AP National News

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey lawmakers have given final approval to legislation overhauling rules to get a firearm carry permit after this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanded gun rights. The Democrat-led Senate passed the measure in what is scheduled to be the last voting session of the year,

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn preacher known for his close friendship with New York City’s mayor and a previous stint behind bars has been indicted for fraud and extortion. Prosecutors say Lamor Miller-Whitehead plundered a parishioner’s retirement savings to bankroll his flashy lifestyle. The Manhattan district attorney’s office

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Organizers say the International African American Museum won’t open in January as planned because of humidity and temperature issues with the building in Charleston, South Carolina. The museum said in a statement that environmental fluctuations could damage artifacts planned to be on display. The Post and Courier reports that the site

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a month-long trial and nine days of deliberations, Los Angeles jurors on Monday found Harvey Weinstein guilty of the rape and sexual assault of just one of the four accusers he was charged with abusing. But the three guilty counts involving an Italian actor

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A jury deciding the sentence for a former Texas police officer who was convicted of manslaughter last week for fatally shooting Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window in her home in 2019 deliberated for over seven hours Monday. Aaron Dean faces up to 20 years in prison, but jurors also

Associated Press Sam Bankman-Fried may be ready to come to the U.S. to face criminal charges related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX following a chaotic court appearance in the Bahamas. A lawyer for Bankman-Fried was quoted as saying Monday the disgraced FTX founder has agreed to be extradited to the United States. A

The Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A federal bankruptcy judge is allowing cases to move forward regarding the nearly $1.5 billion that Infowars host Alex Jones has been ordered to pay Sandy Hook families. Judge Christopher Lopez on Monday approved an order that attorneys for Jones, his media company and the Sandy Hook families agreed

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurors reached a verdict Monday at the Los Angeles rape and sexual assault trial of Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein and lawyers for both sides are headed to the courtroom, where the verdict will be read. Jurors got the case Dec. 2 and deliberated for nine days

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and others are suing the city of Albuquerque in an effort to stop officials in the state’s largest city from destroying homeless encampments and jailing and fining people who are living on the street. The lawsuit filed

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is temporarily blocking an order that would lift pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers but the brief order leaves open the prospect that the restrictions in place since the coronavirus pandemic began and have been used to turn back hundreds of thousands of prospective asylum

Two soldiers have been injured by Israeli airstrikes in the area of the Syrian capital of Damascus. A Syrian military statement reported the airstrikes early Tuesday and said they were the first such attack in more than a month. The statement said that in addition to the injuries, the strikes caused some “material losses.” It

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say former NFL linebacker Willie McGinest Jr. was arrested in connection with an assault at a Southern California nightclub. A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department statement says the incident occurred Dec. 9 at a club in West Hollywood and witnesses identified McGinest as one of the people who were

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer Shirley Ann Watts, a former art student and prominent breeder of Arabian horses who met drummer Charlie Watts well before he joined the Rolling Stones and with him formed one of rock’s most enduring marriages, has died. She was 84. “Shirley died peacefully on Friday 16th December in Devon

By TED SHAFFREY and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — At a small patch of Central Park flanking the city’s Harlem neighborhood, scores came Monday to remember the injustice that imprisoned five Black and Latino teenagers after they were wrongly accused and convicted of the 1989 rape of a white jogger. They

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A man has been arrested after Nazi symbols were carved into a menorah in Southern California. A Beverly Hills police statement says officers responded Sunday night to reports that a menorah on private property was being vandalized. Use of surveillance video led to the arrest of Eric Brian King, of

By AAMER MADHANI and JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the U.S. is looking to expand and strengthen its relationship with Ecuador, one of its staunchest allies in South America and a country that’s also getting plenty of attention from China. Biden spoke of the relationship as Ecuadorian President Guillermo

LONDON (AP) — A second person has died after a crush at a London concert venue last week. Police say Gaby Hutchinson was working as a security guard at the O2 Brixton Academy when Nigerian singer Asake was due to perform there on Thursday. The Metropolitan Police force said the 23-year-old died on Monday. Rebecca

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Wall Street started off the week with more losses for stocks Monday, as investors brace for higher interest rates from central banks to fight inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.9%, with most of the sectors in the benchmark index closing in the red. The Dow

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says he laments any pain he caused by suggesting in a nationally televised interview that a 10-year-old rape victim who sought an abortion in Indiana might have been a fabrication. The Republican maintained in a year-end interview with The Associated

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers following an emergency landing and fire earlier this month, and none of the strategic aircraft will perform flyovers at this years’ college bowl games. A bomber experienced an in-flight malfunction on Dec. 10, forcing it