AP-National

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ten of the best songs of the year, as determined by Associated Press Music Writer Maria Sherman, in no particular order. Dive in. “On My Mama,” Victoria Monét Buckle up for some positive affirmations! The 10-time Grammy-nominated Victoria Monét, once best known as a hit-maker

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department on Monday announced a new strike force to help combat illicit fentanyl trafficking as the U.S. and China step up efforts to stop the movement of the powerful opioid and drug-making materials into the U.S. The Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will bring together personnel and

DALLAS (AP) — Police say a man suspected of killing four people, including a 1-year-old boy, and injuring a 15-year-old girl in a shooting at a Dallas home shot himself in the head during a chase with law enforcement several hours later. Dallas police said Monday that 21-year-old Byron Carrillo stole a vehicle after fleeing

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force is expanding its study of whether service members who worked with nuclear missiles have had unusually high rates of cancer after a preliminary review determined that a deeper examination is needed. The review was launched in response to reports that many who served are

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s defense minister says a Madrid judge has opened an investigation into several agents of Spain’s National Intelligence Center for an alleged leak of secret information to the United States. Confirming a report in Spanish digital newspaper El Confidencial, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the intelligence center itself had filed a

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N. World Food Program says it will end in January its main assistance program across war-torn Syria, where over 12 million people lack regular access to sufficient food. WFP in recent years has scaled down its support in Syria and neighboring countries that host millions of

LIDECKO, Czech Republic (AP) — In an eastern corner of the Czech Republic, St. Nicholas leads a procession of followers dressed in grim reaper and devil costumes on a journey through the village of Lidecko. The old pre-Christmas tradition has survived for centuries in just a few villages in the region known as Wallachia. Several

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s polar research ship has crossed paths with the largest iceberg in the world. The British Antarctic Survey said Monday that it was a “lucky” encounter that enabled scientists to collect seawater samples around the colossal berg as it drifts out of Antarctic waters. The RRS Sir

PARIS (AP) — The French parliament is considering a ban on single-use, disposable electronic cigarettes that are popular with teenagers for their sweet flavors and are under scrutiny as a new source of trash. The legislation aims to protect the health of youths and mitigate the environmental impacts of the increasingly popular disposable products known

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “The Holdovers” marks the long-in-coming reunion of Paul Giamatti and director Alexander Payne, 20 years after “Sideways.” And just as in “Sideways,” their alchemy produces something wry and moving. This time, it may also lead to Giamatti’s first best actor Academy Award nomination. Giamatti has

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has ended his 2024 Republican presidential bid. Burgum blames the Republican National Committee for arbitrary debate qualifications in dropping his campaign before the fourth presidential debate on Wednesday in Alabama. The second-term governor and wealthy software entrepreneur was little known nationally

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — With a journalist or media worker killed every day on average in the Israel-Hamas war, the head of the global organization representing the profession said Monday that it has become a conflict beyond compare. About 60 have been killed since the Oct. 7 start of the war,

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A former career American diplomat was charged Monday with serving as a secret agent for communist Cuba going back decades in what prosecutors portrayed as one of the most brazen and long-running betrayals in the history of the U.S. foreign service. Court papers alleged

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s former top utility regulator has pleaded not guilty in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme. Former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo entered his plea Monday in federal court in Cincinnati. The 74-year-old Randazzo, of Columbus, faces 11 counts centered on

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The death toll from a mining tragedy last week in South Africa that involved an elevator at a mine has risen to 13 after a worker died at a hospital. The mine operator said Monday that the worker died Sunday from injuries sustained when the elevator plummeted on Nov. 27. It was

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jonathan Majors listened silently, head-cocked and eyes down, as a Manhattan prosecutor and his defense attorney offered competing accounts of a violent confrontation in the backseat of a car that led to assault charges against the film star and put his rapid Hollywood ascent on pause.

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ten of the top albums of the year, as chosen by Associated Press Music Writer Maria Sherman. It was a blockbuster year across genres, but only a few could make AP’s list. (SZA’s “SOS” released in December 2022, Ice Spice’s “Like…?” isn’t a full-length release,

BERLIN (AP) — Police in Berlin have been alerted to an overnight fire at the office of an Iranian opposition group in the German capital, and are investigating the incident as a suspected arson attempt. Police say that members of the group noticed flames at a window of the building in Berlin’s Schmargendorf district at

NEW YORK (AP) — Officials say one person was killed and six others were injured when a fire blamed on an electric bicycle battery tore through a New York City apartment. The fire started at around 7 p.m. Sunday in a 10th-floor apartment in a public housing complex in the Bronx. A Fire Department spokesperson

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Police in Greece have arrested a rap artist accused of using explosives to rob cash machines and finance his music videos. Authorities say the 28-year-old Greek singer was arrested at the with two other suspects after police raided a property near Athens and searched several vehicles. The rap artist was not