AP National News

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California water agency has approved key funding needed to support plans for a giant underground tunnel that would reroute a big part of the state’s water supply. The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which along with local agencies provides water to 19 million people, voted

Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Environmental groups are asking the U.S. government to do more to protect grizzly bears in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Their request filed Wednesday comes just weeks before a court-imposed deadline and political change that will chart the future of the region’s grizzlies. The groups want the U.S. Fish and

Associated Press FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for a man accused of attempting to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump in September asked a federal judge to delay his trial until next December. The public defenders representing Ryan Routh told Judge Aileen Cannon on Wednesday that they need more time to review the evidence against him

Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that Ohio’s product liability law prohibits counties from bringing public-nuisance claims against national pharmaceutical chains as they did as part of national opioid litigation. Tuesday’s decision could overturn a $650 million judgment against the pharmacies in a lawsuit brought by Lake and Trumbull

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

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Indiana’s state fire marshal says an investigation into a northern Indiana house fire that killed six siblings in January failed to determine what caused the deadly blaze, although electrical items were identified as “potential ignition sources.” State Fire Marshal Steve Jones said Wednesday the probe of the Jan. 21 fire

Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis presided over his weekly general audience Wednesday alongside a Palestinian-crafted Nativity scene that was missing its eyebrow-raising signature element: a keffiyeh-draped manger holding the infant Jesus. The wooden Nativity scene in the Vatican’s main audience hall had generated headlines when it was unveiled Dec. 7 because of

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The British government has indefinitely banned puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria after independent experts found there was an unacceptable safety risk in prescribing the medication. The decision announced on Wednesday effectively bans a common approach to medical gender transitions for youths. The blockers can suppress or pause puberty

Associated Press DAMASCUS (AP) — Mohammad Chaeeb spoke softly into his phone, telling a relative the grim news: He found his brother at the morgue. “I saw him and said my goodbyes,” he said. His gaze lingered on the blackened body of Sami Chaeeb, whose teeth were bared and whose eye sockets were empty. It

MILAN (AP) — The Paris-based fashion house, Maison Margiela, has announced that British designer John Galliano is leaving the company after 10 years as artistic director. No successor has been named. The flamboyant designer joined Maison Margiela in 2014 after all but disappearing from fashion due to antisemitic remarks in a bar several years earlier.

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped hate crime charges against 12 of the 15 Salisbury University students arrested following an attack in which investigators say a man was lured to an off-campus apartment, beaten and called a homophobic slur. The Wicomico County Office of the State’s Attorney says it “has reviewed the evidence gathered