The alleged perpetrator of the deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Germany had been contacted by police just weeks before the incident. or signup to continue reading The attack in the central city of Magdeburg on Friday evening, which killed five people including a nine-year-old boy, is believed to have been carried out by a Saudi national identified only as Taleb A according to German privacy laws. The number of people injured in the rampage has climbed to 235. The suspect has been living in Germany since 2006 and was granted political refugee status in 2016. He was most recently working as a doctor in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg. Taleb A was detained at the scene and is being held in police custody, with investigators searching for a motive amid suggestions that authorities failed to heed warnings about the man. Tamara Zieschang, the interior minister of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, told MPs in Magdeburg on Monday that police met the man twice - in September 2023 and October 2024 - to warn him about his behaviour. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry of the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern said that Taleb A became known to authorities as a potential suspect in 2015. Regional authorities had informed the Federal Criminal Police Office at the Joint Counter-Terrorism Centre, which is supported by Germany's federal and regional government, about the man's possible intention to carry out an attack on February 6, 2015, it said. The report concerned threats to carry out actions that would attract international attention against a medical association in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in April 2013 and one year later against a local authority in the northern German city of Stralsund. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern interior minister, Christian Pegel, said the 50-year-old suspect had lived in the state from 2011-16 and had completed parts of his specialist medical training in Stralsund. He said the man had been involved in a dispute with the medical association about the recognition of examination results and had later threatened the social services in Stralsund in an attempt to obtain assistance with living costs. A district court fined Taleb A for threatening the medical association, Pegel said. However, he added, the previous investigations had not revealed any evidence of real preparations for an attack or Islamist connections. The man was warned by the police and told that he would be monitored more closely but was not classified as a threat, Pegel said. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement Advertisementslotvip 168 。

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains, including chip companies Nvidia and Broadcom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Honda’s U.S.-listed shares rose sharply after the company said it was in talks about a combination with Nissan in a deal that could also include Mitsubishi Motors. Eli Lilly rose after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Major stock indexes rose on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, after a choppy start to a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from an early slide to gain 29 points, or 0.1% as of 3:40 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Gains in technology and communications stocks helped outweigh losses in consumer goods companies and elsewhere in the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3.3%. Broadcom climbed 5.5% to also help support the broader market. Walmart fell 2% and PepsiCo slid 1.2%. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. U.S.-listed shares in Honda jumped 13.4%, while Nissan slipped 0.2%. Eli Lilly rose 3.5% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.6% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a roughly 25% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.59% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets were mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas. Damian J. Troise And Alex Veiga, The Associated Press

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NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally gunning down health insurance executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street, pleaded not guilty on Monday to New York state murder charges that brand him a terrorist. Mangione, 26, was escorted into Judge Gregory Carro's 13th-floor courtroom in the New York state criminal courthouse in lower Manhattan with a court officer on each arm, and a procession of a half dozen officers following him. He was in handcuffs and shackles, and wore a burgundy sweater over a white-collared shirt. Mangione leaned into a microphone and said "not guilty" when Carro asked how he pleaded to the 11-count indictment charging him with murder as an act of terrorism and weapons offenses. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group's UNH.N insurance unit UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead on Dec. 4 outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan where the company was gathering for an investor conference. The brazen killing and ensuing five-day manhunt captivated Americans. While public officials have condemned the killing, some Americans who decry the steep costs of healthcare and insurance companies' power to deny paying for some medical treatments have feted Mangione as a folk hero. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9. After deciding last week not to fight extradition, he was transferred to New York, where he was led off a helicopter in lower Manhattan by a large phalanx of police officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. That spectacle and other statements by public officials suggest Mangione may not be able to get a fair trial, his lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said at Monday's hearing. "They are treating him like he is some sort of political fodder, some sort of spectacle," Agnifilo said. "He is not a symbol, he is someone who is afforded a right to a fair trial." Several dozen people gathered outside the courthouse in freezing temperatures to express support for Mangione and anger at healthcare companies. One person held a sign with the words "DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE," a phrase that echoes tactics some accuse insurers of using to avoid paying out claims. Authorities say the words "deny," "delay," and "depose" were found written on shell casings at the crime scene. Kara Hay, a 42-year-old schoolteacher, said she believed it was wrong for Mangione to be charged with terrorism. "Shooting one CEO does not make him a terrorist, and I do not feel terrorized," said Hay, who held a sign reading "innocent until proven guilty." After the 30-minute hearing, officers once again shackled Mangione and led him out of the courtroom. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal lockup in Brooklyn. Carro set Mangione's next court appearance for Feb. 21. Dual state, federal cases Monday's arraignment was the second court appearance in New York for Mangione, who also faces a four-count federal criminal complaint charging him with stalking and killing Thompson. He has not yet been asked to enter a plea in that case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker ordered Mangione detained at a Dec. 19 hearing in Manhattan federal court. The federal charges would make him eligible for the death penalty, should the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan decide to pursue it. The separate federal and state cases will proceed in parallel. The state case is currently expected to go to trial first, federal prosecutors said. At the hearing, Friedman Agnifilo said it was difficult to defend her client in dual state and federal cases. "He is being treated like a human ping-pong ball between these two jurisdictions," Friedman Agnifilo said. She also said the Manhattan District Attorney's office, which brought the charges, has not handed over any evidence to the defense to help prepare for trial, a process known as discovery. A prosecutor responded that the office would begin handing over evidence soon. According to the federal criminal complaint, the police who arrested Mangione found a notebook that contained several handwritten pages that "express hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular." A notebook entry dated Oct. 22 allegedly described an intent to "wack" the chief executive of an insurance company at its investor conference.NEW YORK (AP) — He's making threats, traveling abroad and negotiating with world leaders. Donald Trump has more than a month and a half to go before he's sworn in for a second term. But the Republican president-elect is already moving aggressively not just to fill his Cabinet and outline policy goals, but to achieve those priorities . Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, prompting emergency calls and a visit from Canada's prime minister that resulted in what Trump claimed were commitments from both U.S. allies on new border security measures. The incoming president has warned there will be “ALL HELL TO PAY" if, before his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, Hamas does not release the hostages being held in Gaza . He has threatened to block the purchase of U.S. Steel by a Japanese company, warning "Buyer Beware!!!” And this weekend, Trump was returning to the global stage, joining a host of other foreign leaders for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral five years after it was ravaged by a fire. On Saturday, he met with French President Emmanuel Macron — joined at the last minute by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — and had plans to see Britain's Prince William also in Paris. Absent in Paris: lame duck President Joe Biden, who has largely disappeared from headlines, except when he issued a pardon of his son , Hunter, who was facing sentencing for gun crimes and tax evasion. First lady Jill Biden is attending in his place. “I think you have seen more happen in the last two weeks than you’ve seen in the last four years. And we’re not even there yet,” Trump said in an over-the-top boast at an awards ceremony Thursday night . For all of Trump's bold talk, though, it is unclear how many of his efforts will bear fruit. The pre-inauguration threats and deal-making are highly unusual, like so much of what Trump does, said Julian Zelizer, a political historian at Princeton University. “Transitions are always a little complicated in this way. Even though we talk about one president at a time," he said, “the reality is one president plus. And that plus can act assertively sometimes." Zelizer said that is particularly true of Trump, who was president previously and already has relationships with many foreign leaders such as Macron, who invited both Trump and Biden to Paris this weekend as part of the Notre Dame celebration. “Right now he’s sort of governing even though he’s not the president yet. He’s having these public meetings with foreign leaders, which aren't simply introductions. He's staking out policy and negotiating things from drug trafficking to tariffs," Zelizer said. Trump already has met with several foreign leaders, in addition to a long list of calls. He hosted Argentinian President Javier Milei in Florida at his Mar-a-Lago club in November. After the tariff threat, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago for a three-hour dinner meeting. Canadian officials later said the country is ready to make new investments in border security, with plans for more helicopters, drones and law enforcement officers. Last Sunday, Trump dined with Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Israeli prime minister. Incoming Trump aides have also been meeting with their future foreign counterparts. On Wednesday, several members of Trump's team, including incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz, met with Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelenskyy, in Washington, as Ukraine tries to win support for its ongoing efforts to defend itself from Russian invasion, according to a person familiar with the meeting. Yermak also met with Trump officials in Florida, he wrote on X . That comes after Trump's incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Qatar and Israel for high-level talks about a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza, according to a U.S familiar with the efforts, meeting with the prime ministers of both countries. There is no prohibition on incoming officials or nominees meeting with foreign officials, and it is common and fine for them to do so — unless those meetings are designed to subvert or otherwise impact current U.S. policy. Trump aides were said to be especially cognizant of potential conflicts given their experience in 2016, when interactions between Trump allies and Russian officials came under scrutiny. That included a phone call in which Trump's incoming national security adviser, Michael Flynn, discussed new sanctions with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, suggesting things would improve after Trump became president. Flynn was later charged with lying to the FBI about the conversation. Trump’s incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that, “All transition officials have followed applicable laws in their interactions with foreign nationals.” She added: “World leaders recognize that President Trump is returning to power and will lead with strength to put the best interests of the United States of America first again. That is why many foreign leaders and officials have reached out to correspond with President Trump and his incoming team.” Such efforts can nonetheless cause complications. If, say, Biden is having productive conversations on a thorny foreign policy issue and Trump weighs in, that could make it harder for Biden “because people are hearing two different voices” that may be in conflict, Zelizer said. Leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin and Netanyahu may also anticipate a more favorable incoming administration and wait Biden out, hoping for more a better deal. It also remains unclear how extensively the Biden administration has been kept apprised of Trump transition efforts. Although there is no requirement that an incoming administration coordinate calls and meetings with foreign officials with the State Department or National Security Council, that has long been considered standard practice. That is, in part, because transition teams, particularly in their early days and weeks, do not always have the latest information about the state of relations with foreign nations and may not have the resources, including interpretation and logistical ability, to handle such meetings efficiently. Still, the Biden and Trump teams have been talking, particularly on the Middle East, with the incoming and outgoing administrations having agreed to work together on efforts to free hostages who remain in held in Gaza, according to a U.S. official, who, like others, was not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. That includes conversations between Witkoff and Biden’s foreign policy team as well as Waltz and Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Last month, Biden administration officials said they had kept Trump’s team closely apprised of efforts to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanon border. “I just want to be clear to all of our adversaries, they can’t play the incoming Trump administration off of the Biden administration. I’m regularly talking to the Biden people. And so, this is not a moment of opportunity or wedges for them," Waltz said Friday in a Fox Business interview. But when it comes to immigration, Biden administration officials haven’t been entirely in the loop on discussions around how to execute on Trump’s pledge to deport millions of migrants, according to four administration officials with knowledge of the transition who spoke on condition of anonymity. That’s not terribly surprising given how differently the teams view migration. Trump’s team, meanwhile, is already claiming credit for everything from gains in the stock and cryptocurrency markets to a decision by Walmart to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion policies Trump opposes. “Promises Kept — And President Trump Hasn’t Even Been Inaugurated Yet,” read one press release that claimed, in part, that both Canada and Mexico have already pledged "immediate action” to help “stem the flow of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and deadly drugs entering the United States." Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has stopped short of saying Trump mischaracterized their call in late November. But she said Friday that Trump “has his own way of communicating, like when we had the phone call and he wrote that we were going to close the border. That was never talked about in the phone call.” Earlier this week, Mexico carried out what it claimed was its largest seizure of fentanyl pills ever. Seizures over the summer had been as little as 50 grams per week, and after the Trump call, they seized more than a ton. Security analyst David Saucedo said that "under the pressure by Donald Trump, it appears President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration is willing to increase the capture of drug traffickers and drug seizures that Washington is demanding.” Biden, too, tried to take credit for the seizure in a statement Friday night. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, Colleen Long and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.Do tree-shaped Reese’s actually taste better than a regular peanut butter cup?

The Sydney business turning Fiji’s beach litter into power polesApple Forced To Cancel Beloved iPhoneCORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami probably was one win away from getting into the College Football Playoff. Iowa State definitely was one win away. Their consolation prize of sorts: playing one another. The Hurricanes and Cyclones — a meteorological matchup — have accepted bids to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, to be played Dec. 28 in Orlando, Florida. Iowa State (10-3) is looking for its first 11-win season in the program's 133-year history, and Miami (10-2) is seeking its first 11-win season since 2003. Miami's loss at Syracuse to close the regular season wound up being the game the Hurricanes could point to as the reason they missed out on the CFP. Iowa State could have played its way in and lost the Big 12 title game to CFP-bound Arizona State on Saturday. “I think everyone that doesn't get in feels disappointment,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “We feel the onus of just doing better. Just do better, go forward, have an opportunity to get better.” It's essentially the same task for both teams: regrouping after seeing the playoff slip away. “I think that’s what’s made Iowa State football really special is our ability to have great resiliency," Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said. "And I know our kids are super-excited about the opportunity to finish off. Obviously (Saturday) was disappointing. But this group and this football team has the opportunity to just continue to fight.” A big question for Miami: whether quarterback Cam Ward will play. The likely Heisman Trophy finalist has thrown for 155 touchdown passes in his career at Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami. That’s tied for the most by anyone in Division I (FBS and FCS) history; Case Keenum threw 155 in his career at Houston. Many draft-bound players not in the playoff will be opting out of bowl games over the coming weeks. There's been no indication from Miami yet that Ward or any other draft-bound player has made a decision. “I think it’s important that our guys, anyone playing and closing out the season, understands the importance of that next step for a program like ours," Cristobal said. "And I think our guys do.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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OTTAWA—Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said he received pushback from Indian government officials for his use of the term “Sikh nation” during the 2022 Conservative leadership campaign, but generally believes that foreign interference did not alter the outcome of the race. Brown was called to testify before the House of Commons public safety committee on Thursday evening. The committee is studying the Indian government’s involvement in political interference and violence in Canada. Brown initially declined an invitation to appear, but was formally summoned. He said he didn’t want to be part of any political wrangling. “I don’t have an interest in revisiting partisan debates.” A Radio-Canada story earlier this week reported that insiders on Brown’s Conservative leadership campaign felt the Indian government was interfering, trying to undermine his campaign. This included disinviting him from events in the community and encouraging volunteers not to support him. The story also alleged that Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner was encouraged by Indian consular officials to drop her support for Brown. Brown said on a campaign call he was told the Indian government rejected the term “Sikh nation,” which he had used in public remarks. “The concern that was raised was that I had used the term, on a number of occasions, Sikh nation, and the consul general had expressed directly to MP Rempel Garner that was something that obviously they didn’t agree with,” he said. Some members of the Sikh community in Canada favour the creation of a separate state in India called Khalistan that would be a homeland for their community, but the Indian government firmly rejects that idea. Brown said he used a different term than “Sikh nation” after the Indian government complained, and downplayed the importance of the wording change, but Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell said she saw it as a clear example of interference. “I think that constitutes foreign interference, pretty clearly. With foreign interference it doesn’t matter the outcome. It’s the intention to have the foreign government influence the actions in Canadian elections.” Brown also said, in contrast to the Radio-Canada reporting, Rempel-Garner never indicated she was leaving because of any foreign pressure. “At no point when we talked about her departing the campaign did she say it was because of pressure from the consul general,” he said. At the end of the meeting, O’Connell moved to have Rempel Garner and several members of the Brown campaign called to testify. O’Connell’s motion will be voted on at a later meeting. Brown said when he was a provincial party leader he supported motions recognizing a 1984 attack on Sikh communities as a genocide and spoke out about some of the actions of the Indian government. He said Indian diplomats aren’t quiet about their opinions. “I think it’s fair to say that the government of India states their opinions and I think there’s a number of issues that I took a position on that certainly the Government of India wasn’t a fan of,” he said. Brown was disqualified from the Conservative leadership over allegations he had breached the party’s campaign finance rules. Brown said he had no direct knowledge of foreign interference in his campaign. He said he was aware of one community event where he was disinvited, but said he has no doubt the outcome of the race would have been the same. “I believe that Pierre Poilievre was successful in that race because he signed 300,000 plus memberships. And, I don’t believe acts of foreign intervention affected that result.” Brown’s community has a significant Sikh population and he said there is a lot of ongoing concern about India and other countries interfering in Canada. The committee has also heard testimony from the RCMP and other security agencies about the Indian government’s involvement in a campaign of violence in Canada. This has included the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., which Brown said is a major concern for the community. He said he believes — to start with — the federal government needs to clearly outline the rules to foreign diplomats who are crossing the lines. “A starting point is a clear education on those who are serving as diplomatic representatives in Canada of what is appropriate behaviour and behaviour that is inappropriate with the laws we have in Canada, clearly there are diplomats that need that education,” he said.Conor McGregor Found Liable For 2018 Sexual Assault In Civil TrialPRINCESS ANNE, Md. (AP) — Ketron Shaw scored 30 points to lead Maryland Eastern Shore past Bryn Athyn 91-65 on Saturday. Shaw also contributed seven rebounds and six assists for the Hawks (2-11), who ended a seven-game slide with the win. Chris Flippin added 22 points and five rebounds. Evan Johnson had 14 points. Isaac Marshall and Jalen Cary both scored 15 to lead the Lions. Jalen Parker had 14 points, two steals and two blocks. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Opposition fighters are at Damascus' gates. Who are they and what now?

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series in 2024 but they may not be content with their roster. They could look to sign Rōki Sasaki and bring another international star to Los Angeles. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he expects Sasaki to sign in the 2025 signing period, according to ESPN's Jorge Castillo . While listing top landing spots for Sasaki, FanSided's Christopher Kline named the Dodgers as one of the top suitors for the 23-year-old Chiba Lotte Marines star. With Sasaki signing in the 2025 window, it gives the Dodgers an even better chance to sign him. "The Dodgers may have the upper hand due to Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, two major international stars who immediately elevated the Dodgers to must-watch status in Sasaki's native Japan," wrote Kline. "There is a certain undeniable popularity that comes with playing for the reigning champs and pitching behind Ohtani and Yamamoto." Money won't matter too much in landing Sasaki. He won't be able to sign a huge deal like Yoshinobu Yamamoto did last winter. Teams can only use the money from their international signing bonus pool allotment. The 2024 period ends on December 15 and the Dodgers have $2.5 million remaining . However, when the 2025 window opens on January 15, the Dodgers will have $5.1 million at their disposal . With the news that Sasaki will sign in the 2025 window, the Dodgers will have all $5.1 million at their disposal. Sasaki had 129 strikeouts in 18 games in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2024. He is a two-time NPB All-Star. He was electric in the World Baseball Classic when his fastball was on full display. Sasaki has the potential to be a No. 1 starter and the Dodgers could get him without spending huge like they did to add Yamamoto last offseason. More MLB: Dodgers predicted to poach $2.4 million All-Star from Mets in free agency

NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn real estate magnate accused of working with a Turkish government official to funnel illegal campaign contributions to New York City Mayor Eric Adams plans to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge tied to the scheme, federal prosecutors said Monday. Erden Arkan, the owner of a real estate construction firm, was one of several individuals implicated in the sprawling corruption indictment brought against Adams in October. He would be the first to plead guilty in a public proceeding. In court papers, prosecutors said Arkan planned to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud by collecting campaign contributions for Adams that were made under the name of someone other than the true contributor. Adams then used those funds to fraudulently obtain public funding under the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations, prosecutors allege. A lawyer for Arkan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An attorney for Adams, Alex Spiro, said in an emailed statement that the decision would have "no bearing on the Mayor’s case whatsoever.” “We know from the government’s own interviews that Mr. Arkan repeatedly said that Mayor Adams had no knowledge of his actions," Spiro said. A well-known member of New York’s Turkish community, Arkan is a co-owner of KSK, a Brooklyn-based construction firm specializing in luxury condominiums. His firm’s ties to Adams emerged in November 2023, as investigators searched his residence, along with the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser and his liaison to the Turkish community. Adams was subsequently charged with accepting bribes in the form of luxury travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals hoping to buy his influence for their benefit. He has pleaded not guilty and vowed to remain in office as he fights the charges. The indictment details an April 2021 dinner organized by the Turkish official in which Adams personally solicited illegal campaign contributions from Arkan — identified in court papers only as “Businessman-5.” The following month, Arkan hosted a fundraiser at KSK’s headquarters for Adams in which 11 of his employees donated between $1,200 and $1,500 to the campaign. Each was reimbursed by the construction firm, prosecutors allege, making the contributions illegal straw donations. Arkan later confirmed to the FBI that he had spoken to the Turkish official about the fundraiser. He initially denied reimbursing his employees, prosecutors said. As he sought to recruit others to raise money for Adams, Arkan appeared to acknowledge misgivings about the fundraising scheme, telling prospective donors in New York's Turkish community that it “may feel like swimming against the current but unfortunately this is how things work in this country,” according to the indictment. As Adams gears up for an April trial, he has pledged to fight the case “with every ounce of my strength and my spirit." But his administration has faced overlapping scandals and investigations, leading to the resignations of his police commissioner , schools chancellor , multiple deputy mayors and his director of Asian affairs . His former buildings commissioner was also charged in a separate bribery conspiracy case involving real estate officials last year. Last week, Adams' former top advisor and close confidante, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, was charged by state prosecutors for allegedly accepting bribes from two real estate developers seeking to speed the process of construction approvals. She has pleaded not guilty. Jake Offenhartz And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press