National News

ATHENS, Greece -- Greece's culture ministry said Tuesday archaeologists have located the first tangible remains of a lost city the ancient Greeks believed was first settled by Trojan captives of war after the sack of Troy. A ministry statement said excavations from September to early October in the southern Greek region of the Peleponnese turned up "proof of the existence of the ancient city" of Tenea, until now known mostly from ancient texts...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump is weighing an administration-wide shakeup as he looks to prepare his White House for divided government, with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen expected to be among the next to go, perhaps as soon as this week...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- While in private business, acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker walked away from a taxpayer-subsidized apartment-rehabilitation project in Iowa after years of cost overruns, delays and other problems, public records show. The City of Des Moines ultimately yanked an affordable housing loan Whitaker's company had been awarded, and another lender began foreclosure proceedings after Whitaker defaulted on a separate loan for nearly $700,000. ...

WASHINGTON -- The federal government recorded a deficit of $100.5 billion in October, a big increase from a year ago but primarily caused by quirks in the calendar. The Treasury Department said Tuesday the deficit shot up 59 percent from the same month a year ago. Last year's October deficit was smaller because the government paid $48 billion in benefits in September because Oct. 1 fell on the weekend...

NEW YORK -- More children have been diagnosed with a mysterious paralyzing illness in recent weeks, and U.S. health officials said Tuesday they still aren't sure what's causing it. This year's count could surpass the numbers seen in similar outbreaks in 2014 and 2016, officials said. Fortunately, the disease remains rare: This year, there have been 90 cases spread among 27 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said...

WASHINGTON -- Frustration, finger-pointing and questions spilled over a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday night as lawmakers sorted through an election defeat costing them the majority and began considering new leadership for their shrunken minority...

WASHINGTON -- Shortly after 9/11, the CIA considered using a drug it thought might work like a truth serum and force terror suspects to give up information about potential attacks. After months of research, the agency decided a drug called Versed, a sedative often prescribed to reduce anxiety, was "possibly worth a try." But in the end, the CIA decided not to ask government lawyers to approve its use...

The number of foreign students heading to U.S. colleges and universities fell again last year, the second straight decline after more than a decade of growth, a new report finds. Enrollment of new international students dropped by about 7 percent in fall 2017, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the State Department and the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit research group based in New York...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- President Donald Trump sought to intervene in Florida's legally mandated vote recount Tuesday, calling on the state's Democratic senator to admit defeat and again implying without evidence officials in two pivotal counties are trying to steal the election...

PARADISE, Calif. -- Ernest Foss was a musician who gave lessons out of his home when he lived in San Francisco, where an amplifier running the length of a wall served as the family's living room couch. Carl Wiley refurbished tires for Michelin. Jesus Fernandez was known as "Zeus."...

NEW YORK -- During the height of Mexican drug wars in 1993, an attempted hit on Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman went wrong. A team of gunmen sent to rub out the notorious drug lord instead killed a Roman Catholic cardinal at an airport in Guadalajara, outraging the Mexican public enough to touch off a massive manhunt for Guzman. He was captured, but prosecutors say he was undeterred from a brutal pursuit of power that lasted decades, featured jail breakouts and left a trail of bodies...

LONDON -- After months of stalled talks, false starts and setbacks, negotiators from Britain and the European Union struck a proposed divorce deal Tuesday to provide for the U.K.'s smooth exit from the bloc. But the agreement faces major political hurdles starting today, when British Prime Minister Theresa May will try to win the approval of her divided Cabinet for a deal many ministers view with skepticism...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas and other militant groups said Tuesday they had accepted an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire to end two days of intense fighting with Israel, pushing the sworn enemies to the brink of a new war. The sudden announcement brought relief to a region paralyzed by hundreds of Palestinian rocket attacks in southern Israel and scores of Israeli airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip. ...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- When U.S. forces and their Afghan allies rode into Kabul in November 2001 they were greeted as liberators. But after 17 years of war, the Taliban have retaken half the country, security is worse than it's been in that time, and many Afghans place the blame squarely on the Americans...

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 14, the 318th day of 2018. There are 47 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 14, 1970, a chartered Southern Airways DC-9 crashed while trying to land in West Virginia, killing all 75 people on board, including the Marshall University football team and its coaching staff...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota baby girl was born on Veterans Day — the 11th day of the 11th month — at 11:11 p.m. Erin and Mike Potts of Hugo welcomed their first child Sunday, the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. The girl was born at The Mother Baby Center in St. Paul. WCCO-TV reported the new mom said it was a long labor, from about 5 a.m. until 11 p.m., “but the delivery went smoothly.” The baby did not have a name as of Monday afternoon...

VIENNA -- The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Monday that Iran is abiding by the deal reached in 2015 with major powers aiming at preventing Tehran from building atomic weapons in exchange for economic incentives. In a confidential quarterly report distributed to member states and reviewed by The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has been abiding with key limitations set in the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA...

PARIS -- For President Donald Trump in Paris, America First meant largely America alone. At a weekend commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the president who proudly declares himself a "nationalist" stood apart, even on a continent where his brand of populism is on the rise...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed back to Israel on Monday following a sudden burst of fighting the previous night leaving in doubt efforts to bring to an end months of relentless violence between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military said an officer was killed and another was wounded during an operation in the southeast Gaza Strip, involving an exchange of gunfire. It did not disclose other details surrounding the incident...

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- More than 20 years after his father almost bargained them away for a pair of nuclear reactors, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has his nuclear weapons -- and a nation still plagued by chronic blackouts. Even on the clearest days, plumes of smoke from two towering chimneys linger over the center of Pyongyang. The Soviet-era Pyongyang Combined Heat and Power Plant smokestacks are one of the North Korean capital's most recognizable landmarks...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- After Republicans, including President Donald Trump, made unsubstantiated accusations of illegal activity, a judge Monday urged the warring sides in the Florida recount to "ramp down the rhetoric," saying it eroded public confidence in the election for Senate and governor...

NEW YORK -- No, it wasn't a blue wave. But a week after the voting, Democrats are riding higher than they thought on election night. As vote counting presses on in several states, the Democrats have steadily chalked up victories across the country, firming up their grip on the U.S. House of Representatives and statehouses. The slow roll of wins has given the party plenty to celebrate...

PARADISE, Calif. -- The dead were found in burned-out cars, in the smoldering ruins of their homes, or next to their vehicles, apparently overcome by smoke and flames before they could jump in behind the wheel and escape. In some cases, there were only charred fragments of bone, so small coroner's investigators used a wire basket to sift and sort them...

Today in History Today is Tuesday, Nov. 13, the 317th day of 2018. There are 48 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 13, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure lowering the minimum draft age from 21 to 18. On this date:...

Today is Monday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2018. There are 49 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 12, 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party. On this date:...

Today in History Today is Sunday, Nov. 11, the 315th day of 2018. There are 50 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 11, 1921, the remains of an unidentified American service member were interred in a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding...

PARADISE, Calif. -- A powerful wildfire in Northern California incinerated most of a town of about 30,000 people with flames that moved so fast there was nothing firefighters could do, authorities said Friday. Six people died, including five who were found in their burned-out vehicles...

WASHINGTON -- In a setback for the Trump administration, a federal judge has blocked a permit for construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and ordered officials to conduct a new environmental review. Environmentalists and tribal groups cheered the ruling by a U.S. district judge in Montana, while President Donald Trump called it "a political decision" and "a disgrace."...

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- The gunman who killed 12 people at a country music bar in Southern California went on social media during the attack and posted about his mental state and whether people would believe he was sane, a law enforcement official said Friday...

PARIS -- President Donald Trump wasted no time taking a poke at his French host Friday as he arrived in Paris for events marking the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, tweeting as he landed that President Emmanuel Macron had made an "insulting" proposal to build up Europe's military to counter the U.S., China and Russia...

NEW YORK -- Before hopping on a plane to Paris on Friday, President Trump insulted some more reporters, threatened that others may have their White House credentials pulled like CNN's Jim Acosta and disputed reports his press secretary spread a doctored video of Acosta's encounter with a White House intern...

WASHINGTON -- Matthew Whitaker's future at the helm of the Justice Department appeared uncertain at best Friday as President Donald Trump denied even knowing the man he had named acting attorney general just two days earlier. The Senate's top Republican predicted a permanent replacement could be named soon for Whitaker, who is now overseeing the Trump-Russia probe...

WASHINGTON -- The White House is bracing for the probe of Donald Trump's presidential campaign to fire up again. Trump's advisers are privately expressing worries the special counsel, who's been out of the news for the past month, has been stealthily compiling information and could soon issue new indictments or a damning final report...

WASHINGTON -- Getting President Donald Trump's tax returns is high on the list of Democratic priorities now that they have won the House. By law, the leaders of tax-writing committees in the House and Senate can obtain tax returns and related information from the Internal Revenue Service. Democrats will control the House panel next year...

ATLANTA -- Volunteers spread out Friday trying to find any ballots that could help Democrat Stacey Abrams close the gap against Republican Brian Kemp in their unsettled, too-close-to-call race for Georgia governor. Unofficial returns show Kemp with an advantage, and he's already resigned as secretary of state to start a transition with the blessing of the outgoing GOP governor, Nathan Deal. ...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Florida is once again at the center of election controversy, but this year there are no hanging chads or butterfly ballots, like in 2000. And no angry mobs in suits -- at least not yet. The deeply purple state will learn Saturday whether recounts will be held in the bitter, tight U.S. ...

MEXICO CITY -- About 500 Central American migrants headed out of Mexico City on Friday to embark on the longest and most dangerous leg of their journey to the U.S. border, while thousands more were waiting one day more at a massive improvised shelter...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Friday to deny asylum to migrants who enter the country illegally, tightening the border as caravans of Central Americans slowly approach the United States. The plan was immediately challenged in court...

JERUSALEM -- More than a decade before the Nazis seized power in Germany, Albert Einstein was on the run and already fearful for his country's future, according to a newly revealed handwritten letter. His longtime friend and fellow Jew, German Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau, had just been assassinated by right-wing extremists and police had warned the noted physicist his life could be in danger, too...

NEW YORK -- Federal health officials Thursday reported the first death in an ongoing salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the death was in California but didn't have any immediate details. Since last November, the agency said 164 people have fallen ill in 35 states, with the most recent case being reported Oct. 20...

Today is Saturday, Nov. 10, the 314th day of 2018. There are 51 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On Nov. 10, 1775, the U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress. On this date: In 1871, journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley found Scottish missionary David Livingstone, who had not been heard from for years, near Lake Tanganyika in central Africa...

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Terrified patrons hurled barstools through windows to escape or threw their bodies protectively on top of friends as a Marine combat veteran killed 12 people at a country music bar in an attack that added Thousand Oaks to the tragic roster of American cities traumatized by mass shootings...

WASHINGTON -- The White House is bracing for the probe of Donald Trump's presidential campaign to fire up again. Trump's advisers are privately expressing worries the special counsel, who's been out of the news for the past month, has been stealthily compiling information and soon could issue new indictments or a damning final report...

WASHINGTON -- Vilified by Republicans on the campaign trail, Nancy Pelosi emerged as President Donald Trump's preferred choice to become speaker of the House, arriving on Capitol Hill with an air of inevitability after leading her party back to the majority...

MEXICO CITY -- Central American migrants in a caravan that has stopped in Mexico City demanded buses Thursday to take them to the U.S. border, saying it is too cold and dangerous to continue walking and hitchhiking. Mexico City authorities say of the 4,841 registered migrants receiving shelter in a sports complex, 1,726 are younger than 18, including 310 children younger than 5...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google is promising to be more forceful and open about its handling of sexual misconduct cases, a week after high-paid engineers and others walked out in protest over its male-dominated culture. CEO Sundar Pichai spelled out the concessions in an email sent Thursday to Google employees. ...

Today is Friday, Nov. 9, the 313th day of 2018. There are 52 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 9, 1938, Nazis looted and burned synagogues as well as Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria in a pogrom or deliberate persecution that became known as "Kristallnacht."...

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions was pushed out Wednesday as the country's chief law enforcement officer after enduring more than a year of blistering and personal attacks from President Donald Trump over his recusal from the Russia investigation...

WASHINGTON -- Suddenly facing life under divided government, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders talked bipartisanship Wednesday but then bluntly previewed the fault lines to come. Trump threatened to go after House Democrats who try to investigate him, while Rep. Nancy Pelosi said her party would be "a check and balance" against the White House...

NEW YORK -- Jury selection at the U.S. trial for Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was completed Wednesday with Guzman waiting for word on whether he can hug his wife for the first time in nearly two years. A jury of seven women and five men are to hear opening statements Tuesday in the drug-conspiracy case against Guzman in federal court in Brooklyn...