AP National

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has hit off the coast of southern Chile but there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no warnings of a tsunami. The quake’s epicenter was 278 kilometers (172 miles) west-northwest of Cochrane, Chile, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Cochrane is a sparsely populated

BEIJING (AP) — Italian President Sergio Mattarella has met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Friday on an official visit to China. It came as Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine pitted Rome’s NATO allies against Beijing’s support for Moscow. The two exchanged greetings following a ceremony with full military honors at the Great Hall of the

Associated Press MAUMERE, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano spewed towering columns of hot ash high into the air Saturday, days after a huge eruption killed nine people and injured dozens of others. Activity at the volcano on the remote island of Flores, in East Nusa Tenggara province, has increased since Monday’s

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles, bombs and drones battered three regions of Ukraine in targeted nighttime attacks, officials said Friday, as Russia mounts an intensified aerial campaign that Ukrainian officials say they need more Western help to counter — even as doubts deepen over what Kyiv can expect from a new U.S.

Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — European nations have boosted their defenses in response to the annexation of the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but much remains to be done for them to be ready to face threats from Russia. That’s a conclusion of a new report by the

Associated Press A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens. The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens

Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Colorado funeral home owners accused of stashing 190 decaying bodies and giving grieving families fake ashes were expected to plead guilty Friday, but the hearing was postponed because of a snowstorm. Jon and Carie Hallford have been charged with more than 200 counts of corpse abuse. Prosecutors say

Associated Press RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights (AP) — Israeli residents of a settlement named after Donald Trump hope his return to office will breathe new life into their tiny community in the Golan Heights. Israel named the outpost after Trump during his first term. He was the first foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of

Associated Press The assets of Alex Jones’ Infowars are set to be auctioned off next week, and both supporters and detractors of the conspiracy theorist are expressing interest in bidding. Who buys the properties may decide if Jones gets to stay on the Infowars platform or he has to create a whole new one. The

Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine is testing the legal limits of restrictions on so-called super PACs. Voters on Election Day approved a referendum limiting donations to political action committees that spend independently in candidate elections, setting the stage for a legal showdown. The law imposes a $5,000 limit for donations to super PACs

Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Sponsorship deals were far from Jonny Bottorff’s mind when he transferred to Northern Arizona University on a football scholarship. As money-making opportunities for college athletes have boomed since then, the offensive lineman has earned a few hundred dollars through name, image and likeness deals, but nothing that has changed his

Associated Press SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — It’s Friday night in Downtown Santiago, the capital of Chile, and a group of 15 people gather around a table. They share a bottle of wine as the smell of tobacco and incense fill the air. Black candles burn atop an altar decorated with chalices and knives. The members

Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing California on Thursday. Brownley, who previously served in the state Assembly for six years, was first elected to the House in 2012. Before her political career, she worked in marketing and sales. Brownley’s district comprises a small part of Los Angeles County and

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (AP) — Officials in the New York City suburbs say they’re making changes to child protective services in response to the 2020 death of an 8-year-old boy. The boy’s police officer father forced him to sleep overnight on the concrete floor of a freezing garage. Suffolk Social Services Commissioner John Imhof said Thursday

Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China has announced a 6 trillion yuan ($839 billion) plan to help local governments refinance their mountains of debt in the latest push to rev up growth in the world’s second largest economy. Officials said the plan will be implemented over the next three years. The latest stimulus measure from

Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Attorneys for a man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students asked a judge to take the death penalty off the table Thursday, arguing that international, federal and state law all make it inappropriate for the case. Bryan Kohberger is accused of the Nov. 13,

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — NASCAR Truck Series championship contender Ty Majeski was fined $12,500 for missing his media session to go vote in his home state of Wisconsin on Election Day. Majeski called the NASCAR penalty unprecedented and said he would appeal. The 30-year-old Majeski says he’s always voted on Election Day and did not

CHICAGO (AP) — A man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of two workers at Chicago’s popular Navy Pier tourist attraction. The Chicago Tribune reports that the arrest was made Thursday after police released surveillance camera images of the man. He is suspected of gaining access to an office space near a loading dock

Associated Press/Report for America TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Republican former state lawmaker in northwest Florida is poised to become the latest in a string of conservative politicians taking the helm of public colleges and universities in the state. The board of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville announced this week that Mel Ponder is

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden will become the first sitting president to visit the Amazon rainforest later this month when he travels to Brazil as part of a six-day trip to Latin America. Biden will start his trip in Lima, Peru, where he will meet attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City couple has been indicted in the death of their 4-year-old son. Prosecutors say  Jah’Meik Modlin was starved along with his siblings in a Harlem apartment where his parents kept their fridge stocked with fresh food for themselves. Nytavia Ragsdale and Laron Modlin face a range of charges

Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Voters in Portland, Oregon, have elected political outsider Keith Wilson as their next mayor. Wilson, a Portland native and CEO of a trucking company, ran on an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office. He says he will accomplish this in part by increasing

Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The mayor of Mississippi’s capital city, the top prosecutor in the state’s largest county and a Jackson City Council member have been indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges. The case has already forced the resignation of another city council member. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody

Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he is re-establishing a special Cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations to address his administration’s concerns about another Donald Trump presidency. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is also the country’s finance minister, will chair the committee, which also will include other top officials

DETROIT (AP) — About 1,100 workers at the Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, are facing layoffs early next year as the company takes further steps to cut high inventory at dealers. The Toledo South plant makes the Jeep Gladiator midsize pickup truck. Stellantis says it will go from two daily shifts to one as

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Officials say a portion of Interstate 16 in southeast Georgia has been closed by flooding as heavy rains have left many streets underwater in the region. The Georgia Department of Transportation said on its website Thursday afternoon that flooding had shut down all westbound lanes of I-16 near Statesboro. Heavy downpours

ALBION, Ill. (AP) — The wife of a southern Illinois judge fatally shot earlier this week has been charged in connection with his death. State police say Thursday that the 44-year-old woman is jailed on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated domestic battery. State police

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A man from Mexico has been sentenced to 39 years in a Michigan prison for killing his girlfriend and leaving her body along a highway. The murder last spring became a political flashpoint in the U.S. presidential race because the man was in the U.S. illegally. Ruby Garcia was found

AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders projected confidence Thursday that they will keep control of the U.S. House as more races were decided in their favor, while Democrats insisted they still see a path toward the majority and sought assurances every vote will be counted. The GOP picked up two more hard-fought seats

NEW YORK (AP) — Police in New York City are searching for a man who they say shot another man on a Manhattan street and then fled into the city’s vast subway system, leading to delays during the morning commute. The shooting happened around 9 a.m. Thursday on the Upper West Side. Police say the

Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spain’s catastrophic floods have left behind staggering devastation and despair. But the numbers associated with the tragedy can also help grasp the scope of the natural disaster. At least 219 people are dead and 93 are officially missing, after more than a week since the Oct. 29 floods hit. Insurance

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has directed the military to carry out a smooth transition to President-elect Donald Trump with a reminder to the force of its obligation to follow the lawful orders of the next commander in chief. While such memos are rare, it was not the first time that

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican David McCormick cut into Democratic Sen. Bob Casey’s support in Philadelphia and its populous suburbs and built leads in the more GOP-leaning parts of the state, foreclosing the incumbent’s pathway to victory when The Associated Press called the race on Thursday. McCormick was leading by more than 30,000 votes

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — An independent review has found the Church of England covered up “horrific’ abuse by a lawyer who volunteered at Christian summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s. The report released Thursday says John Smyth, who died in South Africa in 2018 at age 75, physically, sexually, psychologically and spiritually abused

Associated Press/Report for America RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas (AP) — Jorge Bazán’s family has lived on the U.S.-Mexico border for generations and voted for Democrats as long as he can remember. He broke the family tradition this year and voted for Donald Trump because he doesn’t trust the Democratic Party’s economic policies. “I think they

Republican David McCormick won a Senate seat in Pennsylvania on Thursday, defeating Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and padding the GOP’s Senate majority. McCormick, 59, is a two-time Senate challenger and a former hedge fund CEO who served in former President George W. Bush’s administration. McCormick had strong support from Wall Street donors and contacts across

Associated Press ST. JOHN’S, Antigua (AP) — The government of Antigua and Barbuda is seeking help from authorities in London to solve the killing of a Parliament member who was found stabbed to death this week. The decision was taken Wednesday by Cabinet members in the death of Asot Michael, 54, a boisterous and often

AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “The Handmaid’s Tale” is selling again. Since President-elect Trump clinched his return to the White House, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian classic about a country in which women are brutally repressed has been high on the Amazon.com best seller list. “The Handmaid’s Tale” was popular throughout Trump’s first term, along

Democratic Rep. Susie Lee won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Nevada on Thursday. Lee first won this Clark County seat in 2018, succeeding Democrat Jacky Rosen. The district picked up more Democratic voters after redistricting but remains a target for Republicans. The district covers a large part of Spring Valley along with rural

Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s governor declared an emergency Thursday after a powerful winter storm left tens of thousands of people without power as heavy snow, fierce winds and freezing temperatures marched across the northern two-thirds of the state and into Colorado. Dozens of crews with Public Service Co. of New Mexico

The Associated Press/Report For America MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Amazon workers in Alabama will have the opportunity decide whether to unionize for the third time in three years. A federal administrative judge ruled on Tuesday that the retail giant improperly influenced the most recent election, in which employees rejected a bid to unionize. The judge

ATLANTA (AP) — Certain voters in Georgia’s third-largest county who received their absentee ballots late will have their votes counted as long as their ballots were postmarked by Election Day and are received by Friday. Cobb County, just north of Atlanta, didn’t mail out absentee ballots to some 3,400 voters who had requested them until

AP Business Writer The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. rose for the sixth straight week, returning to its highest level since early July. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate ticked up to 6.79% from 6.72% last week. That’s still down from a year ago, when the rate averaged

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian police have arrested the head of the country’s soccer federation as part of an investigation into fraud, extortion, money laundering and other crimes. Agustín Lozano is the second Peruvian soccer boss to be detained since 2018 when his predecessor was investigated for his alleged role in two murders. Lozano vowed

Associated Press LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate known for defying his party, is in a tight race to keep his seat in Congress against Austin Theriault, a stock car driver and Republican state lawmaker. The matchup between Golden and Theriault is one of a handful of pivotal races with a

JERUSALEM (AP) — The French foreign ministry says armed Israeli police forced their way into a French-owned church compound in the contested city of Jerusalem, briefly detaining two consulate members and prompting the top French diplomat to abandon his planned visit to the site. The unusual incident Thursday threatened to further strain relations between Israel

AP Sports Writer The woman who told police she was the ex-girlfriend of Georgia wide receiver Colbie Young has retracted statements which led to his arrest on misdemeanor charges of battery and assault on Oct. 8. Young was suspended by Georgia coach Kirby Smart following his arrest by Athens-Clarke County Police after the altercation with

Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in an investigation of a sinister online community that pressures children into acts of self-harm and sexual abuse images. The government says Richard Densmore ran chat rooms as a member of 764. That’s an international group that targets

Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans have knocked off Democrats in two perennially contested U.S. House seats in eastern Pennsylvania while U.S. Rep. Scott Perry has survived a challenge in southern Pennsylvania. The defeats of sixth-term Rep. Matt Cartwright and three-term Rep. Susan Wild came as the GOP’s U.S. House majority hung in the

Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian activists are demanding that other countries temporarily stop deportations to their country given a surge in gang violence and deepening poverty. Tens of thousands of people have been deported to Haiti in the past month, including 61,000 from the Dominican Republic. Haiti’s Support Group for Returnees and Refugees

Associated Press After former President Donald Trump gave his victory speech early Wednesday, at the Palm Beach Convention Center, dozens of his supporters gathered in a lobby to sing “How Great Thou Art,” reciting from memory the words and harmonies of a classic hymn, popular among evangelical Christians. It was a fitting coda to an