AP National News

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis man has been charged with trying to intimidate the judge presiding over the manslaughter trial of the former officer charged in Daunte Wright’s death.The Star Tribune reports Cortez A. Rice was charged last week with tampering with a judicial officer, a felony. Rice allegedly went into a condominium building where

By DASHA LITVINOVA, AAMER MADHANI and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak in a video call Tuesday. Tensions between the U.S. and Russia have escalated over a Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border that’s seen as a sign of a

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro has canceled its New Year’s Eve party due to renewed COVID-19 fears. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes announced the decision on social media on Saturday. Paes had previously promised the biggest New Year’s Eve party ever, with multiple firework displays and artists performing on a dozen stages across

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police say at least 21 people died after a bus carrying choir members to a wedding plunged into a river in Kenya on Saturday. Mwingi East Sub-County Police Commander Joseph Yakan said the driver tried to steer the bus past a flooded bridge, but the strong current swept the vehicle into

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police shot a Palestinian after an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed and wounded near Damascus Gate just outside Jerusalem’s Old City. The crowded area is often the scene of demonstrations and clashes. The Magen David Adom emergency service said it treated an ultra-Orthodox man in his 20s, saying he was in

By JAY REEVES Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama inmate who survived an execution attempt and died years later of natural causes was laid to rest in a grave dug by family and friends. A defense attorney says Doyle Lee Hamm was buried Friday afternoon beside his parents, siblings and other relatives at

By KATHLEEN FOODY and COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge has imposed a combined $1 million bond for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a commercial building. James and Jennifer Crumbley entered not

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Winter has started out weird in the United States. It’s been flip flop weather in much of the country with the Pacific Northwest getting record rainfall while Denver and the Rockies still are waiting for their first significant snowfall of the season. Meteorologists say a stuck jet stream, the

By ILIANA MIER Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Pope Francis was heckled by an elderly priest as he arrived for a meeting in Athens with the head of the country’s Orthodox church. The priest shouted: “Pope, you are a heretic!” three times as Francis arrived at the residence of the head of Greece’s Orthodox

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School have pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a commercial building. James and Jennifer Crumbley entered pleas to each

PARIS (AP) — Valérie Pécresse, the head the Paris region and a former conservative minister, has been chosen to run in France’s presidential race for The Republicans party. The decision could significantly shape the presidential election in April. She received 61% of the votes in the party’s primary, defeating contender Eric Ciotti, a hardline lawmaker

By AGOES BASOEKI Associated Press LUMAJANG, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s highest volcano on Java island has spewed thick columns of ash, searing gas and lava down its slopes in a sudden eruption triggered by heavy rains. At least one villager died from burns and 41 were hospitalized. Mount Semeru’s eruption in East Java province left

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the country. That has led to frazzled workers and even temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines. But now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police say at least 18 people died after a bus carrying choir members to a wedding plunged into a river in Kenya on Saturday. Mwingi East Sub-County Police Commander Joseph Yakan said the driver tried to steer the bus past a flooded bridge, but the strong current swept the vehicle into

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of protesters have gathered in Belgrade and other Serbian towns and villages to block roads and bridges despite police warnings and an intimidation campaign launched by authorities against the participants. Blowing whistles and chanting “Uprising! Uprising!” thousands of people stopped traffic Saturday on the main

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say five bodies with gunshot and stabbing wounds have been found Saturday in a house just outside Berlin. The victims included three children. Officers found the bodies in Koenigs Wusterhausen, southeast of Berlin, on Saturday after witnesses reported seeing dead people in the building, prosecutors and police said in a

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press German Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz’s center-left party has given its overwhelming approval to a deal to form a new government with environmentalist and pro-business parties. Saturday’s vote at a Social Democratic Party convention was the first of three such decisions needed for Scholz to take office next week. Scholz’s Social Democrats

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A sheriff’s office in Michigan says the parents of a teen accused of killing four students in a shooting at a high school have been caught while hiding in a Detroit commercial building that housed artwork. Police say James and Jennifer Crumbley appeared

By TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The first week of the sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell saw the first of her four main accusers taking the witness stand to give emotional testimony accusing the British socialite of coaxing her into sexual encounters with financier Jeffrey Epstein. The jury at the federal trial

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A local official in central Mali says gunmen attacked a truck carrying civilians in central Mali, killing at least 31 people. The mayor of Bandiagara, Housseini Saye, said the truck was carrying about 50 civilians when the identified gunmen attacked the vehicle Friday about 10 kilometers