top U.N. court rejected on Tuesday a request by Nicaragua to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel and renew funding to the U.N. aid agency in Gaza. The International Court of Justice said that legal conditions for making such an order weren't met and ruled against the request in a 15-1 vote, effectively siding with Germany, which told judges that it's barely exporting any arms to Israel...
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Chinese scientist who first published COVID sequence stages protest after being locked out of lab (5/1/24)SHANGHAI -- The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China staged a sit-in protest outside his lab after authorities locked him out of the facility -- a sign of Beijing's continuing pressure on scientists conducting research on the coronavirus...
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Haiti's transitional council names a new prime minister in the hopes of quelling stifling violence (5/1/24)PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haiti's newly installed transitional council chose a little known former sports minister as the Caribbean country's prime minister Tuesday as part of its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence...
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Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others (5/1/24)LONDON -- A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said. A 36-year-old man was subdued with a stun gun and arrested on suspicion of murder in a residential area near Hainault subway station, police said. The violence wasn't being treated as terror-related or a "targeted attack."...
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Portuguese-flagged ship is hit far in Arabian Sea, raising concerns over Houthi rebel capabilities (5/1/24)JERUSALEM -- A Portuguese-flagged container ship came under attack by a drone in the far reaches of the Arabian Sea, corresponding with a claim by Yemen's Houthi rebels that they assaulted the ship there, authorities said Tuesday. The attack on the MSC Orion, occurring some 375 miles off the coast of Yemen, appeared to be the first confirmed deep-sea assault claimed by the Houthis since they began targeting ships in November. ...
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Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months for allowing money laundering (5/1/24)SEATTLE -- Changpeng Zhao, founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced Tuesday to four months in prison for looking the other way as criminals used the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism...
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Israel-Hamas war protesters and police clash on Texas campus, Columbia University begins suspensions (4/30/24)NEW YORK -- Protesters and police clashed Monday at the University of Texas in a confrontation that resulted in dozens of arrests, and Columbia University began suspending students as colleges around the U.S. begged pro-Palestinian demonstrators to clear out tent encampments as commencement ceremonies approach...
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4 law officers serving warrant are killed, 4 wounded in shootout at North Carolina home, police say (4/30/24)CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Four law officers serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and four other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said. Some of the officers who rushed to the Charlotte neighborhood to rescue the first wave of downed officers were wounded as a second shooter began firing on them after they killed the wanted man, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said...
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Backers of a ban on gender care for minors in Kansas fail to override the governor's veto (4/30/24)TOPEKA, Kan. -- Republican legislators in Kansas failed Monday to override the Democratic governor's veto of a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The vote was 82-43 in the state House to reverse Gov. Laura Kelly's veto, but that was two votes shy of the necessary two-thirds majority...