Author: Associated Press

By  MATTHEW LEE and DAVID KLEPPER WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio was hopeful but clear about the challenges facing the Trump administration’s Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas peace efforts and defended increasing U.S. military pressure on Venezuela during a marathon end-of-year news conference Friday. In a…

The man suspected in last weekend's attack at Brown University and the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor days later had been dead for two days when found, an autopsy determined. Authorities found Claudio Neves Valente dead…

By  DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center started the work of adding Donald Trump’s name to the building on Friday, a day after the president’s handpicked board voted to do so. Several blue tarps were hung in front of the institution…

By  ALLEN G. BREED and GARY D. ROBERTSON STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Federal investigators on Friday will begin sifting through the wreckage of a business jet that crashed in North Carolina and killed all seven people aboard, including retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his…

By  KIMBERLEE KRUESI PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Information from a tipster who had a strange encounter with another man on a sidewalk outside Brown University was key to police identifying the suspect they believe killed two students at the school and then two…

By  ALEX VEIGA Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November from the previous month, but slowed compared to a year earlier for the first time since May despite average long-term mortgage rates holding near their low point for the…

Ford is recalling more than 270,000 electric and hybrid vehicles in the U.S. because of a parking function problem that could lead to them rolling away. The Detroit automaker said that the recall includes certain 2022-2026 F-150 Lightning BEV, 2024-2026…

By  STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose on Thursday following an encouraging report on inflation that could help the Federal Reserve keep cutting interest rates next year. A strong profit report from Micron Technology also helped AI stocks halt their…

By  DAVID A. LIEB President Donald Trump has directed his administration to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Trump’s executive order on Thursday does not legalize marijuana under federal law. And it’s not the final word. The…

By  JONATHAN MATTISE NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s governor pardoned country star Jelly Roll on Thursday for his criminal past in the state, acknowledging the Nashville native’s long road back from drugs and prison through soul-searching, songwriting and advocacy for second chances. The rapper-turned-singer whose…

By  KIMBERLEE KRUESI, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Authorities said Thursday that they’re looking into a connection between last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University and an attack two days later near Boston that killed a professor at another elite school,…

By  DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington’s leading performing arts center as the Trump-Kennedy Center, the White House said. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote on social media, saying it was…

By  LINDSAY WHITEHURST and BILL BARROW WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and open new avenues for medical research, a major shift in federal drug policy that inches closer to what…

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Former race driver Greg Biffle and members of his family were among seven people who died in a plane crash Thursday in North Carolina, state police said. The business jet erupted into a large fire when…

By  MICHAEL R. SISAK NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s pretrial hearing wrapped up Thursday with a judge saying he plans to rule in May on what evidence prosecutors will be able to use in his New York trial for the killing of…

By  PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation slowed unexpectedly last month according to data that was delayed, and likely distorted, by the government shutdown. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its consumer price index rose 2.7% in November from a year…

By  JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump delivered a politically charged speech Wednesday carried live in prime time on network television, seeking to pin the blame for economic challenges on Democrats while announcing he is sending a $1,776 bonus check to U.S. troops…

By  WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery is recommending its shareholders reject an unsolicited buyout offer from Paramount Skydance in favor of a rival bid from Netflix it said will better serve their interests and the entertainment company’s audiences. The Warner board…

By  SUSAN HAIGH The U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday it intends to open its “last-mile” delivery network, the most expensive part of the shipping process, to large and small shippers, expanding beyond current arrangements with giants such as Amazon and UPS.…

By  STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — More drops for AI stocks dragged the U.S. market lower Wednesday, and Wall Street sank to its fourth straight loss. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% for its worst day in nearly a month, though it’s…

By  JOSH FUNK The Senate moved quickly Wednesday afternoon to close a loophole that could allow military aircraft to fly without broadcasting their locations just like an Army helicopter was doing last January before it collided with an airliner over Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.…

By  MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge on Wednesday to set aside her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, saying “substantial new…

By  KIM CHANDLER MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former University of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron announced Wednesday that he is ending his campaign for lieutenant governor of Alabama to pursue a sports-related opportunity. McCarron did not disclose the details of the new position but…

By  ANDREW DALTON and CHRISTOPHER WEBER LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner made his first court appearance Wednesday in Los Angeles on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents. The 32-year-old did not enter a plea as he appeared from…

By  JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump intends to preview his agenda for next year and beyond in a live speech from the White House on Wednesday night. His remarks are coming at a crucial time as he tries to rebuild…

By  STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market drifted through a mixed day of trading Tuesday after reports on the economy did little to clear uncertainty about where interest rates may be heading. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and remains a bit…

By  JACK DURA Automakers Hyundai and Kia must offer free repairs to millions of models under a settlement announced Tuesday by Minnesota’s attorney general, who led an effort by dozens of states that argued the vehicles weren’t equipped with proper anti-theft…

By  KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leaders are determined to push ahead with a GOP health care bill that excludes efforts to address the soaring monthly premiums millions of Americans will soon endure as pandemic-era tax credits for people who buy insurance…

By  MICHAEL R. SISAK NEW YORK (AP) — A judge said Tuesday he’s optimistic that a pretrial hearing will end this week in Luigi Mangione’s New York murder case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. “Hopefully we wind up on Thursday,”…

By  ANDREW DALTON and CHRISTOPHER WEBER LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles prosecutors said Tuesday that Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, which stunned their communities in Hollywood and Democratic politics, where both…

By  REBECCA SANTANA WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel and…

By  JAIMIE DING LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor who pleaded guilty in a scheme to supply ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his overdose death was sentenced Tuesday to 8 months of home confinement. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence…

By  SEUNG MIN KIM WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for a dignified transfer for the two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert that is testing the…

SALISBURY, N.C. (AP) — Eleven firefighters and two other people were injured in a house fire explosion in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, officials said. Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell said firefighters did not have life-threatening injuries but were…

By  ALEXA ST. JOHN DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. is pivoting away from its once-ambitious electric vehicle plans amid financial losses and waning consumer demand for the vehicles in lieu of investment in more efficient gasoline-engines and hybrid EVs, the…

By  KRISTEN GELINEAU SYDNEY (AP) — Before the bloodshed and broken hearts, there was a little girl with a gentle soul, a loving grandmother who delivered meals to the needy and a young man dubbed a “golden person” for his kindness.…

By  MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A stray comet from another star swings past Earth this week in one last hurrah before racing back toward interstellar space. Discovered over the summer, the comet known as 3I/Atlas will pass within 167 million miles (269…

By  STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street drifted through a quiet day of trading on Monday, ahead of economic reports this week that could drive where interest rates go. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, though the majority of stocks…

By  MAE ANDERSON NEW YORK (AP) — The Ah Louis Store in San Luis Obispo, California, turns into a winter wonderland every holiday season. Green garlands, giant nutcrackers, baubles and bows go up in early November on the historic downtown building that…

By  HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and KATHY McCORMACK An aspiring neurosurgeon and a student leader of Brown University’s campus Republicans were in a study group preparing for an economics final, with the end of the semester in sight. But the lives of MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and…

By  MIKE SCHNEIDER ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course last year has decided to use an attorney during the sentencing phase instead of representing himself as he did for most…

By  JULIE WATSON and CHRISTOPHER WEBER LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal authorities said Monday that they foiled a plot to bomb multiple U.S. companies on New Year’s Eve in Southern California, announcing the arrests of members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group.…

By  BEN FINLEY WASHINGTON (AP) — The two Iowa National Guard members killed in a weekend attack that the U.S. military blamed on the Islamic State group in Syria were identified Monday. The U.S. Army named them as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25,…

By  SAFIYAH RIDDLE MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A group of students and professors at public universities across Alabama are asking an appeals court to halt a state law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in public schools and prohibits the…