AP National News

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake, an immigration hard-liner, was a

Associated Press NASARAWA, Nigeria (AP) — Growing demand for the lithium used in batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage has created a new frontier for mining in Nigeria. But it’s led to exploitation of children who are often poor and take work in small, illegal mines to support themselves and their families. The Associated

Associated Press NASARAWA, Nigeria (AP) — Dressed in a faded pink dress, 6-year-old Juliet Samaniya squats under scorching skies to chip at a jagged white rock with a stone tool. Dust coats her tiny hands and her hair as she works hour after hour for less than a dollar a day. The landscape around her

AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Embattled Japanese automaker Nissan has tapped Jeremie Papin as its chief financial officer in a major management reshuffle billed as key to a turnaround. The move, announced in the United States Thursday, means Papin, chairman of Nissan’s Americas Management Committee, replaces Stephen Ma, who will oversee Nissan Motor Corp.’s

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Papua New Guinea will gain its own team in Australia’s rugby league in a soft diplomacy deal linked to limiting Chinese influence in the South Pacific. The Australian government will spend $380 million over a decade to add a team from its nearest neighbor to the National Rugby League

NEW YORK (AP) — Woody Allen’s former personal chef has filed a lawsuit against the filmmaker and his wife Soon-Yi Previn. In it, the chef, Hermie Fajardo, claims the couple fired him because he took time off to train with the U.S. Army Reserves and raised questions about his pay. Representatives for Allen did not

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The Paris Olympics says it was far less polluting than recent Games but is not claiming to have been “carbon neutral” despite funding projects to compensate for its emissions. Organizers said Wednesday that this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics generated 1.59 million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide. That’s including everything from

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The government of Argentina has accused its Venezuelan counterpart of continually harassing six members of the political opposition who have been sheltering for months in the Argentine diplomatic compound in Caracas. The government of President Javier Milei on Wednesday also urged the Organization of American States to pressure Venezuela to allow

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Gunmen have shot to death a state judge outside a court building in the violence-wracked Pacific coast resort of Acapulco in Mexico. The prosecutors’ office in the southern state of Guerrero said they were reviewing security camera footage to try to identify the killers. The attack on Wednesday killed Edmundo Román

Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two men have been freed after their convictions were overturned in a 2009 double homicide whose investigation was overseen by a discredited Kansas City, Kansas, police detective. Forty-year-old Dominique Moore said he was “thankful and blessed” after his release Wednesday from a state prison. Cheers greeted 34-year-old Cedric

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban. The votes Wednesday culminated two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and the militant Hamas group

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree as an act of governance and denied rebellion charges, vowing Thursday to “fight to the end” in the face of attempts to impeach him and intensifying investigations into last week’s dramatic move. He spoke hours before the

AP Sports Writers Bill Belichick had seemingly been waiting for the right opportunity to return to an NFL sideline. Instead, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach is headed to the college ranks to take over at North Carolina. The school announced it had reached a five-year deal with Belichick on Wednesday night, roughly a week

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats failed Wednesday to confirm a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board after independent Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema opposed the nomination, thwarting their hopes of locking in a majority at the federal agency for the first two years of President-elect Donald Trump’s term. A vote

SYDNEY (AP) — A team from rugby league hotspot Papua New Guinea will enter the National Rugby League from 2028 after officially being granted a license. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Papua New Guinean counterpart James Marape met in Sydney on Thursday to shake hands over the deal, the culmination of two years

Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach has died at age 82. He served 30 years as a politician from eastern Iowa. He later headed the National Endowment for the Humanities. His death Wednesday was confirmed by an Iowa City funeral home. He represented Iowa as a moderate Republican until

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person accused of accosting U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in a Capitol Office building pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor assault charge. Witnesses told police that James McIntyre, 33, of Chicago, shook Mace’s hand in an “exaggerated, aggressive” manner after approaching the South Carolina Republican in the Rayburn House Office

Associated Press/Report for America NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A southeast Louisiana official allegedly committed perjury by failing to disclose information related to a controversial grain terminal, according to a motion filed as part of a federal lawsuit brought by a prominent local climate activist. The dispute is part of a broader clash pitting officials eager

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — 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: The Biden

Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina House Republicans have enacted legislation that erodes some powers of several statewide offices newly-elected Democrats are slated to hold next month. Lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. One of the most significant changes shifts the power to appoint state elections board members from the governor to