Associated Press stories, Page 361
U.S. believes journalist Austin Tice is alive after disappearing in Syria in 2012, Biden says
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the U.S. government believes missing American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared 12 years ago near the Syrian capital, is alive and that Washington is committed to bringing him home after Bashar Assad’s ouster from power in Damascus. “We think we can get...
Assad’s fall in Syria is a ‘fundamental act of justice,’ but also ‘a moment of risk,’ Biden says
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the sudden collapse of the Syrian government under Bashar Assad is a “fundamental act of justice” after decades of repression, but it was “a moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Middle East. Biden spoke at the White House hours after rebel...
Syrian prime minister says government is still functioning but foreign and domestic challenges loom
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s prime minister said Monday that most cabinet ministers are still working from offices in Damascus after rebels entered the capital over the weekend and overthrew President Bashar Assad. Streams of refugees crossed in from neighboring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future. But there were already...
Lara Trump steps down as RNC co-chair and addresses speculation about Florida Senate seat
Lara Trump will step down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee as she considers a number of potential options with her father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump, set to return to the White House. Among those possibilities is replacing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump tapped to be the next secretary...
Reports: Juan Soto agrees to record $765 million, 15-year contract with MetsVideo
DALLAS — Star outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets have agreed to a record $765 million, 15-year contract, according to multiple reports. Soto’s deal is the largest and longest in Major League Baseball history, topping Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a deal...
Trump taps his attorney Alina Habba to serve as counselor to the president
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he is appointing one of his defense attorneys in the New York hush money case as counselor to the president. Alina Habba, 40, defended Trump earlier this year, also serving as his legal spokesperson. Habba has been spending time with...
Jackson scores 23, Purdue Fort Wayne beats Robert Morris 82-77Video
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Jalen Jackson scored 23 points as Purdue Fort Wayne beat Robert Morris, 82-77, on Sunday. Jackson had six rebounds and three steals for the Mastodons (6-4, 1-1 Horizon League). Corey Hadnot II scored 13 points, and Rasheed Bello finished with 12 points. Alvaro Folgueiras finished with...
Alabama left out of playoff as committee rewards SMU’s wins over Tide’s strong scheduleVideo
The College Football Playoff committee took SMU’s wins over Alabama’s strength of schedule, picking the Mustangs for the final at-large spot Sunday after a furious public debate and days of lobbying and arguing over which teams should make the 12-team field. SMU (11-2) showed it could compete against a traditional...
NFL Week 14: Sam Darnold sets 2 new career highs with 347 yards thrown, 5 TDs as Vikings thump FalconsVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Sam Darnold threw for 347 yards and five touchdowns, both career highs, and the Minnesota Vikings pulled away from Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons 42-21 on Sunday for their sixth straight victory. Darnold added another highlight to his brilliant first season in Minnesota following the departure of...
N.C. State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson named head coach at Marshall
N.C. State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson was named head coach at Marshall on Sunday, shortly after Thundering Herd coach Charles Huff’s hiring was announced at Southern Miss. Gibson, 52, will take his first head-coaching job in college and return to his home state, where he served two stints at West...
Gaza health officials say latest Israeli airstrikes kill at least 14 including children
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza killed at least 14 people including children Sunday, Palestinian health officials said, while the bombing of a hospital in northern Gaza wounded a half-dozen patients. Israel’s military continues its latest offensive against Hamas militants in northern Gaza, whose remaining...
Clintons urge voters agitated by today’s politics to remain involved in public service
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Voters dejected by the presidential election results need to find a way to give back and remain involved, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Clinton presidential library. The former president urged audience members in a packed theater...
Trump says U.S. should stay out of fighting in Syria as opposition forces gain
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. military should stay out of the fast-escalating conflict in Syria, where a dramatic rebel offensive reached the capital and threatened the rule of Syria’s Russian- and Iranian-allied president. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump declared on social media. As world...
Penn State gets home game, SMU edges Alabama for last spot in College Football Playoff, while Oregon seeded 1st
The new, 12-team College Football Playoff brings with it a promise to be bigger, more exciting, more lucrative. Perfect or 100% fair? Well, nobody ever believed that. The first expanded playoff bracket unveiled Sunday left a presumably deserving Alabama team on the sideline in favor of an SMU squad —...
Trump says he can’t guarantee tariffs won’t raise U.S. prices and promises swift immigration action
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump said he can’t guarantee that his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won’t raise prices for American consumers and he suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect, in a wide-ranging...
AP Top 25: Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Penn State top poll going into playoff; Tide ranked ahead of SMU
Georgia moved up to No. 2 behind Oregon in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, Texas and Penn State remained in the top five after losing conference championship games and Arizona State appeared in the top 10 for the first time in a decade. Unbeaten Oregon, with its win...
The hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s elusive killer yields new evidence, but few answers
NEW YORK — Police don’t know who he is, where he is, or why he did it. As the frustrating search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer got underway for a fifth day Sunday, investigators reckoned with a tantalizing contradiction: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an...
Biden adds to the nation’s list of national monuments during his term. There’s an appetite for more
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt did in 1906 what Congress was unwilling to do through legislation: He used his new authority under the Antiquities Act to designate Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument. Then came Antiquities Act protections for the Petrified Forest in Arizona, Chaco...
Trump calls for immediate cease-fire in Ukraine and says a U.S. withdrawal from NATO is possible
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump on Sunday pushed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office. “Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and...
Ousted Syrian leader Assad flees to Moscow after fall of Damascus, Russian state media say
DAMASCUS, Syria — Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said Sunday, hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family’s 50 years of iron rule. Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory...
No. 1 Oregon outlasts No. 3 Penn State for Big Ten title and 1st-round bye in playoffs
INDIANAPOLIS — Dillon Gabriel threw four touchdown passes and No. 1 Oregon outlasted No. 3 Penn State, 45-37, on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship, giving the Ducks a first-round bye and almost certainly the top seed in the College Football Playoff. The Ducks (13-0, No. 1 CFP) are...
No. 18 Clemson kicks last second FG to beat No. 6 SMU for ACC title, berth in the CFP
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cade Klubnik threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns, Nolan Hauser kicked a 56-yard field goal as time expired and No. 18 Clemson knocked off No. 6 SMU, 34-31, on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff...
Taiwan reports 14 Chinese warships, 4 balloons near the island
TAIPEI, Taiwan — China sent 14 warships, seven military aircraft and four balloons near Taiwan between Saturday and Sunday, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the island it claims as its own. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the...
Syrian government appears to have fallen in stunning end to 50-year rule of Assad family
BEIRUT — The Syrian government appeared to have fallen early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a lightning rebel offensive. The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said President Bashar Assad had left the country for an undisclosed location, fleeing ahead...
Stolen ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ are auctioned for $28 million
MINNEAPOLIS — A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction Saturday. Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or...
