Author: The Carolinian

LINCOLN, Ill. (AP) - Dressed in her Sunday best - pink ruffled sleeves and a rainbow tulle tutu - Crystal Martinez's 4-year-old daughter proudly presents her with a multicolored bouquet of carefully crafted tissue paper flowers. With her 5-year-old son nestled on her lap, laughing in delight, Martinez holds out her arms and pulls the girl into a hug so tight that her glasses are knocked askew. "I want you!

NEW YORK (AP) - Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday declaring his campaign for president in 2024, setting up a challenge to his former boss, Donald Trump, just two years after their time in the White House ended with an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Pence fleeing for his life. Pence, the nation's 48th vice president, will formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination with

NEW YORK (AP) - A three-year pause on student loan payments will end this summer regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the White House plan to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt. If Congress approves a debt ceiling deal negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, payments will resume in late August, ending any lingering hope of a further extension of the pause

BEIJING (AP) - Asian stock markets sank Wednesday ahead of a vote by Congress on a deal to avert a government debt default, while a downturn in Chinese factory activity deepened, adding to signs global economic activity is weakening. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney retreated. Oil prices declined. Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index edged up less than 0.1% on Tuesday as President Joe Biden and U.S. House Speaker

Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into "the danger zone," not just for an overheating planet that's losing its natural areas, but for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study. The study looks not just at guardrails for the planetary ecosystem but for the first time it includes measures of "justice," which is mostly about preventing harm for

SALIX, Iowa (AP) - Ron DeSantis was making a four-stop blitz through Iowa during his first full day of presidential campaigning on Wednesday, aiming for a personal connection with voters while intensifying his criticism of former President Donald Trump. The Florida governor's first appearance was the floor of Port Neal Welding in Salix, a rural town near Sioux City, in the heart of the most Republican-heavy part of the state.

After ballooning for years, CEO pay growth is finally slowing. The typical compensation package for chief executives who run S&P 500 companies rose just 0.9% last year, to a median of $14.8 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. That means half the CEOs in the survey made more and half made less. It was the smallest increase since 2015. Still, that's unlikely to quell mounting criticism

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A private flight carrying two Saudi astronauts and other passengers returned to Earth late Tuesday night after a nine-day trip to the International Space Station. The SpaceX capsule carrying the four parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico, just off the Florida panhandle, 12 hours after undocking from the orbiting lab. The Saudi government picked up the multimillion-dollar tab for its two astronauts: Rayyanah Barnawi, a

BEIJING (AP) - China launched a new three-person crew for its orbiting space station on Tuesday, with an eye to putting astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. The Shenzhou 16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket just after 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) Tuesday. The crew, including China's first