AP-National

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A National Rifle Association lawyer has acknowledged in court that some former executives and outside vendors may have ripped off the influential gun rights group with lavish spending and self-dealing. But, in an opening statement Tuesday at a New York civil trial scrutinizing the organization’s

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The executive editor of the Los Angeles Times is stepping down after a 2 1/2-year tenure at the newspaper. Kevin Merida’s time at the paper spanned the coronavirus pandemic and three Pulitzer Prizes, as well as layoffs and contentious contract talks with the newsroom’s union. Merida’s last day will be Friday.

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The fifth Republican presidential debate of the 2024 election season will also be its first head-to-head matchup. The debate kicks off Wednesday, 9 p.m. Eastern time at Drake University and comes just five days before Iowa’s leadoff presidential caucuses. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A young woman who dominated the discussion about abortion during Kentucky’s campaign last year stepped forward again Tuesday to call on lawmakers to relax the state’s near-total abortion ban. Months after revealing the trauma of being raped and impregnated in a powerful campaign ad, Hadley Duvall

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered messages about California, New York and President Joe Biden during his State of the State address. The speech that opened Florida’s annual legislative session Tuesday came as DeSantis is wooing Iowa voters ahead of next week’s presidential caucus. It was

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Welcome to opening day of CES 2024. This multi-day trade event put on by the Consumer Technology Association is expected to bring some 130,000 attendees and more than 4,000 exhibitors to Las Vegas. The latest advances and gadgets across personal tech, transportation, health care, sustainability and more will be on display,

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the federal civil rights conviction of a former Minneapolis police officer who held back a concerned crowd while fellow officers pinned down a dying George Floyd. The high court, without comment on Monday, rejected the appeal of Tou Thao. He had testified earlier that

By EMILIO LUGO Associated Press JONACAPA, Hidalgo (AP) — Authorities in central Mexico say they found the bodies of nine men in vehicles near a fuel pipeline. The circumstances around the deaths remain under investigation, but there are indications that fuel theft may have been involved. Mexico faces a problem with gangs that steal gasoline,

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts will have to wait until next year before flying to the moon and at least two years before landing on it, under the latest round of delays announced by NASA on Tuesday. The space agency had planned to send four astronauts around the

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says officials at the Arctic prison colony where he is serving a 19-year term have isolated him in a tiny punishment cell over a minor infraction. Navalny said in a social media statement relayed from behind bars that officials accused him

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has prostate cancer, and his recent secretive hospitalization was for surgery and later to treat a urinary tract infection related to that operation, his doctors said Tuesday. The cancer revelation answers the main question about Austin’s hospitalization, which has

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Hasidic Jewish worshippers were arrested amid a dispute over a secret tunnel built beneath a historic Brooklyn synagogue, setting off a brawl between police and those who tried to defend the makeshift passageway. Video from the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Crown Heights on

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A crippling fuel leak has forced a U.S. company to give up on landing a spacecraft on the moon. Astrobotic Technology’s lander began leaking fuel shortly after Monday’s launch from Florida. The company said Tuesday that the leak may have been the result of

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan court has warned prosecutors that it will release under its own terms a pastor and others accused of being behind the deaths of 429 people believed to be his cult followers if they aren’t charged within two weeks. For months since the arrests last

By ERIC OLSON AP College Football Writer HOUSTON (AP) — After winning its first national championship in 26 years, Michigan heads into an uncertain future. Who stays, who goes and is a repeat possible in an expanded and loaded Big Ten that will include the Washington team the Wolverines beat 34-13 in the national championship

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Baby Yoda is going to make his big screen debut. Jon Favreau is set to direct “The Mandalorian & Grogu” which will go into production this year, Lucasfilm and Disney announced Tuesday. Though no release date was announced, it was welcome news to “Star Wars”

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Officials say a Pakistani court has indicted imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife on graft charges of retaining state gifts from when Khan was in power. Tuesday’s indictment is another blow to Khan and his political party ahead of parliamentary elections on Feb. 8. Officials say Khan and his

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Controller Malia M. Cohen wants Congress to change the tax code to cap deferred payments, a change that could ensure the state is owed more money from Shohei Ohtani. Cohen made the request four weeks after the two-way star and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a record $700 million,

LONDON (AP) — Prosecutors say a 26-year-old man who tried to sell what he claimed was a walking stick used by the late Queen Elizabeth II has been sentenced for eBay buyers. Dru Marshall, from Hampshire in southern England, claimed he was a senior footman at Windsor Castle and that the proceeds from the “antler

By DAVID BAUDER and DENNIS WASZAK Jr. Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers denied he implied comic Jimmy Kimmel was a pedophile and condemned those who do, but he stopped short of apologizing for his role in escalating their burgeoning feud. Rodgers returned to ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show”