AP National Writer The new, 12-team College Football Playoff brings with it a promise to be bigger, more exciting, more lucrative. Perfect or 100% fair? Well, nobody ever believed that. The first expanded playoff bracket unveiled Sunday left a presumably deserving Alabama team on the sideline in favor of an SMU squad that finished with
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has protested outside a closed polling station against a top court’s unprecedented decision to annul the first round of the vote in which he emerged as the frontrunner. The Constitutional Court on Friday canceled the election after a trove of declassified intelligence alleged
Continue ReadingOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta has appointed a new prime minister, a day after dissolving the government without providing any reason. Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, until now communications minister and spokesperson of the government, will be the West African country’s new prime minister, junta leader Ibrahim Traore said in a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama is set to return to office in the West African nation’s presidential election after the ruling party candidate conceded defeat. Voters apparently vented their anger at the government’s handling of the economy. Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia was running as the flagbearer of the
Continue ReadingKARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An elephant has died of apparent heart failure at a Pakistani safari park, less than two weeks after being reunited with her sister. Sonia, who was almost 19, is the second elephant to die in two years in the southern city of Karachi, where she had lived since 2009. She was
Continue ReadingAssociated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Emergency services are searching for a second day through the debris of an apartment block that was destroyed by an explosion and fire, killing at least five people. They hold out little hope of finding any more survivors. Fire authorities said five injured people were rescued and several
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MILAN (AP) — Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera museum, conceived under Napoleon as a “little Louvre,” is finally getting a modern art addition first envisioned more than 50 years ago with the opening Sunday of Palazzo Citterio. Completing the project long beset by shifting priorities, neglect and an ill-fated architectural vision was a priority
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LONDON (AP) — When local residents and admirers learned the iconic Sycamore Gap tree in northern England had been cut down last year, they wanted to know why and who could have committed such a senseless act. On Monday, prosecutors will begin providing some of those answers. Two men are scheduled to go
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said Sunday, hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family’s 50 years of iron rule. Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s economy has enough difficulties, from tepid growth to trade tensions with the U.S. Dealing with those woes is only getting harder due to the political chaos in the two biggest European countries, France and Germany. Neither has a government backed by a functioning majority, and France could take a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame Cathedral has hosted its first Mass since the catastrophic fire of 2019. The moment transcended religious significance to become a powerful symbol of Paris’ resilience. For Catholics, it marks the revival of the city’s spiritual heart. For the world, it signals the rebirth of one of humanity’s most
Continue ReadingAssociated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At the Westonaria agricultural park near Bekkersdal, east of Johannesburg, farm workers are busy tilling the soil and planting tomatoes and lettuce. Despite the hive of activity, there is silence around the park. Most people here are deaf and communicate using sign language. They are members of the Voiceout Deaf
Continue ReadingAssociated Press GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana is revisiting a dark history nearly half a century after U.S. Rev. Jim Jones and more than 900 of his followers died in the rural interior of the South American country. It was the largest suicide-murder in history, and a government-backed tour operator wants to open the former
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Shortly after Donald Trump’s win in last month’s U.S. election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to congratulate the president-elect: “History’s greatest comeback!” he gushed. If Trump’s staunchly pro-Israel first term and his nominations for top administration positions are any indication, Netanyahu’s glee is justified. But much has
Continue ReadingAssociated Press IZIUM, Ukraine (AP) — Hopes for victory, a swift end to the war and prayers for their loved ones’ survival or return from Russian captivity are among the wishes scattered throughout letters sent to a volunteer group by Ukrainian children living in frontline areas. While the volunteers, who are named reindeer after the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad fled the country on Sunday, bringing to a dramatic close his nearly 14-year struggle to hold onto control as his country fragmented in a brutal civil war that became a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers. The exit of the 59-year-old Assad stood in stark
Continue ReadingTAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has sent 14 warships, seven military aircraft and four balloons near Taiwan, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the island it claims as its own. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the island in response to Taiwanese President Lai
Continue ReadingHAVANA (AP) — Ernest Hemingway has returned to Cuba… in a way. Eighteen white-bearded men who resemble the late U.S. author arrived in Havana to visit some of his favorite places when he lived on the island decades ago. The members of the Hemingway Look-alike Society on Saturday visited the author’s favorite bar in Havana,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors on Sunday detained a former defense minister who allegedly recommended last week’s brief but stunning martial law imposition to President Yoon Suk Yeol, making him the first figure detained over the case. The development came a day after Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Republican Sen. Joni Ernst made her most expansive comments yet on Pete Hegseth, telling a largely GOP audience at a California security conference Saturday that she needs to hear more from President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled defense secretary pick on key issues before she decides whether to support him.
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