National News

By  AAMER MADHANI WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he will sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia as he praised the kingdom for its strong partnership with the United States. The announcement came on the eve of Saudi Crown…

By  MATTHEW DALY WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it is redefining the scope of the nation’s bedrock clean water law to limit the wetlands it covers, building on a Supreme Court decision two years ago that removed…

By  JULIE WATSON Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, are being sent home, and those who will remain will continue to stay off the streets amid court battles over their domestic mission by the Trump administration, a defense…

By  EDITH M. LEDERER UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Monday approved a U.S. plan for Gaza that authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security in the devastated territory and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state. Russia,…

By  SUSAN HAIGH The U.S. Postal Service can’t fix its finances through cuts alone, Postmaster General David Steiner said Friday. Steiner said the 250-year-old agency needs to expand its revenue base to restore prominence in the nation’s delivery network. It also should capitalize on its…

By  STEPHEN GROVES, MATT BROWN and JOEY CAPPELLETTI WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is heading towards a vote on a bill to force the Justice Department to release the case files it has collected on the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, pushing past a monthslong effort…

By  CURT ANDERSON Former NFL star wide receiver Antonio Brown could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder because a firearm was allegedly used, a prosecutor said Monday. Brown appeared via video at a brief arraignment hearing in…

By  JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — More people are falling behind on paying their bills to keep on the lights and heat their homes, according to a new analysis of consumer data — a warning sign for the U.S. economy and another…

By  KIM CHANDLER MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday urged the board that oversees Alabama Public Television to delay any decision on severing ties with PBS until it has studied Alabamians’ opinions on the matter and developed…

By  KEVIN FREKING and CHRIS MEGERIAN WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own…

By  RIO YAMAT and JOSH FUNK The Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed at 40 major airports during the country’s longest government shutdown. Airlines can resume their regular flight schedules beginning Monday at 6 a.m. EST,…

By  ED WHITE DETROIT (AP) — The state of Michigan is giving up ownership of a rare relic from the famous Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck, just weeks after it strangely obtained it through a settlement in a lawsuit that was completely unrelated to…

By  MIKE SCHNEIDER ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Outdoor Christmas decorations aren’t flying at U.S. Air Force base housing in the Florida Panhandle, at least not before Thanksgiving. The private company that operates a community of homes near Tyndall Air Force Base has recently…

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk hears the popular catchphrase “6-7” all the time at home, possibly more often than please and thank you. Getting an earful of it at a women’s basketball game, well, that was new…

By  CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-MCLAY WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — There are easier ways to cross an ocean, but few are as slick or stylish as the remora’s whale-surfing joyride. Scientists tracking humpbacks off the coast of Australia have captured rare footage that shows clutches of the…

By  DEE-ANN DURBIN Doritos and Cheetos are getting a makeover. PepsiCo said Thursday it’s launching toned-down versions of its bright orange snacks that won’t have any artificial colors or flavors. Doritos and Cheetos Simply NKD will hit store shelves on Dec.…

By  JONATHAN J. COOPER and DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House Historical Association has reclaimed a series of sketches by American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell with a whopping winning bid of $5.8 million at auction on Friday. The four 1940s-era sketches titled “So You…

By  HALLIE GOLDEN The first major blast of wintry weather in the U.S. this week brought snow, frigid temperatures and in some places something a little more magical: Frost flowers. Made of thin ribbons of ice that extend out in intricate…

By  JOE REEDY COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Lots of kids who grow up in Ohio dream of scoring a touchdown in front of 100,000 Buckeyes fans at Ohio Stadium. While many dream of celebrating in the end zone, a smaller group…

By  STEPHEN McGRATH What is thought to be the world’s largest-known spider’s web, housing tens of thousands of arachnids, has been discovered in a cave on the Albanian-Greek border. After researchers published their findings of two different spider species peacefully cohabiting in…

By  RODRIQUE NGOWI and PATRICK WHITTLE BOSTON (AP) — It wasn’t a croc — there really was an alligator on the loose in Boston. And the story of the city’s slithering saurian appears to have a happy ending. The small alligator, spotted along…

By  SAFIYAH RIDDLE It was a foggy October afternoon on the central California coast when the Marine Mammal Center got a call on their public hotline: there were distressed cries coming from the frigid waters in Morro Bay. The center’s experts…