AP National

Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday, with one attack ripping through a home where displaced people were sheltering in the isolated north. The strikes killed at least 33 people including children, Palestinian health officials said. Violence also flared in outside Jerusalem, where an

Associated Press CHEKKA, Lebanon (AP) — Suheil Hamwi spent 32 years in a Syrian prison, and now, after an offensive by insurgents that toppled the government of Bashar Assad, he’s finally returned to his home to Lebanon. Hamwi was one of hundreds of Lebanese citizens detained during Syria’s occupation of Lebanon from 1976 to 2005

Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan has demanded that China end its ongoing military activity in nearby waters, which it said is unilaterally undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and disrupting international shipping and trade. The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it was responding in part to the activities of a “large

Associated Press FOURNA, Greece (AP) — Fourna, home to 180 people and hidden in the fir-tree covered mountains of central Greece, is a vanishing village that is determined to keep its place on the map. A winding four-hour drive from Athens, it enjoys near total silence, periodically broken by church bells and howling dogs. Elderly

Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The next United Nations climate conference will be held in Belem, the capital of an Amazon region where widespread deforestation has turned the surrounding rainforest from a vital carbon sink into a significant carbon source. Cattle farming remains the main driver of this destruction. Now a new report ahead

Associated Press Sexual abuse and harassment by coaches and others who held positions of power over women on the U.S. Biathlon team have been dismissed, ignored or excused over decades by officials more concerned with winning medals than holding offenders accountable, according to a half-dozen former Olympians and other biathletes. And while the men involved

Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. East Coast began a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather Wednesday with a deluge of rain, rapid snowmelt and powerful gusts, creating dangerous conditions, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Ski resort operators in the Northeast watched their snow turn to mush with a

Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Amnesty International has called for an investigation into a former governor and two top army officials in Congo for “possible crimes against humanity” during a deadly protest crackdown last year. The human rights group said in a report Wednesday that Congo’s security forces killed at least 56 people and

Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Reem Ajour says she last saw her husband and then 4-year-old daughter in March, when Israeli soldiers raided a family home in northern Gaza. She is haunted by those chaotic last moments, when the soldiers ordered her to go – to leave behind Talal and Masaa, both

AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Fueled by pricier used cars, hotel rooms and groceries, inflation in the United States moved slightly higher last month in the latest sign that some price pressures remain elevated. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier, up from a yearly figure of 2.6% in October. Excluding

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes got back to climbing on Wednesday after the latest update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to break its first two-day losing streak in nearly a month and finished

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man who was captured on courtroom video attacking a judge in Las Vegas has been sentenced to at least 26 years in prison. Deobra Redden said Tuesday in court that he didn’t intend to kill the judge when he vaulted over her desk and landed on her in January. KLAS-TV

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s previous defense minister was stopped from attempting suicide while in detention over last week’s martial law declaration, officials said Wednesday, as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office resisted a police attempt to search the compound. The main liberal opposition Democratic Party is pushing for a new motion

Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — The sheriff of the nation’s fifth-largest county on Tuesday defied a new policy to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, setting up a showdown over a new obstacle to President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. San Diego County supervisors voted to prohibit its sheriff’s department from working with U.S.

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Throughout his first term in the White House and

Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A judge has overturned a Black man’s conviction in a 2009 double homicide that was investigated by a discredited white Kansas City, Kansas, police detective. The ruling Monday in the case of 34-year-old Cedric Warren came exactly one week after Roger Golubski died in an apparent suicide just

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is promising expedited federal permits for energy projects and other construction worth more than $1 billion. But like other Trump plans, the idea is likely to run into regulatory and legislative hurdles, including a landmark law that requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impact before deciding

AP Film Writer The hardest movie ticket to get this weekend was for a film audiences have been able to watch at home for years: Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar.” The science fiction epic starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway earned $4.5 million from only 166 screens in the U.S. and Canada. Its 70mm IMAX film presentations

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump made another flurry of job announcements on Tuesday, selecting Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Ron Johnson was nominated to be ambassador to Mexico, and Kimberly Guilfoyle to be ambassador to Greece. Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC’s five commissioners,

Associated Press Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner has filed to run for a seat on the New York City Council, launching a potential political comeback after his once-promising career was destroyed by sexting scandals and a criminal conviction for having illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl. New York City campaign finance records list Weiner,

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Vandals have torched a car and sprayed graffiti with anti-Israel slogans in a Sydney suburb in what officials said was the latest antisemitic attack in Australia. Wednesday’s attack came days after federal police established a task force to investigate increasing incidents of such crimes across  the country. Police said

Associated Press MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — In coastal Southern California, a university has extensive plans for students to shelter in place in case of a wildfire. That’s what happened as a blaze erupted Monday night and rushed across the hillsides in the picturesque community of Malibu. Some 3,000 students at Pepperdine University remained on campus

Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that Ohio’s product liability law prohibits counties from bringing public-nuisance claims against national pharmaceutical chains as they did as part of national opioid litigation. Tuesday’s decision could overturn a $650 million judgment against the pharmacies in a lawsuit brought by Lake and Trumbull

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio (AP) — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s home was broken into during Monday Night Football in the latest home invasion of a pro athlete in the U.S., authorities said Tuesday. No one was injured in the break-in, but the home was ransacked, according to a report provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

Associated Press Police became convinced they were investigating a crime rather than a voluntarily missing person two weeks after a University of Mississippi student disappeared. Oxford Police Chief Jeff McCutchen testified Tuesday in the capital murder trial of Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. McCutchen says officers believe Herrington lied to them about his interactions with 20-year-old

Boeing is resuming production of its bestselling plane, the 737 Max. It’s the first time that Max jets have moved down the assembly line since September, when about 33,000 workers went on strike for higher pay. Boeing said Tuesday that work on the Max has resumed at its factory in Renton, Washington, near Seattle. Both

AP Baseball Writer For the second straight Major League Baseball offseason, a norm-shattering contract has been the talk of the winter, with Juan Soto agreeing with the New York Mets on a $765 million, 15-year deal that’s the richest in baseball history. It comes almost exactly one year after the Los Angeles Dodgers forked out

WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — Authorities have arrested and charged a southeast Georgia man with the 1985 killing of a couple at a Black church. Harold and Thelma Swain were shot to death inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Waverly, Georgia. A judge in 2021 exonerated Dennis Perry, who was originally charged in the shooting and

NEW YORK (AP) — Remember what you searched for in 2024? Google does. Google released its annual “Year in Search” on Tuesday, rounding up the top trending queries entered into its namesake search engine in 2024. The results show terms that saw the highest spike in traffic compared to last year — ranging from key

Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The East Coast is due for a whiplash-inducing rainy, windy and potentially dangerous stretch of weather. That’s due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. The storm is expected to bring heavy rain and fierce winds to many areas from Tuesday night to Wednesday night. Flooding

Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Another recount won’t be ordered by North Carolina election officials in a close state Supreme Court race after a partial hand recount failed to suggest the trailing Republican candidate could overtake the Democratic incumbent. Associate Justice Allison Riggs maintained a 734-vote lead over Jefferson Griffin following a machine recount

AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it will retreat from the robotaxi business and stop funding its money-losing Cruise autonomous vehicle unit. Instead the Detroit automaker will focus on development of partially automated driver-assist systems like its Super Cruise, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel. In a

Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — High-profile legal battles are nothing new for Texas attorney Tony Buzbee, with his latest being a lawsuit he’s filed against Jay-Z, accusing the iconic rapper as well as Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting a minor at an awards show after-party in 2000. The lawsuit against Jay-Z is part of

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Southwest Airlines jet and a small plane wound up on the same runway in California in October after an air traffic controller cleared both planes to land on the same runway. The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that the planes came within 900 feet of each other before the smaller

Associated Press Luigi Nicholas Mangione was apparently living a charmed one: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-od Mangione

DENVER (AP) — An arraignment for a Colorado funeral home owner accused of keeping a woman’s corpse in the back of a hearse for over a year and improperly stashing the cremated remains of at least 30 people has been delayed because prosecutors have filed additional charges. Miles Harford had been scheduled to enter a

Associated Press DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware judge says a UPS driver who crashed his truck after downing several beers while driving is not entitled to workers’ compensation for his injuries. The judge ruled that Delaware’s Industrial Accident Board abused its discretion and made legal errors in awarding compensation to Timothy Willis. The judge

AP National Writer The athletes whose lawsuit against the NCAA is primed to pave the way for schools to pay them directly also want a players’ association to represent them in the complex contract negotiations that have overtaken the sport. Grant House, Sedona Prince and Nya Harrison wrote to the judge overseeing what’s known as

Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that immigrants known as “Dreamers” in 19 states aren’t entitled to health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The decision Monday from Judge Daniel Traynor in North Dakota limits an effort by the Biden administration to help young adults brought to the U.S.

AP Health Writer Americans should eat more beans, peas and lentils and cut back on red and processed meats and starchy vegetables, all while continuing to limit added sugars, sodium and saturated fat. That’s the advice released Tuesday by a panel of nutrition experts charged with counseling the U.S. government about the 2025 edition of

Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two bodies have been recovered amid debris from a fishing boat that reportedly capsized with five people aboard in rough seas in waters off southeast Alaska earlier this month. The Alaska Department of Public Safety says authorities on Monday traveled to a bay near the community of Hoonah after

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Protesters across North Macedonia have taken part in demonstrations to demand better air quality in cities that are among the most polluted in Europe. In the capital, Skopje, the protesters gathered Tuesday outside the Environment Ministry, some wearing gas masks to highlight the problem blamed by authorities for some 3,500

If you want to get yourself thoroughly depressed, spend a little time looking at statistics about Americans’ retirement preparedness. Though many people are hurtling toward a retirement shortfall, you can consider several prudent strategies to help make up for a savings gap. Employing modest changes like working longer and delaying Social Security means they’re apt

Authorities say eight people and two law firms have been charged in a more than decade-long scheme that allegedly began with staging vehicle crashes in the New Orleans area to submit fraudulent insurance claims. They add one person was killed in connection with the alleged scheme. According to a 10-count indictment unsealed Monday in Louisiana,

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dengue fever is sweeping across the Caribbean and the Americas, with a record 12.6 million suspected cases of the mosquito-transmitted virus reported this year, nearly triple the number from last year. Health officials said on Tuesday that deaths from dengue are also rising. Cases of dengue have

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s President has announced that the government will stop rationing electricity services just before the holidays, with normal service resuming on Dec. 20. The government attributed the three months of daily interruptions to the worst drought the country has seen in decades. The supply was also affected by neighboring Colombia’s decision

Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The federal government has sued South Carolina, saying the state has not done enough to make sure people with serious mental illnesses are taken out of group homes and helped back into communities where they can work and lead independent lives. The lawsuit filed Monday says the state violates

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities have charged a man with burning an American flag in the nation’s capital during protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July. Michael Snow Jr., of Durham, North Carolina, is charged with destruction of federal property. The flag was pulled down at Columbus Circle,

ROME, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say a motorist was killed as police responded to a bomb threat at the Georgia home of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Police in Rome, Georgia, say an officer on the local bomb squad was traveling to the scene Monday when he collided with another car. Greene identified the woman

Associated Press OSLO, Norway (AP) — A Japanese man who lived through the American atomic bombing of Nagasaki has accepted this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of an organization of survivors. The 92-year-old described the agony that he witnessed in 1945, including the charred corpses of his loved ones and the ruins of his

MADRID (AP) — Venezuela’s political opposition is signaling a shift toward a flexible timeline for a government transition that it had long insisted would come next month when the new presidential term is set to begin. The change comes as the faction’s candidate in the July presidential election remains in exile in Spain and its

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Truck drivers have blocked some major highways in central Mexico to protest the fact the government hasn’t paid them for work they did on a tourist train line. The protest by truckers Tuesday blocked two major highways leading out of Mexico City. It was the latest in a series of complaints

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A trend in South Africa of people jumping in front of slow-moving cars to get compensation payouts for injuries has drawn a warning from the government’s national Road Accident Fund. It said the phenomenon was becoming a problem, while it acknowledged that some cases might have been driven by

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Britain will provide intelligence to a newly formed unit in Cyprus tasked with preventing Russia evade international sanctions. That’s according to an agreement on Tuesday following talks between visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides. Starmer was the first U.K. prime minister to visit the former

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine court has dropped aggravated sexual assault charges against two professional French rugby players accused of raping a woman after a match in the country earlier this year. On Tuesday the judge in Mendoza, some 1,000 kilometers west of the capital of Buenos Aires, dismissed the case against the

AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ang Lee, the protean filmmaker of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Brokeback Mountain,” will receive the Directors Guild of America’s lifetime achievement award. The guild announced Tuesday that Lee, 70, will be given the award at the 77th DGA Awards on Feb. 8. The DGA, which considers the

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. consumers who were tricked into purchases they didn’t want from Fortnite maker Epic Games are now starting to receive refund checks, the Federal Trade Commission said this week. Back in 2022, Epic agreed to pay a total of $520 million to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy

AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Former congressman Matt Gaetz, who withdrew last month as President-elect Trump’s nominee to be U.S. attorney general, has landed a job with the One America News Network. He’ll host a weeknight political talk show and co-host a weekly podcast. His one-hour television show will start in January, given

Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ defense minister says that bolstering the defense capacity of the east Mediterranean island nation by getting new armaments is critical for a country so close to the war-wracked Middle East. Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas spoke on Tuesday about defense plans, though he wouldn’t go into specifics about Cyprus’

AP Business Writer The holiday shopping season is underway, and this year small businesses have less time to capitalize on the busy shopping period. Only 27 days separate Thanksgiving and Christmas — five fewer than last year. But there are still ways to make the most of a shorter season. One key strategy is for

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An 11-year-old girl who fell through the ice while trying to help a 12-year-old boy who plunged in before her over the weekend has also died. Police in Albany, New York say the two children were at Washington Park Lake in Albany at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday when the boy tried

Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin prosecutors have filed 10 additional felony charges against two attorneys and an aide to President-elect Donald Trump who advised the Republican in 2020 as part of a plan to submit paperwork falsely saying that Trump had won the battleground state that year. Jim Troupis, who was Trump’s attorney

AP Medical Writer Women should have the option of taking their own test samples for cervical cancer screening, an influential health panel said Tuesday. Draft recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are aimed at getting more people screened and spreading the word that women can take their own vaginal samples to check for

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in Mexico say a total of 17 children have died in central Mexico from suspected contamination of IV feeding bags, after four more deaths were confirmed. The country’s public health secretary said 16 of the victims were underweight, premature babies; the other victim was 14 years old. Two bacteria, including

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI has publicly released its new artificial intelligence video generator Sora but the company won’t let most users depict people as it monitors for patterns of misuse. Users of a premium version of OpenAI’s flagship product ChatGPT can now use Sora to instantly create AI-generated videos based on written commands. Among

Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The organization spearheading installation of a monument to women’s suffrage at the Ohio Statehouse has received an anonymous $1 million donation. The Capitol Square Foundation announced the gift Monday. It was made in tribute to the late Jo Ann Davidson, the trailblazing first female speaker of the Ohio House,

BRUSSELS (AP) — The International Federation of Journalists says that 104 journalists and media workers have been killed so far in 2024, with more than half of them perishing during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The group said that since the Oct. 7, 2023 start of the war, at least 138 had been

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says negotiations over the war in neighboring Ukraine could start “in the winter” as his country prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan. 1. He told his Cabinet on Tuesday that Poland’s EU presidency will have some responsibility for the

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that former President Edgar Lungu is barred from contesting an election in 2026 because he has already served the maximum two terms. The crux of the ruling delivered by a panel of judges on Tuesday was that Lungu’s period as president between 2015 and 2016 after

Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military says a retired army general who served as the spy chief in the government of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been indicted by a military court for indulging in politics and abusing power. Tuesday’s announcement comes three months after the military said it arrested Faiz Hamid

Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić says he isn’t like ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad and has no intention of fleeing the country despite spreading protests against his increasingly autocratic rule. Assad has fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally Russia hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — George Soros’ philanthropy, Open Society Foundations, will continue to fund human rights movements around the world. Its president Binaifer Nowrojee said Tuesday, which is Human Rights Day, that she wanted to reiterate the commitments after years of internal changes at the philanthropy. Open Society is now led by one

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities say at least eight people have been killed when an apartment building collapsed Cairo. They say the collapse of the six-story building on Tuesday also injured three others. Authorities ordered the evacuation of neighboring houses as a precautionary measure. Building collapses are common in Egypt. Shoddy construction and a lack

NEW YORK (AP) — Staffers at Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama, San Francisco’s City Lights Books and The Nook in Cedar Falls, Iowa, are among 600 booksellers receiving $500 holiday bonuses from James Patterson. The bestselling novelist has been awarding independent store employees since 2015. “Booksellers save lives. Period,” Patterson says in a statement

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV says authorities have ordered the closure of all governmental offices, universities and schools in the province of Tehran for two days because of poor air quality. The capital city of Tehran — home to over 10 million people — saw the closure of schools on Saturday and Sunday,

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch police say they have arrested three suspects who might have been involved in the explosion and fire that killed six people in an apartment building in The Hague over the weekend. Authorities said Tuesday that they were investigating “all possibilities” that could have caused the disaster and the arrests