US/World

By The Associated Press When Syrian rebels roared into Damascus after a lightning advance on the capital, they exalted in their triumph over President Bashar Assad and rejoiced at the sudden end of a 14-year civil war that laid waste to much of the country. In images captured by Associated Press photographers in December, rifle-toting

By ANDREW DALTON – AP Entertainment Writer Actor Blake Lively sued “It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni and several others tied to the romantic drama on Tuesday, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set. The federal lawsuit was filed in New York

By HYUNG-JIN KIM – Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A team of U.S. investigators including representatives from Boeing on Tuesday examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and MICHELLE L. PRICE – Associated Press PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The cars begin lining up early in the morning to be screened by Secret Service agents under white tents near the fence that surrounds President-elect Donald Trump’s vast south Florida estate. Famous figures such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg,

By DÁNICA COTO – Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early on Tuesday as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s, leaving more than 1.3 million clients in the dark. Officials said it could take up to two days to restore power. The outage

By DAVID KLEPPER – Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has imposed sanctions on two groups linked to Iranian and Russian efforts to target American voters with disinformation ahead of this year’s election. Treasury officials announced the sanctions Tuesday, alleging that the two organizations sought to stoke divisions among Americans before November’s vote.

By BRIAN MELLEY – Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Police in London are searching for a burglar who broke into an occupied mansion and stole more than 10.5 million pounds ($13.2 million) worth of jewelry, designer handbags and cash. The owners of the estate, identified in British media as an Instagram influencer and her developer

By JULIE CARR SMYTH – Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A man who was shot dead last month as authorities attempted to serve him an indictment on federal gun charges has been identified as the killer of an 18-year-old Ohio woman in a case that had gone unsolved for 43 years, police announced Monday.

By ALEX VEIGA – AP Business Writer Stock indexes closed mostly lower Tuesday as the market delivered a downbeat finish on the final day of another milestone-shattering year on Wall Street. The S&P 500 gave up an early gain to finish down 0.4%. The benchmark index, which set 57 record highs in 2024, racked up

By AP SEATTLE (AP) — A Hawaiian airlines flight bound for Honolulu was forced to return to the Seattle airport shortly after takeoff due to reports of fumes in the cockpit, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency previously said the crew reported smoke on the flight deck but later changed that to fumes.

By ANDREW DALTON – AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a divorce settlement, ending one of the longest and most contentious divorces in Hollywood history but not every legal issue between the two. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott J. Nord approved the agreement Tuesday, a day

By BERNARD McGHEE – Associated Press It was a life that took him from peanut farming to the presidency. While former President Jimmy Carter ’s time in the White House only lasted one term, the decades afterward were defined by humanitarian work that affected people all around the world. Founding the Carter Center with his

By MAE ANDERSON – AP Business Writer A looming TikTok ban could affect the millions of small businesses that use the short-video social media app to help them grow their business. Desiree Hill, owner of Crown’s Corner Mechanic in Conyers, Georgia, started her business solo as a mobile mechanic. Sharing videos of her work on

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER – Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A military appeals court has ruled against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s effort to throw out the plea deals reached for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants in the 9/11 attacks, a U.S. official said. The decision puts back on track the agreements that would have

By The Associated Press Dozens of patients and the wounded have been evacuated for treatment outside the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations says Israel’s attacks on and around hospitals have pushed health care to the brink. The 45 patients left the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis early Tuesday and

By BRIDGET BROWN – Associated Press New York (AP) — A new year is the time to set new goals. Yet studies have shown that most people don’t tend to uphold their New Year’s resolutions much past the first month. In an attempt to reframe the thinking around new year goal-setting, a new wellness trend

By The Associated Press Former U.S. Open women’s doubles champion Gabriela Dabrowski revealed on Tuesday she had played through 2024 after undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She delayed part of that treatment so she could compete at Wimbledon where she reached the doubles final. “I know this will come as a shock to many, but

By BRIAN MELLEY – Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Revelers in the U.K. may have to wring themselves out as they ring in the New Year. A storm system bringing high winds, heavy rain, the possibility of snow and the threat of flooding washed out plans Tuesday for several fireworks displays — in some cases

By GHAITH ALSAYED, WAFAA SHURAFA and LUJAIN JO – Associated Press DAMASCUS (AP) — In Damascus, the streets were buzzing with excitement Tuesday as Syrians welcomed in a new year that seemed to many to bring a promise of a brighter future after the unexpected fall of Bashar Assad’s government weeks earlier. While Syrians in

By AP BERLIN (AP) — Berlin police said they detained a man Tuesday who attacked and injured two people in the city’s Charlottenburg neighborhood, further jolting Germany days after a deadly Christmas market attack elsewhere in the country. Police said the attacker was a Syrian citizen with residency in Sweden. “Initial findings indicate that the

By PREDRAG MILIC – Associated Press PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro on Tuesday extradited a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to the United States, following a decision of its justice ministry earlier this month to accept a U.S. request, while refusing a South Korean handover plea, the Balkan country’s authorities said. Police

By FARAI MUTSAKA – Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Batsirai Pabwe picked detergents, toothpaste, snacks and some pasta among several grocery items spread on the tarmac of a car parking space — an unorthodox night bazaar lit by cellphone flashlights and fluorescent lamps in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Traditional stores are struggling to survive as

By STEPHEN McGRATH and AUREL OBREJA – Associated Press CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — On a frigid morning in Moldova’s capital, 39-year-old postal worker Petru Murzin braces for a difficult winter as he fears a looming energy shortage could leave many Moldovans with “no heating, no light.” His concerns aren’t unfounded. On Jan. 1, Russia’s state-owned