Spain's Pedro Sánchez beat the odds to stay prime minister. Now he must keep his government in power

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez pulled off his latest feat of political survival to get reelected as prime minister with an absolute majority in a highly fragmented parliament. Now, he will have to use all his dexterity to keep a mixed bag of supporters happy and his government in power for the next four years.

Sánchez, who has led Spain since 2018, has defied the odds before, but the ones he faces this time look especially daunting. To win the endorsement of a majority of lawmakers Thursday, he clinched deals with six small parties, including two Catalan separatist groups that demanded he take an unpopular action in return.

Police outside Phoenix say they identified a set of decomposed remains known for 31 years as “Apache Junction Jane Doe” as that of 15-year-old Melody Harrison. The Apache Junction Police Department says the teenager was reported missing in Phoenix by her family in 1992. But four years later the family removed Harrison from the missing person's list after various reports of possible sightings of the teen. Police say the family believed she was alive but did not want to come home. The department says it teamed up with the DNA Doe Project in 2018 to try to identify the remains using advancements in genetic testing.

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Chicago on Friday will begin issuing 60-day notices for migrants who have stayed at city-run shelters to vacate the premises, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced.

Many of the desks at Chicago Academy High School sat empty during the last period of classes Thursday, as about 250 students — half of the student body — walked out to demand a cease-fire in solidarity with the children of Gaza.

Election officials in Liberia have released nearly all the results from this week's presidential election runoff vote. The figures announced late Friday show opposition candidate Joseph Boakai with 50.89% of the votes counted so far, while incumbent President George Weah has 49.11%. Still, election officials are still waiting for results from about two dozen of the West African nation's polling stations. And they say the presidential vote will have to be re-run on Saturday before official results can confirm a winner. The Joint Security of Liberia has cautioned both Weah and Boakai’s parties against celebrations until those formal results are concluded.

MIAMI — South Florida awoke Thursday to downed trees, roads closed due to debris and flooding, homes taking on water and massive puddles everywhere. Tens of thousands of homes were without power.

George Brown, the co-founder and longtime drummer of Kool & The Gang who helped write such hits as “Too Hot,” “Ladies Night,” “Joanna” and the party favorite “Celebration,” has died at age 74. A statement from Universal Music says Brown died Thursday in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. Kool & The Gang has sold millions of records with its catchy blend of jazz, funk and soul, what Brown liked to call “the sound of happiness.” Brown helped launch the Grammy-winning group in 1964. Kool & the Gang broke through in the mid-1970s with “Jungle Boogie” among others songs and peaked in the late ’70s and mid-1980s, with such hits as “Cherish” and “Celebration.”

Appointees of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are seeking communications between Disney and local media, as well as documents related to the company’s position on Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. It's part of a state court fight over control of the district that governs Walt Disney World in Florida. The request for documents and communications was made Thursday by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which is controlled by DeSantis appointees. The state took over the district after Disney publicly opposed a Florida law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. The law was championed by DeSantis.

A Louisiana woman accused of involvement in the death of a 5-year-old Atlanta boy whose body was found in a suitcase in Indiana last year has reached a plea deal with prosecutors. News outlets in Georgia and Indiana report that 41-year-old Dawn Coleman of Shreveport will be sentenced Tuesday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted a prosecutor as saying that details of the agreement can be released after the sentencing. Coleman is accused of playing a part in the death of Cairo Ammar Jordan. The child’s body was found inside a suitcase in Indiana woods in April 2022. The child’s mother faces a murder charge but has eluded capture.

Fallout from an Elon Musk post endorsing antisemitic views continues to spread, with Tesla Inc. investors criticizing the billionaire and more advertisers fleeing his social media platform X.

In a major reversal, Apple Inc. plans to adopt a technological standard next year that will allow text messaging to operate more smoothly between iPhones and Android devices.

PHILADELPHIA — Is Taylor Swift on the new Philadelphia Eagles’ Christmas album?

University of Virginia officials are further delaying the public release of the findings of an investigation into the events surrounding a 2022 campus shooting that killed three student-athletes and wounded two other students. Citing concern about the impact the findings could have on the suspect's pending trial, UVA said in a news release Friday that it would not make a “redacted” version of the final report public available until “after the criminal proceedings.” The suspect is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated malicious wounding and firearms-related counts. Court records show his next court hearing is in February.

The Maize School District is among seven institutions under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for alleged antisemitism or Islamophobia.

PHILADELPHIA — We finally know when we’ll see Janine Teagues in the halls again.

At the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, music and entertainment has taken a front seat. It began with a star-studded Open Ceremony on Wednesday, featuring single-song performances from Thirty Seconds to Mars, Keith Urban, Andra Day, Bishop Briggs, Journey, Steve Aoki, J Balvin, Tiësto and John Legend. On Thursday, a loose water valve cover canceled the first F1 practice session and delayed the second one to well after 2 a.m., but the concerts continued without a hitch. J Balvin, who's performing twice during this week's festivities, tells The Associated Press that Formula One translates to every language and culture, and that — and the fast cars — appeal to him.

Senegal’s highest court has effectively barred detained opposition leader Ousmane Sonko from running for president early next year. The court overturned a local court's decision to reinstate Sonko to the West African country’s voter rolls. The legal setback for the politician came on the same day that a West African regional court dismissed his case seeking reinstatement. Senegal’s government formally dissolved Sonko’s political party earlier this year and struck him from the voter rolls after he was convicted of corrupting youth. His supporters maintain the charge was aimed at derailing his candidacy. Sonko finished third in the last presidential election and was widely seen as the main challenger to President Macky Sall’s ruling party.

New Jersey is moving forward with its offshore wind industry, despite the loss of two major offshore wind farm projects when Danish developer Orsted pulled out of the state. The state Board of Public Utilities is seeking bids for a transmission facility into which several offshore wind projects can plug. That's an important part of getting the power from ocean-based wind turbines into the onshore electrical grid. But on a more elemental level, Friday’s vote represents a vote of confidence in offshore wind from a state that wants to be the East Coast leader in the industry.

When Asha, a vibrant 17-year-old dreamer, discovers the dark truth about her beloved hometown, she's a bit torn.

Senegal's highest court blocks detained opposition leader Ousmane Sonko from running for president.

A man has been found guilty in the death of a woman whose remains were found inside a duffel bag along a rural road in northwest Missouri. Ariel Starcher was killed at a Kansas City hotel. The St. Joseph News-Press reports that Marcus Brooks was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder in the death of the 21-year-old mother of two. A Missouri Transportation Department worker found the bag with Starcher’s body inside it in February 2020. Starcher had died nearly two weeks earlier of suffocation, and also suffered a broken neck. Key testimony came from Brooks' accomplice Taylor Stoughton, who pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder.

FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 17, 2023--

Four Las Vegas high school students facing murder charges in the fatal beating of their classmate are scheduled Friday to make their first appearances in the adult court system. The students each face one count of murder but haven't been formally charged. The Associated Press is not naming them because they are juveniles. Police on Tuesday arrested eight students between the ages of 13 and 17 in connection with the Nov. 1 brawl that left 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis Jr. dead. In Nevada, teenagers 16 or older accused of murder are automatically transferred to the adult court system. As for the remaining students under 16, hearings will be held to determine if they will be charged as adults.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is screening imports of cinnamon from multiple countries for toxic lead. It comes after more reports of illness in children who ate pouches of applesauce puree. The pouches were sold in several retail and online stories and have been recalled. The FDA says cinnamon from a manufacturer in Ecuador is the “likely source” of high levels of lead found in applesauce products. At least 34 children in 22 states have reportedly been sickened by lead poisoning. The FDA says no other reports of illness or elevated blood levels have been tied to cinnamon.

A New York woman who died Sunday from cancer has raised enough money to erase million of dollars in medical debt with a posthumous plea for help. Casey McIntyre told followers in a social media message posted by her husband that she had arranged to buy the medical debt of others and destroy it as a way of celebrating her life. Her post included a link to a fundraising campaign started through the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt. McIntyre’s husband, Andrew Rose Gregory, posted his wife’s message on Tuesday. The campaign had raised nearly $140,000 by Friday morning.

Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor has agreed to a contract extension through the 2029-30 season that includes a salary of $925,000. Taylor also will receive $250,000 in retention bonuses after each of the next four years and $500,000 at the conclusion of the following three. Taylor was responsible for hiring Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman, who is coming off a Big 12 championship and has the No. 23 Wildcats heading into Saturday’s game against rival Kansas still in the hunt to defend the title. Taylor also hired basketball coach Jerome Tang, who led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in his debut this past season.

Authorities say a man facing eviction from a mobile home park in Ohio fatally shot the site’s property manager and two other residents before retreating into his home. The shooter then fired shots at police and kept officers at bay before he killed himself. Another resident was wounded in the shooting that broke out at the Mentor Green Mobile Estates in Mentor around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Police attempted to negotiate with the shooter, 47-year-old Jason Norris, for a few hours. Authorities say a drone sent to his unit observed him kill himself.

Federal prosecutors are accusing a former Massachusetts state senator of fraudulently collecting over $30,000 in COVID-19 pandemic unemployment benefits and other charges. Dean Tran, of Fitchburg, has been indicted on 25 counts of wire fraud and three counts of filing false tax returns. He was expected to appear in court Friday afternoon. Tran served as a Republican state senator representing Worcester and Middlesex from 2017 to January of 2021. Prosecutors allege that he fraudulently applied for pandemic unemployment benefits after he had already accepted employment as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire-based automotive parts company. That was after he ended his term in the state Senate. Phone and email messages left with Tran's lawyer were not immediately returned.

The federal government is delaying a new rule that could make it easier for millions of workers to unionize after business groups sued. The National Labor Relations Board says the rule, which was scheduled to go into effect next month, will now be effective Feb. 26 to give it time to resolve legal challenges. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups sued the NLRB last week over the so-called “joint employer” rule. The rule could potentially require companies like McDonald's or Amazon to bargain with workers, even though those workers are employed by franchisees or independent contractors.

Charges have been dropped against a New York City lawmaker who brought a gun to a protest because her gun was apparently inoperable. Pro-Israel City Council member Inna Vernikov was arrested on Oct. 13 at a Brooklyn College demonstration supporting Palestinians. She was charged with possessing a gun at a sensitive location. But a spokesperson for the Brooklyn district attorney says the police examined Vernikov's gun and found it was missing the recoil spring assembly, rendering it inoperable. Vernikov’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, said his client “is pleased to have this all behind her."

U.S. health officials say at least seven states are seeing high levels of the flu and that cases are rising in other parts of the country. New flu data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows flu is steadily rising. The winter flu season traditionally ramps up in December or January. But it took off in October last year and is making a November entrance now. Louisiana has very high flu activity. There is high activity in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina and the District of Columbia. Health officials in Puerto Rico declared an influenza epidemic earlier this month.

No. 2 Michigan has fired linebackers coach Chris Partridge a day before the Wolverines play at Maryland.  Athletic director Warde Manuel says Rick Minter has been promoted to lead the linebackers. He did not say why Partridge was let go. Earlier this week, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh agreed to serve the remainder of a three-game suspension. In exchange, the Big Ten will drop its investigation into a sign-stealing scandal that is under NCAA investigation. The Wolverines close the regular season at home next week against rival Ohio State. After that, Harbaugh is eligible to return to the sideline.

The Cleveland Guardians traded starter Cal Quantrill to the Colorado Rockies for minor league catcher Kody Huff. Quantrill had an injury-plagued 2023 season for Cleveland, a year after he won 15 games and helped the Guardians win the AL Central. The team designated the 28-year-old pitcher for assignment earlier this week. Quantrill went 4-7 with a 5.24 ERA in 19 games this season while also twice going on the injured list for lengthy stints with shoulder problems. He was acquired by Cleveland in 2020 at the trade deadline from San Diego. Cleveland has an abundance of young pitchers, making Quantrill expendable.

Stephanie Lazarus, who was an L.A. police detective when she killed her former boyfriend's wife in 1986, was recommended for parole by a select committee Thursday.

A union representing Los Angeles County sheriff deputies recently elected to its board of directors a veteran lawman who has a controversial tattoo and was involved in two fatal shootings that cost the county $4 million in legal payouts, sparking concern among oversight officials and justice…

The former president of the Spanish soccer federation has been ruled unfit to work in the sport in Spain for three years after he kissed a player on the lips without her consent at the Women’s World Cup final. Luis Rubiales had already been forced to resign from his post after he initially tried to stay in office despite a global uproar over Rubiales kissing forward Jenni Hermoso at the trophy ceremony following the Aug. 20 final in Australia. Friday’s ruling by the legal panel that oversees sports in Spain comes after world soccer governing body FIFA had already banned Rubiales for three years.