Associated Press stories, Page 303

WASHINGTON — Under fire from congressional Republicans about one of the darkest moments of Joe Biden’s presidency, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the administration’s handling of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying Democrats struggled to make the best of a bad pullout deal struck by Donald Trump. Blinken...

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump doesn’t think much of Joe Biden’s foreign policy record. The Republican president-elect frequently casts the outgoing Democratic president as a feckless leader who shredded American credibility around the world during his four-year term. But a funny thing happened on Trump’s way back to the White House:...

NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the ceremonial start of the day’s trading, according to four people with knowledge of his plans. It will be a notable moment of recognition for Trump, a born-and-bred New...

The large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn...

LONDON — The British government on Wednesday indefinitely banned puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria after independent experts found there was an unacceptable safety risk in prescribing the medication. The decision, which will be revisited in 2027, effectively bans a common approach to medical gender transitions for youths. It...

IRVING, Texas — A rape allegation against rapper Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation has produced some of the NFL’s entertainment presentations including the Super Bowl halftime show, won’t impact the league’s relationship with the music mogul, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “With the...

Tyson Fury promises less clowning and more punching Oleksandr Usyk in the face during their upcoming rematch for boxing’s heavyweight championship. Usyk won a split decision in May in Saudi Arabia, and they get back in the ring there Dec. 21. Fury doesn’t plan to change much from his first...

WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a $895 billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers...

WASHINGTON — A U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that Russia may use its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon, two U.S. officials said Wednesday. The Oreshnik missile, which was used for the first time last month, is seen more as an attempt at intimidation than as a...

GREEN LAKE, Wis. — A Wisconsin man who faked his own drowning and left his wife and three children for Eastern Europe willingly returned to the U.S. after four months and was charged Wednesday with obstructing an intense lake search for his body. The criminal complaint charging Ryan Borgwardt with...

A federal judge in Texas rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet, criticizing the bidding for the conspiracy theory platform as flawed as well as how much money families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting stood to receive. The decision late Tuesday...

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Dylan Harper finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, fellow freshman Ace Bailey totaled 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Rutgers held off Penn State, 80-76, on Tuesday night. Harper buried three straight 3-pointers to finish off an 11-0 run for a 13-7 lead and...

ISLAMABAD — A suicide bombing in the Afghan capital on Wednesday killed the Taliban refugee minister and two others, officials said, in the most brazen attack on a member of the Taliban inner circle since they returned to power three years ago. The explosion struck inside the ministry, killing Khalil...

LONDON — What does a spy agency give for Christmas? How about a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a mystery. GCHQ, Britain’s electronic and cyber-intelligence agency, on Wednesday published its annual Christmas Challenge — a seasonal greeting card that doubles as a set of fiendishly difficult puzzles designed to...

WASHINGTON — Fueled by pricier used cars, hotel rooms and auto insurance, inflation in the United States moved slightly higher last month while remaining far below its peak of two years ago. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier, up from a yearly figure of 2.6% in...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s main international airport reopened on Wednesday to commercial flights, one month after it closed for the second time this year because of gang violence. Haitian soldiers and police, bolstered by Kenyan police leading a U.N.-backed mission to quell gang violence, boosted security in the area, and...

ALTOONA — The gun found on the suspect in the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO matched shell casings found at the site of the shooting, New York City’s police commissioner said Wednesday. Suspect Luigi Mangione ‘s fingerprints also matched a water bottle and a snack bar wrapper that police found...

PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. East Coast was beginning a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather on Wednesday that was rainy, windy and potentially dangerous, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Parts of Maine experienced freezing rain that caused vehicles to slide off roads followed by a...

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump made another flurry of job announcements on Tuesday, selecting Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Kimberly Guilfoyle as the ambassador to Greece and Tom Barrack as the ambassador to Turkey. Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC’s five commissioners,...

NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Throughout his first term in the White...

Scottie Scheffler added another trophy to his awesome display Tuesday when he won the Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour player of the year in a landslide, joining Tiger Woods as the only players to win the award three straight times. Scheffler won 91% of the vote from players and...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Freshman Jonathan Powell scored a season-high 17 points, Joseph Yesufu added 14 points and short-handed West Virginia beat North Carolina Central, 79-45, on Tuesday night. Before the game, West Virginia announced Tucker DeVries would be sidelined indefinitely with an upper body injury. DeVries started in the previous...

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s national police chief and top police officer for the capital, Seoul, were detained for their roles in enforcing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree last week, police said Wednesday. The development comes hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic Party submits a...