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AP National News

Former officials urge closed-door Senate hearings on Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for intel chief

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have asked Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government’s files on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. She is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick as national intelligence director. The former officials, who served

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Fox News loses bid for Smartmatic voting-tech company’s records about Philippines bribery case

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Smartmatic does not need to give Fox News any information about U.S. federal charges against the voting machine company’s co-founder over alleged bribery in the Philippines. A New York judge on Thursday also turned down Smartmatic’s request to question two Fox Corp. board members. It already has questioned others.

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An architect of Project 2025 is pressuring Republican senators to confirm Pete Hegseth

Associated Press PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, is reemerging with a campaign to back President-elect Donald Trump’s imperiled cabinet selections. The group’s president Kevin Roberts said it will be spending $1 million to put pressure on senators unwilling to support Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to

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Trump dispatched his incoming envoy to the Mideast for high-level talks on reaching Gaza ceasefire

Associated Presss WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy recently visited Israel and Qatar for high-level talks on landing a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. Steve Witkoff met separately in recent weeks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. That’s according to

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Romanian soccer leader urges fans to keep country pro-European ahead of state presidential election

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s soccer federation leader has urged fans to keep the country on a pro-European path before a state presidential election between a far-right populist and a reformist opponent. Razvan Burleanu, a member of FIFA’s ruling council, spoke in a video message. Burleanu said “through European values, we are building not only

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Mexico president will ask Trump to deport non-Mexican migrants directly to their home countries

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president will ask President-elect Donald Trump that, if he deports migrants, to deport non-Mexicans directly to their home countries, rather than dumping them at the Mexican border. President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she hopes to reach an agreement with Trump so that “they send people who come from other countries

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McKinsey subsidiary will pay $122M for scheme to bribe South African officials, US says

WASHINGTON (AP) — An African subsidiary of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company Inc. will pay a criminal penalty of more than $122 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into a yearslong scheme to bribe South African government officials. The Justice Department says the scheme involved bribes to officials with South Africa’s state-owned

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EPA hails ‘revitalized’ enforcement efforts as Biden administration heads to exit

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it concluded more than 1,850 civil cases this year, a 3.4% increase over 2023, and charged 121 criminal defendants, a 17.6% increase over the previous year. The agency also issued $1.7 billion in financial penalties, more than double last year’s total. Thursday’s report was the

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Paraguay kicks out a visiting Chinese envoy for urging its lawmakers to turn their backs on Taiwan

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — Paraguay has accused a Chinese diplomat of interfering in its domestic affairs and given him 24 hours to leave the country, escalating tensions over the South American nation’s long friendship with Taiwan. Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a brief statement on Thursday that it had revoked the visa of

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From outsider to the Oval Office, bitcoin surges as a new administration embraces crypto

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin burst on the scene after trust had withered in the financial system and Washington’s ability to protect people from it. Now, it’s Washington’s embrace of bitcoin that’s sending it to records. Bitcoin briefly surged above $103,000 after President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate Paul Atkins, who’s

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Hegseth faces senators’ concerns not only about his behavior but also his views on women in combat

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth has spent the week on Capitol Hill trying to reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Defense in the wake of high-profile allegations about excessive drinking and sexual assault. But senators in both parties have also expressed concern about another issue

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Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend

AP Health Writer A message left at the scene of an insurance executive’s fatal shooting echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were written on the ammunition used to kill UnitedHealthcare’s CEO. That’s according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press

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House rejects Democratic efforts to force release of Matt Gaetz ethics report

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House shut down Democrats’ efforts Thursday to release the long-awaited ethics report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, pushing the fate of any resolution to the yearslong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations into further uncertainty. The nearly party-line votes came after Democrats had been pressing for the findings to be

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