National News

By  ASSOCIATED PRESS While schools, government and banks are closed on New Year’s Day, most major retailers across the U.S. will be open, with many offering discounts on older inventory to clear the way for newer products. But before you run…

By  MATT OTT WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with layoffs remaining low despite a weakening labor market. U.S. applications for jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 27 fell by 16,000 to 199,000 from the previous…

By  DAMIAN J. TROISE NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell slightly on Wall Street Tuesday as trading for 2025 nudges closer to the finish line. With just one trading day left before the year ends, most big investors have closed out…

By  CHRISTOPHER RUGABER WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Federal Reserve officials who supported cutting a key interest rate earlier this month could have instead backed keeping the rate unchanged, minutes released Tuesday show, underscoring the divisions and uncertainty permeating the central bank.…

By  SARA CLINE and JACK BROOK NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As National Guard members roll into New Orleans to help with safety measures ahead of New Year’s celebrations, city officials are still seeking permanent security solutions nearly a year after a truck attack on Bourbon Street left…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The standard mileage rate for the business use of a car, truck, van or other vehicle will increase by 2.5 cents in 2026. The IRS announced Monday that beginning Jan. 1, the standard mileage rate for a…

By  JONEL ALECCIA Starting Thursday, Americans in five states who get government help paying for groceries will see new restrictions on soda, candy and other foods they can buy with those benefits. Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the first of at…

By  MEG KINNARD More artists have canceled scheduled performances at the Kennedy Center following the addition of President Donald Trump’s name to the facility, with jazz supergroup The Cookers pulling out of a planned New Year’s Eve concert, and the institution’s president…

By  KEN SWEET NEW YORK (AP) — The White House cannot lapse in its funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal district court judge ruled on Tuesday, only days before funds at the bureau would have likely run out…

By  FATIMA HUSSEIN WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions on 10 people and firms from Iran and Venezuela over allegedly contributing to Iran’s drone trade and ballistics program which the Trump administration says threatens the U.S. and its allies in…

BOSTON (AP) —Environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, has died. She was 35. Schlossberg, the daughter of Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, and Edwin Schlossberg, revealed that she had terminal cancer in a November 2025 essay…

By  MICHAEL CASEY BOSTON (AP) — New England Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs is facing strangulation and other criminal charges in connection with an incident that happened earlier this month, police said. News of the charges emerged after a court…

By  LEAH WILLINGHAM and JEFF MARTIN A wild winter storm brought strong winds, heavy snow and frigid temperatures to the Great Lakes and Northeast on Tuesday, a day after a bomb cyclone barreled across the Midwest and left tens of thousands of customers without…

By  ED WHITE For the first time in 20 years, rain could be an intruder at the Rose Parade in Southern California, a venerable New Year’s Day event that attracts thousands of spectators and is watched by millions more on TV. Storms caused Christmas week…

By  DAMIAN J. TROISE NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped in quiet trading on Wall Street Monday to kick off another holiday-shortened week. The losses have little impact on the broader annual gains for major indexes as they close out their…

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal Homeland Security officials were conducting a fraud investigation on Monday in Minneapolis, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. The action comes after years of investigation that began with the $300 million scheme at the…

By  PHILIP MARCELO NEW YORK (AP) — When the MetroCard replaced the New York City subway token in 1994, the swipeable plastic card infused much-needed modernity into one of the world’s oldest and largest transit systems. Now, more than three decades later, the gold-hued fare…

By  MICHELLE L. PRICE and WILL WEISSERT PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has indicated that the U.S. has “hit” a dock facility along a shore as he wages a pressure campaign on Venezuela, but the U.S. offered few details. Trump initially…

By  JAMEY KEATEN and MATTHEW LEE GENEVA (AP) — The United States on Monday announced a $2 billion pledge for U.N. humanitarian aid as President Donald Trump’s administration slashes U.S. foreign assistance and warns United Nations agencies to “adapt, shrink or die” in a time of…

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A dozen of the iconic swans that live in the heart of downtown Orlando, Florida, have died in recent days of an unknown cause, leading officials to suspect that bird flu is to blame. The deaths…

By  MATTHEW BROWN A Utah judge on Monday ordered the release of transcripts from a closed-door hearing in October over whether the man charged with killing Charlie Kirk must be shackled during court proceedings. State District Judge Tony Graf said the transcript must…

By  SALLY HO and CHARLOTTE KRAMON The Trump administration made work requirements for low-income people receiving government assistance a priority in 2025. The departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development have worked to usher in stricter employment conditions to receive…