AP-National

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — NATO’s newest member and Russia’s neighbor Finland is to sign a bilateral defense cooperation agreement next week with the United States in a deal that allows Washington to send troops into the Nordic country and to store weapons and equipment there.  Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The climate negotiations that just finished in Dubai hit upon the essence of compromise, finding common language that nearly 200 countries accepted, at times grudgingly. For the first time in nearly three decades of such talks, the final agreement mentioned fossil fuels —

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — An academic who entered Norway as a Brazilian citizen and was arrested last year on suspicion of spying for Russia has confessed his real, Russian name. The man was detained in the Arctic city of Tromsoe, where he worked as a lecturer at the Arctic University of Norway. Norwegian media have

By STEPHEN WADE and YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A former member of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee has appeared in district court and pleaded not guilty to taking $1.4 million in bribes in exchange for contracts for the Games. Haruyuki Takahashi was arrested more than a year ago and it is unclear

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani opened his first news conference with the Los Angeles Dodgers by dodging questions about whether he had a second Tommy John surgery. “At the time of the announcement, we didn’t know which way we were going to go. That’s why I never said

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has questioned the International Olympic Committee rules mandating Russian athletes compete at the Paris Olympics as neutral athletes. He has also indicated Russia has yet to take a final decision on on whether its competitors will take part next year. The IOC rejected a blanket ban last week

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A top official says a Turkish opposition lawmaker has died days after he suffered a heart attack and collapsed just after delivering a speech critical of Israel and of the ruling party’s relationship with the country. Turkey’s health minister said 53-year-old Hasan Bitmez died in a hospital on Thursday. The member

CHICAGO (AP) — The family of a Chicago woman who died after she became locked in a hotel freezer has agreed to a $10 million settlement. The Chicago Tribune reports that Kenneka Jenkins’ mother, Tereasa Martin, will receive more than $3.7 million from the settlement. Jenkins was found dead in a walk-in freezer at the

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The head of Haiti’s national police is visiting Kenya as local authorities prepare for the deployment of police to the Caribbean nation plagued by gang violence. Frantz Elbe is on a three-day visit for bilateral security discussions, according to a statement from the Kenyan police chief. Elbe’s visit comes days after

NEW YORK (AP) — Emmy-award winning actor, writer and producer Keegan-Michael Key will host the “NFL Honors” show on Feb. 8, when The Associated Press individual awards are announced. The prime-time honors special will air live from Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas at 9 p.m. EST on CBS and NFL Network and stream on

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy officer jailed in Japan over a car crash that killed two Japanese citizens has been transferred into American custody and is being returned to the United States. That’s according to a statement Thursday from the family of Lt. Ridge Alkonis. Alkonis had been serving a

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying. Retail sales rose 0.3%, in November from October, when sales were down a revised 0.2%. That’s according to the Commerce

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police are offering rewards for information leading to the arrests of five activists based overseas, whom it accuses of breaching a harsh national security law imposed by Beijing. Arrest warrants and the bounties of $128,000 each were issued for three activists and two hosts

LONDON (AP) — Amazon won’t have to pay about $273 million in back taxes after European Union judges ruled in favor of the U.S. e-commerce giant. It has dealed a defeat to the 27-nation bloc in its efforts to tackle corporate tax avoidance. The ruling Thursday by the EU’s top court is final, ending the

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell last week as the labor market continues to thrive amid high interest rates and still-elevated inflation. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 to 202,000 for the week ending Dec. 9, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts were expecting around

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has replaced four of his Cabinet ministers in an effort to contain the damage from a widening slush funds scandal that has shaken his governing party. The shakeup is Kidhida’s third of his Cabinet, whose support ratings have continued to drop. The

By BABACAR DIONE Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — On Thursday, a court ordered Senegal’s opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to be reinstated on the electoral list, which could allow him to run for president in February’s election. The state has 10 days to appeal, but has yet to say if it will. Sonko finished third

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says a boat carrying 12 passengers sank north of the Dominican Republic during inclement weather, and all have been rescued. Authorities say six of the passengers who were aboard a raft were rescued by a Carnival Cruise Line ship in the area, and six others

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military says a missile fired from territory controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels missed a container ship traveling through the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The attack is the latest threatening shipping in the crucial maritime chokepoint. The assaults have been part of the

BERLIN (AP) — An Austrian court has acquitted five people, including the founder of the Blackwater security firm, who were accused of exporting two crop-spraying aircraft that were allegedly refitted for military purposes without the necessary permits. The state court in Wiener Neustadt found Thursday that the modified aircraft were not “war material.” It also