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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s president has called for an end to an 11-week deadlock that has prevented the government from convening, further undermining state institutions in the country amid an economic meltdown. President Michel Aoun implicitly blamed his powerful ally Hezbollah for preventing the government from convening but didn’t name the Shiite group in his

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Navy warship remains in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, with about two dozen sailors — or nearly a quarter of its crew — testing positive for COVID-19, according to U.S. defense officials. The USS Milwaukee has a crew of a bit

GARLAND, Texas (AP) — Police say three people were killed and a fourth was critically injured when a gunman opened fire inside a Dallas-area gas station. The shooting happened Sunday night in the Dallas suburb of Garland. Police say a man exited a white pickup truck, went inside the store and opened fire. The man

By TALI ARBEL AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel stretched into Monday, with major U.S. airlines each canceling dozens of flights. Staffers calling out sick because of COVID-19 have left airlines short in recent days. According to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations, airlines have canceled roughly 4,000 flights

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A critically endangered Sumatran orangutan in New Orleans has given birth to a healthy male baby, but his twin brother died in the womb. Officials at the Audubon Zoo said in a news release Monday that 12-year-old Menari gave birth to one baby without trouble on Christmas Eve and was mothering

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities say bird flu has killed thousands of migratory cranes and forced farms to kill over 500,000 chickens to contain the outbreak. At least 5,200 cranes, some of the half-million that migrate through Israel on their way to Africa, lie dead in the Hula Valley and officials are struggling to clean

By MANUEL VALDES Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Severe weather sweeping parts of the U.S. has brought frigid temperatures to the Pacific Northwest, heavy snow to mountains in Northern California and Nevada, and unseasonable warmth to Texas and the Southeast. Officials on Monday say a Donner Pass record in the Sierra Nevada has been broken

Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia says it is unhappy with the U.S. decision to revoke duty-free access for the East African country’s exports. The statement by Ethiopia’s trade ministry on Monday came after the Biden administration on Dec. 23 terminated Ethiopia’s eligibility for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The U.S

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says crews wrapping up the removal of a giant pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee found what appears to be a second and long-sought-after time capsule. The governor tweeted photos of a box being removed from

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria has called Israel’s plans to double the number of settlers living in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights “dangerous and unprecedented.” It said on Monday the plans only perpetuate Israel’s occupation of the territory it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — The Nicaraguan government has seized the former embassy and diplomatic offices of Taiwan, saying they belong to China. The government of President Daniel Ortega broke ties with Taiwan this month and recognized China. Before departing, Taiwanese diplomats attempted to donate the properties to the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Managua. But Ortega’s