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U.S. News

FILE - A cleanup worker picks up blobs of oil in absorbent snare on Queen Bess Island at the mouth of Barataria Bay near the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, La., June 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing

Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick.

FILE - A worker pulls an oil boom that a current pinned against a pier in Caminada Pass in Grand Isle, La., May 22, 2010. When a deadly explosion destroyed BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, tens of thousands of ordinary people were hired to help clean up the environmental devastation. These workers were exposed to crude oil and the chemical dispersant Corexit while picking up tar balls along the shoreline, laying booms from fishing boats to soak up slicks and rescuing oil-covered birds. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Takeaways from AP’s story on the BP oil spill medical settlement’s shortcomings

FILE - Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco speaks as Attorney General Merrick Garland listens during a news conference at Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, March 21, 2024. The Justice Department is ramping up its efforts to reduce violent crime in the U.S., launching a specialized gun intelligence center in Chicago and expanding task forces to curb carjackings. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco tells The Associated Press there's “absolutely much more to do” to make communities safer, even as many places have experienced a downward trend in crime after a coronavirus pandemic-era spike. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Justice Department ramps up efforts to reduce violent crime with gun intel center, carjacking forces

A rose stands at the plaque for Corey DePooter, one of the 12 student victims in the massacre at Columbine High School nearly 25 years ago, at the Columbine Memorial, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Littleton, Colo. Trauma still shadows the survivors of the horrific Columbine High School shooting as the attack's 25th anniversary approaches. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

25 years after Columbine, trauma shadows survivors of the school shooting

FILE - Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, center left, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., attend a news conference with dozens of women and girls who were sexually abused by Larry Nassar, a former doctor for Michigan State University athletics and USA Gymnastics, July 24, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to pay approximately $100 million to settle claims with about 100 sexual assault victims of Nassar, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Lawyers for Nassar assault survivors have reached $100M deal with Justice Department, AP source says

Driver dies after car slams into I-90 toll plaza in Illinois

A car slammed into an I-90 toll plaza early Thursday in northern Illinois, killing the driver. Illinois State Police said both the the plaza and the car were engulfed in flames.

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Senate dismisses two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security secretary, ends trial

Trauma shadows Columbine survivors after 25 years

Abortion

A anti-abortion supporter stands outside the House chamber, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at the Capitol in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Democrats clear path to bring proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total abortion ban to a vote

LGBTQ+

Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, talks a bill brought to the House floor by Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson, that would require parents are notified of a student's gender identity or intention to transition to a gender different from the person's sex at birth Monday, April 15, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

Tennessee schools would have to out transgender students to parents under bill heading to governor

Shootings

FILE - Rain soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. Maine's Democratic-led Legislature gave final approval to legislation imposing new restrictions on guns before adjourning Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Two shootings, two different responses — Maine restricts guns while Iowa arms teachers

Immigration

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing on "A Review of the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Homeland Security" on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Dubious claims about voting flyers at a migrant camp show how the border is inflaming US politics

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Alleged homicide suspect fatally shot by police in San Francisco Bay Area

Authorities say that a man linked to a homicide investigation in California’s capital was fatally shot Wednesday by police 80 miles (128 kilometers) away in Oakland after he allegedly emerged from a home with a firearm.

President Joe Biden's limosine is seen outside Sheetz, where the President stopped enroute to Pittsburgh International Airport, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Pittsburgh, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Convenience store chain where Biden bought snacks while campaigning hit with discrimination lawsuit

A convenience store chain where President Joe Biden stopped for snacks this week while campaigning in Pennsylvania has been hit with a lawsuit by federal officials.

Alabama plans to eliminate tolls en route to the beach

A trip to the beach is about to get cheaper in Alabama. The state plans to buy the Foley Beach Express Bridge and eliminate tolls to drive across it. Gov.

Fire kills 2, critically injures another at Connecticut home. Officials believe it was a crime

Connecticut officials say they believe a fire that killed two people and critically injured a third was a criminal act. The blaze was reported at about 6 p.m.

Man charged in shooting of 5 men following fight over parking space at a Detroit bar

A 32-year-old Detroit man has been charged in a shooting that wounded five people in what police say was a dispute over a parking space outside a blues club.

Virginia law allows the state’s colleges and universities to directly pay athletes through NIL deals

Virginia’s governor signed a law Thursday that allows the state’s colleges and universities to directly pay athletes through name, image and likeness deals.

FILE - Cows graze along a section of the Missouri River that includes the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument on Sept. 19, 2011, near Fort Benton, Mont. The Biden administration on Thursday, April 18, 2024, finalized a proposed rule that’s meant to put conservation on equal footing with drilling, grazing and other uses of U.S.-owned lands, primarily in the West. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Biden administration moves to make conservation an equal to industry on US lands

The Biden administration is moving to let conservationists lease government land for restoration. It’s part of an effort to make conservation an “equal” to other uses of public lands such as drilling and livestock grazing.

FILE - Former Arkansas death row inmate Damien Echols speaks at rally opposing the state's upcoming executions, on the front steps of Arkansas' Capitol, Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday, April 18, 2024, said a judge wrongly denied a request from Echols for new genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the killing of three boys nearly 30 years ago. (Stephen B. Thornton/The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, File)

Arkansas Supreme Court says new DNA testing can be sought in ‘West Memphis 3' case

The Arkansas Supreme Court is clearing the way for new DNA testing to be sought in the killing of three boys nearly 30 years ago.

This Oct. 1, 2020 photo shows the exterior of the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, numerous executives from some of the largest gambling companies in America said Atlantic City will soon face threats not only from casinos expected to open in or near New York City, but also from a renewed push for a casino in the northern New Jersey Meadowlands, just outside New York. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Not only New York casinos threaten Atlantic City. Developer predicts Meadowlands casino is coming

Atlantic City casinos are bracing for new threats from as many as three new casinos in or near New York City.

This image provided by the Memphis Police Department shows officer Joseph McKinney who was killed in a shootout that developed as officers investigated a suspicious vehicle on April 12, 2024. A 17-year-old suspect charged in the fatal shooting of McKinneyr has not been accused of first-degree murder because information obtained by the district attorney's office shows the officer was killed by friendly fire, officials said. (Memphis Police Department via AP)

District attorney says Memphis police officer may have been killed by friendly fire

Officials say a 17-year-old suspect charged in the fatal shooting of a Memphis police officer has not been accused of first-degree murder because information obtained by the district attorney’s office shows that the officer was killed by friendly fire.

FILE - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks before President Joe Biden delivers remarks on student loan debt at Madison College, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Madison, Wis. On Tuesday, April 16, Republican legislators filed a second lawsuit challenging Evers' partial veto powers, this time alleging that he improperly struck sections of a bill that set up a plan to spend $50 million on student literacy. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Republicans file lawsuit challenging Evers’s partial vetoes to literacy bill

Republican lawmakers have filed a new lawsuit alleging partial vetoes Gov. Tony Evers made to a bill designed to bolster students’ reading performance were unconstitutional.

Barry Cadden, center, enters court in Livingston County, Mich., Thursday, April 18, 2024. Cadden operated New England Compounding Center, a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy, which caused a national meningitis outbreak in 2012. On Thursday, the involuntary manslaughter sentencing for Cadden was suddenly postponed when lawyers looked up and saw a different judge on the bench. (AP Photo/Ed White)

A lab chief’s sentencing for meningitis deaths is postponed, extending grief of victims’ families

A 12-year saga over a fatal national meningitis outbreak still isn’t over. A man whose specialty pharmacy caused the outbreak in 2012 was supposed to be sentenced Thursday in Michigan for involuntary manslaughter.

Tesla shares tumble below $150 per share, giving up all gains made over the past year

Tesla’s stock tumbled below $150 per share, giving up all of the gains made over the past year as the electric vehicle maker reels from falling sales and steep discounts intended to lure more buyers.

FILE - The redesigned Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan reaches its final assembly stage the auto maker's plant, Sept. 5, 2014, in Vance, Ala. Workers at Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa, Ala., will vote in May 2024 on whether they want to be represented by the United Auto Workers union. The National Labor Relations Board said Thursday, April 18, 2024, that the vote will take place from May 13 to May 17 at the facilities in Vance and Woodstock, Ala. (Brent Snavel/Detroit Free Press via AP, File)

Workers at Mercedes factories near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to vote in May on United Auto Workers union

Workers at Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will vote next month on whether they want to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.

FILE - Joelle Pineau, Vice President AI Research, speaks at the at the Meta AI Day in London on April 9, 2024. Meta, Google and OpenAI, along with leading startups, are churning out new AI language models and trying to persuade customers that they've got the smartest or fastest or cheapest chatbot technology. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Meta’s newest AI model beats some peers. But its amped-up AI agents are confusing Facebook users

Generative AI is advancing so quickly that the latest chatbots available today could be out of date tomorrow.

FILE - A sign announcing a home for sale is shown on Feb. 1, 2024, in Kennesaw, Ga., near Atlanta. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Average long-term US mortgage rate climbs above 7% to highest level since late November

Prospective homebuyers are facing higher costs to finance a home with the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate moving above 7% this week to its highest level in nearly five months.

Mother charged in death of 14-year-old found ‘emaciated to a skeletal state’

Officials say a West Virginia mother has been charged in the death of her 14-year-old daughter, who was found “emaciated to a skeletal state.”

Motorist dies in fiery crash when vehicle plows into suburban Chicago highway toll plaza, police say

Police say a vehicle has plowed into a suburban Chicago highway toll plaza, engulfing it and the plaza in flames and killing the motorist.

The first model of the USS Enterprise is displayed at Heritage Auctions in Los Angeles, April 13, 2024. The model — used in the original “Star Trek” television series — has been returned to Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, the son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, decades after it went missing in the 1970s. (Josh David Jordan/Heritage Auctions via AP)

Long-lost first model of the USS Enterprise from ‘Star Trek’ boldly goes home after twisting voyage

The first USS Enterprise has boldly gone back home, solving a decades-long mystery. The model used in the opening credits of the original “Star Trek” television series has been returned to the son of creator Gene Roddenberry.

This photo released by the Columbus Fire Department shows firefighters tending to a fire that began on a trailer carrying lithium batteries in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Columbus Fire Department via AP)

Fire in truck carrying lithium ion batteries leads to 3-hour evacuation in Columbus, Ohio

Authorities evacuated an area of Ohio’s capital, Columbus, for several hours out of fear that a fire in truck’s trailer could have caused lithium ion batteries to explode.

James Parker listens to the parole boards decision during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Man granted parole for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of 2 Dartmouth College professors

A man who’s served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole.

A housing development in Cranberry Township, Pa., is shown on Friday, March 29, 2024. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, the National Association of Realtors reports on existing home sales for March. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Sluggish start for spring homebuying season as home sales fall in March with mortgage rates rising

The spring homebuying season is off to a sluggish start as home shoppers contend with elevated mortgage rates and rising prices.

FILE - Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, speaks in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 17, 2024. During a IMF and World Bank meeting Thursday, April 18, 2024, Georgieva said the world economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of higher interest rates and the shock of war in Ukraine and Gaza, but "there is plenty to worry about,'' including stubborn inflation and rising levels of government debt. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

IMF’s Georgieva says there’s ‘plenty to worry about’ despite recovery for many economies

The head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the world economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of higher interest rates and the shock of war in Ukraine and Gaza, but “there is plenty to worry about,″ including stubborn inflation and rising levels of government debt.

FILE -- A sign is shown on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2019. On Friday, April 12, 2024, Google announced it was testing removing links to California news websites from some people's search results. The search giant said it was preparing in case the Legislature passed a bill requiring it to pay media companies a fee for linking to its content. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Google fires 28 workers after office sit-ins to protest cloud contract with Israel

Google has fired 28 employees who were involved in protests over the tech company’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.

Emergency 911 number is dialed on a mobile phone, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in St. Louis. Law enforcement agencies in Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota and Texas reported temporary outages to 911 services on Wednesday before saying hours later that services had been restored. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Light pole installation hits fiber line, knocks out 911 service in several states

Workers installing a light pole in Missouri cut into a fiber line, knocking out 911 service for emergency agencies in Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota.

FILE - Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, speaks in the Assembly chamber at the State Capitol in Madison, Wis., Thursday, March 5, 2015. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, Barca announced his bid against Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who is seeking a fourth term. (M.P. King/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Former Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Peter Barca announces new bid for Congress

A Democrat who served one term representing southeast Wisconsin in Congress in the 1990s before going on to become a leader in the Assembly and state revenue secretary announced Thursday that he’s running for Congress again.

A hiring sign is displayed in Riverwoods, Ill., Tuesday, April 16, 2024. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits holds steady as labor market remains strong

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn’t change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool it off.

FILE - Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks to The Associated Press on April 19, 2023, at the Capitol in Washington. Pelosi has completed a book about her years in public life, from legislation she helped enact to such traumatizing moments as the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol and the assault at her San Francisco home that left her husband with a fractured skull. Simon & Schuster announced Thursday, April 18, 2024, that Pelosi's “The Art of Power” will be released Aug. 6. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Nancy Pelosi book, ‘The Art of Power,’ will reflect on her career in public life

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has completed a book about her years in public life. The memoir ranges from legislation she helped enact to such traumatizing moments as the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S.

The New York Stock Exchange is seen, through a window guard, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 in New York. Wall Street drifted toward gains as more corporate earnings come in, giving investors a break from fretting about if and when the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher following more reports showing a resilient US economy

U.S. stocks are wavering in mixed trading after a rough run. The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged Thursday and is coming off of four straight losses.

FILE - Photos of victims are displayed under white crosses at a memorial for victims of the August 2023 wildfire, above the Lahaina Bypass highway, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

Takeaways from this week’s reports on the deadly 2023 Maui fire that destroyed Lahaina

Officials are still trying to determine exactly what went wrong when the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century burned through a historic Hawaii town, more than a half-year after the disaster.