AP-National

NEW YORK (AP) — Visitors to Times Square got a small preview of New York City’s famed New Year’s Eve party on Friday, as the event’s organizers heaved handfuls of colored paper skyward in a promotional event to test their confetti. With crowds of celebrants expected to pack into Times Square for the festivities, even

By The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Consumer Product Safety Commission has ordered a recall of toys sold at Walmart.com containing powerful magnetic balls that could pose a hazard to children if swallowed. The agency said Friday that the balls, which are 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter, exceed federal standards for magnetic

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia is issuing the first checks from a fund established up by the settlement of opioid lawsuits. The Kanawha County Commission says it received a $2.9 million check and plans to discuss how it will be spent at its next meeting on Jan. 11. Last

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s Republican governor on Friday reiterated his rejection of $18 million in federal funding to help feed children who might otherwise go hungry while school is out. Nebraska will not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children — or Summer EBT —

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. citizen living in Egypt sought to join the al Shabaab terrorist organization and wage violent jihad against America and its allies in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, federal prosecutors said Friday. Karrem Nasr, 23, of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, was arrested Dec. 14 after flying from

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s top election official could face an impeachment attempt in the state Legislature over her decision to keep former President Donald Trump off the Republican primary ballot. At least one Republican lawmaker has vowed to pursue impeachment against Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows despite long

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The new judge handling the fallout over Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions plans to hold an evidentiary hearing late next month. Murdaugh’s lawyers want another trial in the killings of the former lawyer’s wife and younger son, citing allegations that the court clerk improperly influenced

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comedian Kathy Griffin has filed for divorce from longtime partner Randy Bick just shy of the couple’s fourth wedding anniversary. Los Angeles Superior Court records show Griffin filed for divorce Thursday, citing irreconcilable differences. The pair dated for several years before marrying on New Year’s Day 2020. They have no children

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Six people are dead after a trio of gunmen pulled up to a party in northern Mexico and opened fire on partygoers. The attack also wounded 26 people, and four of them were reported to be in critical condition. Prosecutors in the border state of Sonora said the killings in the

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time this month the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas in Gaza under increasing international criticism. The State Department said Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken

By MARCIO SANCHEZ and JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Bulldozers built giant sand berms Friday to protect beachfront homes in one of California’s coastal cities hit hard this week by extraordinary waves generated by powerful swells from Pacific storms. Dozens of people watched construction of the emergency barriers in the Pierpont area

By RIO YAMAT Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A rifle stolen from a Las Vegas gun show was among the weapons used by a man who shot and killed his mother in the desert near his childhood home two days after Christmas, setting off a violent high-speed police chase as he carjacked bystanders and

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s onetime personal lawyer and fixer, says he unwittingly passed along to his attorney bogus artificial intelligence-generated legal case citations he got online before they were submitted to a judge. Cohen made the admission in a court filing unsealed Friday in Manhattan federal

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Argentina formally announced Friday that it won’t join the BRICS bloc of developing economies, the latest in a dramatic shift in foreign and economic policy by Argentina’s new far-right populist President Javier Milei. In a letter addressed to the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — all members

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — What to do about smoking in the casinos, and how to keep gamblers coming to the resort are among the challenges that Atlantic City faces in the new year. State lawmakers, backed by many casino workers, will renew a push to ban smoking in the

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A British warship arrived in Guyana on Friday afternoon amid rising tensions from a border dispute between the former British colony and Venezuela. The HMS Trent’s visit led Venezuela to begin military exercises a day earlier in the eastern Caribbean near its border with Guyana as

By MARIA VERZA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president inaugurated a huge “super pharmacy” Friday in a bid to end the woes of patients throughout the country who are often told they need a specific medicine — but the hospital in question doesn’t have it. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s solution was to

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO and ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The 2024 elections will be dominated by the presidential contest and the battle for control of Congress, but another series of races is shaping up to be just as consequential. Crucial battles over abortion, gerrymandering, voting rights and other issues will take center stage

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — South Africa launched a case Friday at the United Nations’ top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to halt its attacks — the first such challenge made at the court over the current war. Israel

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has declared a statewide emergency because of an ice storm that felled power poles and lines, leaving more than 20,000 without power. In a news release Friday, the governor’s office said Burgum will ask President Joe Biden to declare a disaster so that the state can