AP National News

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A 2009 lawsuit settlement that Prince Andrew’s lawyers claim protects him from being sued by an American woman has been publicly released. The lawyers said the $500,000 settlement between Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein was released in Manhattan federal court on Monday. The prince’s attorneys

By JOSH BOAK and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has met virtually with independent farmers and ranchers to discuss initiatives to reduce food prices by increasing competition within the meat industry. Biden says, “Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism — it’s exploitation.” But an executive at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian authorities say two off-duty officers heading for a holiday in Canada together as a couple stepped up and helped restrain a fellow passenger who became rowdy on their flight last week. Austria’s Interior Ministry said the passenger started issuing threats about two hours into the flight “and thereby endangered the safety

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The jury weighing fraud charges against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Monday informed the judge they are deadlocked on three of the 11 counts she faces. Those accuse her of duping investors and patients about a blood-testing technology that she hailed as a

By JENNIFER PELTZ, GRETCHEN EHLKE and TERRY TANG Associated Press Some school systems around the U.S. have extended their holiday break or switched back to online instruction because of the explosion in COVID-19 cases. Others are pressing ahead with in-person classes amid a seemingly growing sense that Americans will have to learn to co-exist with

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Sky Sports News has been dropped from U.S. television following the shutdown of the NBC Sports Network. SSN was the leading outlet of British and European soccer news on U.S. television. It was broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel for many years, then was dropped when NBC took over U.S. broadcast rights

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A fast-moving redistricting trial over North Carolina’s new congressional and legislative maps has started. Three state trial judges started hearing evidence Monday offered by lawyers for plaintiffs in lawsuits that allege district boundaries approved by the Republican-controlled legislature in November are tainted by extreme partisanship

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress’ top doctor says lawmakers should move to a “maximal telework posture.” The attending physician, Brian P. Monahan, says there have been surging numbers of coronavirus cases at the Capitol, with most of them breakthrough infections of people already vaccinated. In a letter to congressional leaders, Monahan

By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The nation’s longest-serving secretary of state who built a reputation for fiercely defending New Hampshire’s position at the front of the presidential primary calendar says he will be stepping down. The 73-year-old Bill Gardner was first elected by the Legislature in 1976. He was reelected to

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has verbally attacked the king of Saudi Arabia, saying Riyadh helped spread extremist Islamic ideology worldwide and is taking the thousands of Lebanese who work in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region as “hostages.” Hassan Nasrallah’s statements during a speech in Beirut came in response to

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new space telescope is doing well more than a week after liftoff, following a pair of problems overcome by ground controllers. Officials said Monday that the huge sunshield on the James Webb Space Telescope is now fully open and in the process of

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The jury weighing fraud charges against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is unable to reach a unanimous verdict on three of the 11 criminal counts she faces, according to a note from the panel read aloud in court. Judge Edward Davila instructed jurors to

By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The nation’s longest-serving secretary of state who built a reputation for fiercely defending New Hampshire’s position at the front of the presidential primary calendar says he will be stepping down. The 73-year-old Bill Gardner was first elected by the Legislature in 1976. He was reelected to

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s resignation has plunged the country’s already fragile democratic transition into further turmoil. He said in a national address Sunday that he was stepping down after his efforts to build a political consensus following an October military coup failed. The African country has

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and BRITTANY PETERSON Associated Press BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Investigators looking for the cause of the Colorado wildfire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and buildings have narrowed their search to a sparsely populated neighborhood near Boulder. Authorities say it’s the same area where a passer-by captured video of a burning shed on

By DAVID KOENIG and MATT O’BRIEN Associated Press A winter storm hitting the mid-Atlantic combined with the pandemic to further frustrate air travelers whose return flights home from the holidays were canceled or delayed in the first few days of the new year. According to tracking service FlightAware more than 3,000 U.S. flights and more

CLEVELAND (AP) — A city prosecutor says an 18-year-old woman told investigators that she shot an off-duty Cleveland police officer during a carjacking. Tamara McLoyd made her first court appearance Monday on aggravated murder charges in Friday’s fatal shooting of 25-year-old Shane Bartek. A judge set her bond at $5 million and told her to

By MANUEL RUEDA and ASTRID SUAREZ Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian officials say at least 16 people were killed in Colombia this weekend and dozens had to flee their homes, as fighting between rebel groups intensified in the eastern state of Arauca. The new outbreak of violence marks a setback for Colombia’s government,

CHICAGO (AP) — Officials say more people were shot to death in Chicago and surrounding Cook County in 2021 than in any other year on record. The county medical examiner’s office said Monday that there were 1,002 gun-related homicides last year in Cook County, which includes Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. That was 121 more

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A federal magistrate judge has recommended against dismissing an indictment accusing an Atlanta-area sheriff of violating the civil rights of people in his custody. The federal indictment against now-suspended Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill says he violated the civil rights of five people who were being held