Top General News
A car has driven into a group of people at a Christmas market in Germany
BERLIN (AP) — A car drove into people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday. Officials said they suspected it was an attack and that people were injured, but it was not immediately clear how many were harmed. The driver of the car was arrested,...
Floating a new plan, Speaker Johnson insists there will be no government shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veering toward a midnight Friday government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson is proposing a new plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but punts President-elect Donald Trump demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. ...
Trump was poised to inherit a strong economy. Then things got rocky and he added to the uncertainty
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The smooth economy that Donald Trump was poised to inherit suddenly looks a bit rockier — with critics saying the president-elect is contributing to the uncertainty. The Dow Jones stock index essentially ended Thursday flat after having posted 10 days...
What will Syria's future look like? The answer could lie in other Arab countries' recent pasts
CAIRO (AP) — Even with hopes running high, so much can go wrong when a country ousts a longtime dictator and tries to start anew. The Middle Eastern and North African nations that attempted to transition to democracy in recent years can attest to that. Now it's Syria's turn to try...
US drops $10M terrorism bounty offered for capture of Syrian rebel leader who ousted Assad
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Biden administration said Friday it has decided not to pursue a $10 million reward it had offered for the capture of a Syrian rebel leader whose forces led the ouster of President Bashar Assad earlier this month. The announcement followed a meeting in...
Canada's Trudeau reshuffles his Cabinet as resignation calls mount and discontent rises
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's chances of staying on in power have become more tenuous after the opposition party that backed his government for years announced it will vote no confidence in the government when Parliament resumes. An embattled Trudeau...
France's anti-terrorism court convicts 8 people of involvement in the 2020 beheading of a teacher
PARIS (AP) — France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country. Paty, 47, was killed outside his school on Oct. 16, 2020,...
Giant sloths and mastodons lived with humans for millennia in the Americas, new discoveries suggest
SAO PAULO (AP) — Sloths weren’t always slow-moving, furry tree-dwellers. Their prehistoric ancestors were huge — up to 4 tons (3.6 metric tons) — and when startled, they brandished immense claws. For a long time, scientists believed the first humans to arrive in the Americas...
US flu season is underway, as cases surge in some areas and vaccinations lag
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season is underway, with cases surging across much of the country, health officials said Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted sharp increases in several measures, including lab tests and emergency room visits. ...
It's beginning to look like another record for holiday travel
Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it's beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and...
Latest General News
Amazon Indigenous community wins latest stage of court battle for lost territory
An Indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon is celebrating a legal victory in the latest stage of its attempt to take back claimed ancestral rainforests. The Puerto Franco community of the Kichwa tribe say their territory was stolen to form the Cordillera Azul National Park in...
Baby Jesus figurine stolen from Colorado nativity scene returned anonymously with apology
DENVER (AP) — A baby Jesus figurine snatched from a nativity scene in Colorado has been returned in time for Christmas, with an apology. The statuette of Jesus lying in a manger, stolen from a public display in downtown Fort Collins early Sunday, was dropped off anonymously at a...
France's anti-terrorism court convicts 8 people of involvement in the 2020 beheading of a teacher
PARIS (AP) — France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country. Paty, 47, was killed outside his school on Oct. 16, 2020,...
What’s next for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO?
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of gunning down United Healthcare’s CEO outside a Manhattan hotel is now in a federal jail in New York, after he was returned to the city in dramatic fashion to face charges that could bring the death penalty. Shackled and wearing an orange prison...
Trump to nominate the head of Catholic advocacy group as US ambassador to the Vatican
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he's nominating the president of the advocacy group CatholicVote to be the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Brian Burch is the president and co-founder of CatholicVote. He and his wife, Sara, have nine children...
Real estate brothers Oren and Alon Alexander remain in custody on sex trafficking and rape charges
MIAMI (AP) — Prominent real estate broker Oren Alexander and his twin brother Alon will remain in custody following their initial court appearance in Miami on Friday. The brothers had sought bond on charges of sex trafficking and gang rape. But federal prosecutors argued that they...
7 inmates are dead after a prison riot in southern Mexico
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Seven inmates were killed in a prison riot in southern Mexico, when inmates resisting transfers to other jails fought police with guns and knives, authorities said. Four police officers and six other inmates were injured in the riot in the city of Villahermosa,...
The Latest: House speaker says Republicans have agreed on a new spending deal
Veering toward a midnight Friday government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson is proposing a new plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but punts President-elect Donald Trump demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. On Thursday, the House...
A car has driven into a group of people at a Christmas market in Germany
BERLIN (AP) — A car drove into people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday. Officials said they suspected it was an attack and that people were injured, but it was not immediately clear how many were harmed. The driver of the car was arrested,...
Starbucks workers begin strikes that could spread to hundreds of US stores by Christmas Eve
Workers at Starbucks stores began a five-day strike Friday to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. The strikes by baristas and other workers were scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across...
