AP-National

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood closed out an up and down 2023 with “Wonka” regaining No. 1 at the box office, strong sales for “The Color Purple” and an overall $9 billion in ticket sales that improved on 2022’s grosses but fell about $2 billion shy of pre-pandemic norms.

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis is reported to have been charged in connection with the death of his wife, Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins, who died after being struck by a vehicle while riding in Adelaide. Australian media reports said Dennis has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, endangering

JERUSALEM (AP) — A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political party has offered one of the party’s first public apologies for the internal strife that preceded Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Knesset member Galit Distel Atbaryan gave a searingly personal mea culpa in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13 on Sunday. She said: “I’m here

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.N. spokesperson says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has closed an international tribunal that was created to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Over the years, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon held in absentia proceedings and found three members of the militant Hezbollah group guilty in connection with

Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says a lithium-ion battery fire on a cargo ship is out after days of burning off the coast of Alaska. That is according to a statement late Saturday. The 19 crew members of the ship, Genius Star XI, were uninjured and technicians from the Salvage

By DAVID KEYTON Associated Press STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II announced Sunday that she plans to abdicate after 52 years and hand over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik. The queen, who is Europe’s longest-reigning living monarch, announced during her New Year’s speech that she would step down on Jan.

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sportsbook director Jay Kornegay is anticipating massive crowds at Westgate’s Las Vegas location this weekend and Monday to bet on the two College Football Playoff semifinal games. Part of it is timing. Last season’s games were on New Year’s Eve; this season’s are on New

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say they have detained three more people in connection with a reported threat of an attack on the Cologne Cathedral over the holiday period. The detentions Sunday morning come only days after a 30-year-old Tajik man was taken into custody in relation to an alleged

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California law that bans people from carrying firearms in most public places will take effect on New Year’s Day, even as a court case continues to challenge the law. A U.S. district judge issued a ruling Dec. 20 to block the law from taking effect, saying it violates the Second

By SAM MEDNICK and JEAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi has won reelection with more than 70% of the vote, the country’s election commission said Sunday as opposition candidates and their supporters questioned the validity of the results. The preliminary results of the Dec. 20 election were announced in

LONDON (AP) — John Pilger, an Australia-born journalist and documentary filmmaker known for his coverage of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 84. A statement from his family, posted on X, formerly Twitter, said Pilger died on Saturday in London. “His journalism and documentaries were celebrated around the

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Police in Greensboro, North Carolina, say an off-duty police officer was shot and killed over the weekend after he witnessed a crime at a gas station and approached the suspects. Sgt. Philip Dale Nix was a 23-year veteran of the Greensboro Police Department. Three men are under arrest in the case.

By The Associated Press Two of college football’s most storied programs will meet on New Year’s Day in a playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl. No. 1 seed Michigan and fourth-seeded Alabama face off at 5 p.m. Eastern in Pasadena, California. The game will be carried on ESPN’s television, streaming and digital platforms. Nick Saban

By The Associated Press Russian state news agencies say President Vladimir Putin has praised Russia’s “united society” in his prerecorded New Year’s address to the nation. Putin addressed Russians in a video that ran under four minutes long, significantly shorter than the New Year’s speech he gave last year, state news agency RIA Novosti said

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Fetterman acknowledges having “dark conversations” about harming himself before he hit “the emergency brake” and sought treatment for depression. He remembers thinking about his three school-age kids. “I can’t be a blueprint for my children. I can’t let them be left alone or not to understand why he would have

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press Over the past three years, the world’s oldest democracy has been tested in ways not seen in decades. A sitting president tried to overturn an election and his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the winner from taking power. Supporters of that attack launched a campaign against local election offices,

DETROIT (AP) — Four people died and two others were injured Saturday in a Michigan house explosion that could be heard miles away, police said. The explosion happened before 4 p.m. in Northfield Township, about 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) west of Detroit. The structure was destroyed, leaving only the basement, Northfield Township Police Lt. David

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has taken a helicopter flight to check the flooded regions in the northwest of the country, where rivers have swelled and overflowed homes, roads and fields after weeks of heavy rain. In recent days, hundreds of people have been evacuated from affected areas