AP National News

WASHINGTON (AP) — First Lady Jill Biden read excerpts from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on Friday as part of a charity event that provides toys to needy children for the holidays. Biden was at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, and sat with about 30 children of servicemembers during her remarks at the

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says that weapons stored for the Palestinian Hamas group exploded in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon, killing and wounding a number of people. A Lebanese security official says authorities haven’t yet determined the number of casualties, but that as many as 12 may have died in

By MANUEL DE LA CRUZ and EDGAR H. CLEMENTE Associated Press TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) — Survivors of the horrific truck crash in Mexico that killed 55 migrants and injured more than a hundred recounted from their hospital beds how their location inside the truck determined who lived and who died. They said those unlucky

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah national park famed for its otherworldly sandstone arches will require visitors to get timed entry tickets during its high season next year, the second Utah park to implement a such a system as visitation swells. Park officials say the new timed-entry system isn’t

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors at the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell have completed presenting their case against the British socialite accused of sexually abusing teenage girls with her late companion, financier Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier Friday, key accuser Annie Farmer testified that Maxwell and Epstein forced themselves on

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president says more opportunities for talks with Russia may arise thanks to the U.S. diplomatic effort to help de-escalate tensions after Moscow massed troops near Ukraine’s border, stoking fears of a possible invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with both Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin this

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer A late wave of buying sent stocks to solid gains on Wall Street Friday, sending the S&P 500 to another record high. The benchmark index rose 1% and closed out its best week since February. Technology stocks powered much of the gain. Business software maker Oracle surged 15.6% after

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration says it will no longer give out commercial astronaut wings starting next year because too many people are launching into space. The FAA announced the news Friday, one day before Blue Origin’s planned liftoff from West Texas with former football

By SUDHIN THANAWALA and KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press LAGRANGE, Ga. (AP) — Investigators have long concluded that a Georgia man who disappeared while driving back to Auburn University in 1976 was the victim of a slaying. But the discovery of his 1974 Pinto in an Alabama creek this week is a big break in the

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — A warehouse worker in Tennessee is running up against price increases that far exceed her modest pay raise. The owner of a pastry business in Massachusetts has had to reduce his product offerings and personally absorb higher costs. A grocery chain executive in

MIRAMAR, Fla. (AP) — Ten geese drowned in a South Florida lake after a homeowners association’s attempt to trap, sedate and euthanize them went horribly awry. The SilverLakes homeowners association in Miramar hired a company, Pest Wildlife Pro, to remove 25 geese because some residents found them to be loud pooping machines, although others saw

By WILL WEISSERT and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Bob Dole was honored at a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral as top leaders from both parties gathered to display the kind of bipartisanship now rare in modern government. Dole’s flag-draped casket was carried in by a military honor guard as the congregation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amtrak passengers may be facing service cutbacks in January. The rail system’s president is blaming employees who haven’t gotten vaccinated. Stephen Gardner says about 95% of Amtrak workers are at least partially vaccinated. The rest face a Jan. 4 deadline set by the Biden administration. Amtrak’s president says if enough workers resist

KENSINGTON, N.H. (AP) — Police in a New Hampshire town say an accidental shooting led them to a house that was overrun with more than 70 cats and was declared uninhabitable because it was covered with feline feces and urine. Police in Kensington got a call from a hospital on Wednesday that a man was

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press Defense lawyers for suburban Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter say she made a mistake when she drew her handgun instead of her Taser and fatally shot Daunte Wright. But they’re also arguing that the former Brooklyn Center officer would have been justified in shooting him anyway. Legal experts and attorneys

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — A former San Diego-area police officer who pushed a Black man during an arrest last year has been acquitted of lying on his report. Jurors returned the not guilty verdict Friday. Former La Mesa police Officer Matthew Dages testified he was truthful when he wrote in

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The Associated Press has learned that a senior U.S. diplomat quietly traveled to Venezuela this week and met with imprisoned Americans in an ongoing effort to secure their release. The Biden administration believes the men are being held as bargaining chips by a top

WAYCROSS, Ga. (AP) — Federal authorities say they’ve broken up a criminal enterprise that illegally brought migrant workers into the U.S., took their money and forced them to perform farm labor in conditions likened to modern-day slavery. Federal prosecutors for the Southern District of Georgia indicted 24 people in U.S. District Court, and said the

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Two mountain lion kittens that survived after a litter of four was found under a picnic table are being cared for at a California veterinary hospital. Officials say the four tiny cats estimated to be about six weeks old were spotted Nov. 29 outside an office building in Thousand Oaks.