Author: Associated Press

By  GEOFF MULVIHILL and DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration said Tuesday that it will move to withhold SNAP food aid from recipients in most Democratic-controlled states starting next week unless they provide information about those receiving the assistance. Agriculture…

By  MICHAEL KUNZELMAN WASHINGTON (AP) — A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to murder and assault charges during his first appearance before a judge via video from a hospital…

By  PATRICK WHITTLE PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Northeast saw its first major winter snowstorm arrive on Tuesday just as the Midwest began to escape snow and ice that snarled travel after the Thanksgiving holiday. Some parts of northern New England were expecting up to…

By  JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — A Pennsylvania police officer testified Tuesday about confronting Luigi Mangione during an intense manhunt last year for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer. As soon as Mangione doffed his medical mask at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania,…

By  AAMER MADHANI and REGINA GARCIA CANO WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted “within his authority and the law” when he ordered a second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in a September…

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new picture of a grand and graceful cosmic butterfly. The National Science Foundation’s NoirLab released the picture Wednesday. Snapped last month by the Gemini South telescope, the…

By  DEREK GATOPOULOS and PETROS GIANNAKOURIS ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) — The Olympic flame began its journey Wednesday to the Milan Cortina Winter Games — missing a little of its usual magic. Bad weather lashing western Greece forced organizers to move the torch-lighting…

By  ED WHITE A Michigan veterinarian was sentenced to 10 days in jail Monday for refusing to return a dog to a homeless man after finding the ailing pit bull mix tied to a truck. Amanda Hergenreder’s lawyer asked for 120 hours of…

By  JACK BROOK A copy of the first Superman issue, unearthed by three brothers cleaning out their late mother’s attic, netted $9.12 million this month at a Texas auction house which says it is the most expensive comic book ever sold.…

By  KIRSTEN GRIESHABER BERLIN (AP) — Traditional Christmas markets are opening across Germany on Monday, drawing revelers to their wooden stands with mulled wine, grilled sausages, potato pancakes or caramelized apples. Security has been stepped up, with memories of two deadly attacks on Christmas markets still fresh…

BANGKOK (AP) — A woman in Thailand shocked temple staff when she started moving in her coffin after being brought in for cremation. Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in the province of Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Bangkok, posted…

By  DEREK GATOPOULOS and LEFTERIS PITARAKIS ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) — At a temple in Ancient Olympia, a flame is drawn from the sun to begin its journey to the Winter Games. The choreographed ceremony inspired by ancient Greece is designed to link…

By  MARK SCOLFORO MIFFLINBURG, Pa. (AP) — Christmas went on the auction block this week in Pennsylvania farm country, and there was no shortage of bidders. About 50,000 Christmas trees and enough wreaths, crafts and other seasonal items to fill an…

By  MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by NASA’s Perseverance rover. The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on…

By  HALLIE GOLDEN and MATTHEW DALY WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Park Service said Tuesday it is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit U.S. parks each year an extra $100 to enter some of the most popular sites,…

JERUSALEM (AP) — Fire teams on Monday rescued a teenager who was stuck dangling for seven hours from a crane hanging 36 stories above Jerusalem. The 15-year-old boy told rescue teams that he had climbed up the crane around midnight because…

By  JAMES POLLARD NEW YORK (AP) — One of the most storied American philanthropies is teaming up with the internet’s biggest creator to instill young people with a concern for what they call the world’s “most vulnerable” populations. Beast Philanthropy, the…

By  KRISTIN M. HALL CHRISTIANA, Tenn. (AP) — At the start of a busy holiday week filled with hours of travel, Jordan Gullotta went to a place that has given her comfort and a sense of peace. At The Gentle Barn, an…

By  SAFIYAH RIDDLE Burt Meyer, who invented toys like Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots, Lite-Brite and MouseTrap in the 1960s that delighted generations of children, has died. He was 99. Meyer’s creations arrived in the postwar boom, when plastic molding and mass production transformed…

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump welcomed this year’s Christmas tree to the White House on Monday. The tree, which came from Korson’s Tree Farms in Michigan, was delivered in a green horse-drawn carriage driven by three men wearing top hats. “It’s a beautiful…

By  HALLIE GOLDEN and THOMAS PEIPERT ERIE, Colo. (AP) — “Gus” the turkey has been spending Thanksgiving week much differently than millions of other unlucky gobblers across the U.S. As he trots in a sprawling animal sanctuary on the Colorado plains, he is stopped every…

By  SOPHIE BATES FLOWOOD, Miss. (AP) — They’re both round, orange and probably bad for your health, but which is the better Thanksgiving dessert: pumpkin or sweet potato pie? For most people, the answer likely depends on where they’re from. The two Thanksgiving favorites have…

By  ALEX VEIGA U.S. stocks closed broadly higher Wednesday, extending Wall Street’s recent winning streak to a fourth straight day. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8%. Solid gains for technology companies…

By  ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and GARY FIELDS WASHINGTON (AP) — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington…

By  KATE BRUMBACK ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who took over the case said he would not pursue the charges, ending the last effort to punish the president…

By  MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER NEW YORK (AP) — As the Justice Department gets ready to release its files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, a court battle over sealed documents in Maxwell’s criminal case is offering clues about what could…

REEDS SPRING, Mo. (AP) — The first year Shirley Mease cooked up a free Thanksgiving feast in the Reeds Spring High School cafeteria, icy weather kept most people away. But when her family knocked on doors to offer the meals, the gratefulness…

By  CHAN HO-HIM and KEN MORITSUGU HONG KONG (AP) — Police in Hong Kong arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter, several local news media reported, in connection with a blaze that has killed at least 36 people and left another 279 missing…

By  NICOLE WINFIELD VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV is embarking on his first foreign trip, a pilgrimage to Turkey and Lebanon that would be delicate under any circumstances but is even more fraught given Mideast tensions and the media glare that…

BIG STONE GAP, Va. (AP) — A Virginia high school football coach who disappeared days before his undefeated team’s playoff game is being sought on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material and using a computer to solicit a minor,…

By  CHRISTOPHER RUGABER WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits declined last week in a sign that overall layoffs remain low, even as several high-profile companies have announced job cuts. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending…

By  CHRISTOPHER RUGABER WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales at U.S. retailers and restaurants increased modestly in September as resilient consumers moderated their spending after splurging over the summer. Sales rose 0.2% in September from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, in a report…

By  STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market climbed again Tuesday on hopes for a coming cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% after breaking out of a morning lull and is back within 1.8% of its all-time…

By  ALEX VEIGA The Federal Housing Finance Agency is increasing the size of home loans that the government can guarantee against default as it takes into account rising housing prices. Beginning next year, mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will…

By  KATE PAYNE and JEFF MARTIN The death of a Florida teenager on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month has been ruled a homicide, the latest development in a case that has drawn international attention and sparked intense speculation on social media.…

By  JOEY CAPPELLETTI and MIKE HOUSEHOLDER WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video urging U.S. troops to defy “illegal orders” say the FBI has contacted them to begin scheduling interviews, signaling a possible inquiry into the matter. It…

By  TODD RICHMOND MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin woman who won release from a mental institution after almost killing her sixth grade classmate in the name of horror villain Slender Man only to flee the state weeks later won’t fight extradition from Illinois. Morgan…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson has been released from a Chicago hospital where he was treated for a rare neurological disorder, his son said Tuesday. The 84-year-old civil rights leader was discharged Monday from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, his son…

By  R.J. RICO Landlords could no longer rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each other’s moves and push rents higher using confidential data, under a settlement between RealPage Inc. and federal prosecutors to end what critics said was illegal “algorithmic…

By  JONEL ALECCIA Tests of ByHeart infant formula tied to a botulism outbreak that has sickened dozens of babies showed that all of the company’s products may have been contaminated. Laboratory tests of 36 samples of formula from three different lots showed that…

By  SEUNG MIN KIM WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is circulating a proposal that would extend subsidies to help consumers pay for coverage under the Affordable Care Act for two more years, as millions of Americans face spiking health care costs when the current…

HOUSTON (AP) — A tornado that raced through residential areas north of Houston damaged more than 100 homes, tearing off roofs, moving garages off their foundations and smashing windows, authorities in Texas said. No injuries were reported in the storm Monday that…