AP National News

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press While Democrats were celebrating a stronger-than-expected midterm performance across much of the U.S. this week, New York was emerging as a notable exception where losses and lackluster results prompted a round of soul-searching and finger-pointing inside the party. Republicans flipped four congressional seats, including one held by Rep. Sean

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities in Greece ordered an Emirates flight to New York to return to Athens international airport and grounded a second airliner over security concerns. But police say nothing suspicious was found after the planes and passengers were checked on Thursday. Public ERT television says the flight recall was made following a

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A jury has ordered Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis to pay at least $7.5 million to a woman who accused him of rape. The jury also plans to award additional punitive damages. The verdict in the civil case came Thursday in one of several #MeToo-era cases

By GARY FIELDS and NUHA DOLBY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — This week’s ballot had an unspoken candidate — American democracy. Two years of relentless attacks on democratic traditions by former President Donald Trump and his allies left the country’s future in doubt, and voters responded. Many of the candidates who supported the lie that

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has nominated a new commissioner to steer the IRS forward as it gets a massive funding boost. The tax collection agency’s current leader, Chuck Rettig, ends his term this week. Danny Werfel, who currently leads Boston Consulting Group’s global public sector practice, was nominated

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia has released an American woman it took into custody after she spoke out on her efforts to leave the country with her young Saudi-American daughter. That’s according to a U.S. official and a U.S.-based advocacy group. Carly Morris was taken into custody by Saudi authorities

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Leaders of Georgia’s oldest city have voted to strip the name of a former vice president who advocated for slavery from a public square named in his honor more than 170 years ago. Calhoun Square in Savannah’s downtown historic district was named in 1851 for John

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press Two days after the midterm elections, misinformation about the results remains focused on Arizona and Pennsylvania. In Arizona, most of the misleading claims center on printing problems that prevented vote counters from reading some ballots in Maricopa County. In Pennsylvania, baseless allegations about delays in vote counting continue to spread.

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and OLEG CETINIC Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Striking subway workers have shut down half of the Paris Metro lines as public-sector workers in France stage a nationwide day of walkouts and protests to demand salary increases in line with inflation. Protest rallies were held in Paris and other French cities later

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — A new chapter has opened in Pope Francis’ financial reform effort: The Vatican’s first auditor general and his deputy have sued the Holy See for 9.3 million euros ($9.5 million) for wrongful dismissal. In a lawsuit made public Thursday, Libero Milone and his deputy alleged they

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press Instances of racial slurs have soared on Twitter since Elon Musk purchased the influential platform, despite assurances from the platform that it had reduced hateful activity, a digital civil rights group reported Thursday. Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that the number of tweets containing one of

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Environmental groups are hailing a decision by the Biden administration to resume studying whether grizzly bears should be restored to the remote North Cascades mountains in Washington state. The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday they would jointly prepare

By ELEANOR H. REICH Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A far-right Israeli lawmaker, whose surging popularity helped propel former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back to power in last week’s general election, has delivered a glowing tribute at a memorial event for an extremist rabbi assassinated in 1990. The lawmaker, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has long admired Meir

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials say the U.S. will send $400 million more in military aid to Ukraine amid concerns financial assistance for the war against Russia could decline if Republicans take control of Congress. An announcement is expected Thursday, as the vote counting from the midterm

CHICAGO (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is joining a crowded field of candidates hoping to unseat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Garcia announced his candidacy on Thursday, just two days after easily winning reelection in Congress to represent much of Chicago and parts of a number of Cook County suburbs. Garcia instantly becomes a

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his company were ordered Thursday to pay an extra $473 million to victims’ families and an FBI agent for calling the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax, adding to a nearly $1 billion jury verdict issued last month. Connecticut Judge

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The mother of an Albuquerque girl who was strangled and dismembered has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for her role in the child’s death. The punishment for Michelle Martens was handed down Thursday by a New Mexico judge during a virtual hearing. She

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press Writer OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma appeals court has denied death row inmate Richard Glossip’s request for a new evidentiary hearing that his attorneys suggest would prove he is innocent. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied Glossip’s request in a decision on Thursday. A separate application is still

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A large section of the destroyed space shuttle Challenger has been found buried in sand at the bottom of the Atlantic, more than three decades after the tragedy that killed a schoolteacher and six others. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center announced the discovery Thursday. “Of

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The attorney general for the District of Columbia says his office is filing a civil consumer protection lawsuit against the Washington Commanders, owner Dan Snyder, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell. Attorney General Karl Racine announced the civil complaint at a news conference Thursday, saying Snyder,