Associated Press
Latest stories
Champion Verstappen's Dramatic Win Ends Stunning F1 Season

An incredible Formula One title fight ended Sunday on the last lap of the final race with a dramatic overtaking move. Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in one of the most memorable moments in F1 history. It gave the sport's next superstar his first world title and denied the veteran Hamilton a record eighth.

"Two exceptional and very different drivers in terms of their mentality, their character, their style of driving," four-time F1 champion Alain Prost told broadcaster Canal Plus. "It was magnificent ... and it might just be the best season ever."

W140 Full Story
UEFA Voids Champions League Draw after Mistake

UEFA will have to redo the Champions League draw for the round of 16 after mistakenly placing Manchester United's name into the wrong pot.

UEFA voided the initial results of Monday's draw, which had created another matchup between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after Manchester United was paired with Paris Saint-Germain. However, United had initially been paired with Villarreal even though the English club's name should not have been in that pot since the two advanced from the same group.

W140 Full Story
Rain, Snow Fall as California Braces for Brunt of Storm

The Western U.S. is bracing for the brunt of a major winter storm expected to hit Monday, bringing travel headaches, the threat of localized flooding and some relief in an abnormally warm fall.

Light rain and snow fell in Northern California on Sunday, giving residents a taste of what's to come. The multiday storm could drop more than 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow on the highest peaks and drench other parts of California as it pushes south and east before moving out midweek.

W140 Full Story
Tornadoes Kill Dozens in 5 States; Final Toll Still Unclear

Rescuers were forced to crawl over the dead to get to the living at a Kentucky candle factory walloped by a tornado, part of an unusual cluster that killed dozens in the Midwest and South and flattened whole towns.

By the time churchgoers gathered Sunday morning to pray for the lost, more than 24 hours had elapsed since anyone had been found alive. Instead, crews recovered pieces of peoples' lives — a backpack, a pair of shoes and a cellphone with 27 missed messages were among the items. Still, a definitive death toll remained elusive, though it was expected to be lower than initially feared.

W140 Full Story
Taliban Seek Ties with U.S., Other ex-Foes

Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers are committed in principle to education and jobs for girls and women, a marked departure from their previous time in power, and seek the world's "mercy and compassion" to help millions of Afghans in desperate need, a top Taliban leader said in a rare interview.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also told The Associated Press that the Taliban government wants good relations with all countries and has no issue with the United States. He urged Washington and other nations to release upward of $10 billion in funds that were frozen when the Taliban took power Aug. 15, following a rapid military sweep across Afghanistan and the sudden, secret flight of U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani.

W140 Full Story
North Korea's Kim at Critical Crossroads Decade into Rule

Too young. Too weak. Too inexperienced.

Since taking power following his father's sudden death 10 years ago this week, Kim Jong Un has erased those widespread doubts that greeted his early attempts to extend his family's brutal dynastic grip over North Korea.

W140 Full Story
Military Leader Killed in Fighting for Yemen City

Clashes between Yemeni government forces and the country's Houthi rebels attacking the key central city of Marib killed a senior military commander on Monday, officials said.

The development is a big blow to the forces of Yemen's internationally recognized government, which have been fighting for months against the Iranian-backed Houthis' attempt to take Marib. The Houthis launched an offensive earlier this year on the city in an effort to complete their control over the northern half of Yemen.

W140 Full Story
Turkey's Central Bank Intervenes as Currency Hits Record Low

The Turkish currency dipped to an all-time low Monday amid another anticipated interest rate cut later this week and after the S&P credit rating agency downgraded its outlook for Turkey.

The Turkish lira plummeted to 14.75 against the U.S. dollar, prompting Turkey's Central Bank to intervene by selling off foreign currency.

W140 Full Story
Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian during West Bank Operation

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man during clashes that erupted in the West Bank city of Nablus early Monday, the official Palestinian news agency reported.

Citing medics, Wafa news agency identified the slain man as Jamil Kayyal, 31, adding that he was hit by a gunshot in the head.

W140 Full Story
Satellite Images, Expert Suggest Iranian Space Launch Coming

Iran appears to be preparing for a space launch as negotiations continue in Vienna over its tattered nuclear deal with world powers, according to an expert and satellite images.

The likely blast off at Iran's Imam Khomeini Spaceport comes as Iranian state media has offered a list of upcoming planned satellite launches in the works for the Islamic Republic's civilian space program, which has been beset by a series of failed launches. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard runs its own parallel program that successfully put a satellite into orbit last year.

W140 Full Story