AP National News

MIAMI (AP) — Rapper Pooh Shiesty has pleaded guilty to a federal gun charge in Florida and avoided a possible life sentence. Court records show 22-year-old Lontrell Williams Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence and drug trafficking. The Commercial Appeal reports that attorneys for both sides

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Some Democratic California lawmakers want to make it easier for people to sue gun-makers and dealers for liability in shootings that cause injuries or deaths. Federal law prevents most such lawsuits. An exception is when gun-makers break state or local laws regarding the sale or marketing

By SARAH RANKIN and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The waiting is over for the last of the drivers who got stranded overnight on an interstate highway in Virginia. The state Department of Transportation says Interstate 95 south of the nation’s capital has reopened. The highway was plowed and prepped after the

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A rabbi who was badly wounded in a deadly antisemitic attack at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Southern California has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for running a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. Yisroel Goldstein was sentenced Tuesday in San Diego. Prosecutors say that in a years-long scam, he

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — An FBI dive team has joined the search for a 3-year-old San Antonio girl reported missing two weeks ago. Lina Sardar Khil was last seen in the playground of a northwest San Antonio apartment complex late the afternoon of Dec. 20. Police Chief William McManus said the 12-member FBI Underwater Search

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile into the sea. The Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea fired the projectile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday morning. It gave no further details. The Japanese Defense Ministry said that North Korea fired what was likely a

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press A family that was stuck on Interstate 95 and other roads in Virginia by a snowstorm says they went more than 18 hours without eating or sleeping. Jennifer Travis, her husband and their 12-year-old daughter were driving home to northern Virginia from Florida when the storm stranded them on I-95.

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republican Larry Elder is bypassing a possible rematch with California Gov. Gavin Newsom this year to raise money for House and Senate candidates. Elder emerged last year as the GOP’s star candidate in the failed recall election that sought to remove Newsom from office.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah tech entrepreneur and onetime prominent figure in state Republican politics resigned from the board of the company he founded Tuesday after sending an email screed outlining an antisemitic vaccination conspiracy theory. Fox13 reports Entrata founder and board chair David Bateman claimed the COVID-19 vaccine is part of a

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile into sea. The Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea has fired the projectile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday morning. It gave no further details. The launch came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — U.S. new vehicle sales rebounded slightly last year from 2020′s dismal numbers, but were still about 2 million below the years before the coronavirus pandemic. The problem isn’t consumer demand. It’s low vehicle supplies caused by the global shortage of computer chips. Sales hit just over

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has five new members. Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday formally took up the posts they won in an election in June. Ambassadors made brief remarks and installed their countries’ flags alongside those of other members outside the council chambers. The 15-member

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, recently defended his lack of public appearances during the omicron surge, saying he was with his wife who is undergoing cancer treatment.  But Democratic Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Tuesday that elected officials should be able to care for both their families and their constituents.

By DAVID EGGERT Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — About 1,000 sexual abuse victims of a University of Michigan sports doctor would get a window to sue the school for damages under pending bills in the state Legislature, as lawmakers revive efforts to ensure the athletes and others face no barriers in court. Similar legislation

By ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials say the U.S. led-coalition in Syria struck several launch sites for short-range rockets believed to be intended for attacks on an installation used by U.S. troops in eastern Syria. The strikes against apparently were conducted by U.S. forces, but a statement issued by the

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is urging concern but not alarm as the United States set records for daily reported COVID-19 cases and his administration struggles to ease concerns about testing shortages. Biden spoke from the White House about the omicron variant Tuesday before a meeting with his COVID-19

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — An anthology of the late Norman Mailer’s writing that Random House allegedly had scheduled for his centennial in 2023, but backed off from, will be released by a publisher that has taken on such discarded works as Woody Allen’s memoir “Apropos of Nothing” and a

By DAVID KOENIG and TALI ARBEL Associated Press Telecom giants AT&T and Verizon have agreed to postpone the launch of a new slice of 5G wireless service after airlines and aviation groups complained that the networks can interfere with systems on board planes. President Joe Biden says the last-minute deal reached Monday will help avoid

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Californians won’t be able to water their lawns for 48 hours after rainstorms or let their sprinkles run onto the sidewalk under new mandatory water restrictions. The rules adopted Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board are designed to spur conservation. Those who don’t comply

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection has requested an interview and information from Fox News host Sean Hannity. The television personality is the first member of the media the panel has asked to speak with. The committee has requested Hannity