Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory in his first public comment on the outcome of the U.S. balloting.

Iran’s supreme leader has threatened Israel and the U.S. with “a crushing response” over attacks on Iran and its allies.

The Biden administration is awarding $3 billion to U.S. companies to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and other materials used for electric vehicles, part of a continuing push to reduce China’s global dominance in battery production.

Survivors of violent crime had a meeting in Detroit to advocate for themselves and have a larger march planned in Washington this September.

President Joe Biden has for the first time publicly apologized to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a monthslong congressional holdup in American military assistance that let Russia make battlefield gains.

Italy is celebrating the return of around 600 antiquities from the U.S. They were looted years ago, sold to U.S. museums and collectors and recovered as a result of criminal investigations.

A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the “Sex and the City” TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court to charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.

Ukrainian and Western leaders have welcomed the passing of a desperately needed aid package for Ukraine by the U.S. House of Representatives.

President Joe Biden’s top foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan sought to reassure Ukrainians during an unannounced visit to Kyiv Wednesday that the U.S. will continue to support their efforts to fend off Russia’s two-year-old invasion.

As President Joe Biden pushes House Republicans to pass needed aid for Ukraine, he wants voters to understand that nearly two-thirds would actually be going to U.S. factories, like a munitions plant set to open this summer in a gleaming new industrial park in suburban Dallas.

A federal judge has voiced concerns over a Texas law that would give police broad authority to arrest migrants on charges of illegal entry starting in March.

Iraq's prime minister says his government and the United States have held a first session of formal talks in Baghdad aimed at winding down the mission of a U.S.-led military coalition formed to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq.

The Biden administration has had notable success in the past couple of years in bringing home Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.

As the Biden administration grapples with an increasingly tense and unstable situation in the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the region this weekend for the fourth time in three months on a tour expected to focus largely on easing resurgent fears that the Israel-Hamas war could erupt into a broader conflict.

With the Republican primaries around the corner, a new poll finds that party members aren't sure votes in the presidential nominating contest will be counted accurately.

President Joe Biden is taking a more active role in Senate negotiations over changes to the immigration system that Republicans are demanding in exchange for providing money to Ukraine and Israel.

A former British cyberespionage agency employee who viciously stabbed an American intelligence worker has been sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is assuring Israel that “we have your back” as he and America’s top diplomat met with Israeli and Arab leaders.

Federal prosecutors in New York City have rewritten their indictment against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife to charge them with conspiring to have him act as an agent of Egypt and Egyptian officials.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is criticizing his boss-turned-rival, Donald Trump, for calling retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a traitor.

President Joe Biden is touting his administration's efforts to lower medical costs.

The United States Women’s National Team is ready to bring home another World Cup trophy.

Former Mozambique finance minister Manuel Chang has been extradited to the U.S. to face a fraud and corruption trial over a $2 billion scandal involving fraudulent government loans.

South Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the U.S. ambassador to a meeting over allegations he made that the country had provided Russia with arms and ammunition for its war in Ukraine.

An influential United States health task force has reversed a controversial recommendation. They now suggest mammograms begin at age 40. That's ten years earlier than where they used to be.

While federal regulators weigh what to do about social media and kids, parents are already wrestling with a long list of concerns.

A California woman who admitted unwittingly funding a plot to kidnap an outspoken U.S.-based opponent of Iran's regime has been sentenced to four years in prison.

The United Nations’ top court has rejected Tehran’s legal bid to free up some $2 billion in Iranian central bank assets frozen by U.S. authorities to be paid in compensation to victims of a 1983 bombing in Lebanon and other attacks linked to Iran.

The Biden administration is close to tightening rules on some overseas investments by American companies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Moscow is suspending its participation in the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty will have an immediate impact on U.S. visibility into Russian nuclear activities.

For all the sound and fury about raising the nation's debt limit, most economists say federal borrowing is not at a crisis point.

Anthony Hudson’s first practice in charge of the U.S. men’s national team would have been a career milestone for the veteran coach in ideal circumstances.

At a time of grave consequence, a wartime leader crosses the Atlantic to arrive at a White House decked in holiday decor to consult with the American president about a war in Europe.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is assuring Asian leaders “the United States is here to stay” as she pitches Washington as a reliable economic partner committed to the region and its prosperity.

The Biden administration has ramped up efforts to reduce methane emissions, targeting the oil and gas industry for its role in global warming even as President Joe Biden has pressed energy producers for more oil drilling to lower prices at the gasoline pump.

A federal appellate court says a national beauty pageant has a First Amendment right to exclude a transgender woman from competing, because including her could interfere with the message the pageant wants to send about what characteristics make an ideal woman.

The White House has laid out a national security strategy aimed at checking an ascendant China and a more assertive Russia.

President Joe Biden formally welcomed Finland and Sweden joining the NATO alliance Tuesday as he signed the instruments of ratification that delivered the U.S.’s formal backing of the Nordic nations entering the mutual defense pact.

The Biden administration is holding out the CIA operation that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri as a monumental strike against the global terror network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001.

President Joe Biden has announced that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul.

President Joe Biden has wrapped up his four-day visit to the Middle East.

The United States has won a legal battle to seize a Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji and wasted no time in taking command of the vessel and sailing it away from the South Pacific nation.

The U.S. energy secretary and Danish wind developer Orsted say they want American union workers to build offshore wind farms to dot the U.S. coastlines — the building trades workers who could otherwise be left out of a transition to renewable resources.

Honor those who have served our country at one of many events happening around Metro Detroit this weekend.

The nationwide shortage of baby formula is quickly becoming the GOP's latest election-year attack on President Joe Biden.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is defying leaders of both parties and has single-handedly delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia’s three-month old invasion.

European Union authorities say the bloc will no longer require masks to be worn at airports and on planes starting next week amid the easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Two men charged by U.S. prosecutors with racketeering and other crimes for their involvement in the once wildly popular file-sharing website Megaupload say they have reached a deal that will see them avoid being extradited to the U.S. in exchange for facing charges in New Zealand.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has assured the three Baltic nations that they would not be on their own if faced with security threats from Russia.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to split $7 billion in Afghan assets frozen in the U.S. to fund humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and create a trust fund to compensate Sept. 11 victims.

Leif Nordgren entered the 2022 Winter Olympics as a two-time Olympian and will leave as a three-time Olympian and first-time dad.

The Georgia prosecutor investigating possible attempts to interfere in the 2020 general election by former President Donald Trump and others has asked for a special grand jury to aid the investigation.

Iran’s new foreign minister says the country will return to nuclear negotiations “very soon."

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says he's hopeful that the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court created during his and President Donald Trump’s administration will soon overturn abortion rights in the United States.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning Congress that she will run out of maneuvering room to prevent the U.S. from broaching the government’s borrowing limit in October.

America’s major religious faiths and denominations, often divided on other big issues, are preparing to receive an influx of refugees from Afghanistan.

Germany publishing company Axel Springer says it has signed a deal to buy the U.S.-based political news site Politico and the tech news site Protocol from founder Robert L.

Sharply divided leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies have clashed over U.S. President Joe Biden’s insistence on withdrawing from Afghanistan by August 31 in the face of the Taliban takeover.

The Americans won 113 medals at the Olympics.

"We kinda dedicated it to (Simone) because everybody was depending on Simone and that's unfair to her because we are a whole team," said Sunisa Lee.

An Iranian intelligence officer and three members of an Iranian intelligence network have been charged in Manhattan with plotting to kidnap a prominent Iranian opposition activist and writer in exile and take her back to Tehran.

Pope Francis has met privately with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and expressed “affection” and “attention” for the U.S. people.

President Joe Biden is expected to fall short of his commitment to shipping 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June.

The United States will soon have a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery.

President Joe Biden is thanking naturalized Americans for “choosing us” in his official video message to the nation’s newest citizens.

AdPfizer is also reportedly on track to ship out 200 million vaccine doses by the end of May this year, two months ahead of their original schedule, Bourla said. To help offer more flexibility to vaccination centers across the country, Bourla says Pfizer is also improving the longevity of stored vaccine doses with a new storage option. Following his tour of Pfizer’s largest manufacturing site, addressing the nation, President Biden thanked the Pfizer employees for their role in producing hundreds of millions of doses of the much-needed coronavirus vaccine. That’s how to beat this pandemic.”Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined President Biden on a tour of the Pfizer facility Friday, her team announced hours after the event. Several shipments of coronavirus vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna have also been delayed to Michigan and other states this week due to severe weather conditions.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, file photo, President Donald Trump waves as he boards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, en route to his Mar-a-Lago Florida Resort. Former President Donald Trump is welcoming his second impeachment acquittal and says his movement “has only just begun.”Democratic senators from Michigan were among the U.S. lawmakers who cast “guilty” votes on Saturday in hopes of charging Trump with incitement. “Former President Donald Trump spent months pushing a big lie – that the November election was stolen from him. Today, 57 Senators – including a record 7 Republicans – voted to find former President Trump guilty for inciting that deadly insurrection on our very democracy. The Senate vote followed the bipartisan vote to impeach him by the House of Representatives.

DETROIT – February is Black History Month -- a time dedicated to celebrating the achievements of African Americans in U.S. history. “Some people say to me, ‘Well, why Black History Month?’ Well, we just want equity and equality and appreciation,” Detroit historian Ken Coleman said. ”Black folk have played a significant role in what we call today, the United States of America.”READ: More Black History Month coverageDaniel Hirschman is a sociology professor at Brown University. “There’s no White history month because most white history is taught, or a version of white history -- so you see white people in statues, and books and textbooks,” Hirschman said. “White history month in America is everyday,” Coleman said.

(Michael Kappeler/Pool via AP)BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that she isn't abandoning a German-Russian gas pipeline project that faces U.S. sanctions, but wants to talk to the new administration about the issue. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would bring Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, faces bipartisan opposition in the United States. Washington has said that the project would make Europe more dependent on Russian gas and hurt European energy security. Nord Stream 2 is owned by Russian state company Gazprom, with investment from several European companies. “We must also talk about what economic relationships with Russia in the gas sector are acceptable and what aren't.

The U.S. military has met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500 by Friday, a drawdown that appears to violate a last-minute congressional prohibition. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)WASHINGTON – The U.S. military has met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500 by Friday, a drawdown that may have violated a last-minute congressional prohibition. Senior U.S. commanders are skeptical of the Taliban's stated commitment to peace, although they have said they can accomplish their mission in Afghanistan with 2,500 troops. Although senior military officials had cautioned against speedy troop reductions in Afghanistan, Miller announced on Nov. 17 that he was implementing Trump's order. As a result, military commanders scrambled to pull more than 1,500 troops out of the country in the last few weeks.

The United States plans to put its footprint in this picturesque setting. The king's face is juxtaposed on a map that includes Western Sahara as an integral part of Morocco. While the consulate isn’t expected to open for another six to 12 months, Schenker's trip is a way for the U.S. to cement its commitment to Western Sahara before President Donald Trump leaves office. “The U.S. cannot both support the U.N.’s role in resolving Western Sahara conflict and endorse Moroccan sovereignty,” Omar tweeted. The U.S. recognition of Western Sahara as Morocco's drew criticism from the U.N. and America's allies.

Violence, vandalism, and insurrection have no place in this great country of ours. We are a nation of laws, not mobs,” Whitmer said. “While we come from different backgrounds and political parties, Governor Whitmer and I share a deep love for our country,” Snyder said. That’s why I join with Governor Whitmer in calling on people of goodwill across America to pray for peace, calm, and healing.”“Now is the time to put this election behind us once and for all,” Whitmer added. As Americans, there is no problem we can’t solve, and no challenge we can’t meet.

A British judge has rejected the United States request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying it would be oppressive because of his mental health. "I find that the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America," the judge said. Lawyers for the U.S. government said they would appeal the decision, and the U.S. Department of Justice said it would continue to seek Assange’s extradition. “While we are extremely disappointed in the court’s ultimate decision, we are gratified that the United States prevailed on every point of law raised," it said in a statement. “We hope that after consideration of the U.K. court’s ruling, the United States will decide not to pursue the case further," he said.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday Jan. 4, 2021, whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)LONDON – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents. U.S. prosecutors indicted the 49-year-old Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse that carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison. His legal team argued that Assange would, if extradited, likely face solitary confinement that would put him at a heightened risk of suicide. Assange and his legal team will be hoping that developments in the U.S. bring an end to his ordeal if the judge grants the U.S. extradition request.

(Lucia Starbuck/KUNR Public Radio/Report for America via AP)Overwhelmed hospitals are converting chapels, cafeterias, waiting rooms, hallways, even a parking garage into patient treatment areas. The crush of patients is forcing the city to send its non-COVID-19 cases to hospitals elsewhere in the state. In Kansas, hospitals are converting spaces such as chapels and cafeterias for use by COVID-19 patients, said Cindy Samuelson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Hospital Association. Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, Kansas, devoted an entire hospital floor to COVID-19 patients as their numbers swelled, hitting 90 on Wednesday. Maryland health officials similarly set up a centralized clearinghouse with information on available ICU beds so that hospitals need only make a single phone call.

WASHINGTON – Democrat Joe Biden stood on the cusp of winning the presidency Friday night, three days after Election Day, as the long, exacting work of counting votes widened his lead over President Donald Trump in critical battleground states. There was intense focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 27,000 votes, and Nevada, where the Democrat led by about 22,000. In Pennsylvania, officials were not allowed to begin processing mail-in ballots until Election Day under state law. In Nevada, there were a number of provisional ballots cast by voters who registered on Election Day, and officials had to verify their eligibility. The AP has declared Biden the winner in Arizona and said Thursday that it was monitoring the vote count as it proceeded.

A photo of the Order of Freedom awarded to the U.S President Donald Trump, undersigned by Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci in capital Pristina, Kosovo on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Kosovo's president awarded U.S. President Donald Trump with one of the country's highest medals - Kosovo's Order of Freedom - for his government's efforts on peace and reconciliation in the former war-torn region. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)PRISTINA – Kosovo's awarded U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday with one of the country's highest honors for his government's efforts on peace and reconciliation in the former war-torn region. President Hashim Thaci awarded Trump with Kosovo's Order of Freedom “for his exceptional contribution for the freedom of Kosovo and the strengthening of Peace and reconciliation in the region.”The honor is given to local and foreign citizens for their high contribution in defending Kosovo’s freedom. In a letter sent to Trump, Thaci said that the Kosovo-Serbia deal can be achieved “only under the powerful leadership of the United States of America.

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, second left, walk after their talks in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. Russia's foreign minister has met with Syrian President Bashar Assad shortly after landing in the Syrian capital on his first visit since 2012. Borisov spoke at a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Damascus after the delegation met with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Syria faces an unprecedented economic crisis after nearly a decade of civil war and Western sanctions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is visiting Damascus for the first time since 2012, also attended the news conference.

WASHINGTON The U.S. armed forces will have no role in carrying out the election process or resolving a disputed vote, the top U.S. military officer has told Congress. The military has adamantly sought to tamp down that speculation and is zealously protective of its historically nonpartisan nature. I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military," Milley said in written responses to several questions posed by two Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee. The speculation about the military getting drawn into the election is fueled by Trumps inclination to use the military as partisan props. This is the second time in recent months that Milley has made a public stand against military involvement in politics.

WASHINGTON The U.S. armed forces will have no role in carrying out the election process or resolving a disputed vote, the top U.S. military officer told Congress in comments released Friday. The military has adamantly sought to tamp down that speculation and is zealously protective of its historically nonpartisan nature. I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military," Milley said in written responses to several questions posed by two Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee. The speculation about the military getting drawn into the election is fueled by Trumps inclination to use the military as partisan props. This is the second time in recent months that Milley has made a public stand against military involvement in politics.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, left, speaks at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, during a news conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right. Trump and Iraq's prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, were to meet at the White House Thursday morning. There is still work to do," Pompeo told reporters at a State Department news conference with Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein. We want an Iraq that is corruption free, prosperous and fully integrated into the global economy," Pompeo said. Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition has been carrying out a planned drawdown this year as Iraqi security forces take the lead in combat and air raids.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, left, speaks at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, during a news conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right. Pompeo said the United States was committed to helping Iraq regain and maintain security, despite President Donald Trumps oft-stated desire to reduce and then eliminate the American troop presence there. We want an Iraq that is corruption free, prosperous and fully integrated into the global economy," Pompeo said. He said Iraq currently does not need direct military support on the ground, and that the levels of help will depend on the changing nature of the threat. Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition has been carrying out a planned drawdown this year as Iraqi security forces take the lead in combat and air raids.

The world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday, July 27 with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)The worlds biggest COVID-19 vaccine study got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the U.S. government -- one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race. And being able to participate in this trial has given me a sense of, that Im doing something, Jennifer Haller of Seattle told the AP. If everything goes right with the final studies, it still will take months for the first data to trickle in from the Moderna test, followed by the Oxford one. I dont know what the chances are that this is the exact right vaccine.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participate in a joint press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 26, 2020. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is at NATO to follow-up on a broad range of issues raised during last week's NATO defense ministerial. Last week, Trump said that he is ordering a major reduction in troop strength in Germany, from around 34,500 personnel down to 25,000. According to NATO figures, Germany will spend 1.38% of GDP on its defense budget this year. The U.S. at around 3.4% of GDP spends more on defense than all 29 other allies combined.

GENEVA African nations have prepared a draft resolution at the U.N.s top human rights body that singles out the United States and would launch intense international scrutiny of systemic racism against people of African descent in the wake of recent high-profile killings of blacks by American police. The draft text, a copy of which has been obtained by The Associated Press, could become the centerpiece for an urgent debate hastily scheduled for Wednesday for the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 47-member body two years ago, accusing it of an anti-Israel bias and of accepting members from some autocratic governments that are serial rights violators. On Monday, the council agreed unanimously to hold the urgent debate on racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and the violence against peaceful protests in the wake of the George Floyd killing in the United States. ___Follow all AP coverage of stories about racial injustice and police brutality at https://apnews.com/GeorgeFloyd.

"What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO," Macron told The Economist magazine. He said the United States under Trump appears to be "turning its back on us," notably by pulling troops out of northeast Syria without notice. "So as soon as you have a member who feels they have a right to head off on their own, granted by the United States of America, they do it. His decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement particularly annoyed Macron. "I welcome European unity, I welcome efforts to strengthen European defense, but European unity cannot replace trans-Atlantic unity," he added.

WASHINGTON - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group who presided over its global jihad and became arguably the world's most wanted man, is believed dead after being targeted by a U.S. military raid in Syria. The surrounding areas are largely controlled by a rival of the Islamic State group -- the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS -- although other jihadi groups sympathetic to IS operate there. He later assumed control of the group, known at the time as the Islamic State of Iraq. After Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, al-Baghdadi set about pursuing a plan for a medieval-style Islamic State, or caliphate. Al-Baghdadi became the declared caliph of the newly renamed Islamic State group.

Rataj, representing Bobby Ferguson, has been slugging it out daily in federal court. Rataj says waiting for the jury deliberations is worse than the stress of handling the case. "The worst part of the whole case is where we're at now, and that's the waiting game," he said. Prosecutors showed jurors documentation that they claim had been tampered with by Ferguson's team, putting up visual aids in court to show original paperwork compared to what Ferguson's defense team presented. I'm confident that we're going to win," he said.