Rubio says Trump's war against Iran not 'necessarily popular' but needed to stop a nuclear threat
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that President Donald Trump launched the war against Iran even if it was not “necessarily popular” to safeguard the world from the country's nuclear ambitions.
He would not comment directly about the Republican wipeout in Tuesday’s elections, which delivered a resounding rebuke to Trump. The unpopularity of the Iran war and its impact on gasoline prices and other parts of the economy helped Democrats seize control of Congress.
Asked about Vice President JD Vance’s social media post last week that largely blamed the war for the Republican losses, Rubio told reporters that Trump “identified a very real threat” in Iran and worked to stop the Islamic Republic from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country — confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country — doing it isn’t necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio said in Florida before heading to a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris.
America's top diplomat offered a robust defense of the more than eight-month-old war even as voters blamed Trump’s policies for the hit to their pocketbooks, including higher energy prices that stemmed from disruptions to shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway where one-fifth of the world's oil transited before the war.
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Nvidia investigates whether CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by Chinese spy with whom he had an affair
Nvidia is opening an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort,” the company's board of directors said Sunday.
The announcement came after Huang acknowledged to the board that he had been intimate with a business executive whom, according to The New York Times, U.S. intelligence determined was gathering information for Beijing.
In a letter to Nvidia employees obtained by The Associated Press, Huang said he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologized to his family and colleagues. He said he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
“Leading Nvidia is the privilege of my life,” Huang wrote. “My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility.”
Nvidia’s board said it has “no reason to believe" that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information. Huang “fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it,” the board said.
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Trump and his Justice Department stand defiant as Democrats ready an investigative blitz
President Donald Trump and his Department of Justice are taking a combative stance toward Democrats after their election victories in the midterms, signaling intense conflict to come as lawmakers prepare aggressive investigations into the executive branch next year.
Trump set the tone, declaring on social media that investigative requests already made by Democrats are “extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable.” Attorney General Todd Blanche echoed the Republican president and said criminal investigations of Democrats are possible.
“They are not allowed to just go around threatening existing members of the administration, to go around threatening companies, and that’s what President Trump is extremely worried about and he should be,” Blanche said as he and congressional Democrats appeared on the Sunday news shows to discuss the repercussions from last week's elections.
Rep. Robert Garcia, who is poised to chair the powerful House Oversight Committee in the next Congress, is preparing investigations into what he calls the “Trump crime family.” He said Democrats are not going to be intimidated.
“The days of us not fighting back are over,” said Garcia, D-Calif.
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Pope arrives in Argentina and tells Milei that people, not the economy, should come first
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Pope Leo XIV delivered a diplomatic but subtly strong critique of Argentine President Javier Milei’s austerity measures and libertarian agenda as he arrived Sunday in Argentina, insisting that political leaders must put people, not the economy, first.
Leo used his first public speech in Argentina to lay out a vision of governance, democracy and society sharply at odds with Milei’s, exposing differences over spending cuts, social justice and artificial intelligence that the government had sought to play down ahead of the visit.
“The economy must serve the person, not the person the economy,” Leo told officials, diplomats and civic leaders upon his arrival in Buenos Aires from Uruguay.
Leo’s visit to Argentina is by far the most politically delicate of his three-nation South American tour, and a place where Leo will also confront the complicated legacy of Argentine Pope Francis, who never returned home during his 12-year pontificate.
Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, has staked his presidency on slashing public spending to tame inflation, while describing the notion of social justice as “a horror,” a “moral aberration” and “theft” in recent speeches.
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Collision between 2 trains in Egypt kills 7 and injures at least 125
AL-AYYAT, Egypt (AP) — Two trains collided Sunday south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing seven people and injuring at least 125, authorities said. The train’s conductor was among those killed.
The Health Ministry gave the casualty toll, saying in a statement that over 70 of the injured were discharged after receiving treatment.
The crash happened in al-Ayyat district in Giza province, about 52 kilometers (32 miles) south of Cairo, when a train traveling to southwestern Fayoum province crashed into the rear of a train heading to the southern province of Aswan, according to the Transportation Ministry.
The Chief Prosecutor's office said late Sunday its investigators had arrived at the site. An inspection indicated that the crash took place when the Giza-Fayyoum train collided with the last car of the Cairo-Aswan train, which was stationary on the same track and traveling in the same direction, officials said.
Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where the railway system has a history of mismanagement and poor maintenance of equipment. In recent years, the government has announced modernization initiatives.
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Poles mourn rare mass killing as authorities say attacker had far-right views
KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Mourners on Sunday laid candles and flowers alongside bullet holes in Krakow, Poland, after the city's central square turned into a site of bloodshed and grief. A 24-year-old man with far-right views opened fire a day earlier, killing six people and wounding 15 before police shot and wounded him.
Poland on Sunday began two days of national mourning following the attack the day before, which Poland’s defense minister described as an “act of terror."
The violence began Saturday at around 3 p.m. when the assailant drove through the Main Square, in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town. The square is a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.
St. Mary’s Trumpet Call, a traditional five-note melody played every hour from the highest tower of St. Mary’s Basilica on the Main Square, was paused overnight, the first time the call had been missed since World War II.
On Sunday afternoon, St. Anne’s Church in Krakow filled with mourners attending a memorial service. The square reopened soon after and locals and visitors alike showed up to reclaim it after the tragedy.
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Saudi Arabia turns to Syria for help as fighting with Houthis escalates
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria is preparing to send fighters to Saudi Arabia to deploy along its border and potentially help it fight Iranian-backed rebels in neighboring Yemen, three officials with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press.
Syrian military advisers have already deployed to Saudi Arabia, but no fighters have been sent to Yemen, according to a regional official and two Syrian officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Officials in Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fighting escalated this summer in Yemen between the Houthi rebels and the government's Saudi-backed forces. The Houthis have also launched direct and deadly attacks on Saudi Arabia in what is the latest front in the regional conflict that began in February when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.
Syria, which has a supply of battle-hardened fighters after a long civil war, has so far stayed on the sidelines.
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Democrats plan to push clean energy to lower bills and challenge Trump’s fossil fuel agenda
Some Democrats are promising to push for more clean energy to help tackle rising energy costs when they take control of Congress in January, though President Donald Trump says he will use his veto power aggressively.
With new majorities in the House and Senate after last week's midterms, Democrats can set an agenda boosting clean energy and addressing climate change. While those are traditionally core priorities of the party, climate was not a central topic in this election cycle.
Democrats can begin investigations and hold hearings into climate policy rollbacks and elimination of green energy grants by the Republican administration, potentially trying to undo some changes and restore renewable energy incentives.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said Trump’s clean energy attacks drove up prices for taxpayers. He said Democrats will "work every angle to lower consumers’ energy costs, and we will demand accountability for the massive corruption wrought by Trump’s fossil-fuel donors.”
American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet said everybody who is trying to build clean energy “feels bolstered.”
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Floods bring rare relief to US Southwest reservoirs as Lake Powell rises 20 feet
PHOENIX (AP) — Recent flooding across the U.S. Southwest is providing rare relief to thirsty reservoirs that had fallen to record lows amid a yearslong megadrought.
Storms in late October and early November sent torrents of water through normally small or dry creeks that overflowed their banks and flooded local communities.
Hundreds of people were told to evacuate, and the flooding cut off access to some areas. Yet most of that water will end up feeding depleted lakes and underground aquifers, said Martin Hoerling, a climate scientist and hydrologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
“That’s somewhat of an unexpected boost from Mother Nature,” Hoerling said.
Last winter's lackluster snowfall did little to recharge water bodies when it melted in the spring and summer, when they typically get their biggest bump of the year.
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Kyle Larson wins 2nd consecutive Cup Series title, becomes the 11th NASCAR driver with 3
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — With the NASCAR Cup Series championship flag flying from a car window, Kyle Larson’s youngest child stood atop the No. 5 Chevrolet and signaled to everyone what had been known for hours.
Three-year-old Cooper held up a single finger.
Yep, his dad was No. 1 again.
Larson clinched his third Cup Series title in six years early in the 400-mile season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. He became NASCAR's first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2010; Johnson won five in a row beginning in 2006. Both of them accomplished the feat at powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports.
The 34-year-old Larson also became the 11th driver in NASCAR history with three Cup titles, joining a list that includes seven-time champs Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Johnson. Jeff Gordon has four. Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart and Joey Logano have three.
