NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Idle sometime gazes up into the heavens and wonders about something if we ever make contact with aliens: Will they have a sense of humor? "I think the answer must be yes, because it's about self-awareness," says the founding member of the comedy group Monty Python's ...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The first major storm of the winter covered parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic with snow and ice Tuesday, making roads hazardous, disrupting travel and closing schools as some areas braced for several inches of heavy snowfall. The storm could deliver up to a foot ...

By JOCELYN GECKER AP Education Writer Students applying to college know they can't — or at least shouldn't — use AI chatbots to write their essays and personal statements. So it might come as a surprise that some schools are now using artificial intelligence to read them. AI tools are ...

By JOSH FUNK AP Transportation Writer Nearly 44% of the 16,000 truck driving programs listed nationwide by the government may be forced to close if they lose their students after a review by the federal Transportation Department found they may not be complying with minimum ...

By AAMER MADHANI and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted "within his authority and the law" when he ordered a second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in a September U.S. military ...

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Since last week's shooting of two National Guard members in the nation's capital by a suspect who is an Afghan national, the Trump administration announced a flurry of policies aimed at making it harder for some foreigners to enter or ...

SEATTLE (AP) — An anonymous donation expected to exceed $50 million is helping cover tuition costs for medical laboratory science students at the University of Washington for the next half-century. The dean of the university's School of Medicine, Dr. Tim Dellit, made the surprise ...

By The Associated Press Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday. The updated ID has been required since May, but passengers without it have so far been allowed to clear ...

By JAIMIE DING Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ken Johnson, 63, just got a new roommate last week — a black bear living in the crawl space under his home in Southern California. The bear was seen on video footage clambering out from beneath his house Tuesday. He had installed a ...

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — One of the sons of notorious Mexican drug kingpin "El Chapo" pleaded guilty on Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, months after his brother entered a plea deal. Known locally in Mexico as the "Chapitos" — or "little Chapos" ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump' s doctor says the president had MRI imaging on his heart and abdomen in October as part of a preventative screening for men his age, according to a memo from the physician released by the White House on Monday. Sean Barbabella said in a statement that Trump's ...

By BEN FINLEY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military would have committed a crime if it killed the survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat, legal experts say. It doesn't matter whether the U.S. is in "armed conflict" with drug cartels as the ...

By PATRICK WHITTLE and ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Black ice, snow showers and fog pestered post-holiday travelers in the Midwest on Monday while the Northeast geared up for its first major snowstorm of the season. More than 8 inches (20.32 centimeters) of snow ...

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia National Guard member who was shot last week in a brazen daytime attack in Washington, D.C., remains in serious condition but showed positive signs by giving a thumbs-up that he could hear a nurse's question and ...

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press Republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives unveiled a new congressional map on Monday that aims to wipe out the state's two Democrat-held U.S. House districts, increasing pressure on GOP holdouts in the state Senate who have refused to heed ...

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press A push to reshape congressional voting districts, instigated by President Donald Trump, is sweeping across states as political parties vie for an edge in next year's elections. Trump is hoping to buck historical trends of the president's party losing ...

By ED WHITE Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Two conservative political operatives were sentenced to probation Monday for a scheme to discourage Black Detroit voters from voting by mail in the 2020 presidential election, the last court hearing in a multistate effort to blast thousands of ...

By HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Four Republican-led states agreed to settle lawsuits against the federal government over access to voters' citizenship data, ending a dispute that began with the Biden administration in advance of the 2024 presidential ...

By BART PFANKUCH/South Dakota News Watch South Dakota News Watch Three lawmakers who represent Piedmont, South Dakota, hope to change weak state mining laws that allowed a proposed limestone mine to be sited without notification or input by any local officials or residents. The plan by ...

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Alina Habba is disqualified from serving as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor despite his administration's maneuvers to keep her in the role, an appeals court said Monday. A panel of ...