AP National News

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — The largest mosque in the disputed region of Kashmir dominates its neighborhood with an imposing main gate and massive turrets. It can hold 33,000 worshippers. But Indian authorities see the mosque as a trouble spot — a nerve center for protests and clashes that challenge India’s

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City jury has heard four women detail accusations that they were teens when they became victims of a sex-abuse scheme devised by Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Starting Thursday, Maxwell’s attorneys are expected to make their case that Maxwell isn’t the one to blame. The British socialite’s trial

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hospitals in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul are running out of supplies, whether it is diesel fuel to produce supplemental oxygen for COVID-19 patients, or dozens of essential drugs. Employees also have not been paid their salaries for months. The crisis in Afghanistan’s health care system has

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After a dozen years in office, one piece of unfinished business remains for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. before he retires at the end of the month. Will the prosecutor known for his caution go out with a bang by bringing criminal charges against

By SEAN MURPHY and BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (AP) — Several tightknit communities of the South and Midwest are turning to the somber task of burying their dead after tornadoes killed dozens of people across eight states. The fierce storms that started Friday night tore a path of destruction from Arkansas to

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California workplace regulators extended the state’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year with revisions that businesses say could worsen the labor shortage. The main change in the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised rule Thursday erases current distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. Both

By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Urban Meyer’s tumultuous NFL tenure ended after just 13 games — and two victories — when the Jacksonville Jaguars fired him early Thursday because of an accumulation of missteps. Owner Shad Khan made the move hours after ex-Jaguars player Josh Lambo told a Florida

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs Writer CHICAGO (AP) — States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this year. That’s the fewest since 1988. Pandemic-related disruptions partly accounted for the low number of executions this year, but 2021 marked the seventh consecutive year when there were fewer than 30 executions and fewer than

By BRIAN MELLEY and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A pipeline operator has been indicted for a leak that spilled up to 25,000 gallons of crude oil off the Southern California coast. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury charged Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. and two subsidiaries with a misdemeanor for discharging oil

By JAMES LAPORTA and JASON DEAREN Associated Press An Associated Press investigation has shown how U.S. troops have stolen guns and explosives from the military — and the weapons of war ended up on America’s streets. One insider theft case involves two men who’d forged a deep bond on the battlefields of Afghanistan. Several years

By EMMA H. TOBIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say pets and another animals can get the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but the risk of them spreading it to people is low. Dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, otters, hyenas and white-tailed deer are among the animals that have tested positive, in most cases

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Addressing a group of visiting French lawmakers, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is calling for greater unity among democratic nations in the face of rising authoritarianism. Tsai on Thursday also said the self-governing island republic would take on greater responsibilities to contribute to regional and global peace and stability. The visit by

By SCOTT BAUER and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case Thursday against the Minnesota police officer charged in Daunte Wright’s death. That will set the stage for a defense that at some point will have Kim Potter directly addressing the jury. Potter has said she meant

By HOLLY MEYER Associated Press MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — The Rev. Wes Fowler rode out the violent tornado that devastated Mayfield, Kentucky, in a tunnel under their church. Emerging afterward, they found devastation stretching for blocks: Crackling power lines, piles of rubble and calls for help they couldn’t pinpoint in the darkness. Later, safe back

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated to emergency shelters in the southern and central Philippines as a powerful typhoon approaches. Crowding in evacuation centers was complicating efforts to keep people safely distanced after authorities detected the country’s first infections caused by the omicron variant

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Stocks have climbed in Asia, tracking Wall Street’s gains, after the Federal Reserve said it would accelerate its pullback of economic stimulus. The Fed said it would likely raise interest rates three times next year to tackle rising inflation and will shrink its monthly bond purchases at twice the

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (AP) — President Joe Biden is pledging to do “whatever it takes, as long as it takes” to help Kentucky and other states recover and rebuild after a series of deadly tornadoes that he says left a trail of unimaginable devastation. During a stop

By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Patrick King wants the record to show that “Sex and the City” had a “slow burn of a love affair” with viewers on its way to becoming a hit. The producer’s motive: to ask that his HBO Max sequel, “And Just Like That…,” gets