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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man accused in 2020 of plotting terror attacks in the U.S. and acquiring an arsenal of weapons has pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State extremist group. Mohammed Al-Azhari, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen, also agreed Thursday to accept an 18-year prison sentence during the plea hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli in Tampa federal court. A formal […]

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh is back on the witness stand Friday in his double murder trial, facing cross-examination from a prosecutor determined to make him recount every time he lied to a client. Murdaugh, 54, is on trial in the deaths of his wife and son near kennels at their Colleton County home in June 2021. But in two hours of cross-examination Thursday, prosecutor Creighton Waters didn’t mention […]

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch parliamentary inquiry released a damning report Friday into the government’s handling of lucrative natural gas extraction that caused a string of earthquakes in the northern province of Groningen, saying that authorities put profits before people. “The interests of the people of Groningen have been structurally ignored in natural gas extraction in Groningen, with disastrous consequences for the people of Groningen,” the commission said […]

DETROIT (AP) — Republican Rep. John James filed paperwork Friday to run for reelection to his Detroit-area House seat, opting against a campaign for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Debbie Stabenow in 2024. James, a 41-year-old first-term representative and rising star in the party, had been considered one of Republicans’ most promising potential Senate candidates. He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate twice before, losing to Stabenow in 2018 […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose last month at its fastest pace since June, an alarming sign that price pressures remain entrenched in the U.S. economy and could lead the Fed to keep raising interest rates well into this year. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose 0.6% from December to January, up sharply from a 0.2% increase from November to December. […]

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s struggling banks on Friday decided to suspend their strike, which started earlier this month, for one week after caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked them to do so. The Association of Banks in Lebanon did not give further details about the suspension. The strike began Feb. 7 in protest of a recent court ruling that forced one of the country’s largest banks to pay out two […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A coast-to-coast storm that paralyzed roads and blacked out nearly 1 million homes and businesses was set to pound California on Friday, sparking warnings about floods and blizzards. The National Weather Service warned of a “cold and dangerous winter storm” through Saturday. As much as 5 feet (1.5 meters) of snow could fall in some mountains near Los Angeles, which could create whiteout conditions as winds […]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The father of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia who died this week after contracting bird flu has tested positive for the virus but has not displayed any major symptoms, health authorities said Friday. The death came amid heightened concerns over a wave of bird flu that has spread through much of the world since late 2021, posing a potential public health risk. The girl, from […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. announced a new round of sanctions on Russian firms, banks, manufacturers and people Friday, aiming them at entities that helped Russia evade sanctions earlier in the year-old war against Ukraine. Russia’s metals and mining sector is among those targeted in one of the U.S. Treasury Department’s “most significant sanctions actions to date,” according to the agency. The action, taken in coordination with Group of Seven […]