WASHINGTON — The United States criticizes Russia for killing hundreds of civilians in airstrikes in Syria and accuses Moscow of undermining hopes for a cease-fire between Bashar Assad's government and leading rebel groups.
WASHINGTON — U.S. and coalition airstrikes killed 10 Islamic State leaders over the past month, including several linked to the Paris attacks or other plots against the West, a U.S. military official in Iraq says.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A teen fugitive who's known for using an "affluenza" defense and his mother attempted to disguise themselves and disappear among the American tourists thronging a Mexican resort city for the holidays, but are now in custody and will be returned to the U.S. after a cellphone used to order pizza gave away their location, authorities say.
WASHINGTON — A former U.S. defense secretary is on a mission to warn of a "real and growing danger" of nuclear doom, troubled by the risks of catastrophe from the very weapons he helped develop. Atop William J. Perry's list: a nuclear terror attack in a major U.S. city or a shooting war with Russia that, through miscalculation, turns nuclear. A terrorist attack using a nuclear bomb or improvised nuclear device could happen "any time now - next year or the year after," he said in an interview with reporters this month.
HAVANA — President Raul Castro warns Cubans to prepare for tough economic conditions in 2016 despite warmer relations with the United States. Castro said that while tourism is booming, low oil prices have damaged the outlook of an economy that depends on billions of dollars of subsidized oil and cash from Venezuela.
CLEVELAND — The case is far from over for the city of the Cleveland and the white patrolmen involved in the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, despite the grand jury decision not to charge the officers in the killing. The family is suing the city, federal prosecutors are looking into possible civil rights charges against Timothy Loehmann and his partner, and the two officers face a departmental investigation that could result in disciplinary action, including firing.
CHICAGO — A white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the 2014 fatal shooting of a black teenager pleads not guilty Tuesday.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The policeman who allegedly shot three fellow officers to death at work underwent psychological treatment for a decade and had faced three separate investigations for insubordination and unexcused absences, a Puerto Rico police spokesman said.
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is reviving memories of Bill Clinton's affair with a White House intern and his turbulent interactions with black voters during South Carolina's 2008 primary as the ex-president campaigns for his wife in New Hampshire.
WASHINGTON — Americans place a higher priority on preserving the religious freedom of Christians than other faith groups, ranking Muslims as the least deserving of the protections, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
ST. LOUIS — A rare winter flood pushes swollen rivers and streams to virtually unheard-of heights, sparking widespread evacuations and the transfer of inmates from an Illinois state prison as Missouri's governor activated the National Guard to help divert traffic away from submerged roads.
MEXICO CITY — The chief prosecutor in the western Mexico state of Michoacan said that criminals made up a large percentage of the "self-defense" vigilante movement that sprang up nearly three years ago to challenge a local drug cartel.
SAN DIEGO — SeaWorld files a lawsuit challenging a California commission's ruling that bans the company from breeding captive killer whales at its San Diego theme park.
NEW YORK — Officials seek to assure revelers that the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square will be the safest place in the world — heavily secured by thousands of New York Police Department officers, including a new specialized counterterrorism unit.