AP National News

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican drug cartels are turning to bigger, more productive labs to churn out increasing quantities of synthetic drugs like meth and fentanyl. That is according to seizure figures issued Monday by Mexico’s Defense Department. Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval acknowledged there has been a huge shift

By STAN CHOE, DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Wall Street joined a worldwide slump for financial markets on Monday amid worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the economy. The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, following up on similar drops across Europe and Asia. Stocks of

By JIM MUSTIAN and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Just a couple of weeks ago, New York City seemed like a relative bright spot in the U.S. coronavirus struggle. Now it’s a hot spot, confronting a dizzying spike in cases, a scramble for testing, a quandary over a major event and an

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — A newly released report finds prosecutors’ handling of the initial case against former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett represented a “major failure of operations.” The report by special prosecutor Dan Webb was released Monday. It details multiple instances of false public statements about the case by State’s Attorney

By FRANK BAJAK and VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Security researchers say they’ve found spyware from the notorious hacker-for-hire company NSO Group on the cellphones of two leading Polish opposition figures. One is a high-profile lawyer hacked in the final weeks of pivotal 2019 parliamentary elections. The other is a prosecutor challenging

By STAN CHOE, DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Wall Street joined a worldwide slump for financial markets on Monday amid worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the economy. The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, following up on similar drops across Europe and Asia. Stocks of

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer At the start of the pandemic, the need for the food Jaron Barganier’s nonprofit, Be a Champion, provides to kids throughout Texas exploded. Barganier, looking at demand that more than tripled to about 100,000 meals a day, turned to The PepsiCo Foundation’s Food for Good for help. The PepsiCo

By MARK PRATT Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors say one of five Russian nationals accused of making tens of millions of dollars by trading shares of companies using information stolen during hacks of U.S. computer networks has been extradited to the U.S. The U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said Monday that 41-year-old Vladislav

By STAN CHOE, DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Wall Street is joining a worldwide slump for financial markets on Monday amid worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the economy. The S&P 500 was 1.2% lower in afternoon trading, following up on similar drops across

SANTA CATARINA IXTAHUACAN, Guatemala (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators laid coffins on a platform to block a highway in Guatemala to protest the weekend killings of a dozen people. The protesters placed eight coffins on an improvised wooden platform, to demand justice in the case. They carried banners reading, “We have The Right to Live

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer LONDON (AP) — Premier League clubs have decided against pausing the season despite 10 fixtures being postponed in the previous week due to widespread coronavirus outbreaks across squads. While more than 90% of players in the Italian and Spanish leagues have been fully vaccinated, the Premier League disclosed that

By JUSTIN KATUMWA Associated Press GOMA, Congo (AP) — Authorities say at least four people are dead after a protest turned violent in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo. The unrest Monday was sparked by fears that police from neighboring Rwanda had entered Congolese territory, a claim that local officials deny. Gunfire rang out

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump sued New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, seeking to end her civil investigation into his business practices. The lawsuit was filed two weeks after James requested that Trump sit for a deposition next month. Trump alleges the Democratic attorney

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor is facing felony charges in South Florida after failing to report an address change as required because of his status as a registered sex offender. Court records show Taylor was booked into the Broward County jail Thursday on two counts of

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen says it has launched “precision airstrikes” against rebel targets at the airport in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The strikes on Monday came just over an hour after the coalition asked U.N. agencies and civilians to immediately leave

By FRANK BAJAK and VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Security researchers say they’ve found spyware from the notorious hacker-for-hire company NSO Group on the cellphones of two leading Polish opposition figures. One is a high-profile lawyer hacked in the final weeks of pivotal 2019 parliamentary elections. The other is a prosecutor challenging

By PHILIP MARCELO and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — The nation’s second-largest city has called off its New Year’s Eve celebration, and its smallest state re-imposed an indoor mask mandate. The moves happened Monday as the omicron variant leaped ahead of other variants to become the dominant version of the coronavirus in the

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has decided not to spend Christmas at the royal Sandringham estate in eastern England amid concerns about the fast-spreading omicron variant. The palace said Monday that the 95-year-old queen will spend the holidays at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she has stayed for most of the pandemic. Other

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy says she will not seek reelection next year. The Florida Democrat is a leader of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition and member of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The 43-year-old congresswoman said on Monday that she’s retiring to spend more time with her