An expert from Wirecutter helps Morning readers with their trickiest holiday gift searches.

A dusty town in the parched northeast has become the nations show business destination. But climate change and technology are posing new challenges there.

At an appearance in California, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was noncommittal about releasing the full video of a U.S. military attack on a boat in the Caribbean.

2025-12-07T12:24:38Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russian missile and drone attacks overnight into Sunday killed at least one person in Ukraine, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials wrapped up a third day of talks aimed at ending the war. A man was killed in a drone attack on Ukraines northern Chernihiv region Saturday night, local officials said, while a combined missile and drone attack on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages. Kremenchuk is home to one of Ukraines biggest oil refineries and is an industrial hub.Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call weaponizing the cold.The latest round of attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday evening he had a substantive phone call with American officials engaged in talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida. He said he had been given an update over the phone by U.S. and Ukrainian officials at the talks. Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace, Zelenskyy wrote on social media. Speaking Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum, U.S. President Donald Trumps outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said efforts to end the war were in the last 10 meters. He said a deal depended on the two outstanding issues of terrain, primarily the Donbas, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Russia controls most of Donbas, its name for Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, which, along with two southern regions, it illegally annexed three years ago. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is in an area that has been under Russian control since early in Moscows invasion of Ukraine and is not in service, but it needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents. Kellogg is due to leave his post in January and was not present at the talks in Florida.Separately, officials said the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany would participate in a meeting with Zelenskyy in London on Monday. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed the Trump administrations new national security strategy. In comments published Sunday by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, he said the strategy was encouraging. There are statements there against confrontation and in favor of dialogue and building good relations, he said.The document released Friday by the White House makes clear that the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U.S. interest to reestablish strategic stability with Russia.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Our analysts back several underdogs ATS in Week 14, including the Texans and Bears, and offer their top bets and prop plays.

Mohamed Salah appears to have borrowed from Cristiano Ronaldo's playbook: airing frustrations toward his manager that stem from his own poor form.

A former secretary of homeland security on the illegality of Trumps boat strikes.

They are so handy.READ MORE...

The 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees, front row from left, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and Michael Crawford; back row from left, members of the rock band KISS, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss, pose for a group photo at the 48th Kennedy Center Honors Medallion Reception, hosted at the U.S. Department of State, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)2025-12-07T13:06:08Z WASHINGTON (AP) Sylvester Stallone, Kiss and Gloria Gaynor are among the luminaries being celebrated Sunday at the annual Kennedy Center Honors, with Donald Trump hosting the show, the first time a president will command the stage instead of sitting in an Opera House box.Since returning to office in January, Trump has made the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is named after a Democratic predecessor, a touchstone in a broader attack against what he has lambasted as woke anti-American culture. Trump said in August that he had agreed to host the show. The Republican president said Saturday at a State Department dinner for the honorees that he was doing so at the request of a certain television network. He predicted that the broadcast, scheduled to air Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+, would have its best ratings ever. Its going to be something that I believe, and Im going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that theyve ever done and theyve gotten some pretty good ratings, but theres nothing like whats going to happen on Sunday night, Trump said. Trump is assuming a role that has been held in the past by journalist Walter Cronkite and comedian and Trump nemesis Stephen Colbert, among others. Before Trump, presidents watched the show alongside the honorees. Trump skipped the honors altogether during his first term. Since 1978, the honors have recognized stars for their influence on American culture and the arts. Members of this years class are pop-culture standouts, including Stallone for his Rocky and Rambo movies, Gaynor for her feminist anthem I Will Survive and Kiss for its flashy, cartoonish makeup and onstage displays of smoke and fire. Country music superstar George Strait and Tony Award-winning actor Michael Crawford are also being honored.The ceremony is expected to be emotional for the members of Kiss. The bands original lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, died in October after he was injured during a fall. Previous honorees have come from a broad range of art forms, whether dance (Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham), theater (Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber), movies (Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks) or music (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell). Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center Trump upended decades of bipartisan support for the center by ousting its leadership and stacking the board of trustees with Republican supporters, who then elected him chair. He has criticized the centers programming and the buildings appearance and has said, perhaps jokingly, that he would rename it as the Trump Kennedy Center. He secured more than $250 million from Congress for renovations of the building.Presidents of each political party have at times found themselves face to face with artists of opposing political views. Republican Ronald Reagan was there for honoree Arthur Miller, a playwright who championed liberal causes. Democrat Bill Clinton, who had signed an assault weapons ban into law, marked the honors for Charlton Heston, an actor and gun rights advocate. During Trumps first term, multiple honorees were openly critical of the president. In 2017, Trumps first year in office, honors recipient and film producer Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump stayed away during that entire term. Trump has said he was deeply involved in choosing the 2025 honorees and turned down some recommendations because they were too woke. While Stallone is one of Trumps Hollywood special ambassadors and has likened Trump to George Washington, the political views of Sundays other guests are less clear. Honorees views about Trump Strait and Gaynor have said little about their politics, although Federal Election Commission records show that Gaynor has given money to Republican organizations in recent years. Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons spoke favorably of Trump when Trump ran for president in 2016. But in 2022, Simmons told Spin magazine that Trump was out for himself and criticized Trump for encouraging conspiracy theories and public expressions of racism. Fellow Kiss member Paul Stanley denounced Trumps effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, and said Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were terrorists. But after Trump won in 2024, Stanley urged unity.If your candidate lost, its time to learn from it, accept it and try to understand why, Stanley wrote on X. If your candidate won, its time to understand that those who dont share your views also believe they are right and love this country as much as you do.-Italie reported from New York. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Superville covers the White House for The Associated Press, with a special emphasis on first ladies and first families. HILLEL ITALIE Italie has covered the publishing industry since 1998. He writes about notable books, industry trends and ongoing issues such as book bans, AI, consolidation and copyright. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Australia's captain Steve Smith reacts after winning the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)2025-12-07T06:21:04Z BRISBANE, Australia (AP) Steve Smith took a brilliant reflex catch to swing momentum, got into a heated exchange with Jofra Archer and then slogged the winning runs Sunday as Australia beat England again to take a 2-0 Ashes lead.Set a target of 65 for victory in the second test after dismissing England for 241 in the second innings, Australia raced to an eight-wicket win late on Day 4 as storms brewed in and around the stadium.Archer was bowling around 150 kph (93 mph) under the lights and it only fired up Smith.The adrenaline was pumping at the end of the end, yeah. Jofra was bowling pretty quick, Smith said. It was a huge win. Great to go 2-nil up.There were some theatrics involving the Australia captain and Englands strike pace bowler, with Smith ducking under a short ball and then critiquing Archer for bowling fast when theres nothing going on, champion. He then hit a four and a six to bring up 1,000 test runs at the Gabba. With Australia at 63-2 and needing just two runs to win the day-nighter, Smith hit a six to seal it and finished unbeaten on 23 from nine deliveries.Not really too sure what he said, and not sure what I said, Smith told a post-match news conference. Its not any of your business, either, he added, laughing. So well leave it out there. Bazball shelvedDay 4 was a tale of two captains.England skipper Stokes curbed his attacking instincts, dispensing with Bazball and pragmatically setting about reviving Englands Ashes prospects.England had resumed Sunday at 134-6, and took an hour and 36 minutes 18.2 overs to erase the first-innings deficit.The Australian attack bowled a tight line and length and mixed it up with some short-pitch deliveries in an attempt to entice the usually aggressive England batters to have a go.Stokes (50) and Will Jacks (41) resisted the temptation for the entire first session, knowing that a wicket would expose the tailenders. It was a completely different approach to Englands usual attack-at-all costs mentality that has attracted wide criticism in the first two Ashes tests so far. The seventh-wicket pair put on a 96-run stand to get England to the brink of the night session, but that ended when Smith Australias stand-in captain took a stunning one-hander diving to his left at slip off Michael Nesers bowling to dismiss Jacks.That was the momentum changer. The subsequent slide happened quickly, with England losing its last four wickets for 17 runs and Neser finishing with a five-wicket haul.Stokes reached his 50 from 148 balls, the second-slowest half-century of his career. It was only four balls behind the 152 he took to make 50 at Headingley in 2019, where he scored an unbeaten 135 to guide England to one-wicket Ashes victory.This time, he didnt go on. The 34-year-old was incredibly caught behind by wicketkeeper Alex Carey standing up to the stumps to Neser (5-42). Stokes twirled his bat in the air in disbelief before striding back to the pavilion. Smith took two more catches as Englands lower-order crumbled. Australia won the series-opening test on Day 2. At least the second test went four.Very disappointing, Stokes said. A lot of it, to me, comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this format when the game is on the line. In small passages weve been able to bring the game back into some kind of control, and then weve let it slip away.England has been criticized for its bowling attack failing to hit the right lengths consistently, for its dropped catches and for its top-order again throwing away wickets chasing fast and furious runs.We need to think a bit harder and a little bit deeper about those moments, Stokes said, and show a little bit more fight when its needed.Starc performanceAustralian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc was voted player of the match for the second time in the series, following his 10-wicket haul in Perth with six wickets in Englands first innings in Brisbane and then scoring a team-high 77 as Australia took a 177-run first-innings lead.He took another two wickets late on Day 3, increasing his series haul to 18. The series continuesThe third test starts Dec. 17 at the Adelaide Oval with England needing a win to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes. The fourth test starts Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney will host the fifth test from Jan. 4. ___AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket JOHN PYE Pye is based in Australia and covers sports news across the Asia-Pacific and at major events. He has reported from six continents since joining The Associated Press in 1998, including 12 Olympic Games and multiple World Cups. mailto

Lando Norris became the Formula 1 world drivers' champion for the first time after securing the 2025 title at Sunday's season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Pay attention to how you pay attention.

What a special House election just told us.

Rosa Parks delivers remarks in front of the Alabama State Capitol at the conclusion of the 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery. Alabama State Capitol, Montgomery, Ala., March 25, 1965. (Matt Herron/Jeannine Herron and Stanford University Libraries via AP)2025-12-07T14:04:24Z MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Seven decades after Rosa Parks was thrust indelibly into American history for refusing to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, new photos of the Civil Rights Movement icon have been made public for the first time, and they illustrate aspects of her legacy that are often overlooked.The photos were taken by the late Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron, and they depict Parks at the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 a five-day-long, 54-mile (87-kilometer) trek that is often credited with galvanizing political momentum for the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965.History lessons tend to define Parks by her act of civil disobedience a decade earlier, on Dec. 1, 1955, which launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On Friday, some boycott participants and many of the boycott organizers descendants gathered to mark 70 years since the 381-day struggle in Alabamas capital caught national attention, overthrowing racial segregation on public transportation. The never-before-seen photos released to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery on Thursday, taken a decade after the boycott, are a reminder that her activism began before and extended well beyond her most well-known act of defiance, said Donna Beisel, the museums director.This is showing who Ms. Parks was, both as a person and as an activist, Beisel said. Never printed beforeThere are plenty of other photos placing Parks among the other Civil Rights icons who attended the march, including some that were taken by Herron. But others were never printed or put on display in any of the photographers numerous exhibits and books throughout his lifetime. Herron moved to Jackson, Mississippi, with his wife and two young kids in 1963 after Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated. For the next two years, his photos captured some of the most notable people and events of that time. But in most of his photos, Herrons lens was trained on masses of everyday people who empowered Civil Rights leaders to make change. Herrons wife, Jeannine Herron, 88, said that the photos going public this week were discovered from a contact sheet housed in a library at Stanford University. The photos werent selected for print at the time because they were blurry or included people whose names werent as well known In Parks case, the new photos show her sitting among the crowd, looking away from the camera. Now, Jeannine Herron is joining forces with historians and surviving Civil Rights activists in Alabama to reunite the work with the communities that they depict.Its so important to get that information from history into local peoples understanding of what their families did, Jeannine Herron said. A joyous reunionOne of Herrons most frequent subjects throughout the Selma to Montgomery march was a 20-year-old woman from Marion, Alabama, named Doris Wilson. Decades after he captured her as she endured the historic march, he still expressed his desire to reconnect with her. I would love to find where she is today, Herron said in a 2014 interview among Civil Rights activists and journalists who witnessed that transformative period in the Deep South. Herron died in 2020, before he had the chance to reconnect with Wilson. But on Thursday, Wilson joined other residents of Marion, a rural town in the Black Belt of Alabama. Milling around an auditorium in Lincoln Normal School, a college founded by nine formerly enslaved Black people after the Civil War, people looked at black and white photos that Herron took over the years, pointing out familiar faces or backdrops.Some photos were familiar to the 80-year-old. But others, including ones where she was the subject, Wilson had never seen before.One of the photos depicts Wilson getting treatment at a medical tent along the path of the march. Wilson had intense blisters on her feet from walking over 10 miles each day.The doctor who was tending to her injuries, June Finer, also flew in from New York to reunite with Wilson for the first time since Finer gently cared for Wilsons bare feet six decades earlier. Are you the one who rubbed my feet? Wilson asked, as the two women laughed and embraced. Finer, 90, said she wasnt even aware that people were taking photos she was laser-focused on the safety of the marchers. Later, Wilson reflected on how meaningful the reunion had been. I longed to see her, Wilson said.Robert E. Wilson, Wilsons eldest son, said he had never seen the photos of his mother that were on display in the old school building where she went to school. He was a young child when she completed the march.Im so stunned. She always said she was in the march, but I never knew she was strong like that, the now 62-year-old who was raised in Marion said. Years of searching Cheryl Gardner Davis has faint recollections of the evening in 1965 when her family hosted the weary walkers on the third night of the march to Montgomery. She remembers hordes of strangers erecting tents on her familys farm in the rural Lowndes County, Alabama. Just four years old at the time, she remembers how her mother and older sister had to mop up mud inside their hallway from people who had come in to use their landline phone.It wasnt until she was an adult that she fully understood the significance of her familys sacrifice: Her moms job as a teacher was threatened, the familys power was cut off and a neighbor menaced them with his rifle. For years, she scoured the internet and libraries for photo evidence of their hardship or at least a picture of her familys property at the time.Among the hundreds of photos that made their way back to Alabama in the first week of December, were pictures of the campsite at Davis childhood home. Davis, who had never seen the photos before, said it was a vital way to bring light to the people who often are an afterthought in the recounting of that transformative historical period. Its, in a sense, validation. This actually happened, and people were there, Davis said. SAFIYAH RIDDLE Riddle covers the Alabama statehouse with a focus on law enforcement. She is based in Montgomery, Alabama. mailto

Descendants of Mary Turner, who was lynched in 1918, pose with her historic marker and artist Lonnie Holley, fourth from left, at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, on Dec. 6, 2025 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Michael Warren)2025-12-07T14:06:30Z ATLANTA (AP) A historical marker from the site of a 1918 lynching that was repeatedly vandalized in recent years is now safely on display in Atlanta in an exhibit that opens Monday.It memorializes an event that some people in rural southern Georgia have tried hard to erase: the killing of Mary Turner by a white mob that was bent on silencing her after she demanded justice for the lynching of her husband, Hayes Turner, and at least 10 other Black people.Pocked with bullet holes and cracked at its pedestal by an off-road vehicle, the Georgia Historical Society marker reads in part: Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was burned, mutilated, and shot to death by a mob after publicly denouncing her husbands lynching the previous day. No charges were ever brought against known or suspected participants in these crimes. From 1880-1930, as many as 550 people were killed in Georgia in these illegal acts of mob violence. Now each word damaged by bullets is projected on a wall, and visitors hear those words spoken by some of Turners six generations of descendants.Im glad the memorial was shot up, great-granddaughter Katrina Thomas said Saturday night after her first look at the exhibit in the National Museum for Civil and Human Rights. Millions of people are going to learn her story. That her voice is continuing years and years after, it shows history does not disappear. It lives and continues to grow. Americans learned about these lynchings in 1918 because they were investigated in the immediate aftermath by Walter White, who founded the Georgia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and would become an influential voice for civil rights nationwide. A light-skinned Black man who could pass for white, he interviewed eyewitnesses and provided names of suspects to the governor of Georgia, according to his report in the NAACPs publication, The Crisis. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Georgia was among the most active states for lynchings, according to the Equal Justice Initiative s catalog of more than 4,400 documented racial terror lynchings in the U.S. between Reconstruction and World War II. The organization has placed markers at many sites and built a monument to the victims in Montgomery, Alabama. The nations first anti-lynching legislation was introduced in 1918 amid national reaction to deaths of Mary and Hayes Turner and their neighbors in Georgias Brooks and Lowndes counties. It passed the House in 1922, but Southern senators filibustered it and another century would pass before lynching was made a federal hate crime in 2022. The same injustice that took her life was the same injustice that kept vandalizing it, year after year, said Randy McClain, the Turners great-grandnephew. He grew up in the same rural area where the lynchings happened but did not know much about them or discover his family connection until he was an adult. Here it feels like a very safe space, McClain said. Shes now finally at rest, and her story can be told. And her family can feel some sense of vindication. MICHAEL WARREN Warren is an AP Global Desk editor and member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. He previously reported for AP from Latin America. mailto

This photo combo shows candidates for Mayor of Miami, from left, Republican Emilio Gonzalez and Democrat Eileen Higgins. (AP Photo/File)2025-12-07T15:01:31Z MIAMI (AP) It has been nearly three decades since a Democrat held the mayors office in Miami, a span of futility the party is hoping to reverse during a special runoff election this week in one of the last electoral showdowns before next years midterms.While it is a local race, this election has become the latest test of the nations political mood nearly a year into President Donald Trumps second term.Trump and other big-name Florida Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott, have weighed in for the conservative candidate, former city manager Emilio Gonzalez, in the otherwise nonpartisan race. Nationally known Democrats, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have offered support on behalf of Eileen Higgins, a Democrat who served on the county commission before winning a runoff spot last month. An upset for the Democrats on Tuesday would give the party an additional burst of momentum heading into a crucial election year when control of Congress will be at stake, especially in a region that has become increasingly friendly turf for Republicans and where Trump plans to build his presidential library. Higgins, who lives in the Cuban enclave of Little Havana and had represented a district that leans conservative, proudly wears the label of La Gringa, a term Spanish speakers use for white Americans. A Spanish speaker herself, Higgins has focused her campaign relentlessly on local issues such as the cost of housing while capitalizing on national ones, including the treatment of immigrants under the Trump administration in a city with sizable Hispanic and foreign-born populations.I have been a Democrat serving in a primarily Republican district, and all I have done is work for the people, she told The Associated Press. Democrats will try to break Republicans grip on powerMiami is Floridas second most populous city, behind Jacksonville, but is the epicenter of the states diverse culture and is among the nations most prominent international destinations, giving its mayor an outsize platform.The city of 487,000 is part of Miami-Dade County, which Trump flipped last year, handily defeating Democrat Kamala Harris after losing the county to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. A loss for Gonzalez would be perceived in Florida as a setback for the GOP and Trump.Christian Ulvert, Higgins campaign manager, said early returns of mail ballots are encouraging. About 44% had been cast by registered Democrats as of Thursday, a day before early in-person voting began, compared with about 30% by registered Republicans.What youre seeing is great Democratic enthusiasm and turnout that matches that enthusiasm, he said.Higgins, who would be the first non-Hispanic mayor of Miami in almost 30 years if elected, said she is confident she will receive support not only from Democrats, but also from unaffiliated voters and some Republicans because of her work as an elected official.Her pitch to voters includes finding city-owned land that could be turned into affordable housing and cutting unnecessary spending. She was asked during a recent forum sponsored by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce if she would try to turn the more ceremonial role of mayor into a full-time job and not take on other work, something that raised ethical concerns for the current mayor, term-limited Francis Suarez. I do not have outside employment now. I was a full-time commissioner. Im going to be a full-time mayor, Higgins said as the interviewer continued to press her about whether that meant not accepting any outside employment.In a blunt-talking style, Higgins responded sternly: All right, do I have to say it more clearly? No! Its a full-time job. Republicans worry as Latino support waversWhile Latino voters nationally have traditionally leaned Democratic, Republicans in Florida have found strong backing among Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan immigrants, who resist socialist inclinations likened to the ones from the governments they fled. Trump tapped into those sentiments in winning Miami-Dade County last year, a turnaround from his 30 percentage point loss there to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.Yet some Florida Republicans began sounding the alarm after Novembers elections, when Democrats secured wins in nationally watched governors races in New Jersey and Virginia. Both winning candidates had strong performances with nonwhite voters, and the Democratic winner in the New Jersey race received two-thirds of the Hispanic vote, according to the AP Voter Poll.Those results were largely seen as a reflection of concerns over rising prices and the Trump administrations aggressive immigration policies.U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican whose district includes the city of Miami, called the elections elsewhere a wake-up call. Ileana Garcia, a Florida state senator who in 2016 founded the group Latinas for Trump, has said about immigration arrests that what we are witnessing is inhumane. Gonzalez, a former director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under Republican President George W. Bush, said during a debate sponsored by Miamis CBS affiliate that he supported immigration arrests against those who committed crimes. But he demurred when the moderator said most of those arrested had not committed violent offenses: But this is a federal issue, Gonzalez said. This is not an issue that has to do with the mayor of Miami.Higgins has spoken about Miamis signing on to a federal program that delegates immigration authority to local police, county sheriffs and state agencies and said she would find legal options to unwind that decision to rebuild trust between residents and law enforcement.When we start to enforce whatever shenanigans is coming out of the federal government to just randomly pick people up, we could erode that trust, she said.Florida Democrats hope to kickstart their climb back to relevancyHiggins has received support from Florida Democrats looking to show the party still has a foothold in the formerly swing state.Some Democrats who could be considering a presidential run in 2028 also are backing her campaign. Buttigieg encouraged voters in a video to make a plan to vote for her, and U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona planned to join her on Sunday for early voting stops.Many of the local issues at play in the race resonate nationally, including income inequality and one of the nations least affordable housing markets.Gustavo Ascani, a 30-year-old Miami voter, said the city has long-standing problems that need addressing. He said he has not decided whom he will vote for, but said tackling homelessness and traffic is a priority for him.Maybe Republicans have overlooked, after having locally been in power for so long, certain issues that are important for the people in Miami, Ascani said.Robin Peguero, a former prosecutor who is running for the chance to challenge Salazar for her congressional seat, said voters concerns center around affordability, an issue that has become a focal point of both parties after Democrats wins in New Jersey and Virginia.That includes the sharp health insurance premium spikes expected to start Jan. 1 after subsidies under the Affordable Care Act expire. The Obama-era health law remains popular in South Florida, and recent polling shows most people who will be affected by the increases blame Trump and Republicans. Its kitchen table issues, whether its an election for local officials or whether there is an election for the president, Peguero said. Its a rejection of what is happening in this country. ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Gomez Licon writes about national politics for The Associated Press. She is based in Florida. twitter mailto

Indiana (13-0) is the No. 1 team for the first time after winning the Big Ten championship game, ending Ohio State's 14-week run atop the AP Top 25 college football poll.

The countrys interior minister said the situation was under control after a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny, but the president had yet to make a public statement.

Your most-loved kitchen organizers of 2025, all in one place!READ MORE...

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)2025-12-07T15:50:28Z WASHINGTON (AP) A federal judge has dealt a setback to Justice Department efforts to seek a new indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, temporarily barring prosecutors from using evidence they had relied on when they initially secured criminal charges.The ruling Saturday night from U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly does not preclude the department from trying again soon to indict Comey, but it does suggest prosecutors may have to do so without citing communications between Comey and a close friend, Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman.Comey was charged in September with lying to Congress when he denied having authorized an associate to serve as an anonymous source for media coverage about the FBI. In pursuing the case, prosecutors cited messages between Comey and Richman that they said showed Comey encouraging Richman to engage with the media for certain FBI-related coverage. The case was dismissed last month after a different federal judge ruled that the prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed by the Trump administration. But that ruling left open the possibility that the government could try again to seek charges against Comey, a longtime foe of President Donald Trump. After the case was thrown out, lawyers for Richman sought a court order that would bar prosecutors from continued access to his computer files, which the Justice Department obtained through search warrants in 2019 and 2020 as part of a media leak investigation that was later closed without charges. But Richman and his lawyers say that in preparing the criminal case against Comey, prosecutors relied on data that exceeded the scope of the warrants, illegally held onto communications they should have destroyed or returned and conducted new, warrantless searches of the files. Kollar-Kotelly on Saturday night granted Richmans request for a temporary restraining, instructing the department not to access the covered materials once they are identified, segregated, and secured, or to share, disseminate, or disclose the covered materials to any person, without first seeking and obtaining leave of this Court. She gave the Justice Department until Monday afternoon to certify that it is compliance with the order.Petitioner Richman has also shown that, absent an injunction, he will be irreparably harmed by the ongoing violation of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures arising from the Governments continuing retention of the image of his computer and related materials, she wrote.A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment Sunday on the ruling and what it meant for revived charges against Comey.It is not clear that the Justice Department could secure new charges against Comey even if it could rely on Richmans communications. Comeys lawyers have said the statute of limitations on such a case the congressional testimony at issue was given on Sept. 30, 2020, or more than five years ago has expired. A separate attempt by the Justice Department to a file a new indictment against New York Letitia James, another perceived Trump adversary who was also charged by Halligan, failed last week when a grand jury refused to sign off on charges. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates after becoming a world champion after the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)2025-12-07T13:05:38Z McLaren driver Lando Norris held his nerve but could not hold back the tears after clinching his first Formula 1 title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.Red Bull driver and defending champion Max Verstappen won the race with Norris placing third behind his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in second, which allowed Norris to finish two points ahead of Verstappen in the season-long standings. Its incredible. It is pretty surreal. Ive dreamed of this for a long, long time, said the 26-year-old Norris, who started his F1 career as a test and reserve driver with McLaren. I feel like I did my part for the team this year and Im very proud of myself for that. Im even more proud for everyone who I hopefully made cry.Norris became Britains 11th F1 champion, a racing journey that began with kart racing when he was eight years old. The first of his 11 F1 race wins came last year, when he finished second overall in the standings. Piastri was also in contention for his first F1 title and finished third in the standings, 13 points behind Norris, who ended the season with seven wins and 423 points. Norris became the first British champion since Lewis Hamilton won his record-equaling seventh title in 2020, and also denied Verstappen a fifth straight title.Oh God. Ive not cried in a while. Its a long journey. First of all, I want to say a big thanks to my guys, my parents, Norris said a few minutes after the race. I now know what Max feels like a little bit. I want to congratulate him and Oscar, too. Its been a long year but we did it. Norris entered the three-way battle 12 points ahead of Verstappen and 16 ahead of Piastri, who also won seven races but none since the Dutch GP on Aug. 31.Verstappen started from pole position for with Norris on the front row beside him and Piastri third on the grid. Verstappen needed Norris to be fourth or lower and Norris had to finish outside the top five if Piastri won. Verstappens astounding late-season charge came close to unseating both McLaren drivers after they had shared the lead throughout the season and then were undone by driver and team-strategy errors.Verstappens title chances were dramatically improved with two races to go after Norris and Piastri were disqualified in Las Vegas.But even Verstappens season-leading eighth win and 71st of his career could not stop Norris, who kept his composure on Sunday, having been under severe pressure in recent weeks.Oscar and Lando have been awesome all year, McLaren CEO Zak Brown told broadcaster Sky. This Max guy is pretty hard to beat.The McLaren motorhome erupted with joy when Norris clinched it and Brown congratulated Norris on the team radio in his usual jovial manner.Lando, this is Zak from McLaren. Is this the world champion hotline? You did it! You did it! Awesome, Brown said.Norris didnt know whether to laugh or cry. He did both.Oh my God, thanks so much. I love you guys. Thanks for everything, Norris said and then broke down in tears. After crossing the line, Norris stayed in his car for a few moments, visibly emotional. His parents were on the side of the track and he went over to hug them before celebrating with his McLaren engineers and mechanics.Piastri was looking to become the first Australian champion since Alan Jones in 1980, but his failure to win a race after Zandvoort cost him.Pole position was crucial on the 58-lap circuit in Abu Dhabi, where overtaking is hard, and so it proved again as Verstappen joined the long list of race winners from pole since 2015. Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari ahead of George Russell in a Mercedes and Aston Martins Fernando Alonso in sixth.Verstappen gets awayVerstappen made a clean start with Piastri overtaking Norris at the end of Lap 1, while the slick Leclerc was soon behind Norris.Norris was the first of the contenders to change tires when he came in on Lap 17. But he was caught behind some traffic and had Verstappens Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda ahead of him in third spot, which in turn allowed Leclerc to gain some ground on Norris. Tsunoda penalizedNorris overtook Tsunoda on Lap 23 but went very wide and off track limits but race stewards gave Tsunoda a 5-second time penalty for zig-zagging in front of Norris, who was cleared of wrongdoing. Tsunoda, who is being replaced at Red Bull next year by Isack Hadjar, reacted angrily when informed he had moved more than once in front of Norris when defending his position.Slick Leclerc This pace is mega, Ferrari told Leclerc over team radio.Norris pitted again on Lap 41, with Verstappen overtaking Piastri moments later to move into the lead. Piastri came in a lap later for his one and only change but Norris still held the cards because both McLarens had covered an eventual second tire change for Verstappen.The main threat for Norris was Leclerc and he was about 4 seconds behind him with 10 laps left. Is Charles catching him or not? Verstappen asked his race engineer. Leclerc couldnt get closer, meaning Norris could coast to the title barring any mishap or a late safety car.___AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing___Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz leave the podium following a joint press conference in Jerusalem Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, Pool)2025-12-07T14:04:48Z TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel and Hamas are very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire, after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza.Netanyahu spoke during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and stressed that the second phase, the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza could begin as soon as the end of the month.Hamas has yet to hand over the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer who was killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. His body was taken to Gaza.The ceasefires second stage also includes the deployment of an international force to secure Gaza and forming a temporary Palestinian government to run day-to-day affairs under the supervision of an international board led by U.S. President Donald Trump. Netanyahu says second phase will be challengingThe return of Gvilis remains and Israels return of 15 bodies of Palestinians in exchange would complete the first phase of Trumps 20-point ceasefire plan.Hamas says it has not been able to reach all remains because they are buried under rubble left by Israels two-year offensive in Gaza. Israel has accused the militants of stalling and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned.A group of families of hostages said in a statement that we cannot advance to the next phase before Ran Gvili returns home. Netanyahu said few people believed the ceasefires first stage could be achieved, and the second phase is just as challenging.As I mentioned to the chancellor, theres a third phase, and that is to deradicalize Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it was done in the Gulf States. It can be done in Gaza, too, but of course Hamas has to be dismantled, he said.Merz said Germany, one of Israels closest allies, is assisting with the implementation of the second phase by sending officers and diplomats to a U.S.-led civilian and military coordination center in southern Israel, and by sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. Germany says support for Israel is unchangedMerz said Germany will always stand up for Israels existence and security after the atrocities of the Holocaust: This is part of the unchanging core of our relationship. This applies today, it applies tomorrow and it applies forever.The chancellor also said Germany still believes that a two-state-solution is the best possible option but that the German federal government remains of the opinion that recognition of a Palestinian state can only come at the end of such a process, not at the beginning.The U.S.-drafted plan for Gaza leaves the door open to Palestinian independence. Netanyahu has long asserted that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israels borders. Netanyahu also said that while he would like to visit Germany, he hasnt planned a diplomatic trip because he is concerned about an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the U.N.'s top war crimes court, last year in connection with the war in Gaza. Merz said there are currently no plans for a visit but he may invite Netanyahu in the future. He added that he is not aware of future sanctions against Israel from the European Union nor any plans to renew German bans on military exports to Israel.Germany had a temporary ban on exporting military equipment to Israel, which was lifted after the ceasefire began on Oct. 10.Israel kills militant in GazaThe Israeli military said it killed a militant who approached its troops across the so-called Yellow Line that divides the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza from the rest of the territory.Gazas Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 370 Palestinians since the start of the ceasefire, and that the bodies of six people killed in attacks had been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours.In the original Hamas-led attack in 2023, the militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage. Almost all the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. Israels offensive in Gaza has killed at least 70,360 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says that nearly half the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of Gazas Hamas government and its numbers are considered reliable by the U.N. and other international bodies.___Grieshaber reported from Berlin.___Find more of APs Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel. KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Grieshaber is a Berlin-based reporter covering Germany and Austria for The Associated Press. She covers general news as well as migration, populism and religion. mailto

ESPN fantasy football expert Eric Moody is here to answer your pressing questions.

Odds, game bets, prop plays, daily fantasy advice and analysis to help you bet Sunday night's game.

The Bengals suspended Jermaine Burton for Sunday's game against the Bills, the team announced.

Brent Pry is back at Virginia Tech as the team's new defensive coordinator, just months after being fired as the program's head coach, sources confirmed to ESPN. Pry had previously worked for years under new VT coach James Franklin.

Over two decades, a minimum-security prison aimed at helping inmates prepare to leave prison was a point of civic pride. Now, state officials have converted it to ICE detention.

After my father-in-law died, we found something interesting in his files.

Shoppers are calling it a Candy Land find!READ MORE...

Plus, itll cost you next to nothing!READ MORE...

Magic forward Franz Wagner limped to the locker room and ruled out following an injury to his lower left leg against the Knicks.

Iowa State and Kansas State have each been fined $500,000 by the Big 12 for choosing to turn down bowl invitations. Both programs made their decisions after coaching changes last week.

Indiana earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff field, while Alabama and Miami nudged out Notre Dame for the final at-large spot.

The Treasury Secretary said on Sunday he recently shed his holdings to comply with his federal ethics agreement.

Carbondale, Ill., a liberal enclave within driving distance of 10 states with abortion bans, has become a hub for the procedure. Last year there were nearly 11,000 abortions in this city of 21,000.

Wilma Fuentes yells at Customs and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino and some of his agents as they walk through a neighborhood during an immigration crackdown, in Kenner, La., Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)2025-12-07T18:35:49Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) State and federal authorities are closely tracking online criticism and demonstrations against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans, monitoring message boards around the clock for threats to agents while compiling regular updates on public sentiment surrounding the arrests, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Associated Press. The intelligence gathering comes even as officials have released few details about the first arrests made last week as part of Catahoula Crunch, prompting calls for greater transparency from local officials who say theyve been kept in the dark about virtually every aspect of the operation. Online opinions still remain mixed, with some supporting the operations while others are against them, said a briefing circulated early Sunday to law enforcement. Earlier bulletins noted a combination of groups urging the public to record ICE and Border Patrol as well as additional locations where agents can find immigrants. Immigration authorities have insisted the sweeps are targeted at criminal illegal aliens. But the law enforcement records detail criminal histories for less than a third of the 38 people arrested in the first two days of the operation. Local leaders told the AP those numbers which law enforcement officials were admonished not to distribute to the media undermined the stated aim of the roundup. They also expressed concern that the online surveillance could chill free speech as authorities threaten to charge anyone interfering with immigration enforcement. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on It confirms what we already knew this was not about public safety, its about stoking chaos and fear and terrorizing communities, said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents New Orleans. Its furthering a sick narrative of stereotypes that immigrants are violent.The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the intelligence gathering and referred the AP to a prior news release touting dozens of arrests. The agency has not released an accounting of the detainees taken into custody or their criminal histories. Few initially arrested had violent criminal recordsDHS has publicly detailed only six arrests stemming from the operation all people with criminal histories including a man they vaguely said was convicted of homicide and another convicted of sexual assault. The agency, which has several hundred agents on the ground in southeast Louisiana, has said it aims to make at least 5,000 arrests in the region over an operation expected to last up to two months.Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens harming them, their families or their neighbors, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. DHS and Republican leaders have framed the crackdown as targeting the most violent offenders. But the records reviewed by the AP identify only nine of the 38 people arrested in the first days as having criminal histories that rose beyond traffic violations information the intelligence bulletins warn should not be distributed to the media. New Orleans City Council President J.P. Morrell said the stated goals of the operation to arrest violent offenders did not align with the reality of what is taking place. Theres literally no information being given to the city of New Orleans whatsoever, Morrell said. If the goal was for them to come here and augment existing law enforcement, to pursue violent criminals or people with extensive criminal histories, why wouldnt you be more transparent about who youve arrested and why?Morrell and other officials have said the crackdown appears to be a dragnet focused on people with brown skin, citing viral videos of encounters such as masked agents chasing a 23-year-old U.S. citizen returning home from the grocery store. Law enforcement officials have been carefully tracking such footage and public reaction. For some supporters, the videos with sounds of children crying in the background as their parents are placed under arrest, is weighing heavy on their hearts, one briefing stated. Authorities monitoring public sentiment and protestsThe records also shed new light on cooperation among state and federal authorities in an operation welcomed by Louisianas Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. Both the FBI and Customs and Border Protection have stationed agents at the Louisiana State Analytical and Fusion Exchange, an intelligence and data sharing center that is closely following discussions on the online forum Reddit that local residents have used to exchange information about the immigration raids.One briefing noted that some have gone so far as to accuse agents of racially profiling Hispanic areas specifically. Another flagged social media posts suggesting agents are not keeping with the mission of targeting criminal immigrants only. And a third pointed out that critics of the raids bring up past hurricanes and the work done by immigrants in their aftermath. The chatter is slower during the night, mainly just commenting on posts from earlier in the day, one of the briefings states. Once daylight arrives and agencies are back out, the chatter and new posts will pick back up. The briefings have identified no threats to law enforcement, but the fusion center has sought to debunk what it called false reports that a pedestrian was fatally struck by law enforcement. It has been confirmed that this actually did not occur, the center told law enforcement on Saturday.One briefing described an incident involving suspicious persons/protesters who showed up early Saturday at an ICE facility in St. Charles Parish, where records show the detainees were expected to be processed.Some local officials said they had been unaware of the states role in the online monitoring. Louisiana State Police pledged operational support to immigration authorities and warned the public that troopers will arrest anyone who assaults a federal agent or causes criminal damage to property. The Louisiana State Police remains vigilant in monitoring social media activity related to protests, activism and other forms of public response, Trooper Danny Berrincha, a state police spokesperson, wrote in an email to the AP. Through the LSP Fusion Center, we actively track developments and facilitate the sharing of information and communication among our partner agencies.The fusion center also has tracked the tools used by protesters to foil federal immigration enforcement, highlighting social media links to whistle handouts, trainings on filming federal agents and the emergence of a hotline for reporting arrests. The surveillance extended to activist discussions about immigration authorities presence near an elementary school and recapped demonstrations inside the New Orleans City Council chambers and elsewhere. They can monitor me all they want, said Rachel Taber, an organizer with the New Orleans-based grassroots advocacy group Union Migrante, which shares crowdsourced reports and videos of the federal immigration enforcement operations. We are not doing anything illegal. Beth Davis, a spokesperson for Indivisible NOLA, which has organized some of the trainings described in the law enforcement briefings, said it was sad authorities seemed preoccupied with law-abiding citizens. That they feel threatened by a bunch of community organizers that have nothing other than phones and whistles blows my mind.__Mustian reported from New York. JIM MUSTIAN Mustian is an Associated Press investigative reporter for breaking news. twitter mailto JACK BROOK Brook covers Louisiana government, infrastructure and environmental issues from New Orleans. He is a Report for America corps member. twitter mailto

Ohio State's Lorenzo Styles Jr. breaks up a pass intended for Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. during the first half of the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)2025-12-07T11:10:08Z Get the AP Top 25 college football poll delivered straight to your inbox every week with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. Nobody paying attention for the past 24 months would be surprised to see Indiana yes, Indiana leading the way into this years College Football Playoff.But anyone paying attention over the last 24 hours knew the only sure thing beyond that was that the selection committee that set this 12-team bracket was destined to get destroyed when it released the pairings Sunday. All that second-guessing and vitriol will be coming from Notre Dame, which was passed over for Alabama and Miami for two bubble spots in the bracket. The Fighting Irish dropped two notches in the rankings over the last two weeks despite a 10-game winning streak, winning their finale by 29 points and sitting on the couch Saturday. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Alabama didnt move at all in the CFP rankings after a 28-7 loss to Georgia that looked worse than that, but that the committee didnt count that against the Tide in keeping with a hazy policy that refrains from penalizing teams for playing in their league title game. Miami didnt play either, but the Hurricanes win over Notre Dame in Week 1 played a role in their move once the teams were grouped right next to each other after BYU lost its game on Saturday. Committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said he directed the committee to rewatch Miamis win over Notre Dame way back on Aug. 31. Once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, we had the side-by-side comparison that eveyrone had been hungy for, Yurachek said. Think you know who belongs in the Top 25? Now its your turn to vote with the AP Top 25 fan poll. The committees other key decision was choosing James Madison over Duke for the final spot, a selection that left the Atlantic Coast Conference champion out of the mix, but didnt fully exclude the ACC because of Miamis move into the bracket. Yurachek insisted that including the ACC one of the Power Four conferences in the playoff in some form played no role in the deliberations.The rest of the field includes No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech, which joined Indiana in getting first-round byes. Then it was No. 5 Oregon, followed by Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami, Tulane and James Madison. The playoffs start Dec. 19-20 with first round games: James Madison at Oregon; Tulane at Misssissippi; Miami at Texas A&M; and Alabama at Oklahoma. The final is set for Jan. 19 outside of Miami. ___Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Sue Bird joined classmate Swin Cash and Rebecca Lobo as the only UConn women's basketball players to have their numbers retired.

Colts quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a noncontact lower leg injury to his right Achilles, leaving him in obvious pain and out for the remainder of Sunday's pivotal AFC South game against the Jaguars.

Bill Connelly breaks down the path to victory for every team -- and what will hold each of them back.

Our college football writers predict the outcomes of each CFP matchup and choose their champion.

After months of holding steady, President Trumps approval rating has dipped over the past several weeks, according to a New York Times analysis of public polling.

Ms. Perry and Mr. Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada, posed together in photos and videos on Instagram, making them Instagram official.

Despite the finding, the authorities have been unable to fix the damage from a drone that punctured Reactor No. 4s outermost protective shield in February.

Practical presents for the win.READ MORE...

With Alexandre Pantoja injured, another young talent could be a natural fit to challenge men's flyweight champion Joshua Van.

The dates, times and sites for all the college football postseason action.

Evaluating the committee's ranking process, and what teams should be most upset over in the final CFP ranking.

Ohio State dropped to the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff, but the Buckeyes remain the betting favorites to win a second straight national title.

Our NFL Nation reporters answer big questions from each Week 14 game.