AP National

Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The smooth economy that Donald Trump was poised to inherit suddenly looks a bit rockier — with critics saying the president-elect is contributing to the uncertainty. The Dow Jones stock index essentially ended Thursday flat after having posted 10 days of losses. The Federal Reserve now sees

Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hungary has given political asylum to a Polish opposition politician who is wanted on suspicions of corruption. The move has triggered a diplomatic spat that worsened on Friday. Poland’s government decried Hungary’s decision as a “hostile act” and Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was dismayed by Hungarian Prime

Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Democrats are ending their final days in control of the state government bogged down with disunity and inaction. Tensions boiled over Thursday when a Democratic lawmaker joined the entire Republican caucus in skipping the session. The chamber was left without the necessary votes needed to hold business. House

Associated Press ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A knife-wielding teenager walked into a school in Croatia’s capital on Friday, stabbed a 7-year-old girl to death and wounded three more children and their teacher, authorities said. The attack took place around 9:50 a.m. on the last day of school before Christmas at the Precko Elementary School in

Associated Press GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congolese state media says President Felix Tshisekedi has replaced the armed forces chief and several other top military officers in a major reshuffle amid the ongoing fight against rebels in the country’s eastern region. The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Gen. Christian Tshiwewe, was replaced by

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country. Paty, 47, was killed by an Islamic extremist outside his school on Oct. 16, 2020, days after showing

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is abandoning his efforts to provide some protections for transgender student athletes and cancel student loans for more than 38 million Americans, the first steps in an administration-wide plan to jettison pending regulations to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from retooling them to achieve his own aims. The

ATHENS, Greeece (AP) — Greek authorities say a speedboat carrying migrants capsized Friday morning off the eastern Greek island of Rhodes, leaving eight dead. The coast guard said the incident occurred while the speedboat was carrying out “dangerous maneuvers” to try and evade a patrol vessel, causing migrants to fall into the sea. Eighteen of

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian attack Friday on a town in Russia’s Kursk border region using U.S.-supplied missiles killed six people, including a child, a senior local official said. The attack came hours after Ukrainian authorities said a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv killed at least one person and wounded 13.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government has agreed in principle to accept a second “no find, no fee” proposal from a U.S. company to renew the hunt for flight MH370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than 10 years ago, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Friday. Loke said

Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s navy says it has rescued more than 100 people believed to be Rohingya refugees who were found adrift aboard a fishing trawler off the island nation. Navy spokesman Gayan Wickramasuriya said Friday fishermen spotted the refugees, including 25 children and 30 women off Sri Lanka’s northern

ROME (AP) — A court in Sicily is expected to announce its verdict on whether Italy’s vice premier, Matteo Salvini, is guilty of illegally detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship when he was interior minister. Salvini faces up to six years in jail if convicted on charges of kidnapping for the 2019 incident

AP Science Writer SAO PAULO (AP) — Sloths weren’t always slow-moving, furry tree-dwellers. Their prehistoric ancestors were huge — up to 4 tons (3.6 metric tons) — and when startled, they brandished immense claws. For a long time, scientists believed the first humans to arrive in the Americas soon killed off these giant ground sloths

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Israelis are increasingly moving out of the country since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety. Government statistics estimate that 40,600 people departed long-term during the first seven months of the year, a 59% increase over the same period in 2023. Some 33,000 people have moved

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Israelis are increasingly moving out of the country since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety. Government statistics estimate that 40,600 people departed long-term during the first seven months of the year, a 59% increase over the same period in 2023. Some 33,000 people have moved

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A group of Gisèle Pelicot’s Australian admirers say they’re moved that the victim in France’s notorious drugging-and-rape case has acknowledged her distant supporters Down Under by wearing a scarf adorned with Aboriginal art. The 72-year-old who refused to remain an anonymous victim wore the silk scarf several times during

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Efforts to recover bodies of people trapped in collapsed buildings continues in the earthquake-hit Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Hopes faded on Friday that more would be found alive three days after the magnitude 7.3 quake, with the official death toll of 12 likely to rise. The U.N. humanitarian

Associated Press MACAO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the casino hub of Macao to diversify its economy as he swore in the former Portuguese colony’s new government at an event marking the 25th anniversary of its handover to China. Since its 1999 handover, the city of 687,000 has evolved from a monopoly-driven

Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Biden administration said Friday it has decided not to pursue a $10 million reward it had offered for the capture of a Syrian rebel leader whose forces led the ouster of President Bashar Assad earlier this month. The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between the leader of

Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Justice Kyra Harris Bolden is the first Black woman to be elected to the Michigan Supreme Court. Her victory in November reaffirmed a liberal majority on a court where five of the seven justices now are women. She says her journey really began generations ago, when her great-grandfather was

Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana man convicted in the 2017 killings of two teenage girls who vanished during a winter hike was sentenced to a maximum of 130 years in prison Friday in the case that’s long cast a shadow over the teens’ small hometown of Delphi. Allen, 52, was convicted on Nov.

Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — It’s been a tumultuous month for France and its relationship with former colonies in Africa, as its influence on the continent faces the biggest challenge in decades. Even as Paris was devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence, two of its closest allies

AP Airlines Writer Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day,

Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, over concerns that he might impose travel bans like he did during his first administration. More than a dozen schools have issued advisories, even though Trump’s plans

Associated Press Founded during the Black Freedom Movement of the 1960s, Kwanzaa is a non-religious holiday that is observed by millions of Americans. It has become a nationally recognized celebration of African culture and community in the United States that also is celebrated in countries with large African descendant populations. It serves as a nationwide

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Friday to turn what would have been one of the market’s worst weeks of the year into just a pretty bad one. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% for its best day in six weeks and shaved its loss for the week down to 2%. The

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean investigators are pressing ahead with their probe into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. On Friday, they issued another summons demanding that he appear for questioning on Christmas Day, despite his continued refusal to cooperate. The Corruption Investigation Office for

Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — One of the six members of Venezuela’s political opposition who have been sheltering for nine months in the Argentine diplomatic compound in the capital, Caracas, has abandoned the premises. Two people familiar with the situation at the facility confirmed to The Associated Press that Fernando Martinez left the ambassador’s

When Pope Francis left the Vatican earlier this month for his traditional Christmastime outing downtown, he acknowledged what many Romans have been complaining about for months: That his big plans for a Holy Year had turned their city into a giant construction pit, with traffic-clogging roadworks tearing up major thoroughfares, scaffolding covering prized monuments and

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ attorney general is again trying to block a man on death row from giving testimony at the state Capitol. Robert Roberson was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter. A group of Texas lawmakers have raised doubts about his guilt. They successfully paused his execution at the

AP Sports Writer BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australian breaker Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has tried to be a good sport about the jokes and criticism that poured in from around the globe after her controversial performance at the Paris Olympics. But maybe “Raygun: the Musical” was a bridge too far. Comedian Stephanie Broadbridge called off the

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia has announced it will pay for more police in Solomon Islands and create a police training center in the South Pacific island nation’s capital Honiara, where Chinese law enforcement instructors are already based under a bilateral security pact with Beijing. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday Australia

BERWYN, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say a 24-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting three people in central Illinois has been killed after firing shots at police in suburban Chicago. Police say officers in Berwyn were responding to a report of a man with a gun Wednesday night when he ran from them. The man forced

Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Activists have sued the federal government to release images of dead orca whales and other marine mammals entangled by commercial fishing boats off the U.S. West Coast. The complaints filed in Alaska and California on Thursday come after the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration failed to fulfill multiple Freedom

Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin 15-year-old who shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student Monday was only in her first semester at the school but seemed to be settling in, a school official said Thursday as families of the victims remembered them as people of faith who had deep connections

Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s wish list for the incoming Trump administration includes oil and gas exploration in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reversing restrictions on logging and road-building in a temperate rainforest that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon. Dunleavy has asked President-elect Donald Trump to

Associated Press/Report for America PHOENIX (AP) — A Maricopa County judge’s decision has invalidated a provision of Arizona’s elections manual that said the secretary of state must canvass election results even if a county has not certified its ballots. Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney ruled that Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes exceeded his authority.

Associated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 270,000 people to 192 countries over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade, according to a report released Thursday that illustrates some of the financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge has refused to allow a Michigan school shooter to withdraw his guilty plea to two dozen charges, including terrorism and first-degree murder. Ethan Crumbley’s appellate lawyers cited his mental health and other factors when he waived his right to trial and pleaded guilty to killing four students at Oxford

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man yelled “Y’all don’t stop fighting” to his supporters after a judge decided not to free him from custody as he appeals his conviction in a gun and drug case. That case drew attention because it followed the commutation of his life sentence in a high-profile murder case. Myon Burrell

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — It’s that time of year when crowds of pagans, druids, hippies and tourists head to Stonehenge in Britain to celebrate the winter solstice, with the shortest day and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. Thousands are expected on Saturday at the megalithic circle on a plain in southern England

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two new baby lizards have hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo, the first of their species to be bred there, zoo officials said Thursday. Perentie lizards, or Varanus giganteus, are native to Australia and one of the world’s largest lizards, dwarfed only by the Komodo dragon and a few others. “It

Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — The premier of Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta says Americans will pay a lot more for gas if President-elect Donald Trump imposes a 25% tariff on all Canadian products. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday that American refineries won’t have much choice but

AP Sports Writer Sports bettors in the U.S. are expected to set another record in 2024 for the amount of money wagered legally. That coincides with what has been a year of reckoning for U.S. sports betting, which was rocked by scandals. The bad publicity included Jontay Porter’s lifetime ban from the NBA for trading

Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s attorney general says the state is under no legal requirement to use taxpayer money to cover the costs of gender-affirming surgeries for people incarcerated in state prisons. The state’s corrections department requested the opinion as it amends regulations regarding medical care for people in prison. Republican Attorney General

AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Sports marketer Max Muhleman, who was credited with the concept of developing the permanent seat license in professional sports and helping the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets land expansion teams, has died at 88. Muhleman died on Saturday in Charlotte peacefully after battling some heart-related issues, according to

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is warning that Republicans’ decision to abandon a congressional spending plan will cost troops their paychecks over the holidays unless some agreement is reached before Friday’s deadline to prevent a government shutdown. The Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, says even if they don’t get paid, those

Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A businessman with no experience in public office is taking over as mayor of Oregon’s biggest city. Voters elected trucking company executive Keith Wilson as Portland mayor last month after he ran on an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness within a year. Wilson was sworn in on Thursday

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Veteran U.K. Labour Party politician Peter Mandelson will be Britain’s next ambassador to Washington. Mandelson, who served in senior posts in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is expected to take up his job early next year. The announcement is due to come on Friday. The news was

Associated Press A debate over the debt ceiling is at the center of a dispute over funding that is pushing Washington to the brink of a federal government shutdown. President-elect Donald Trump has demanded that a provision raising or suspending the nation’s debt limit — something that his own party routinely resists — be included

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says the United States doubled the number of forces in Syria to fight the Islamic State group before the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s government. The U.S. has said 900 troops were in Syria, but Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, announced on Thursday that 2,000

AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Who works harder than Questlove? The Academy Award winner has teamed up with Emmy winner Oz Rodriguez and NBC for a new film, “Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music,” celebrating 50 years of the program and spotlighting its memorable live music performances. The three-hour special will

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to Italy next month to meet with Pope Francis and top Italian officials for what is expected to be the final international trip of his presidency. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden will meet with the Pope, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian state media says that an Uzbek citizen accused of acting on behalf of Ukraine has been charged by Russian authorities with this week’s assassination of a senior Russian general and his assistant. The bombing has been claimed by Ukraine’s security services. Akhmadzhon Kurbonov was ordered detained until at least Feb. 17