AP National

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the constitutionality of Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The case being heard Wednesday will have a national impact because at least 25 other states have adopted similar laws in recent years. The fight over whether transgender adolescents can

AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The NCAA’s yearslong efforts to get lawmakers to address myriad problems in college sports could finally pay off in the new, Republican-controlled Congress. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who is set to take over as chair of the powerful Commerce Committee, said recently that a college sports bill

Associated Press BAALBEK, Lebanon (AP) — The Jawhari family gathered around a gaping crater where their family home once stood in eastern Lebanon, tears streaming as they tried to make sense of the destruction. The home in Baalbek, a gathering place for generations, was reduced to rubble by an Israeli airstrike on Nov. 1, leaving

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Protesters in Serbia stood in silence for 15 minutes on Friday for the victims of a roof collapse four weeks ago in a northern city, seeking to keep up pressure on the populist authorities to punish those responsible for the tragedy. Traffic was blocked in several Serbian cities and towns, including

Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Thousands of teachers, health care workers, trash collectors and others walked off their jobs across Italy on Friday to protest a decline in spending power, persistently low salaries and government policies they say have weakened public services. Italy’s most powerful trade unions called the eight-hour strike and mobilized marches in

Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization chief says she’s “eager” to work with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his trade team, while taking a wait-and-see stance about Trump’s plans to impose new tariffs on goods from other countries including China, Mexico and Canada. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala made the comments to reporters

Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A senior figure in the party whose departure from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition three weeks ago put Germany on the road to an early election has resigned in a furor over an internal document whose title referred to “D-Day.” Bijan Djir-Sarai of the pro-business Free Democrats said he was quitting

Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran will begin enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges at its two main nuclear facilities at Fordo and Natanz. That’s according to a statement Friday from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. It further raises tensions over Tehran’s program as it enriches

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that would help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales. The assisted dying bill was approved on Friday by a vote of 330 to 275 after an impassioned Parliamentary debate. The vote signals lawmakers’ approval in principle for the

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents breached Syria’s largest city Friday and clashed with government forces for the first time since 2016, according to a war monitor and fighters, in a surprise attack that sent residents fleeing and added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars. The advance on Aleppo followed a shock

Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Amazon staff in India have joined strike action calling for better wages. Around 200 warehouse workers and delivery drivers rallied in the capital New Delhi under a “Make Amazon Pay” banner to demand higher wages, better working conditions, and union rights. At a rally some workers donned masks of

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Ananda Krishnan, one of Malaysia’s richest tycoons with a vast business empire including telecommunications, media, petroleum and real estate, has died. He was 86. His investment holding company says he passed away peacefully on Thursday and that his family requested privacy. It didn’t specify the cause of death. Ananda was

Associated Press BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — Negotiators working on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution have inched closer to an agreement, with more countries saying they want to address the total plastic on Earth. The most contentious issue of the talks is whether there will be a limit on the

Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Chad’s government says it is ending a defense cooperation agreement with France, its former colonial ruler, to redefine the nation’s sovereignty. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says the decision is a turning point after the Central African nation gained independence more than six decades ago and that it will allow

Associated Press DUBLIN (AP) — An exit poll in Ireland’s general election suggests the three biggest parties have won roughly equal shares and the country is headed for another coalition government. A poll released as voting ended said center-right party Fine Gael was the first choice of 21% of voters, with its center-right coalition partner

Associated Press On a bright winter day, workers at a Ukrainian thermal power plant repair its heavily damaged equipment as drops of water from melted snow leak through gaping holes in its battered roof. Several weeks earlier, the facility was targeted by a Russian air attack that left scorch marks, shrapnel scars on the walls,

LONDON (AP) — British Transport Minister Louise Haigh resigned on Friday over a decade-old fraud conviction for claiming her cellphone had been stolen. In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Haigh said, “I remain totally committed to our political project, but I now believe it will be best served by my supporting you from

Associated Press GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Sergio Mena’s life dissolved in hours. After years resisting President Daniel Ortega, the rural activist fled Nicaragua in 2018, joining thousands of protesters fleeing a yearslong crackdown on dissent. Mena returned from exile in neighboring Costa Rica in 2021 to continue protesting, only to be thrown in a prison

Associated Press NYANGAMBE, Zimbabwe (AP) — It was an alarming, even sickening, suggestion: Farmers in Zimbabwe hit hard by drought should farm maggots to feed their animals and boost their household incomes. But the smelly solution has been embraced after some convincing in a country where people have traditionally associated flies with diseases such as

Associated Press MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — One of the Middle East and North Africa’s largest film festivals is openiong in Morocco, drawing actors and directors from throughout the world to present 70 features from 32 countries. The Marrakech International Film Festival, now in its 21st year, will showcase Oscar contenders and screen films for members

AP Business Writers NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers used giveaways and big discounts to reward U.S. shoppers who ventured out for Black Friday even as earlier offers, the prospect of better bargains in the days ahead and the ease of e-commerce drained much of the excitement from the holiday shopping season’s much-hyped kickoff. Frequent deals

Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A handful of Massachusetts lawmakers are hoping to persuade their colleagues to support a proposal that would make the state the first to adopt a ban meant to eliminate the use of tobacco products over time. Other locations have weighed similar “generational tobacco bans.” The bans phase out the use

Associated Press ON BOARD THE SANTA TRAIN (AP) — Since 1943, the people of Appalachian Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee have looked forward to Santa’s arrival. Not in a sleigh on their rooftops, but on a train. The Santa Train marks its 82nd running this year, bringing presents and joy to small towns along a 110-mile

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is set to create a National Energy Council that he says will establish American “energy dominance” around the world as he seeks to boost U.S. oil and gas drilling and move away from President Joe Biden’s focus on climate change. The energy council — to be led

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Hours after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect, Lebanon woke up to the sound of celebratory gunfire instead of Israeli airstrikes and drones buzzing overhead. It was a rare moment of respite for Lebanon, as bombs stopped falling after a year of

AP Sports Writer GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes to Jayden Reed and the Green Bay Packers capitalized on a fast start to beat Miami 30-17 and snap the Dolphins’ three-game winning streak. Green Bay has won three straight and seven of its last eight. Miami continued its recent history

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Coffee drinkers can sip their beverages and view a quiet North Korean mountain village from a new Starbucks at a South Korean border observatory. Customers have to pass a military checkpoint before entering the observatory at Aegibong Peace Ecopark, which is less than a mile from North Korean territory and

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks posted solid gains as Wall Street put the finishing touches on one of its best months of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%. Both indexes closed out November with their best monthly performances of the year. The Nasdaq added 0.8%. Friday

Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A South Korean National Assembly member has called for a moratorium on wood pellet imports from Indonesia and an investigation into South Korea’s biomass use after government data and satellite analysis linked the country’s biomass imports to deforestation in Indonesia. In South Korea, biomass has grown to become the

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Mistakes by members of the crew caused a New Zealand navy ship to plow into a reef off the coast of Samoa, where it caught fire and sank, according to the preliminary findings of a military Court of Inquiry released Friday. The ship’s crew did not realize autopilot

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owner of an oil field in Los Angeles County is suing the state of California over a law that will require it to stop production and plug its wells or face costly fines. Sentinel Peak is the owner of the Inglewood Oil Field. Los Angeles Times reports that it argues

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s antitrust watchdog is suing Google over alleged anticompetitive conduct in the tech giant’s online advertising business and wants the company to sell off two of its services and pay a penalty. The Competition Bureau says that such action is necessary because an investigation it conducted into Google found that the company

Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — France’s President Emmanuel Macron has for the first time recognized the killing of West African soldiers by the French Army in 1944 as a massacre. The recognition came Thursday in a letter addressed to Senegalese authorities. Between 35 and 400 West African soldiers who fought in the World War

Associated Press The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has released a new plan to protect the state’s iconic Joshua trees, which are imperiled by wildfires, human development and climate change. The 294-page draft plan includes calls for avoiding or minimizing direct and indirect impacts from overgrazing, pesticide use and unauthorized off-roading. It also says

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A 16-year-old has died after being hit by a stray bullet last weekend on a St. Louis highway. Colin Brown was hit Saturday night while being driven home in his father’s car after playing a hockey game, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The high school junior died Wednesday in a hospital,

AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Super Bowl pregame will have some Louisiana flavor: Multi-talented performer Jon Batiste will hit the stage to sing the national anthem, while Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle are slated to perform “America the Beautiful.” The performances will take place Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans

DEBRECEN, Hungary (AP) — Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv’s game against Besiktas in the Europa League has been played without incident before empty stands in Hungary, with the stadium closed to fans over security concerns following attacks on Israeli supporters in Amsterdam this month. Maccabi won the game 3-1 on a cold and rainy evening

Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Six Democratic members of Congress from Connecticut have been targeted by bomb threats on their homes. Sen. Chris Murphy and all five House members — Reps. Jim Himes, Joe Courtney, John Larson, Jahana Hayes and Rosa DeLauro — reported being the subject of such threats Thursday. Police

AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — San Jose State said Thursday it was disappointed Boise State forfeited its semifinal match in the Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament but that the Spartans were focused on the future. Boise State, which twice boycotted regular-season matches with San Jose State, pulled out of the conference tournament Wednesday

Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan lawmakers have approved a bill that codifies economic sanctions, like those imposed by the United States, as a crime against humanity and allows the prosecution of anyone who expresses support for the measures. Thursday’s move follows the White House’s decision to impose sanctions on dozens of individuals it

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Court of Appeals has upheld state regulations aimed at cracking down on emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. The case centered on a rule adopted in 2022 that called for curbing the pollutants that react with heat and sunlight to create ground-level ozone. The Independent

Associated Press HANOUIYEH, Lebanon (AP) — During their 37 years of marriage, Mariam Kourani and her husband ran a butcher shop in southern Lebanon, started a business selling serving containers and opened a small restaurant. An Israeli airstrike in late September destroyed it all. Walking through the rubble of what used to be her house

COPENHAGEN (AP) — One of Denmark’s largest cellphone networks has suffered severe outages that prevented people from contacting emergency services and forced at least one hospital to reduce non-critical medical care. The network provider, TDC Net, said the problems were likely due to an update carried out in the past 24 hours and it had

Authorities have recovered 37 gold coins that were stolen by salvagers from a nearly 310-year-old shipwreck off of Florida’s coast. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced the recovery on Tuesday. The coins have an estimated combined value of more than $1 million. They were salvaged from the 1715 Fleet. The fleet is a

AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Muddy footprints left on a Kenyan lakeside suggest two of our early human ancestors were nearby neighbors some 1.5 million years ago. The footprints were left in the mud by two different species “within a matter of hours, or at most days,” said paleontologist Louise Leakey, co-author of the

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she is confident that a tariff war with the United States can be averted. But her statement — the day after she held a phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump — did not make clear who had offered what. “There will be no potential

Associated Press VIENNA (AP) — The Vienna sausage stand is a place where the street sweeper, the manager, the tourist and the celebrity converge for the same tasty snack.  Now it has the official stamp of approval as part of Austria’s heritage. The culture of the humble “Würstelstand” this week became one of the latest

Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A Congolese opposition politician has been sentenced to one year in prison for inciting civil disobedience. His political party described it as a “blatant attempt” by the government to silence its critics. Seth Kikuni, the president of the political party Piste pour l’Emergence, was convicted of inciting disobedience and

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis said on Thursday that he hopes to travel to Turkey next year to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council. The visit to Nicaea, today located in İznik on a lake southeast of Istanbul, would come during Francis’ big Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration

Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian human rights group says a court in Russia convicted a prominent lawyer and sentenced him to seven years in prison for speaking out against the war in Ukraine on social media. The verdict in the case of Dmitry Talantov, who once chaired a regional association of lawyers

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s minority government may be on its last legs as opposition lawmakers move this week toward a no-confidence vote. In a last-ditch effort to save themselves, Cabinet members warned of domestic and international turmoil if the government is toppled. Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a conservative allied with French President Emmanuel

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The bells of Notre Dame are chiming again, but scaffolding still clinging to the cathedral’s exterior is puzzling some Parisians, who question whether its grand post-blaze reopening is more symbolic than substantive. When French President Emmanuel Macron inspects the rebuilding work on Friday, in his final tour of the construction

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court has asked the official electoral authority to recount and verify all of the ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election. The Constitutional Court in Bucharest voted unanimously in favor of the recount, and said the decision is final. The Central Election Bureau

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vaping is coming before the Supreme Court next week as federal regulators ask the high court to uphold its block on sweet, flavored products following a spike in youth e-cigarette use. The Food and Drug Administration has denied more than a million marketing applications for candy- or fruit-flavored products that

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With artificial intelligence at a pivotal moment of development, the federal government is about to transition from one that prioritized AI safeguards to one more focused on eliminating red tape. That’s a promising prospect for some investors but creates uncertainty about the future of any guardrails on the technology, especially

Politicians, writers and activists have condemned the arrest of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. The 75-year-old author has not been heard from by friends, family or his French publisher since leaving Paris for Algiers earlier this month. Algeria’s state news service confirmed his arrest last week. Sansal is among a long list of political prisoners in

AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After weeks of plugging increasingly inviting discounts, retailers in the United States and several other countries are preparing for prime time: Black Friday, the bargain bonanza that still reigns as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season even if it’s lost some luster. Department stores, shopping malls

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s biggest police force has launched an investigation into more than five people who may have assisted former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed carry out more than 100 alleged acts of sexual abuse. In an update on its investigation, London’s Metropolitan Police said it is looking at individuals who could

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — There’s no easy way to bridge the political divides that have created rifts in communities, families and friendships. But workplace morale and productivity can take a hit when ideological differences are left to fester, affecting teamwork and feelings of mutual respect. Finding a safe space to process emotions while

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say a youth suspected of planning to build pipe bombs to carry out an Islamic extremist attack has been arrested in western Germany. Prosecutors said the suspect, who was arrested on Tuesday, is accused of preparing a serious act of violence. The suspect is believed to have became radicalized online and

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A former British soldier who claimed he was trying to work as a double agent has been convicted of spying for Iran. Daniel Khalife, who’s 23, was found guilty Thursday by a jury in Woolwich Crown Court on violations of the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act. He was cleared

BERLIN (AP) — Investigators say a doctor who was arrested in Berlin in August is now suspected of killing eight patients and in some cases trying to cover up the evidence by setting fires. The doctor, who was part of a nursing service’s palliative care team, was suspected at the time of his arrest of

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military says its warplanes have fired on southern Lebanon after detecting activity by the militant Hezbollah group at a rocket storage facility there. Thursday’s attack was first Israeli airstrike after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold. It came hours after the Israeli military said it fired

Black Friday has become something of an anachronism in the e-commerce era. The day after Thanksgiving marks the official start of the holiday shopping season, but retailers already have spent weeks flooding their websites and customers’ email inboxes with early Black Friday offers. If history is any guide and advertisers are to be believed, the

Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Six Cambodian activists charged with treason for comments criticizing the government on Facebook have been deported from Thailand to stand trial, a pro-democracy group said. The Khmer Movement for Democracy, a movement formed by opposition leaders in exile, criticized the deportations, saying Thursday the activists will face “inhuman

Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The president of Cyprus says the Mediterranean island nation could apply to become a member of NATO when its armed forces receive the necessary training and equipment with U.S. help to bring it up to the standards of the world’s premier military alliance. President Nikos Christodoulides says that European

Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek officials say that four migrants, including two children, died when a boat struck rocks near the Greek island of Samos. They said on  Thursday that 16 other people were rescued, but it remained unclear how many were aboard the boat. It was the second deadly shipwreck off Samos

Associated Press SIBOLANGIT, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers have recovered two more bodies from a tourist bus hit by a landslide triggered by torrential rains on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, bringing the death toll to nine. At least 20 people have died in other landslides and floods in the region this week. Officials said Thursday that rescuers