AP National News

AP Business Writer Workers at seven Amazon facilities are on strike. The Teamsters union says the workers joined picket lines on Thursday after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline the union set for contract negotiations. The union called it the largest strike yet against the company in the U.S. Amazon says it doesn’t expect the labor

Associated Press KERAVA, Finland (AP) — People in Finland have been left unsettled by expansionist neighbor Russia and inspired by its recent accession to NATO, are increasingly taking national self-defense into their own hands. The popularity of military training has soared in recent months in the Nordic country, where few places reflect the growing fad

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — The Indian military says government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed five suspected militants in a gunbattle. Soldiers and police launched a joint operation on Thursday after receiving a tip that rebels were hiding in a village in southern Kulgam district. The militants opened “indiscriminate and heavy volumes of fire” at the

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was whisked back to New York by plane and helicopter Thursday to face new federal charges of stalking and murder, which could bring the death penalty if he’s convicted. Luigi Mangione was held without bail following a Manhattan federal court appearance, capping

Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma man who killed a 10-year-old girl in a cannibalistic fantasy died by lethal injection Thursday in the nation’s 25th and final execution of the year. Kevin Ray Underwood was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It was Oklahoma’s fourth execution of

Associated Press WILTON, Iowa (AP) — Every year the U.S. egg industry kills about 350 million male chicks because they will never lay eggs and so have little monetary value. That longtime practice is changing, thanks to new technology that enables hatcheries to peek into millions of fertilized eggs and spot male embryos, then grind

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The number of people killed and missing remains unclear two days after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. More than 48 hours after the quake, the Ministry of Health said the number of confirmed deaths reached 10 early Friday, with the number expected

AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Only recently given stewardship over his late father’s work, Sean Ono Lennon is on a remarkable run. The only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono won an Academy Award this year for a short film based on his parents’ 1971 song “Happy Christmas (War is Over”)” and,

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Tsuneo Watanabe, the powerful head of Japan’s largest newspaper who helped shape the country’s postwar politics, has died, his company said Thursday. He was 98. Watanabe, who was editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun for over 30 years, had close ties with former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and other powerful politicians

Associated Press MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (AP) — The four sisters gathered by the side of the road, craning their necks to peer far beyond the razor wire-reinforced fence snaking across the mountain. One took off her jacket and waved it slowly above her head. In the distance, a tiny white speck waved frantically from

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When it comes to Christmas, there’s no getting away from Santa Claus. He’s been the subject of poems and stories, movies and songs, invoked as the judge of naughty or nice, the recipient of countless cookies and glasses of milk to sustain him on his journey. For a lot

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — An early rebound for U.S. stocks on Thursday petered out by the end of the day, leaving indexes close to flat. The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% following Wednesday’s tumble of 2.9% when the Federal Reserve said it may deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year

Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of Syrian doctors work in Germany and the fall of Bashar Assad is raising concern over the potential consequences for the health sector if many of them were to return home. Germany became a leading destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade. Some politicians were quick to start

Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Before Christa McAuliffe was an astronaut, she was a vibrant teacher in New England keen on showing her students how everyday people left extraordinary marks on U.S. history. Nearly four decades later, a new documentary focuses on how she still inspires others and less on her fate aboard the

Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The scientists at Hungary’s Eötvos Loránd University have been studying group robotics since 2009, and earlier succeeded in creating the world’s first flock of synchronized drones. But now, they’ve taken their discovery to a much larger scale and allowed the machines to take to the skies without pre-programming, moving

AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy jumped last year, and preliminary data suggests there may be another — much smaller — improvement this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released a report on U.S. deaths in 2023. It showed a decline in death rates for almost all

Associated Press AVIGNON, France (AP) — Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her “very difficult ordeal” after 51 men were convicted Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and turned her into an icon, expressing support for other victims whose cases don’t get such attention and “whose stories remain untold.” “I want you to know that

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s acting leader has vetoed a spate of contentious bills sponsored by the main opposition party, deepening political strife in the wake of parliament’s impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Four of the six bills vetoed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo are meant to introduce greater state

Associated Press MACAO (AP) — Macao has grown from a monopoly-driven gambling enclave into the world’s biggest gaming hub, packed with Chinese tourists, since Beijing took control of the former Portuguese colony 25 years ago. However, the added wealth of the city dubbed the “Las Vegas of the East” has not brought qualities of sustainable

Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel. Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red

Associated Press The Justice Department has unsealed a civil complaint alleging CVS Pharmacy Inc. and various subsidiaries filled unlawful prescriptions in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Wednesday’s complaint also alleges CVS sought reimbursement from federal health care programs for unlawful prescriptions in violation of the False Claims Act. CVS is the largest pharmacy

HINES, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota officials this month went to a purported rescue facility to remove more than 250 animals living in crates caked with excrement. They found a pile of ashes and animal bones. Only 70 animals escaped alive. The two owners have been charged with 10 counts of felony animal torture. The shelter

Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A trailing candidate in a very close election last month for the North Carolina Supreme Court has asked that court to get involved legally in his race. Jefferson Griffin is a Republican member of the state Court of Appeals who trails Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs by about 730

Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s real has fallen to its weakest level against the dollar since the currency was introduced in 1994, undercut by investors’ frustration with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s efforts to rein in government spending. A bill backed by Lula that aims to slash $11 billion in government spending

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea demonstrated this year that it could produce ballistic missiles and supply them to Russia for use against Ukraine in a matter of months. That’s according to the head of a research organization that traces weapons used in the war. Jonah Leff told the U.N. Security Council on

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A New York federal judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to appear in court in early January to face claims that he should be held in contempt for failing to turn over assets to two Georgia election poll workers who won a libel case against him. Judge Lewis J. Liman