Federal authorities allege more than $10M in childcare payment fraud in California

September 16, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal authorities charged a dozen people Tuesday for fraudulently collecting more than $10 million in government childcare payments in Southern California, when the operators had few or even no actual children attending their facilities. The charges, jointly announced in San Diego by the Justice Department and the criminal investigations division of the IRS, are the latest effort by the Trump administration to investigate and charge alleged cases of fraud and waste in government programs. The 12 defendants said they were operating licensed, at-home childcare ...

European leaders meet as Arctic thaw opens shipping routes and Russian buildup stokes security fears

September 15, 2026

ROVANIEMI, Finland (AP) — European leaders joined forces Monday to highlight growing competition in the Arctic, where global warming is opening new shipping routes, governments are vying for vast natural resources and a Russian military buildup is heightening security concerns. The leaders, mostly from Nordic and Baltic countries, put a spotlight on environmental challenges, economic opportunities and military vulnerabilities at a time of doubts about whether the United States, through NATO, will remain a bulwark against Russia. “This region has become a geopolitical hotspot,” ...

Thick haze disrupts flights on Indonesia’s Borneo island

September 15, 2026

PONTIANAK, Indonesia (AP) — Thick smoke from forest fires has disrupted airline flights for several days in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province as an intensifying El Nino weather pattern and a prolonged dry season worsen the impact of blazes. Since Friday, a thick white and yellowish haze has blanketed the city of Pontianak, reducing visibility to less than 1 kilometer (0.62 miles). Poor air quality and limited visibility have also hampered firefighting efforts, carried out with equipment from Japan that arrived on Thursday. Across Indonesia, seasonal forest fires are ...

Drenching rains bring flash flooding across coastal Connecticut, New York and New Jersey

September 15, 2026

WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — Flash flooding brought on by heavy rains prompted road closures, water rescues and commuter rail problems across the tristate area Sunday. The National Weather Service said the hardest-hit areas appeared to be northern New Jersey, parts of New York’s Westchester ...

Man pleads not guilty in the hanging death of a Mississippi woman

September 15, 2026

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man charged with murder in the hanging of a Black woman in Mississippi pleaded not guilty Monday at his first court appearance. The body of Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in the state’s capital city, Jackson, on Aug. 3. On Friday, police arrested 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, who is also Black, on a murder charge after the state medical examiner deemed her death a homicide. During Monday’s brief hearing in Municipal Court, a judge denied bond for Ratliff, who told the court he’s not guilty. Ratliff’s ...

For these Midwest farmers, regenerative agriculture is about more than soil health. It’s spiritual

September 15, 2026

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — The towering maple trees and native hazelnut bushes on Salvatierra Farms break up the surrounding corn and soybean fields that sprawl across southern Minnesota. Small compared with its neighbors, the 63 acres (25 hectares) of land was once a conventional row ...