AP National News

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The fate of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet is still unclear after Republican senators spent much of December carefully dodging questions about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’s views on vaccines, accusations of sexual misconduct against Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard’s 2017 meeting with then-President Bashar Assad of Syria. While some GOP

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — A missile launched from Yemen triggered air raid sirens across central Israel sending millions of residents looking for cover for the second night in a row. The military said the missile early Wednesday was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory. Police said shrapnel from the interception fell in several towns. There

Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children, a Taliban government official said Wednesday, raising fears of further straining relations between the two neighbors. Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, said those killed in the strikes that targeted four locations in Barmal,

Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message has urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Holy Land to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.  The pontiff’s “Urbi et Orbi” — “To

Associated Press MODIIN, Israel (AP) — For more than 400 days after being critically wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, Yona Brief tried to recover. But after losing both legs and enduring medically induced comas, the combat medic died in late November. The dual Israeli-American citizen has come to symbolize the

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a massive missile and drone barrage targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Wednesday, striking a thermal power plant and prompting Ukrainians to take shelter in metro stations on Christmas morning. The strikes on Ukrainian fuel and energy sources included 78 air, ground, and sea-launched missiles as well as

Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China and Japan agreed Wednesday to set up talks on often contentious security issues as they seek to improve a relationship riven in recent years by a range of issues, from territorial disputes to the discharge of water from Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, on

Associated Press An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashed Wednesday near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, killing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors, a Kazakh official said. Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev disclosed the figures while meeting with Azerbaijani officials, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. The Embraer 190 was en route from the

Associated Press JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Gunfire has rung out for days from the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp. But this time, it’s not Israeli forces that are facing off against armed groups. It is the forces of the Palestinian Authority clashing with Palestinian gunmen. The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Tokyo and Shanghai on Wednesday, two of only a handful of world markets open on Christmas day. Oil prices rose. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% lower to 38,997.02, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.2% to 3,387.41. Thursday will bring a weekly update on U.S.

Associated Press As the U.S. Census Bureau gets public feedback about how it should tally people into new race and ethnicity groups, the agency has released new research reflecting how U.S. residents from different backgrounds regard their racial and ethnic identities. Earlier this year, the U.S. government changed how it categorizes people by race and

Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — In a dim one-room apartment in one of Istanbul’s poorest neighborhoods, 11-year-old Atakan Sahin curls up on a threadbare sofa with his siblings to watch TV while their mother stirs a pot of pasta. The simple meal is all the family of six can look forward to most evenings. Atakan,

Associated Press LHOKNGA, Indonesia (AP) — Qurrata Ayuni, a 28-year-old survivor of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated her hometown two decades ago, has transformed her resilience into purpose. Defying Aceh’s male-dominated coffee culture, she runs a café that serves as a welcoming space for everyone, especially women, by employing and empowering them in the

Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu’s medical examiner says a Hawaii crime boss who died in federal detention this month was killed by an opioid overdose. Michael Miske died of “toxicity of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl.” The medical examiner says the 50-year-old’s death appears to have been accidental, but the case is still under investigation. An

Associated Press GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorian police on Tuesday found an undisclosed number of bodies in an area close to a military base, officials said, and were investigating whether the bodies could be of some of the four children who were last seen taken by men in military uniform earlier this month. The case

AP National Writer Richard Perry, a hitmaking record producer with a flair for both standards and contemporary sounds whose many successes included Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Rod Stewart’s “The Great American Songbook” series and a Ringo Starr album featuring all four Beatles, died Tuesday. He was 82. Perry, a recipient of a Grammys Trustee

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — King Charles III used his annual Christmas message Wednesday to hail the selflessness of those who have cared for him and the Princess of Wales this year, after both were diagnosed with cancer. The 76-year-old monarch said he and his family are “continually” impressed by those who dedicate their lives

Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Three Oregon lawmakers say they plan to introduce a bill that would bar utilities from raising rates if they have unresolved wildfire lawsuits for three or more years. The Republican state representatives announced the plan on Monday. It came on the heels of an approved rate increase for PacifiCorp

Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The conclusion of a criminal case against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer clears the way for a related civil lawsuit by relatives of the deceased woman and efforts to depose the actor under oath, attorneys for plaintiffs in the civil suit said Tuesday. At

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo says it was “just a little cold” as he posed bare-chested in the snow before taking an icy dip during a Christmas holiday in Finland’s Lapland region. The 39-year-old Portuguese international traveled with his partner, Georgina Rodriguez, and their children, who met Santa Claus in a 10-minute video posted online by

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The bald eagle, a symbol of the power and strength of the United States for more than 240 years, earned an overdue honor on Tuesday: It officially became the country’s national bird. President Joe Biden signed into law legislation sent to him by Congress that amends the United States Code

HONOLULU (AP) — One of the world’s most active volcanoes spewed lava into the air for a second straight day on Tuesday. The eruption of Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has stayed within the mountain’s summit caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. No homes were threatened. Molten rock began shooting from the volcano before

Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he’ll “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned

Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — A task force led by Brazilian prosecutors said it rescued 163 Chinese nationals working in “slavery-like” conditions at a construction site in northeastern Brazil, where Chinese electric vehicle company BYD is building a factory. On Tuesday, the Labor Prosecutor’s Office released videos of the dorms where the

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP) — The last group of striking hotel workers in San Francisco has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with Hilton, bringing an end to a strike that has lasted three months. The union Unite Here Local 2 says workers are voting Tuesday after similar deals were made with Marriott

Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Record-setting flooding over three days dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of northern California, a fire left thousands under evacuation orders and warnings in Los Angeles County, forecasters issued the first-ever tornado warning in San Francisco and rough seas tore down part of a wharf in