- NEW YORK (AP) — Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, according to the American Library Association. And efforts to have titles removed have never been more coordinated or politicized. The ALA on Monday issued its annual list of the books most challenged at the country’s libraries, part of the association’s State of […]
- Thousands of survivors of the 2025 Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, have elected to accept an upfront settlement from the utility accused of causing it, forgoing future litigation for a faster payment that could help them rebuild or relocate. But unless a bill moving through Congress becomes law, that money could be taxed as income, […]
- SHOREHAM, Vt. (AP) — Meghan Ireland always loved chemistry, but as a college freshman studying chemical engineering, she didn’t know she could channel her passion for science into the art of making whiskey. It took stumbling across an article about a female chemical engineer who became a master whiskey distiller for something to click: Ireland’s […]
- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The ceasefire in the Iran war hangs in the balance as Pakistan’s capital stands prepared for possible new talks between Tehran and Washington. As of right now, the two-week ceasefire will expire at 0000 GMT Wednesday (8 p.m. ET Tuesday.) But the truce between Iran, Israel and the United […]
- HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — An overturned ship found near the U.S. territory of Saipan after a typhoon hit is the vessel that went missing with six people on board, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday. The Coast Guard said it was still searching for the six. It said the overturned boat was first spotted Saturday. […]
- Witnesses subpoenaed to testify before DC grand jury in John Brennan investigation, AP sources say
on April 20, 2026 at 6:18 pmWASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has subpoenaed several witnesses to testify before a federal grand jury in Washington as part of its investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan, three people familiar with the matter said Monday. The subpoenas were issued in recent days and represent an effort by the Justice Department to press forward with the investigation even as a Florida-based career prosecutor who’d been helping lead the inquiry left the case after expressing doubts about the legal viability of a potential criminal prosecution. A former Justice Department lawyer who served as a top prosecutor in the 1980s and later supported legal efforts by President Donald Trump to overturn his 2020 election loss has since been sworn in to serve as a special counselor to the attorney general, and is expected to work on the investigation. The months-old Brennan investigation is one of several criminal probes the Justice Department has opened over the last year against Trump’s perceived adversaries. It centers on one of the Republican president’s chief grievances — a U.S. intelligence community finding that Russia interfered on his behalf during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The subpoenas were described by people with knowledge of them who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. At least three were said to have been issued, said two of the people. CBS News earlier reported the issuance of subpoenas. Brennan served as CIA director under President Barack Obama and was in that role when the intelligence community in January 2017 published an assessment detailing Russian interference aimed at helping Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. An investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia meddled on Trump’s behalf and that his campaign welcomed the assistance, but it did not find sufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy. The Justice Department last year received a criminal referral from Rep Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, alleging that Brennan made false statements before the panel in 2023 about the preparation of the intelligence community assessment. Brennan and his lawyers have vigorously denied any wrongdoing. The investigation has been unfolding for months in Florida, with investigators having lined up interviews and issued subpoenas for records. The latest subpoenas seek grand jury testimony in Washington, an indication that prosecutors expect they would have to bring any criminal case in Washington since that is where Brennan’s testimony took place. On Friday, it was revealed that a key national security prosecutor in Florida who’d been handling the investigation, Maria Medetis Long, left the case. She expressed doubts about the case and was removed, another person familiar with the matter said. The Justice Department since then has tapped Joseph diGenova, 81, a Trump loyalist who served as the U.S. Attorney in Washington for part of the 1980s, to serve as a special counselor to the attorney general. He was sworn in Monday in Florida and is expected to work on the Brennan investigation. DiGenova supported Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He made headlines that year when he said Chris Krebs, a top Trump administration cybersecurity official who said the election was not tainted by fraud, should be killed. DiGenova later apologized and a lawsuit filed against him by Krebs was withdrawn. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Animal welfare protesters converge on Wisconsin governor’s office seeking release of beagles
on April 20, 2026 at 6:18 pmMADISON, Wis. (AP) — Animal welfare activists converged outside of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ Capitol office on Monday, chanting “Free the dogs!” and demanding that the governor and attorney general do what they can to shut down a beagle breeding and research facility where many of the protesters clashed with police two days earlier. An estimated 1,000 activists from around the country came to Ridglan Farms in rural Blue Mounds in an attempt Saturday to free an estimated 2,000 beagles kept there about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were met by police who repelled them with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff’s Department said 29 people were arrested. Many of those who were at the facility on Saturday returned to the Capitol on Monday to decry law enforcement’s reaction. Some of them showed off bruises they said were caused by rubber bullets. More than 100 protesters were met outside of the Capitol hallway that leads to the offices of Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul by police officers who handed out constituent contact forms for Wisconsin residents to complete. Evers and Kaul did not immediately return messages seeking comment. No one from their offices spoke directly to the protesters, some of whom carried pictures of Evers, Kaul and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin interacting with dogs. Aidan Kankyoku, a co-leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs that organized the effort, said they were hoping that both Evers and Kaul would break their silence about the dog breeder. Kankyoku said activists also wanted Kaul to execute a search warrant on the facility to investigate allegations of ongoing animal cruelty. “We just want the dogs out,” he said. Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges. On its website it says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.” Ridglan says it has served as a biomedical research facility “that supports health studies benefitting both humans and animals” for more than 60 years. Nearly all of its current research is aimed at improving veterinary medicine, according to its website. Ridglan did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday. Activists said they were acting peacefully Saturday in an attempt to rescue the dogs from the facility when they were repelled by police. Protesters broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges. Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, in a social media post on Monday, called on state officials to work with Ridglan on a plan for releasing the dogs that won’t overwhelm placement groups and prevent the beagles from being euthanized. Pocan last week questioned U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. during a House Appropriations Committee hearing about federal grants going to organizations that use beagles from Ridglan Farms. Kennedy said he had a hard time believing what Pocan was telling him but that he would look into it. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Doubts over talks between Iran and US after violence flares in Strait of Hormuz
on April 20, 2026 at 5:18 pmISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran two days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place. Over the weekend, the U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond, and its foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports were “clear signs” of Washington’s disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, Iran state media reported. With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan pushed for talks to resume Tuesday as planned. Pakistan said Monday that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held separate meetings in Islamabad with the Iranian ambassador and the acting U.S. ambassador to discuss arrangements. Iran throttled traffic through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait. Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume Thursday in Washington, an Israeli official and a U.S. official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes talks. There was no immediate confirmation from Lebanon. The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon. A 10-day ceasefire began Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants broke out two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran. Mediators said fighting in Lebanon, which has killed more than 2,290 people, was undermining efforts to end the conflict between Iran and the U.S. Hezbollah opposes the talks but has observed the ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump told Bloomberg News he was “highly unlikely” to renew the two-week ceasefire with Iran. The New York Post reported that Trump said in a phone interview that Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were returning to the Pakistani capital on Monday. “They’re heading over now,” Trump was quoted as saying. However, Vance’s motorcade pulled up to the White House late Monday morning after Trump’s comments were published, indicating the vice president had not left Washington. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that there were no plans yet to attend the talks with the U.S. But at the same time, he did not rule it out. Two Pakistani officials said Monday that Iran has expressed a willingness to send a delegation to Islamabad. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Over the weekend, Iran said it had received new proposals from the U.S. but suggested that a wide gap remained between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the Strait of Hormuz. Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization. He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under. Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed. Iran’s grip on the strait has also sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Oil prices recovered slightly following Iran’s announcement that the strait was being reopened following the Lebanon ceasefire announcement. But then Trump said the U.S. blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with Washington. The U.S. military said Monday it has directed 27 ships to return to Iranian ports since the blockade began last week. The U.S. seizure of an Iranian cargo ship Sunday was the first interception under the blockade. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said, and vowed to again enforce restrictions imposed early in the war. Iran on Saturday fired at ships trying to transit. Oil prices were up again in trading on Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at about $93 a barrel — up from about $70 a barrel before the war started. Iran early Monday warned it could keep up the global economic pain as ships remained unable to transit the strait, with hundreds of vessels waiting at each end for clearance. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post. In other developments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the defacing of a statue of Jesus Christ by an Israeli soldier in Lebanon, saying he was “stunned and saddened.” Photos surfaced over the weekend of the soldier using a sledgehammer to smash the head of a toppled Jesus statue. The Israeli military confirmed the images were genuine, setting off a wave of condemnation. ___ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press journalists Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Joshua Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Musician D4vd charged with murder of 14‑year‑old girl in Los Angeles
on April 20, 2026 at 4:25 pmLOS ANGELES, April 20 (Reuters) – David Burke, a 21‑year‑old musician known professionally as D4vd, has been charged with the murder of 14‑year‑old Celeste Rivas, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said on Monday. Hochman said the remains of Rivas were found last year in the front trunk of a car registered to D4vd. She had been missing for nearly a year-and-a-half when her decomposed remains were discovered in September 2025. The vehicle had been parked for weeks in a Hollywood Hills neighborhood before being towed to an impound lot, where workers reported a foul odor. D4vd gained fame in 2022 after songs he recorded on his phone for his Fortnite gaming videos went viral on TikTok, with the hit “Romantic Homicide” helping him sign a deal with Interscope Records. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday afternoon. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine, Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gaffen) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic for article that alleged excessive drinking
on April 20, 2026 at 4:18 pmFBI Director Kash Patel hit The Atlantic magazine with a $250 million defamation lawsuit on Monday, claiming an article that talked about mismanagement at the agency and his alleged excessive drinking was false and a “malicious hit piece.” The Atlantic said it stood by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the “meritless lawsuit.” In the article, posted on the magazine’s website Friday, author Sarah Fitzpatrick said Patel is deeply concerned about losing his job and that “he has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking.” Fitzpatrick was also named as a defendant. His behavior, including “both conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” has alarmed officials at the FBI and Department of Justice, leading one official speaking anonymously to say that worry about what would happen in the case of a terrorist attack in the U.S. “keeps me up at night,” the magazine said. The White House told The Atlantic that Patel remains a critical player on the President Donald Trump’s law and order team and credited him for decreases in the crime rate. Trump team is also said to be pleased by Patel’s willingness to go after the president’s rivals. Patel, in the lawsuit filed in district court in Washington, denied the allegations of his behavior and criticized the magazine for relying on anonymous sources. Fitzpatrick wrote that she interviewed more than two dozen people and granted them anonymity to “discuss sensitive information and private conversations.” “Defendants cannot evade responsibility for their malicious lies by hiding behind sham sources,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit said Patel’s lawyers asked The Atlantic for more time to respond to accusations but the magazine did not reply. “It is among the strongest possible evidence of actual malice,” it said. The Atlantic said Patel had been spotted drinking heavily at the private club Ned’s in Washington and at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, where he often spends time on the weekends. Six people told the magazine that briefings and meetings involving Patel had to be rescheduled for later in the day because of drinking the night before. It said that on “multiple occasions” Patel’s security team had difficulty waking him and at one point requested equipment designed to forcibly open a building when Patel was unreachable behind closed doors. With his lawsuit, Patel is following a playbook used by his boss to fight back against damaging stories. Last week, a judge in Florida dismissed Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its report about a risqué birthday greeting he had sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The judge said Trump had not plausibly alleged the story was published with actual malice, the standard for a libel finding. Last September, another judge dismissed Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times and some reporters for a story critical of the president’s business acumen. Trump was allowed to file an amended lawsuit, which he did. Trump also sued CBS News and ABC News for stories he didn’t like before taking office again for his second term. Both of those news organizations paid a settlement out of court to Trump before the cases could go to trial. ___ David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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