AP National News

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An errant monkey has captivated dozens of people in the capital of Puerto Rico. A crowd gathered Wednesday around a towering eucalyptus tree along a busy San Juan street to take pictures of the juvenile male rhesus macaque. Officials have tried to coax the

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Greg Kinnear was just a month away from making his Broadway debut in “To Kill a Mockingbird” when the pandemic shut theater down in March 2020. He’s not giving up: Early next year, he’ll try again. The two-time Emmy Award-winner and Oscar nominee is slated

By JILL LAWLESS and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A British-registered scallop boat caught up in a post-Brexit spat between the U.K. and France over fishing licenses has been released by French authorities. Owner Macduff Shellfish said the dredger had left Le Havre in northern France. French maritime police seized the Cornelis Gert

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis voters have reelected Mayor Jacob Frey after a bitter race that focused on calls for changes to policing and racial justice. More than a dozen candidates ran to be mayor, including many who took issue with the way the Democratic incumbent has handled changes to the

BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have joined calls for the immediate restoration of a civilian-led government in Sudan after a military coup. A joint statement by the two nations, plus the United States and the United Kingdom, also urges the military to release those detained

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The attorney for a renowned New Orleans trumpet player says nothing would be gained by sending him to jail in a million-dollar charity fraud case. Claude Kelley made the argument in federal court Wednesday on behalf of Irvin Mayfield. Irvin and his musical partner, pianist Ronald

By DON BABWIN and KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago woman who served more than seven years in an Indonesian prison for killing her mother at a luxury resort in Bali has been indicted on federal murder conspiracy charges and taken into custody. A 2016 federal indictment unsealed Wednesday shows 26-year-old Heather

By JOCELYN GECKER and TERENCE CHEA Associated Press SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Scavenger hunts and blow-up animals greeted children at some of California’s vaccination sites Wednesday, as children aged 5 to 11 got their first COVID-19 shots a day after the federal government approved kid-size doses. The state has an ambitious plan to offer

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A court in Belarus has handed prison sentences to two human rights activists, part of an ongoing crackdown on non-government organizations and independent media in the ex-Soviet nation. The court in the eastern city of Homiel on Wednesday sentenced 55-year-old Leanid Sudalenka to three years in

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — The United Nations climate conference has urged sports organizations and teams worldwide to meet environmental targets they signed up to. FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, the NFL, the NBA and the New York Yankees are among nearly 300 signatories to the Sports for Climate Action Framework since the Paris climate agreement

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An independent Pentagon review has concluded that the U.S. drone strike that killed innocent Kabul civilians and children in the final days of the Afghanistan war was not caused by misconduct or negligence, and it doesn’t recommend any disciplinary action. The review found there were some

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s mayor has ordered police to stop pulling over drivers for low-level offenses that critics say lead to disproportionate stops of minority drivers. Mayor Jim Kenney’s order Wednesday makes Philadelphia the largest city government in the U.S. to ban what are sometimes called pretextual stops. The order bans officers from pulling over

By LISA MASCARO. MARY CLARE JALONICK and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats in the House say that paid family and medical leave will be placed back into their $1.75 trillion social services and environmental bill. They are rushing to finish up the overall package Wednesday after dismal election night results. The family

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man has pleaded guilty in the 2018 shooting deaths of two police officers, and a judge gave him two sentences of life in prison. Twenty-eight-year-old Marquis A. Flowers pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of first-degree murder. Jury selection was to have started next week in his trial. By

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A city council election in Maine that ended in a tie will be decided, basically, by drawing straws. Portland, Maine, is one of a handful of cities that uses ranked choice voting for local races. The method allows voters to prioritize candidates in races where there are more than two people

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Growing up, Barry Watson says the TV series “Highway to Heaven” was appointment viewing when it aired weekly. It was created by and starred Michael Landon as an angel sent to earth to help people. Watson co-stars with Jill Scott in a new film version for

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have differing explanations about why their gubernatorial candidates lost in blue-leaning Virginia and were deadlocked in heavily Democratic New Jersey. But they’re trying to figure out why the political terrain shifted against them and what it means for their congressional agenda. Party leaders in Congress moved

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican Jack Ciattarelli were locked in what amounts to a tie in the New Jersey governor’s race. The Associated Press had not declared a winner in the contest on Wednesday, which was too early to call. But Murphy had a lead

By WILL WEISSERT and SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey is still in a close race for reelection while a Republican political newcomer has delivered a stunning upset in the Virginia governor’s race. Those results are sending a warning on Wednesday to Democrats that their grip