The US election was largely trouble-free, but a flood of misinformation raises future concerns
WASHINGTON (AP) — A relatively trouble-free presidential election was good news for those working to restore faith in the system. Less encouraging was a flood of misinformation that sought to undermine trust in voting and sow chaos, something experts say is likely to get worse in the years ahead.
The most significant test for officials on Election Day was a series of bomb threats reported in five battleground states, some of which forced polling places to be evacuated temporarily. The day otherwise played out like most other election days, with only routine problems, and former President Donald Trump's commanding lead allowed the presidential race to be called early Wednesday morning.
“High turnout and wide margins – that’s all we ever hope for,” said Zach Manifold, the elections supervisor in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
The more than 84 million people who voted early, either in person or by mail, eased the crush on Tuesday and provided election workers with more flexibility to respond to unexpected problems.
“Yesterday and the election season was a wonderful example of how early voting is so important to maintain security, and how it actually minimized and mitigated some of the threats that we saw,” David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who leads the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the day after Election Day.
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The story of how Trump went from diminished ex-president to a victor once again
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — As he bid farewell to Washington in January 2021, deeply unpopular and diminished, Donald Trump was already hinting at a comeback.
“Goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form,” Trump told supporters at Joint Base Andrews, where he'd arranged a 21-gun salute as part of a military send-off before boarding Air Force One. “We will see you soon.”
Four years later, he's fulfilled his prophecy.
With his commanding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump achieved a comeback that seemed unimaginable after the 2020 election ended with his supporters violently storming the Capitol after he refused to accept his defeat.
In the years that followed, Trump was widely blamed for Republican losses, indicted four times, convicted on 34 felony counts, ruled to have inflated his assets in a civil fraud trial and found liable for sexual abuse. He still faces fines that top more than half a billion dollars and the prospect of jail time.
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Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Donald Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week's election with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect.
Investigators were told of the plan to kill Trump by Farhad Shakeri, an accused Iranian government asset who spent time in American prisons for robbery and who authorities say maintains a network of criminal associates enlisted by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots.
Shakeri told the FBI that a contact in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed him this past September to set aside other work he was doing and assemble a plan within seven days to surveil and ultimately kill Trump, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.
The official was quoted by Shakeri as saying that “We have already spent a lot of money" and that “money’s not an issue.” Shakeri told investigators the official told him that if he could not put together a plan within the seven-day timeframe, then the plot would be paused until after the election because the official assumed Trump would lose and that it would be easier to kill him then, the complaint said.
Shakeri is at large and remains in Iran. Two other men were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has endured multiple Iranian murder-for-hire plots foiled by law enforcement.
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Judge cancels court deadlines in Trump's 2020 election case after his presidential win
WASHINGTON (AP) — The judge overseeing Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case canceled any remaining court deadlines Friday while prosecutors assess the “the appropriate course going forward” in light of the Republican's presidential victory.
Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump last year with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. But Smith's team has been evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases before the president-elect takes office because of longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris means that the Justice Department believes he can no longer face prosecution in accordance with department legal opinions meant to shield presidents from criminal charges while in office.
Trump has criticized both cases as politically motivated, and has said he would fire Smith “within two seconds” of taking office.
In a court filing Friday in the 2020 election case, Smith's team asked to cancel any upcoming court deadlines, saying it needs “time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy."
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Trump put Elon Musk on phone with Ukraine's Zelenskyy during congratulatory call, official says
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump put billionaire Elon Musk on the line with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the Ukrainian leader called to congratulate the incoming U.S. president, according to a Ukrainian official with direct knowledge of the phone call.
The person, who was not authorized to comment on the matter publicly, confirmed that Zelenskyy and Musk spoke during the call with Trump, but that Musk did not appear to be on the line for the entire conversation on Wednesday. Trump seemingly handed his phone over to Musk, the person said, and the Ukrainian president thanked the SpaceX owner for assisting his country with access to the Starlink satellite internet platform.
The presence of Musk on the call highlights his influence in the president-elect’s circle. Trump has mused that Musk could have a formal role in his administration that focuses on government efficiency, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest given SpaceX’s lucrative government contracts.
Trump’s interactions with Zelenskyy are being closely watched as he prepares to take over the presidency on Jan. 20 and has signaled a shift in Washington’s steadfast support for Ukraine against Russia’s nearly three-year-old invasion.
Trump has promised to swiftly end the war and suggested that Kyiv should agree to cede some territory to Moscow in return for peace, a condition Zelenskyy has rejected.
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FBI, Justice Department investigating racist mass texts sent following the election
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several federal and state agencies are investigating how racist mass texts were sent to Black people across the country in the wake of the presidential election this week.
The text messages invoking slavery were sent to Black men, women and children, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other law enforcement departments.
The anonymously sent messages were reported in several states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Tennessee. The FBI said it has communicated with the Justice Department about the messages, and the Federal Communications Commission said it is investigating alongside federal and state law enforcement.
“These messages are unacceptable,” said a statement from FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. She said the agency takes “this type of targeting very seriously.”
While the texts varied somewhat, they all instructed recipients to “board a bus” that would transport them to a “plantation” to work as slaves, officials said. They said the messages were sent to school-aged children and college students, causing significant distress.
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Israeli soccer fans were attacked in Amsterdam. The violence was condemned as antisemitic
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Israeli fans were assaulted after a soccer game in Amsterdam by hordes of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, Dutch authorities said Friday. Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.
Reports of antisemitic speech, vandalism and violence have been on the rise in Europe since the start of the war in Gaza, and tensions mounted in Amsterdam ahead of Thursday night’s match between the Dutch team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were banned by local authorities from gathering outside the stadium, and video showed a large crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans on their way to the game. Afterward, youths on scooters and on foot crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing quickly to evade police, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said.
On the social media platform Telegram, “there is talk of people going on a Jew hunt," Halsema said. "That is so shocking and so despicable that I still cannot fathom it.” Dutch Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel vowed to track down and prosecute the perpetrators.
Police had to escort some fans back to hotels, according to authorities.
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Southern California firefighters gain ground over wildfire thanks to decreased winds
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — Southern California firefighters gained ground Friday against a wildfire that has destroyed at least 132 structures, mostly houses, as favorable conditions were expected to continue through the weekend after two days of dangerous gusty winds.
Forecasters expect light winds over the weekend that will continue to aid firefighters. Meteorologists are monitoring a weather system that could hit Southern California next week but it is not expected to bring another round of extreme winds like earlier this week.
Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said Friday that 3,500 houses have been repopulated, but residents of 2,000 homes still have not been able to go back.
Maryanne Belote was among those who returned Friday to sift through the charred remains of their properties. She went home to her hillside neighborhood in Camarillo, a city northwest of Los Angeles, after making a harrowing escape with her cat, her dog and her horses as the blaze raged in the area. The only thing standing was a rock wall she built.
“If I hadn’t gotten the horses, I would have been devastated, but I have my family and I have my animals so, I’m OK. I will rebuild,” she said standing outside the remains of her home of 50 years while her dog stayed in her car.
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India's ban on Salman Rushdie 'The Satanic Verses' may end — thanks to missing paperwork
NEW DELHI (AP) — The decadeslong ban of Salman Rushdie's “The Satanic Verses” in his native India is now in doubt — not because of a change of heart more than two years after the author’s near-fatal stabbing, but because of what amounts to some missing paperwork.
Earlier this week, a court in New Delhi closed proceedings on a petition filed five years ago that challenged the then-government’s decision to ban the import of the novel, which enraged Muslims worldwide because of its alleged blasphemy, just days after its 1988 publication. In a ruling issued Tuesday, according to the Press Trust of India news agency, a bench headed by Justice Rekha Palli said authorities had failed to produce the notification of the ban.
“We have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists,” the judges concluded.
The petitioner, Sandipan Khan, had argued that he couldn’t buy the book because of a notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on Oct. 5, 1988, which forbade its import into India, adding that he was unable to locate the notification on any official website or through officials. Khan's lawyer, Uddyam Mukherjee, said that the court’s ruling meant that as of now, nothing prohibits anybody from importing the novel into India.
“But whether this means it will be sold in bookstores — I don’t know, that depends on the publishers or sellers,” he told The Associated Press.
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Beyoncé leads the 2025 Grammy noms, becoming the most nominated artist in the show’s history
NEW YORK (AP) — Welcome toBeyoncé country. When it comes to the 2025 Grammy Award nominations, “Cowboy Carter” rules the nation. She leads the nods with 11, bringing her career total to 99 nominations. That makes her the most nominated artist in Grammy history.
“Cowboy Carter” is up for album and country album of the year, and “Texas Hold ’Em” is nominated for record, song and country song of the year. She also received nominations in a wide swath of genres, including pop, country, Americana and melodic rap performance categories.
This is her first time receiving nominations in the country and Americana categories. Previously, she and her husband Jay-Z were tied for most career nominations, at 88.
If Beyoncé wins the album of the year, she’ll become the first Black woman to do so in the 21st century. Lauryn Hill last won in 1999 for “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” joining Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston as the only Black women to take home the Grammys’ top prize.
Post Malone also received his first ever nominations in the country categories this year, having released his debut country album “F-1 Trillion" in August. That one is up for country album and “I Had Some Help,” his collaboration with Morgan Wallen, is nominated for country song and country duo/group performance. They are Wallen’s first ever Grammy nominations.
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