News - Friday, May 2, 2025

As Sweet Georgia Sound launches into a swinging set of big band tunes on the Lodge Cast Iron Sizzle Stage, a swell of humanity fills the First Horizon Pavilion. The sky is a cloudless blue, the air is warm and smells of grilled burgers, and the Chattanooga Market is teeming with artists, bakers and craft makers, all eager to relieve shoppers of their winter earnings.

Dr. Kelly Richardson’s path to becoming a cardiologist didn’t begin with stethoscopes or hospital rounds – it began underwater.

“I thought I was going to be a marine biologist,” says the Chattanooga native, who now works at The Chattanooga Heart Institute at CHI Memorial. “After my sophomore year of college, I spent a summer doing marine research at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences and at the Duke Marine Lab (in North Carolina). But it was boring.”

As guests filled the hall of the Jewish Cultural Center on the evening of April 23, seven candles waited to be transformed into quiet testaments to lives lost and a chapter of history that must never be forgotten.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga’s annual Yom HaShoah commemoration drew a full house of community members, all gathered to honor the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust – and to shine a light on the millions of other innocent lives also claimed by Nazi persecution.

Ten weeks of free outdoor concerts at Miller Park and Miller Plaza every Friday will begin with local rockers The Bohannons at 7 p.m. Headliner J. Roddy Walston, known for his blend of rock, soul and Southern grit, will follow. Nightfall Happy Hour will begin at 6 p.m. Food trucks and artisan vendors will be on hand. Details

Organizers of the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival organizers have announced the event will take a year off in 2025 “due to continuing restructuring and expansion of the Chattanooga community, and the Festival’s ongoing re-evaluation of the dynamic family-friendly activities it can offer.”

In the fall of 2024, my wife and I embarked on the exciting journey of a full-scale bathroom remodel. As a Realtor, I’ve walked many clients through the value and challenges of home updates, and experiencing them firsthand was a reminder of just how many factors homeowners need to consider.

Adding a child to your family is exciting with much to anticipate. Of course, this new addition will bring many changes in your life, so you’ll want to be prepared – especially in terms of your finances.

What financial moves should you make as you welcome your new child? Here are a few to consider:

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly has unveiled key additions to his senior leadership team aimed at advancing his “One Chattanooga” vision and building on the momentum of his first term.

Key appointments include:

Kevin Roig – chief of staff: Roig joined the Kelly administration in 2023 as senior adviser for public affairs and has been serving as deputy chief since early 2024. He will now take on the role of chief of staff. He brings nearly a decade of experience in Washington, D.C., including senior roles under former Louisiana U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and campaign leadership.

Any legislative season that starts with a $400 million school-voucher con and ends with efforts to kick migrant children out of public schools can hardly be considered good government.

But, as always, I take heart in the wing nut proposals that somehow managed not to pass, like that spiteful migrant-children legislation. (A 1982 Supreme Court decision found such efforts unconstitutional, but since when does the Republican legislative supermajority care about the Constitution?) Among other failures to celebrate:

Given all the transfer portal movement and high school commitments over the last two weeks, nobody could blame University of Tennessee sports fans for suffering from a case of whiplash. The news has rolled in fast and furious, with football and basketball adding some big pieces to the puzzles.

The Tennessee Titans’ 2025 NFL Draft strategy seemed simple enough: Pursue players with character, football intelligence and a love of the game.

The Titans front office, reeling from three consecutive losing seasons, wasn’t shy about it, either, apparently deciding those are the qualities required to rebuild a franchise that settled to the bottom of the NFL last year.

A quick glance at the Titans 2025 draft class

1. Cam Ward, QB, Miami: Ward was drafted to be the face of the franchise and will get that opportunity soon enough. Coach Brian Callahan was hesitant to say that he would be the Day One starter, but being drafted first overall means that likely will happen.

Just about every premium brand sells at least one luxury electric vehicle, and some offer several choices. But new luxury EVs are expensive, and many have prices starting around six figures. If that’s beyond your budget, consider buying a used model. You could save tens of thousands of dollars versus buying new.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House national security adviser Mike Waltz is leaving the administration just weeks after it was revealed he added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans, according to two people familiar with the matter Thursday, marking the first major staff shakeup of President Donald Trump's second term.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in recent months, the Food and Drug Administration is bringing back some recently fired employees, including staffers who handle travel bookings for safety inspectors.

More than 20 of the agency's roughly 60 travel staff will be reinstated, according to two FDA staffers notified of the plan this week, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Justice Department lifted a school desegregation order in Louisiana this week, officials called its continued existence a "historical wrong" and suggested that others dating to the Civil Rights Movement should be reconsidered.

It got "60 Minutes" sued by the man who became president of the United States. Now it's up for a major award — for precisely the same aspect of it that so enraged Donald Trump.

Last fall's "60 Minutes" story on Kamala Harris — the subject of Trump's $20 billion lawsuit against CBS — was nominated for an Emmy Award Thursday for "outstanding edited interview." Trump, in his lawsuit, complained that the interview was deceptively edited to make his Democratic election opponent look good.

NEW YORK (AP) — During a contentious exchange about deportations in his interview with ABC News' Terry Moran this week, President Donald Trump brought up — from his perspective — how Moran had gotten into the White House in the first place.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Republican-controlled U.S. House voted Thursday to block California from enforcing first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

The move comes a day after the chamber voted to halt California standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as curb smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks.

NEW YORK (AP) — Uncertainty continues to hang over the latest round of financial results and forecasts for companies both big and small as they try to navigate a global trade system severely shaken by a shift in U.S. policy.

Roughly half of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their latest quarterly financial results, but the focus has been on how they will adjust to tariffs and any change in consumers' behavior. Here's a look a what companies are saying about tariffs and the potential impact:

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon posted higher first-quarter profits and sales, but the online juggernaut issued a tempered sales outlook amid uncertainty about President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The Seattle-based company said that it earned $17.13 billion, or $1.59 per share, for the quarter ended March 31. That compares with $10.43 billion, or 98 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he's naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting national security adviser to replace Mike Waltz, whom he is nominating for United Nations ambassador.

Trump announced the moves shortly after news broke that Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were departing the administration just weeks after it was revealed that Waltz added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, preparing to step back from his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency, had a request of the reporters gathered at the White House to interview him: Before he would answer any questions, he wanted someone to tell him a joke.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats plan to force a vote in the coming weeks on a resolution to require more transparency from President Donald Trump's administration about deportations to El Salvador.

The resolution announced by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine on Thursday comes after two votes on Democratic resolutions challenging Trump's tariffs. It is part of a larger strategy by Democrats to continue using mechanisms under the law to take floor time from majority Republicans and vote on reversing parts of Trump's agenda.

The rock band R.E.M. is putting out a special rerelease of its first single, "Radio Free Europe," to benefit — wait for it — the actual Radio Free Europe.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is among the U.S. government-funded media services that deliver news in overseas markets. President Donald Trump's administration, claiming they are wasteful and promote a liberal point of view, is trying to choke off their funding.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump faces significant pushback from federal judges, a new poll shows U.S. adults are more likely to believe the president is the one overstepping his power rather than the courts -- although Republicans largely think the opposite.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to being deported.

The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from taking any more steps to dismantle an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that plaintiffs who sued to preserve the Institute of Museum and Library Services are likely to show that the Republican administration doesn't have the legal authority to unilaterally shutter the agency, which Congress created.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday re-upped his threat to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, escalating a showdown with the first major college that has defied the administration's efforts to crack down on campus activism.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeownership is receding further out of reach for most Americans as elevated mortgage rates and rising prices stretch the limits of what buyers can afford.

A homebuyer now needs to earn at least $114,000 a year to afford a $431,250 home -- the national median listing price in April, according to data released Thursday by Realtor.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid a backdrop of ongoing tariff uncertainty, more and more gamers are facing price hikes.

Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up $80 from the $299.99 price tag that debuted in 2020. And its more powerful Xbox Series X will be $599.99 going forward, a $100 jump from its previous $499.99 listing.

LONDON (AP) — European Union privacy watchdogs fined TikTok 530 million euros ($600 million) on Friday after a four-year investigation found that the video sharing app's data transfers to China breached strict data privacy rules in the EU.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission also sanctioned TikTok for not being transparent with users about where their personal data was being sent and it ordered the company to comply with the rules within six months.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged "bias" in the broadcasters' reporting.

The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies "to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS" and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets "receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'"

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army is planning a sweeping transformation that will merge or close headquarters, dump outdated vehicles and aircraft, slash as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shift personnel to units in the field, according to a new memo and U.S. officials familiar with the changes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers added a surprising 177,000 jobs in April as the job market showed resilience in the face of President Donald Trump's trade wars.

Hiring fell slightly from a revised 185,000 in March, but that is above economist projections of 135,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%, the Labor Department reported Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the stock market was climbing in January 2024, Donald Trump knew exactly who deserved credit: He did.

Nearly a year before his return to the White House, he declared on his Truth Social platform that investors were celebrating his lead in the polls against President Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's 2026 budget plan would slash non-defense domestic spending by $163 billion while increasing expenditures on national security, according to White House statements Friday.

The plan shows a desire to crack down on diversity programs and initiatives to address climate change. But it doesn't include details about what Trump wants on income taxes, tariffs, entitlement programs or the budget deficit — a sign of the challenge confronting the president when he's promising to cut taxes and repay the federal debt without doing major damage to economic growth.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been thrown into two top national security jobs at once as President Donald Trump presses forward with his top-to-bottom revamp of U.S. foreign policy, upending not only longstanding policies that the former Florida senator once supported but also the configuration of the executive branch.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on President Donald Trump's birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes hundreds of times — often on purpose. Now scientists are studying his blood in hopes of creating a better treatment for snake bites.

Friede has long had a fascination with reptiles and other venomous creatures. He used to milk scorpions' and spiders' venom as a hobby and kept dozens of snakes at his Wisconsin home.

NEW YORK (AP) — More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report released Friday.

The 216 pediatric deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eclipse the 207 reported last year. It's the most since the 2009-2010 H1N1 global flu pandemic.

The head of PBS said Friday that President Donald Trump's executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR was blatantly unlawful.

Public Broadcasting Service CEO Paula Kerger said the Republican president's order "threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two major scientific societies on Friday said they will fill the void from the Trump administration's dismissal of scientists writing a cornerstone federal report on what climate change is doing to the United States.

The American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union said they will work together to produce peer-reviewed research documents assessing the current and future national impacts of climate change because a science-based report required by law is suddenly in question and being reassessed by President Donald Trump's White House.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit Trump at the White House on Tuesday

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he will visit U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. The high-stakes meeting comes as Trump continues his trade war and annexation threats. Carney's Liberal Party scored a stunning comeback victory in a vote this week widely seen as a rebuke of Trump. The U.S. president's trade war and attacks on Canadian sovereignty outraged voters. He also said Friday that King Charles III will deliver the speech on May 27 when Parliament resumes. Carney has emphasized Canada's oldest allies the United Kingdom and France since becoming prime minister after the resignation of Justin Trudeau.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration is conducting a nationwide, multi-agency review of 450,000 migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents during President Joe Biden's term.

Trump officials say they want to track down those children and ensure their safety. Many of the children came to the U.S. during surges at the border in recent years and were later placed in homes with adult sponsors, typically parents, relatives or family friends.

It's a rite of passage for all comedians: Work like crazy on the stand-up circuit, hit it big, record live specials for a streaming platform, and then write a book that can never quite measure up to your live act.

Consider "Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind" by Nate Bargatze. I laughed so hard I cried during parts of his Netflix special "Your Friend, Nate Bargatze." But I can count on two hands the laugh-out-loud moments I experienced as I read "Big Dumb Eyes." That's not because Mr. Bargatze isn't funny. Books just aren't the funniest mediums for stand-up comics. Bargatze's live act flows from his droll, self-deprecating delivery. And while he tries right there in the book's subtitle — "Stories from a Simpler Mind" — the humor just doesn't have the same impact on the page as it does the screen.

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, the hip-hop entrepreneur whose wildly successful career has been dotted by allegations of violence, began on Monday in New York City with jury selection that could last several days. Opening statements by lawyers and the start of testimony are expected next week.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday announced a broad reorganization as part of the Trump administration's drive to cut costs that some activists worry will harm the agency's independent scientific research.

Administrator Lee Zeldin announced changes that included creating a new unit within his office "to align research and put science at the forefront of the agency's rulemakings." He said the overall reorganization would boost efficiency and save at least $300 million annually, though he didn't detail how the money would be saved.

Three Democratic U.S. senators are asking the Trump administration to explain how it analyzed a proposed rule to eliminate habitat protections for endangered and threatened species and whether industry had a hand in drafting it.

Senators Adam Schiff, Sheldon Whitehouse and Cory Booker sent a letter Monday to the departments of Interior and Commerce that also asks how the administration plans to protect species if the rule is changed.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is opening a new salvo in his tariff war, targeting films made outside the U.S.

In a post Sunday night on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he has authorized the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff "on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Denver parents got texts during this winter's brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community.

PARIS (AP) — The European Union launched a drive on Monday to attract scientists and researchers to Europe with offers of grants and new policy plans, after the Trump administration froze U.S. government funding linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the notorious former prison on a hard-to-reach California island off San Francisco that has been closed for more than 60 years.

In a post on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, "For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That's the way it's supposed to be."

VATICAN CITY (AP) — There is no rule that cardinals electing a new pope vote a certain way according to their nationality or region. But understanding their makeup in geographic terms can help explain some of their priorities as they open the conclave Wednesday to choose a new leader of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will likely keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, despite weeks of harsh criticism and demands from President Donald Trump that the Fed reduce borrowing costs.

After causing a sharp drop in financial markets two weeks ago by saying he could fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump subsequently backed off and said he had no intention of doing so. Still, he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have said the Fed should cut rates.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The Trump administration says the sweeping tariffs it unveiled April 2, then postponed for 90 days, have a simple goal: Force other countries to drop their trade barriers to U.S. goods.

Yet President Donald Trump's definition of trade barriers includes a slew of issues well beyond the tariffs other countries impose on the U.S., including some areas not normally associated with trade disputes. Those include agricultural safety requirements, tax systems, currency exchange rates, product standards, legal requirements, and red tape at the border.

Billionaire Warren Buffett will remain chairman of Berkshire Hathaway when vice chairman Greg Abel takes over as CEO to begin 2026.

The board of directors at the cash-rich conglomerate voted Sunday to keep the legendary 94-year-old investor as head of the board, a decision likely to relieve investors worried about Berkshire's remarkable winning streak as the U.S. and global economies are beset by tariff shocks, financial turmoil and a growing risk of recession.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — When Warren Buffett announced at his annual shareholder meeting Saturday that he is stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year, he elevated a low-key 62-year-old Canadian executive named Greg Abel who has long been one of his top lieutenants.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration says it is going to pay immigrants in the United States illegally who've returned to their home country voluntarily $1,000 as it pushes forward with its mass deportation agenda.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release Monday that it's also paying for travel assistance and that those people who use an app called CBP Home to tell the government that they plan to return home will be "deprioritized" for detention and removal by immigration enforcement.

As a transgender man, the words "you're a girl" gutted Tazz Webster, a taunt hurled at him from the day he moved into his St. Louis apartment.

The government-subsidized building's manager also insisted on calling Webster by the wrong name, the 38-year-old said, and ridiculed him with shouts of, "You're not a real man!"

WASHINGTON (AP) — When JD Vance was running for vice president, he walked across an airport tarmac in Wisconsin one August day when his campaign travels happened to intersect those of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and approached Air Force Two. Besides wanting to take a poke at Republican Donald Trump's rival for avoiding the press, Vance said, "I just wanted to check out my future plane."

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee, Missouri Valley Conference deputy commissioner Jill Redmond and Maryland interim athletic director Colleen Sorem have been appointed to serve on the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee, the NCAA announced Monday.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Jon Gruden is getting back into professional football.

The former NFL coach is joining the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football One league as both a part-owner and what the club called "consulting and advisory roles in all aspects of the team's football and business operations."

NEW YORK (AP) — Excuse me, you look like you might want to see the next generation of country music acts clean up at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Fans of the genre have long committed Ella Langley and Riley Green's throwback duet, "You Look Like You Love Me" to memory, and soon, they'll get to celebrate them and many others at the awards show.

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and the New Yorker three on Monday for journalism in 2024 that touched on topics like the fentanyl crisis, the U.S. military and last summer's assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.

GENEVA (AP) — A global group of broadcasters and publishers is calling on artificial intelligence developers to make sure their technology serves the public by helping to counter misinformation and protect the value of fact-based news.

The Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union, an association of public broadcasters that's also known for running the popular Eurovision Song Contest, says it and the World Association of News Publishers and other partners want to cooperate with tech companies behind AI.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower on Wall Street, breaking a nine-day winning streak.

Crude prices fell to a four-year low Monday after the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations said it plans to increase output. The S&P 500 slid 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was pardoned by Donald Trump for his conviction related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, said he met with the president over the weekend in Florida.

Tarrio posted about the meeting on his X account Sunday morning.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel approved plans Monday to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, a move that, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations there and likely draw fierce international opposition.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pushing forward with its mass deportation agenda, President Donald Trump's administration said Monday that it would pay $1,000 to immigrants who are in the United States illegally and return to their home country voluntarily.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has vetoed his first bill since taking office in 2019, nixing a measure that would make it easier for a state board to deny parole.

The Republican's veto Monday eliminates the bill, though the GOP-supermajority Tennessee Legislature can override a veto with the same number of votes that were required to originally pass the bill.

MEMPHIS (AP) — Jurors were expected to begin deliberating Tuesday in the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols in January 2023.

A prosecutor and a defense lawyer delivered closing arguments Monday in the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty to state charges including second-degree murder. They already face the possibility of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit from three Republican-led states seeking to cut off telehealth access to the abortion medication mifepristone.

Justice Department attorneys on Monday stayed the legal course charted by the Biden administration, though they didn't directly weigh in on the underlying issue of access to the drug, which is part of the nation's most common method of abortion.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A prominent Washington attorney sued the Trump administration Monday over the revocation of his security clearance, calling it an act of "improper political retribution" that jeopardizes his ability to continue representing clients in sensitive national security cases.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it expects to take a $1.5 billion hit to its operating profit from tariffs this year and is withdrawing its full-year financial guidance due to the uncertainty created by the Trump administration's evolving trade policy.

MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida jury has awarded $3 million to a man who was severely injured by a defective airbag in a 2020 crash.

Miami-Dade jurors reached a verdict for Jose Hernandez on Thursday, according to court records. He had filed a lawsuit in 2022 against Takata Airbag Tort Compensation Trust Fund, which was formed during Takata's bankruptcy

NEW YORK (AP) — A longtime editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post who quit in protest early this year after editors killed her sketch criticizing the Post owner and other media chief executives working to curry favor with Trump has won the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting and commentary.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Travelers who aren't REAL ID compliant by the upcoming deadline this week will still be able to fly but should be prepared for extra scrutiny, the head of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

Kristi Noem told a Congressional panel that 81% of travelers already have IDs that comply with the REAL ID requirements. She said security checkpoints will also be accepting passports and tribal identification when the deadline hits Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Passengers with flights to or from Newark Liberty International Airport encountered long delays and cancellations Saturday due to an air traffic controller shortage, a nationwide problem the Trump administration has pledged to fix.

NEW YORK (AP) — A bipartisan group of President Donald Trump's critics is launching a new organization, dubbed the Cost Coalition, to highlight Trump's struggle to control rising costs in the early months of his new presidency.

The group expects to be especially active ahead of upcoming elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to preliminary plans shared with The Associated Press this week ahead of a formal announcement. The Cost Coalition will push its message through a combination of paid advertising, social media, press interviews and on-the-ground events with small business leaders, veterans and the faith community.

NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel Inc., the maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and other popular toys, said Monday that it would have to raise prices for some products sold in the U.S. "where necessary" to offset higher costs related to President Donald Trump's tariffs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump welcomed Canada's new prime minister, Mark Carney, with a bit of menace on social media, only to then turn on the charm and hospitality once the two leaders were sitting together in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Friedrich Merz's unprecedented failure to win election as German chancellor in the first round of voting in parliament — though he won in the second — raised doubts about his new government's ability to carry through on plans to push Europe's largest economy out of stagnation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spencer Goidel, a 33-year-old federal worker in Boca Raton, Florida, with autism, knew what he could be losing when he got laid off from his job as an equal employment opportunity specialist at the IRS.

Because of his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Goidel had been able to secure his spot as one of more than 500,000 disabled workers in the federal government under Schedule A, which allows federal agencies to bypass the traditional hiring process and pick a qualified candidate from a pool of people with certain disabilities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as Japan's top trade negotiator traveled to Washington for another round of tariff talks last week, a bipartisan delegation bearing the name of "Japan-China Friendship" wrapped up a visit to Beijing.

A week earlier, the head of the junior party in Japan's ruling coalition was in Beijing delivering a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addressed to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Details of the letter are unknown, but the two sides discussed U.S. tariffs in addition to bilateral issues.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is deep into drafting President Donald Trump's big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up funding to halt migrants, but it's "bumpy," one Republican chairman says, with much work ahead to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson's goal of passing the package out of his chamber by Memorial Day.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Harvard University will receive no new federal grants until it meets a series of demands from President Donald Trump's administration, the Education Department announced Monday.

The action was laid out in a letter to Harvard's president and amounts to a major escalation of Trump's battle with the Ivy League school. The administration previously froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, and Trump is pushing to strip the school of its tax-exempt status.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration moves forward with deep cuts that it says will promote efficiency but that critics worry could result in a more politicized force.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $140.5 billion in March as consumers and businesses alike tried to get ahead of President Donald Trump's latest and most sweeping tariffs.

The deficit — which measures the gap between the value of goods and services the U.S. sells abroad against what it buys — has roughly doubled over the last year. In March 2024, Commerce Department records show, that gap was just under $68.6 billion.

Rite Aid customers can expect their local store to close or change ownership in the next few months, as the struggling drugstore chain goes through another bankruptcy filing.

The company plans to sell customer prescription files, inventory and other assets as it closes distribution centers and unloads store locations. Stores will remain open for now, but the company isn't buying new inventory so bare shelves are likely become more common.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis says he's informed the White House that he won't support Ed Martin, President Donald Trump'spick for top federal prosecutor in Washington, stalling the nomination in the Senate weeks before the temporary appointment expires.

MEMPHIS (AP) — The fate of three former Memphis police officers charged in the beating of Tyre Nichols was in the hands of 12 people who do not live in the city as jury deliberations began Tuesday in the 29-year-old Black man's death.

The jury began deliberating after a prosecutor and defense lawyers presented closing arguments in the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty to state charges including second-degree murder. They already face the possibility of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump's administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed.

The court acted in the dispute over a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Vinay Prasad, a prominent critic of the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration, has been named to oversee the health agency's program for vaccines and biotech drugs.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary announced the appointment Tuesday in a message to agency staff, praising Prasad's "long and distinguished history in medicine."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's feud with America's elite universities is lending momentum to Republicans on Capitol Hill who want to increase a tax on wealthy college endowments by tenfold or more.

House Republicans already were considering a hike in the tax on college endowments' earnings from 1.4% to 14% as part of Trump's tax bill. As the president raises the stakes in his fight with Harvard, Columbia and other Ivy League schools, lawmakers are floating raising the rate as high as 21% in line with the corporate tax rate. It appears no decisions have been made.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney faced off in the Oval Office on Tuesday and showed no signs of retreating from their gaping differences in an ongoing trade war that has shattered decades of trust between the two countries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired U.S. brigadier general who failed to get through the confirmation process in the first Trump administration got renewed scrutiny for his political and anti-Islamic social media posts during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday .

The $2.8 billion NCAA settlement awaiting final approval from a federal judge is touted as a solution for thousands of athletes to finally get the money they deserve and provide some clarity to recruiting. For some, it's too late.

Sophomore distance runner Jake Rimmel says he was one of five walk-ons cut from Virginia Tech's cross country team after Thanksgiving break. Rimmel decided to take a leave of absence and train independently while considering his next move – something that's proven easier said than done.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Education Department to undo a freeze on the last of the U.S. relief money given to schools to help students recover academically from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal government provided $189 billion in aid money for schools during the crisis, giving them broad latitude in how to spend it.

A combination shot for flu and COVID-19 using messenger RNA generated antibodies in a study, but U.S. government regulators want to see data on whether the new vaccine protects people from getting sick.

Researchers from vaccine-maker Moderna reported in a study published Wednesday that the new combo shot generated a stronger immune response against COVID-19 and most strains of flu than existing standalone shots in people 50 and older. Side effects were injection site pain, fatigue and headaches. Moderna previously reported a summary of the results from the company-sponsored trial in 8,000 people.

SKANEATELES, N.Y. (AP) — Farmer Jeremy Brown taps the nose of a young calf. "I love the ones with the pink noses," he says.

This pink-nosed animal is just one of about 3,200 cattle at Twin Birch Dairy in Skaneateles, New York. In Brown's eyes, the cows on the farm aren't just workers: "They're the boss, they're the queen of the barn."

DETROIT (AP) — Congress has voted to kill a Biden-era rule requiring rubber tire makers to clean up planet-warming emissions from their manufacturing processes in the U.S.

The Environmental Protection Agency finalized rules for the rubber tire industry, specifically previously unregulated rubber processing, last November through amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. Tires are made of chemicals, compounds and materials that release greenhouse gases, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, experts say.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve could keep its key rate unchanged for several more months as it evaluates the impact of President Donald Trump's widespread tariffs on hiring and inflation, some economists say, even as the White House pushes for a rate cut.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first major talks between the two nations since President Donald Trump sparked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their counterparts in Geneva in the most-senior known conversations between the two countries in months, the Trump administration announced Tuesday. It comes amid growing U.S. market worry over the impact of the tariffs on the prices and supply of consumer goods.

BEIJING (AP) — China announced a barrage of measures meant to counter the blow to its economy from U.S. President Donald Trump 's trade war, as the two sides prepared for talks later this week.

Beijing's central bank governor and other top financial officials outlined plans Wednesday to cut interest rates and reduce bank reserve requirements to help free up more funding for lending. They also said the government would increase the amount of money available for factory upgrades and other innovation and for elder care and other service businesses.

NEW YORK (AP) — WeightWatchers said Tuesday it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to eliminate $1.15 billion in debt and focus on its transition into a telehealth services provider.

Parent WW International Inc. said it has the support of nearly three-quarters of its debt holders. It expects to emerge from bankruptcy within 45 days, if not sooner.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have added a provision to their sweeping tax cut package that would authorize the sale of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah, prompting outrage from Democrats and environmental groups who called the plan a betrayal that could lead to increased drilling, mining and logging in the West.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, according to two U.S. officials.

Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the gulf.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A meeting between the leaders of Canada and the United States is not usually considered a high-stakes showdown, but there was little ordinary about this one. Here was newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney making his first visit to the Oval Office to see President Donald Trump, who has spent months musing about turning America's northern neighbor into the 51st state.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — India fired missiles at Pakistan early Wednesday, in what it said was retaliation for last month's massacre of Indian tourists. Pakistan called the strikes an act of war and claimed it downed several Indian fighter jets.

The strikes targeted at least nine sites "where terrorist attacks against India have been planned," India's Defense Ministry said. Pakistan's military said the missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country's Punjab province and killed more than two dozen people, including children.

CLARKSVILLE (AP) — Austin Peay transfer defensive back William Hardrick, who previously played for Mississippi State and Miami (Ohio), has died, the university announced Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Excuse me, you look like you might want to see the next generation of country music acts clean up at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Fans of the genre have long committed Ella Langley and Riley Green's throwback duet, "You Look Like You Love Me" to memory, and soon, they'll get to celebrate them and many others at the awards show.

MEMPHIS (AP) — Three former Memphis officers were acquitted Wednesday of state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop, a death that sparked nationwide protests and prompted renewed calls for police reforms in the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Google is partnering with Elementl Power on three project sites for advanced nuclear energy as the energy required to power burgeoning artificial intelligence projects rises sharply.

Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Google will provide capital for the projects, which the companies say will each produce 600 megawatts of power capacity. No dollar figure for Google's investment was given.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The more President Donald Trump talks about his efforts to reach deals with America's trading partners, the more confusing the tariff picture gets. His team seems good with that, saying Trump is using "strategic uncertainty" to his advantage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday, brushing off President Donald Trump's demands to lower borrowing costs, and said that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.

The Fed kept its rate at 4.3% for the third straight meeting, after cutting it three times in a row at the end of last year. Many economists and Wall Street investors still expect the Fed will reduce rates two or three times this year, but the sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump have injected a tremendous amount of uncertainty into the U.S. economy and the Fed's policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans appear to be backing off some, but not all, of the steep reductions to the Medicaid program as part of their big tax breaks bill, as they run into resistance from more centrist GOP lawmakers opposed to ending nearly-free health care coverage for their constituents back home.