AP National News

AP Film Writer The Walt Disney Co.’s animated film “Moana 2” remained at the top of the box office in its second weekend in theaters as it brought in another record haul. The film added $52 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That brings its domestic total to $300 million, surpassing the original, and its

The fall of Syria’s authoritarian government at the hands of jihadi militants has set off waves of jubilation, trepidation and alarm around the world. Expatriate Syrians and many residents across the Middle East exulted at the overthrow of a leader who led his country through 14 years of civil strife that left half a million

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say 10 people have been injured after a police traffic officer on a motorcycle crashed into bystanders at a holiday parade in Palm Springs. They say all of the injured were taken to hospitals for treatment of injuries Saturday night, including the police officer. Witnesses tell The Desert Sun

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The reopening ceremonies for Notre Dame were as much a celebration of people as they were a rejoicing of the cathedral’s resurrection from fire. Outside, the Catholic faithful shivered and prayed in the cold and the rain — and yet were ecstatic and said they wouldn’t rather have been anywhere

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Police don’t know who he is, where he is, or why he did it. As the frustrating search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer got underway for a fifth day Sunday, investigators reckoned with a tantalizing contradiction: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma. One

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A short-lived martial law decree by South Korea’s leader last week raised worries about budding authoritarianism around the world. In the end, though, democracy prevailed. President Yoon Suk Yeol announced that he was declaring martial law and giving his government sweeping powers to crack down on protesters, ban

Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Adam Pemble, an Associated Press journalist who covered some of the biggest global news of the past two decades, from earthquakes and conflicts to political summits and elections, has died. He was 52. Pemble died Thursday in Minneapolis surrounded by friends and family after a long battle with cancer. Known

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Half a century of rule by the Assad family in Syria has crumbled with astonishing speed. It has been less than two weeks since insurgents burst out of a rebel-held enclave and converged on the capital, Damascus, taking city after city in a matter of days. Opposition forces led by

Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt did in 1906 what Congress was unwilling to do through legislation: He used his new authority under the Antiquities Act to designate Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument. Then came Antiquities Act protections for the Petrified Forest in Arizona, Chaco Canyon and

Associated Press FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Just off a state highway in New Jersey, one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States appears unexpectedly in the middle of a backyard. It rises 30 feet high from the woods in Franklin Township, near Princeton, where it was built a decade ago

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Celebrities, cultural icons and a few surprise guests have paid tribute to honorees at the annual Kennedy Center Honors celebration in Washington. This year’s recipients of the lifetime achievement award for artistic accomplishment are director Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, and singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt. The

Associated Press MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — Each year, celebrities descend on Morocco to attend the Marrakech International Film Festival, enjoy warm weather, luxurious resorts and laud the power of cinema. This year’s event wrapped up on Saturday and featured stars such as actor Sean Penn and director Luca Guadagnino. But the image that the monarchy-backed

Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of members of associate bodies of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have marched toward the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh’s capital to denounce attacks on a diplomatic mission and alleged desecration of Bangladeshi flags in India. The protests on Sunday came a day before India’s foreign secretary is due

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump on Sunday pushed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office. “Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. As he entered Damascus behind his victorious fighters Sunday, he even dropped

AP National Writer The new, 12-team College Football Playoff brings with it a promise to be bigger, more exciting, more lucrative. Perfect or 100% fair? Well, nobody ever believed that. The first expanded playoff bracket unveiled Sunday left a presumably deserving Alabama team on the sideline in favor of an SMU squad that finished with

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has protested outside a closed polling station against a top court’s unprecedented decision to annul the first round of the vote in which he emerged as the frontrunner. The Constitutional Court on Friday canceled the election after a trove of declassified intelligence alleged

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta has appointed a new prime minister, a day after dissolving the government without providing any reason. Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, until now communications minister and spokesperson of the government, will be the West African country’s new prime minister, junta leader Ibrahim Traore said in a

Associated Press ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama is set to return to office in the West African nation’s presidential election after the ruling party candidate conceded defeat. Voters apparently vented their anger at the government’s handling of the economy. Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia was running as the flagbearer of the

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An elephant has died of apparent heart failure at a Pakistani safari park, less than two weeks after being reunited with her sister. Sonia, who was almost 19, is the second elephant to die in two years in the southern city of Karachi, where she had lived since 2009. She was

Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Emergency services are searching for a second day through the debris of an apartment block that was destroyed by an explosion and fire, killing at least five people. They hold out little hope of finding any more survivors. Fire authorities said five injured people were rescued and several

Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera museum, conceived under Napoleon as a “little Louvre,” is finally getting a modern art addition first envisioned more than 50 years ago with the opening Sunday of Palazzo Citterio. Completing the project long beset by shifting priorities, neglect and an ill-fated architectural vision was a priority

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — When local residents and admirers learned the iconic Sycamore Gap tree in northern England had been cut down last year, they wanted to know why and who could have committed such a senseless act. On Monday, prosecutors will begin providing some of those answers. Two men are scheduled to go

Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said Sunday, hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family’s 50 years of iron rule. Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire and

Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s economy has enough difficulties, from tepid growth to trade tensions with the U.S. Dealing with those woes is only getting harder due to the political chaos in the two biggest European countries, France and Germany. Neither has a government backed by a functioning majority, and France could take a

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame Cathedral has hosted its first Mass since the catastrophic fire of 2019. The moment transcended religious significance to become a powerful symbol of Paris’ resilience. For Catholics, it marks the revival of the city’s spiritual heart. For the world, it signals the rebirth of one of humanity’s most

Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At the Westonaria agricultural park near Bekkersdal, east of Johannesburg, farm workers are busy tilling the soil and planting tomatoes and lettuce. Despite the hive of activity, there is silence around the park. Most people here are deaf and communicate using sign language. They are members of the Voiceout Deaf

Associated Press GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana is revisiting a dark history nearly half a century after U.S. Rev. Jim Jones and more than 900 of his followers died in the rural interior of the South American country. It was the largest suicide-murder in history, and a government-backed tour operator wants to open the former

Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Shortly after Donald Trump’s win in last month’s U.S. election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to congratulate the president-elect: “History’s greatest comeback!” he gushed. If Trump’s staunchly pro-Israel first term and his nominations for top administration positions are any indication, Netanyahu’s glee is justified. But much has