AP National News

By GARY FIELDS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of military veterans have hand-delivered letters to top Republicans in the U.S. House, calling on them to publicly condemn political violence as the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol approaches. Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone wrote the letter that was signed

By CODY JACKSON and TERRY SPENCER Associated Press MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — More than 500 Cuban immigrants have come ashore in the Florida Keys since the weekend, the latest in a large and increasing number who are fleeing the communist island and stretching thin U.S. border agencies both on land and at sea. It is

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republicans opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become the next House speaker generally have made their mark as part of the GOP’s ultra conservative wing. They are often eager to pick a fight with leaders from both parties and rarely find major bipartisan bills to be

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say the man accused in the November slayings of four University of Idaho students has left a Pennsylvania jail in the custody of state police. The move means Bryan Kohberger could be headed to Idaho to face first-degree murder charges. Kohberger is a 28-year-old criminology

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors say a man accused of attacking police with a machete near New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve was intent on committing a jihad against government officials and shouted “Allahu akbar” before striking one officer in the head and attempting to grab another

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is plowing ahead with plans to open a U.S. embassy in the Solomon Islands in a bid to counter China’s increasing assertiveness in the Pacific. The State Department has informed Congress that it will establish soon an interim embassy in the Solomons’ capital

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has summoned the French ambassador to condemn the publication of offensive caricatures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The magazine has a long history of publishing vulgar cartoons mocking Islamists, which critics say are deeply insulting to Muslims. Two French-born al-Qaida

By MAURICIO SAVARESE AP Sports Writer SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian soccer stars past and present are under fire from fans for skipping Pelé’s funeral and opting to pay their respects on social media. The three-time World Cup champion was buried in his hometown Tuesday after more than 230,000 mourners passed by his casket at

MOUNT DORA, Fla. (AP) — A couple living in a central Florida retirement community was found slain in their home, and a woman who was seen driving the couple’s car has been arrested, authorities said. The couple, Darryl Getman, 83, and his wife, Sharon, 80, were believed to have been killed on Saturday in their

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — The mastermind of the nationwide college admissions bribery scandal is set to be sentenced on Wednesday after helping authorities secure the convictions of a slew of wealthy parents involved in his scheme to rig the selection process at top-tier schools. Federal prosecutors are asking for six

By ISABEL DEBRE and JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s justice minister on Wednesday unveiled the new government’s long-promised overhaul of the judicial system that aims to weaken the country’s Supreme Court. Critics say the plan will upend the country’s system of checks and balances and undermine its democracy

By FELIPE DANA and JOANNA KOZLOWSKA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Russian military’s top brass came under increasing scrutiny Wednesday as more details emerged of how at least 89 Russian soldiers, and possibly many more, were killed in a Ukrainian artillery attack on a single building. The scene last weekend in the Russian-held

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Central Banks says the pound has seen its largest single-day slide since the government agreed to a $3 billion International Monetary Fund deal in late October. Wednesday’s sharp fall comes less than two weeks after Egypt and the IMF formally ratified the $3 billion support package. The deal was approved in

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks are broadly higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Wednesday after another strong signal on the job market. The government reported that the number of job openings in November was higher than expected. While that could maintain pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators on Wednesday hit Facebook parent Meta with hundreds of millions in fines for privacy violations and banned the company from forcing users in the 27-nation bloc to agree to personalized ads based on their online activity. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission imposed two fines

NEW YORK (AP) — New York has announced a $100 million settlement with Coinbase over what state officials called significant failures in the cryptocurrency trading platform’s systems for spotting potential criminal activity. According to the state Department of Financial Services, Coinbase’s anti-money-laundering program and its system for monitoring transactions for suspicious activity were inadequate for

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s defense minister says Turkish and Russian troops could “expand” their joint patrols in northern Syria as part of efforts to bring security to the region. Hulusi Akar did not on Wednesday elaborate on the plans, which come days after he held talks with his Syrian and Russian counterparts in a

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It was feast or famine at the Broadway box office as 2022 wound down, with eye-popping revenue for popular shows — including a staggering new Broadway record for “The Lion King” — not lifting all strugglers. Twenty-one of the 33 shows available broke the $1

By JOHN WAWROW AP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Damar Hamlin’s recovery is moving in “a positive direction” two days after the Buffalo Bills safety collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during a game against Cincinnati, the player’s marketing representative said Wednesday. “We all remain optimistic,” Jordon Rooney, a family spokesman who described