US fires on Iranian oil tanker as Trump pressures Tehran for deal to end war
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military fired on an Iranian oil tanker as President Donald Trump sought to pressure Tehran into reaching a deal to end the war. The military said in a social media post that a fighter jet shot out the rudder of the tanker Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman as the vessel tried to breach the American blockade of Iran’s ports. The attack occurred as Iran and the U.S. are officially in a ceasefire. Trump threatened Tehran with a new wave of bombing if a deal is not reached that includes opening the critical Strait of Hormuz. The president posted on social media that the two-month war could soon end.
Cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak heads to Canary Islands after 3 are evacuated
PRAIA, Cape Verde (AP) — The U.N. health agency says two patients with hantavirus and one suspected of infection were evacuated from a cruise ship at the center of a deadly outbreak. Two of the patients arrived at Amsterdam’s airport Wednesday evening and were driven off in ambulances. The ship departed from Cape Verde and headed to Spain's Canary Islands. The World Health Organization says eight cases have been recorded, with five confirmed by lab tests. Three people have died. Two Argentine officials investigating the origins of the outbreak say the government’s leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus during a bird-watching outing before boarding.
Hantavirus is on the rise in Argentina, where a stricken cruise ship began its journey
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Officials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to figure out if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise. Argentina is consistently ranked by the World Health Organization as having the highest incidence of the rare, rat-borne disease in Latin America. And it's seeing a surge of hantavirus cases that many local public health researchers attribute to the accelerating effects of climate change. The Argentine Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 101 hantavirus infections since June 2025. That's roughly double the caseload recorded over the same period the previous year.
CNN founder Ted Turner, a brash and outspoken television pioneer, has died at age 87
NEW YORK (AP) — CNN founder Ted Turner has died at age 87. His company Turner Enterprises says the television pioneer died Wednesday. Turner transformed an obscure Atlanta television station into the first satellite-based “superstation” and founded Cable News Network, the first 24-hour, all news TV network. The brash Southerner owned sports teams, was a champion yacht racer and was married to actor Jane Fonda for 10 years. He was one of America’s most extensive landowners and became a prolific philanthropist, donating $1 billion to the United Nations. President Donald Trump called him one of the all-time greats.
Southern Republicans press ahead with election-year redistricting of US House despite protests
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republicans are rapidly pursuing redistricting efforts across the South following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affects majority-Black congressional districts. Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana and South Carolina are all considering changes. Tennessee lawmakers have proposed a new House map that would divide Memphis, a majority-Black city. They pressed ahead with it on Wednesday, despite protests. In South Carolina, Republican leaders are targeting a district held by a longtime Black Democratic lawmaker. Alabama lawmakers are proposing a new congressional primary if courts allow the state to redistrict. Louisiana already has postponed its congressional primary to allow time for a new redistricting plan.
Justice Department can keep 2020 election ballots seized from Georgia’s Fulton County, judge rules
ATLANTA (AP) — The federal government doesn't have to return the 2020 election ballots from Georgia’s Fulton County that were seized by the FBI from a warehouse near Atlanta. U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee issued the ruling Wednesday. Lawyers for the county had argued that the ballots and other election materials should be returned because the seizure was improper and unconstitutional. The Jan. 28 seizure by the FBI targeted the elections hub in Georgia’s most populous county, which is heavily Democratic and includes most of the city of Atlanta. Fulton County has been at the center of unfounded claims by President Donald Trump and his allies that widespread election fraud cost him the 2020 election.
FBI searches Virginia Senate leader's office as part of corruption probe, AP sources say
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) — The FBI has searched the Democratic Virginia state Senate leader’s hometown office and her neighboring cannabis shop. Wednesday's action brings into public view what was described as a yearslong corruption investigation. The searches at Sen. L. Louise Lucas’ office and cannabis business are part of what two people familiar with the matter call a corruption inquiry. One of the people says the investigation was opened during Democratic former President Joe Biden’s administration. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. Lucas said she views the probe as an effort by the Trump administration to “intimidate and silence the voices of those who stand up to them.”
Lutnick's testimony about Epstein draws praise from GOP chair and derision from Democrats
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress have come away from a private House committee interview with vastly different assessments of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s answers about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. The Republican who heads the committee said Lutnick was “forthcoming” in describing limited interactions with Epstein. Democrats accused Lutnick of lying and evading their questions during the interview Wednesday. Lutnick's position has been that he’s done nothing wrong and he welcomed the chance to speak to lawmakers in private. The interview wasn't recorded on video, as the committee has done with depositions for others, including Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Oil prices sink and stocks leap worldwide on hopes for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices sank, and stock markets rallied worldwide with hopes that a deal is nearing to allow tankers to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf again. The price for a barrel of Brent fell toward $101 Wednesday. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 1.5% for its best day in nearly a month and set another record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 2%. Stock markets abroad rallied even more. Oil prices pared their steepest drops from the morning, though, and Wall Street has seen past hopes for an end to the Iran war get dashed several times.
Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo is not running in the Preakness
Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will not run in the Preakness Stakes next weekend. Trainer Cherie DeVaux announced the plan to skip the Preakness and set sights on the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York. Golden Tempo is the third Derby winner in the past five years not to be entered in the Preakness. For various reasons, it is the sixth time in eight years the Preakness will happen with no chance of a Triple Crown on the line. American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 are the only horses to sweep all three races over the past four decades.
