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Associated Press/Report for America TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Following Florida Democrats’ losses on Election Day, a second state lawmaker has announced she’s switching her party affiliation and joining the Republican caucus. In a post on social media, Rep. Hillary Cassel said Florida Democrats are out of touch with voters and that she has a better

Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will start requiring property insurers to increase coverage in wildfire-prone areas after homeowners across the state increasingly struggle to find policies. The state’s new rule announced Monday requires insurers to start increasing their coverage by 5% every two years until they hit the equivalent of 85% of their

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Officials in Rhode Island say cybercriminals who hacked the state’s system for health and benefits programs have released at least some of the files to a site on the dark web. Gov. Daniel McKee said Monday that the state has been preparing for this scenario, after a major cyberattack hit RIBridges

South Korea’s worst aviation disaster in decades also was the year’s deadliest plane crash worldwide, and time is running out on 2024. A Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air slammed into a concrete fence at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing 179 people. Two crew members survived. The

Anna Netrebko has withdrawn from her planned role debut in Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” at the Vienna State Opera and been replaced by Lise Davidsen in a switch of star sopranos. Netrebko says ill health had compromised preparation time ahead of rehearsals. Davidsen made her Ariadne role debut at England’s Glyndebourne Festival in 2017. She

Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — A U.S. official says arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico in December are little changed from a month earlier. They are hovering near the lowest levels since July 2020, indicating that an anticipated surge ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president hasn’t happened. There were about 44,000

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister François Bayrou arrived Monday in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte to unveil a recovery plan three weeks after Cyclone Chido brought devastation. He also updated the death toll to 39 but urged caution, saying the final number could range from “a few dozen to a few hundred.” Bayrou’s

AP Basketball Writer Tennessee remains No. 1 after a quiet holiday week in the AP Top 25. The Volunteers received 41 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday. No. 2 Auburn had 20 first-place votes, with Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounding out the top

Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Jimmy Carter already had drawn months of media scrutiny as a devout Southern Baptist running for president. Then the 1976 Democratic nominee brought up sex and sin as he explained his religious faith to Playboy magazine. Carter was not misquoted. But he was certainly misunderstood, as his thoughts in

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that released hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two

Associated Press STANTON, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge has sentenced the adult son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer to serve 28 years in prison in connection with a wild chase in which he fled from a hospital and drove into a deputy’s vehicle, killing the deputy. A judge sentenced 43-year-old Ian Cramer on

AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — If you think your Spotify playlist is getting a little too long, consider the one shared by the members of Khruangbin. It’s got 51 hours of songs. “I’m trying to listen to as many different things as possible before they all start to sound kind of the same,”

AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — If you’re making New Year resolutions, experts say keep them small and focused on specific goals. Psychologists recommend starting small so new changes aren’t overwhelming. By breaking a larger goal into smaller steps, the more ambitious goal may seem achievable. Experts also say enlisting family and friends may help

Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine judge confirmed charges against five people in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of musical group One Direction, and ordered preventive prison for two of them for having supplied him with drugs. A judicial officer confirmed Monday the judge’s decision and said

Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday endorsed House Speaker Mike Johnson, providing crucial backing for the Louisiana Republican as he prepares for what is expected to be another contentious speakership race this week. Trump said in a post on his social media platform that Johnson “is a good,

Associated Press The world population increased by more than 71 million people in 2024 and will be 8.09 billion people on New Year’s Day, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Monday. The 0.9% increase in 2024 was a slight slowdown from 2023, when the world population grew by 75 million people. In January 2025,

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Six former Florida State basketball players are suing Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton and alleging he failed to make good on a promise to get each of them $250,000 in name, image and likeness compensation. Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley filed suit Monday

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States will send nearly $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine as his administration works quickly to spend all the money it has available to help Kyiv fight off Russia before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The package includes $1.25 billion in

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a jury’s finding in a civil case that Donald Trump sexually abused a columnist in an upscale department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a written opinion upholding the $5 million award that the

Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — At least 23 Congolese soldiers are facing the death penalty or 10 to 20 years in prison following their arraignment for alleged rape, desertion and other crimes amid the fighting in the country’s conflict-battered east. That’s according to Congo’s army on Monday. Security forces have been fighting more than

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s state media say an Italian journalist has been arrested on charges of violating the Islamic Republic’s laws. The state-run IRNA news agency reported Monday that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which oversees media activity, said in a statement that Cecilia Sala traveled to Iran on Dec.

Associated Press By now you may have found uses for many of the holiday leftovers. But what about that bottle of eggnog in the fridge? Milkshakes! There are a number of flavor variations, and you can go boozy or not. It’s easy to make an eggnog shake. A basic vanilla one requires just vanilla ice

Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An opposition politician and several other protesters have been arrested in Kenya during street demonstrations calling for an end to alleged abductions, that have recently targeted young government critics. Senator Okiya Omtatah on Monday had joined hundreds of protesters who sat down in the streets of the capital, Nairobi

AP Technology Writers If 2023 was a year of wonder about artificial intelligence, 2024 was the year to try to get that wonder to do something useful without breaking the bank. There was a “shift from putting out models to actually building products,” said Arvind Narayanan, a Princeton University computer science professor and co-author of

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has sought to downplay efforts by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to get involved in the country’s general election campaign by repeatedly endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party. Government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said Monday that “freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense.” Musk caused an uproar

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials are looking for the cause of a passenger jet crash that killed 179 people, in one of the deadliest disasters in the country’s aviation history. Authorities plan to investigate along with U.S. aviation giant Boeing, which produced the aircraft involved in Sunday’s crash, and also

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jimmy Carter’s memorial journey will end at his house in the tiny town of Plains, Georgia, where he grew up on a peanut farm. That is where his wife, Rosalynn, was laid to rest last year in a burial plot that they chose years ago. But before Carter reaches his

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s federal prosecutor has charged an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture and war crimes, alleging they kept two young Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them. The man and the woman were arrested in Bavaria in April. According to the prosecutor, they were members of the Islamic State group

AP Business Writers Value was in vogue in 2024. Shoppers and restaurant patrons in the U.S. were choosy about where and how to spend their money as they wrestled with high housing and food prices. Well-heeled customers traded down to Walmart and Aldi. Diners opted for fast food or home cooking instead of sit-down restaurants.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities say 18 passengers have been killed in two separate road accidents in Pakistan. Police say the first accident happened on a highway Monday in eastern Punjab province when a speeding passenger bus overturned. Local media reported eight other people died when a passenger van collided with a truck on a highway

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A lawyer for the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot says he won’t appeal his 20-year sentence for drugging and raping her and allowing dozens of other men to rape her while she was unconscious. The case revolted France and triggered calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture. Lawyer Béatrice

AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actor who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom “Alice,” has died. She was 87. Lavin died in Los Angeles on Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Bill Veloric, told The

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials said Monday they will conduct safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines, as they struggle to determine what caused a plane crash that killed 179 people a day earlier. Sunday’s crash, the country’s worst aviation disaster in decades, triggered an

Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A fire broke out at a hotel near Bangkok’s Khao San Road, a popular tourist destination, killing three foreigners and injuring several other people, Thai police said Monday. The three who died in the fire on Sunday night were all foreign tourists, Police Colonel Sanong Saengmanee told The Associated Press.

Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — What began as a childhood hobby more than six decades ago has led to what might be Africa’s largest butterfly collection in a suburb of Kenya’s capital. Steve Collins, 74, was born and raised in western Kenya. By the age of 5, he was fascinated by butterflies and started

Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian-made dramas rarely last long in local cinemas. But, nearly two months after its release, “I’m Still Here,” a film about a family torn apart by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for more than two decades, has drawn millions of moviegoers across the South American country. The film’s

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean law enforcement officials requested a court warrant on Monday to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol as they investigate whether his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3 amounted to rebellion. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which leads a joint investigation with police and

AP Sports Writer LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — A moment of silence was held for former President Jimmy Carter before the Atlanta Falcons’ game at the Washington Commanders. The Georgia native served as the 39th president of the United States at the White House less than 10 miles away from 1977-81. Falcons owner Arthur Blank in

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — It’s been 10-11 years since six South Koreans have been detained in North Korea, but there are still no words on whether they are still alive. Three of them are Christian missionaries and the rest North Korean defectors, who had resettled in the South. The missionaries, who had

TUMBES, Peru (AP) — Peru’s Navy says it has rescued about 30 fishermen who had been stranded for two days at sea as giant waves pounded the country’s northern coast. Many of them had struggled to bring their boats back to Acapulco beach in the Tumbes region. Jaime Yacila, the mayor of the province of

Former President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. The 39th president of the United States was a Georgia peanut farmer who sought to restore trust in government when he assumed the presidency in 1977 and then built a reputation for tireless work as a humanitarian. He earned a Nobel Peace Prize in

Associated Press PLAINS, Georgia (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. The untimely death of his father, a farmer who went by “Mr. Earl,” brought the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, back to a rural

NEW YORK (AP) — No ex-president had a more prolific and diverse publishing career than Jimmy Carter. His more than two dozen books included nonfiction, poetry, fiction, religious meditations and a children’s story. His memoir “An Hour Before Daylight” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002, while his 2006 best-seller “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” stirred

Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans. Lamenting the contretemps, International Chess

Some quotations from Jimmy Carter. We have a tendency to exalt ourselves and to dwell on the weaknesses and mistakes of others. I have come to realize that in every person there is something fine and pure and noble, along with a desire for self-fulfillment. Political and religious leaders must attempt to provide a society

Associated Press Officials are assessing the damage after a strong storm system moved across the southern U.S. over the weekend, spawning tornadoes and killing at least four people. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said Sunday there were at least 45 reports of tornado damage over the weekend across Texas, Louisiana,

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Eleven clandestine graves with the bodies of 15 men have been located in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, where a dispute between the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartels is taking place. That’s according to local authorities on Sunday. Chiapas Gov. Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar said on his social media

AP Film Writer Two family films dominated the holiday box office this week, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair. Paramount’s Sonic movie earned $38 million, while “Mufasa” brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. On a normal

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger jet burst into flames while landing at an airport in South Korea on Sunday, killing 179 people in one of the deadliest air disasters in that nation’s history. There were only two survivors, officials said. Video showed the plane skidding across the airstrip, overrunning the runway

A Russian man arrested for allegedly running a travel agency for gay customers was found dead in custody in Moscow, rights group OVD-Info reported Sunday, amid a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia. According to OVD-Info, which tracks political arrests, Andrei Kotov — director of the “Men Travel” agency — faced charges of “organizing extremist

ISTANBUL (AP) — Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkey’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has said that he is willing to contribute to peace between Turks and Kurds, in a statement issued by the pro-Kurdish DEM party Sunday. “I possess the necessary competence and determination to contribute positively to the new paradigm supported

AP Basketball Writer When LeBron James broke another NBA record earlier this month, the one for most regular-season minutes played in a career, his Los Angeles Lakers teammates handled the moment in typical locker room fashion. They made fun of him. “They told me I’m old as hell,” James quipped. By NBA standards, they’re not

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating an incident involving a plane at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, which one passenger described as a rough landing that sparked flames. Nikki Valentine, who was on the PAL Airlines flight, said passengers felt a “massive rumble” upon landing Saturday night. Airport

BERLIN (AP) — Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused uproar after backing Germany’s far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest. Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticized Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days. “We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. (…) We are not saying that it was

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — At least three migrants died early Sunday while attempting to cross the English Channel to Britain from northern France, authorities said. The deaths were confirmed after an early morning rescue operation involving French emergency services and the navy’s “Dauphin” helicopter. Around 50 people were stranded in the water and on

Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent successful surgery Sunday to have his prostate removed, hospital officials said, a procedure that came as he manages multiple crises including the war in Gaza and his trial for alleged corruption. Netanyahu, who has had a series of health issues in recent

Associated Press TBILISI, Goergia (AP) — Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili has been inaugurated as president of Georgia in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. Outgoing pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said Sunday morning that she would vacate her residence at the

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he will implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president. Trump’s return to the White House raises prospects for high-profile diplomacy with North Korea. During his first term, Trump met Kim three

Associated Press ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanovic won most of the votes in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, but must face a runoff against a ruling party candidate to secure another five-year term. With nearly all of the votes counted, left-leaning Milanovic won 49% while his main

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian media say a suicide bomber killed a local police officer and wounded another in a southern Iranian port city, home to a large Sunni Muslim community. The hard-line Javan Daily, a newspaper close to the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, said the attacker stopped Capt. Mojtaba Shahid’s car Saturday evening in

Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A fourth infant has died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly 15 months of war huddle in tents along the rainy, windswept coast as winter arrives. Jomaa al-Batran, 20 days old, was found with his head as “cold

Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations. Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke said the inexpensive e-cigarettes had turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be

Associated Press LAUCA Ñ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s former leader Evo Morales has a campaign pitch for 2025 that has worked elsewhere: Other politicians of recent years have brought you nothing but misery. It’s time for a return to the past. His supporters are looking to Morales for a rescue from the five tumultuous years

In 2024, President Vladimir Putin further cemented his grip on power and sought to counter Russia’s isolation from the West over the war in Ukraine. But he faced continuing challenges, with a deadly attack by gunmen in Moscow and an incursion by Kyiv’s troops on his territory. As Russia’s nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine enters

NEW YORK (AP) — Top ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen has left the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships after refusing to change out of the jeans he wore to the competition, the International Chess Federation said. The federation said in a Friday statement that its regulations include a dress code that bars participants from