AP National News

Associated Press QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, say they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led force is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State

AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says strengthening his country’s alliance with the United States is key to regional security and expressed his desire to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. This comes amid worries about China’s increasingly assertive military activity and North Korea’s repeated test-firings of ballistic missiles as part

Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An Amsterdam District Court has issued sentences of up to six months in jail against 5 men who were involved in violent disorder after a soccer match between the Dutch club Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv in November. The riots caused an international outcry and accusations of

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s main ethnic Serb party says its ban from taking part in the upcoming parliamentary election is political and institutional violence against the ethnic minority. Zlatan Elek of Srpska Lista, or Serb List, on Tuesday said they would appeal the move. The Central Election Commission declined to certify Srpska Lista, justifying

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part. Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an

Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper leaves his job next week after eight years. It’s a span in which the southern Democrat picked his moments against a Republican-dominated legislature to win big on expanding Medicaid and on requiring cleaner energy. State law barred Cooper from seeking a third consecutive term.

MOSCOW (AP) — The 50,000-year-old remains of a baby mammoth uncovered by melting permafrost have been unveiled to the public by researchers in Russia’s Siberia region. They call it the best-preserved mammoth body ever found. The female mammoth nicknamed Yana weighs more than 220 pounds and is 47 inches tall. Her remains are one of

Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Famine is spreading in Sudan due to a war between the military and a notorious paramilitary group that has devastated the country and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, a global hunger monitoring group said Tuesday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said it detected famine in five

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Tens of thousands of homes in Bosnia were without electricity on Tuesday after heavy snow and winds that also created traffic chaos in neighboring Croatia and Serbia. In Slovenia, the search for an injured Hungarian hiker missing in the Alps north of the capital, Ljubljana, since Sunday was suspended because of

Associated Press BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza. The cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian-born U.S. citizen already imprisoned in Russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second 15-year jail term for espionage, Russian news agencies reported. A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Gene Spector in August 2023, although details surrounding the case were not made public. Spector, formerly an executive at

Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police have announced a fresh round of arrest warrants for six activists based overseas, with bounties set at $1 million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to their arrests. According to the warrants, the six individuals are wanted for national security offences such as secession, subversion, and

At least eight people were killed by Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank around the city of Tulkarem on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, including three people it said were killed by Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military said it opened fire after militants attacked soldiers, and it was aware of some uninvolved

ISTANBUL (AP) — An explosion at an ammunition factory in northwest Turkey left 11 dead and five injured Tuesday morning. The blast occurred in Balikesir province, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. The factory is in a rural area away from population centers. Balikesir Governor Ismail Ustaoglu said the explosion collapsed the capsule production building

Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States and the United Kingdom have expressed deep concern over the recent handing down of convictions by Pakistani military courts to 25 civilian supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan over last year’s riots. The convictions had previously also been criticized by the European Union and Pakistani human

Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Shyam Benegal, a renowned Indian filmmaker known for pioneering a cinema movement that tackled social issues in the 1970s, has died after chronic kidney disease. He was 90. His contribution to cinema was recognized as a director, editor and screenwriter. He came into the limelight with films that challenged

Associated Press PERTH, Australia (AP) — Tonga’s parliament has elected Aisake Eke as the country’s new prime minister. The vote came in a special session of the house on Christmas Eve. Eke’s predecessor quit earlier this month just ahead of a no-confidence vote by lawmakers. Eke — who assumes office less than a year before

Associated Press LEAVENWORTH, Wash. (AP) — The scent of bratwurst and pretzels filled the air as horses clopped down the main street, hauling a carriage full of tourists. Nestled in her mother’s arms, a baby reached out to touch a shop window display, peering toward the sequin-covered reindeer behind it, as colorful ornaments twirled nearby.

Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Straddling the scaffolding high up in a historic Boston church, murals conservator Gianfranco Pocobene is working to uncover eight angels that were hidden under layers of paint for more than a century. The painted angels — with round childlike faces and wings — once were among the defining features of

Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — In Southern Africa, where democracy remains relatively stable, elections held in 2024 saw long-governing liberation parties struggling to survive. Across Africa, power struggles involving military governments, coup attempts and armed conflict are common, but the southern region has largely been more stable and elections in some countries brought joy

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s main liberal opposition party said Tuesday it will seek to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo, as Seoul grapples with the turmoil set off when impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol made a short-lived declaration of martial law. The country’s political parties are now tussling over how to

Associated Press KURUKKAL MADAM, Sri Lanka (AP) — Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education. Jayarasa Abilash’s story symbolized that of the

AP Business Writer Technology stocks led a broad rally on Wall Street Tuesday during a holiday-shortened trading session ahead of Christmas. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% for its third-straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1.3%. While Big Tech companies, including Apple, Amazon and chip company Broadcom

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday vetoed a once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal district judgeships, saying “hurried action” by the House left important questions unanswered about the life-tenured positions. The legislation would have spread the establishment of the new trial court judgeships over more than a decade to give three

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful government panel has failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of a nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. Steel. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States on Monday sent its long-awaited report to President Joe Biden,

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed the annual defense authorization bill into law despite his objections to language banning transgender health care for military children. The legislation Biden signed Monday also aims to counter China’s growing power, authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members and boosts overall military spending

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s Congress has approved a law that would lift the country’s seven-year-old ban on mining for metals. The law, proposed by President Nayib Bukele and passed Monday on a 57 to 3 vote, would allow mining everywhere except nature reserves and sensitive watersheds. It’s expected to go into

Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico prosecutors won’t pursue an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting on a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie, the Santa Fe district attorney’s office announced Monday. Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria said Monday the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus, and it is preparing to deploy. The visit led by Robert Petit, head of the International, Impartial