Associated Press stories, Page 314

A Florida jury on Friday found CNN guilty of libeling a U.S. Navy veteran in a 2021 story about people paid to rescue endangered Afghans following the Taliban takeover of that country. The jury in Panama City, Fla., deliberated for more than eight hours starting Thursday before ruling in favor...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump will choose to lead the U.S. Secret Service one of the agents who covered him after a gunmen opened fire at the candidate during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump Jr. said his father will be naming Sean Curran, who heads the...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to select his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, on Friday to succeed Vice President-elect JD Vance in the U.S. Senate. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity before an announcement planned for Friday...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered a ratified addition to the U.S. Constitution, making a symbolic statement that’s unlikely to alter a decades-long push for gender equality. “It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people,” Biden...

With a possible TikTok ban just days away, many U.S. users are looking for alternative social media platforms to help them keep up with pop culture or provide the type of entertaining videos that popularized the short-form video app. The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning...

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office from inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday due to forecasts of intense cold weather. “The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “There...

TikTok has cemented itself as a quintessential entertainment app, offering everything from funny skits and makeup tutorials to social commentary and news. Without a sale to an approved buyer, the platform is expected to vanish from U.S. app stores by Sunday now that the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the the...

MOSS LANDING, Calif. — A major fire burning Friday at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants in Northern California is sending up flames of toxic smoke, leading to the evacuation of 1,700 people and the closure of a major highway. The blaze in Moss Landing started Thursday. Fire...

WASHINGTON — The Senate is heading toward a final vote on legislation that would require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes and give states power to challenge federal immigration policies, setting a new tone on immigration as Donald Trump enters the White House. Newly in...

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact Friday as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging Western sanctions. Russian and Iranian officials say the “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” covers all areas —- from trade and military cooperation...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company,holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in...

BENGALURU, India — Over 400 endangered sea turtles have washed ashore on India’s east coast near the city of Chennai in the last two weeks in an event not witnessed in over two decades. Olive ridley turtles travel thousands of miles for ideal nesting conditions on India’s coast. But the...

It is one of the 20th century’s most memorable images: a naked girl, screaming, running from a napalm bombing during the Vietnam War. More than a half-century later, a new documentary is calling into question who took it — and the retired Associated Press photographer long credited for the photo...

LOS ANGELES — Gaming giant Nintendo revealed its newest console Thursday in a highly anticipated announcement gamers had been waiting for since rumors of its release first spread years ago. But the initial reaction to the Nintendo Switch 2 was lackluster, and the company’s Tokyo-traded shares slumped 4.3% on Friday....

LONDON — Award-winning British actor Joan Plowright, who with her late husband Laurence Olivier did much to revitalize the U.K.’s theatrical scene in the decades after World War II, has died. She was 95. In a statement Friday, her family said Plowright died the previous day at Denville Hall, a...

As he assumes the presidency for a second time, Donald Trump brings with him a broad expanse of business relationships and financial entanglements — and the possibility that those associations could influence his decision-making in the White House. Trump’s team dismisses such concerns. “President Trump removed himself from his multibillion-dollar...

JERUSALEM, Israel — Israel’s security Cabinet recommended approval Friday of a Gaza ceasefire deal after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed an agreement had been reached that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas and release dozens of hostages held by militants there. Netanyahu’s office Friday evening said the meeting of...

WASHINGTON — Ronald Reagan probably didn’t realize he was starting a tradition when he wrote a note congratulating his successor and left it in the Oval Office desk drawer after two terms as president. He did that for George H.W. Bush, his successor and vice president of eight years. Bush...

NEW YORK — The Democratic Party’s left wing has warned for decades that America is moving toward an oligarchy in which a handful of billionaires controls much of the nation’s wealth and political power. President Joe Biden elevated such concerns from the Oval Office for the first time this week,...

WASHINGTON — The Army expects to meet its enlistment goals for 2025, marking a dramatic turnaround for a service that has struggled for several years to bring in enough young people and has undergone a major overhaul of its recruiting programs. In an interview with The Associated Press, Army Secretary...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Friday that he was commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, using his final days in office on a flurry of clemency actions meant to nullify prison terms he deemed too harsh. The recent round of clemency gives Biden...

HARRISBURG — When Democrat John Fetterman got elected to Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, many backers hoped he’d challenge convention and the status quo. He did and has — just not in the way many had expected. Fetterman has broken with his party on some policy matters and warmed to President-elect...

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday she wants to impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients, hoping to revive and expand a restriction that was blocked by the courts but could get a new life under the Trump administration. Sanders’ comments come as fellow Republicans in...

NASHVILLE — Plans for colleges to pay athletes directly for their name, image and likeness deals would run afoul of Title IX, the Department of Education said in guidance issued Thursday that adds more confusion to the shifting landscape in college sports. The nine-page memo from the department’s Office for...

MELBOURNE, Australia — It wasn’t often pretty, but two-time defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka extended a few impressive streaks Friday while becoming one of the first players to advance to the fourth round of the year’s opening Grand Slam tournament. In a tougher-than-expected match, Sabalenka beat Clara Tauson, 7-6...