Where's the party? No state dinner in Trump's first year

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump couldn't stop talking about the red carpets, military parades and fancy dinners that were lavished upon him during state visits on his recent tour of Asia. "Magnificent," he declared at one point on the trip.

But Trump has yet to reciprocate, making him the first president in almost a century to close his first year in office without welcoming a visiting counterpart to the U.S. with similar trappings.

Trump spoke dismissively of state dinners as a candidate, when he panned President Barack Obama's decision to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping with a 2015 state visit. Such visits are an important diplomatic tool that includes a showy arrival ceremony and an elaborate dinner at the White House.

"I would not be throwing (Xi) a dinner," Trump said at the time. "I would get him a McDonald's hamburger and say we've got to get down to work."

Last month it was Xi's turn to literally roll out the red carpet. The Chinese leader poured on the pageantry as he welcomed Trump to Beijing on what was billed as a "state visit, plus." Trump also made state visits to South Korea and Vietnam.

___

Christmas brings Northeast blizzard, bitter cold in Midwest

CHICAGO (AP) — The good news for many in the Northeast and Midwest was that it has been a white Christmas. The bad news was that a blizzard swept into parts of New England and bitter cold enveloped much of the Midwest.

Even the usually rainy Pacific Northwest got the white stuff. The National Weather Service says it's only the sixth time since 1884 that downtown Portland had measurable snow — only an inch or two — on a Dec. 25.

A blizzard warning was issued Monday for portions of Maine and New Hampshire, with forecasters saying snow of up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) and wind gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph) could make travel "dangerous to impossible."

Most businesses were already shuttered on Christmas Day in New England. One of the few open was The Tobacconist cigar shop in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where area-resident Dwayne Doherty said he welcomed the fresh blanket of snow.

"I'm actually happy," he said, chuckling as he made his way to his pick-up. "We haven't had snow on Christmas at all in the last few years. It's actually perfect."

___

10 Things to Know for Tuesday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:

1. BLIZZARD, BITTER COLD HIT PARTS OF US ON CHRISTMAS

Heavy, wind-whipped snow falls on parts of New England, while subzero temperatures sweep from the Rockies to the Plains and Great Lakes.

2. TRUMP, FIRST LADY SEND HOLIDAY GREETINGS

In a brief video, the president and his wife, Melania, "wish America and the entire world a very Merry Christmas."

___

Kremlin: Russia election boycott campaign may be illegal

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials should review opposition leader Alexei Navalny's calls for an election boycott to see if they might be breaking the law, the Kremlin said Tuesday, hinting at possible legal repercussions.

In a widely anticipated decision, Russia's top election body ruled Monday to formally bar anti-corruption crusader Navalny from running in the presidential election next March. Navalny promptly put out a video statement, saying that the ban shows that President Vladimir "Putin is terribly scared and is afraid of running against me," and called on his supporters to stay away from the vote in protest.

Putin, who has been in power for 18 years, announced his bid for re-election earlier this month, but so far has refrained from canvassing. In contrast, his most prominent rival, anti-corruption crusader Navalny has been campaigning aggressively all year, reaching out to the most remote parts of the country.

Opinion polls say that Putin should easily win the March vote.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday wouldn't comment on the Election Commission's decision to bar Navalny but said the "calls for boycott ought to be carefully studied to see if they are breaking the law."

___

Winds of worry: US fishermen fear forests of power turbines

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — East Coast fishermen are turning a wary eye toward an emerging upstart: the offshore wind industry.

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, the onetime whaling capital made famous in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick," fishermen dread the possibility of navigating a forest of turbines as they make their way to the fishing grounds that have made it the nation's most lucrative fishing port for 17 years running.

The state envisions hundreds of wind turbines spinning off the city's shores in about a decade, enough to power more than 1 million homes.

"You ever see a radar picture of a wind farm? It's just one big blob, basically," said Eric Hansen, 56, a New Bedford scallop boat owner whose family has been in the business for generations. "Transit through it will be next to impossible, especially in heavy wind and fog."

Off New York's Long Island, an organization representing East Coast scallopers has sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to try to halt a proposal for a nearly 200-turbine wind farm. Commercial fishermen in Maryland's Ocean City and North Carolina's Outer Banks have also sounded the alarm about losing access to fishing grounds.

___

US says it negotiated $285M cut in United Nations budget

The U.S. government says it has negotiated a significant cut in the United Nations budget.

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that the U.N.'s 2018-2019 budget would be slashed by over $285 million. The mission said reductions would also be made to the U.N.'s management and support functions.

The announcement didn't make clear the entire amount of the budget or specify what effect the cut would have on the U.S. contribution.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said that the "inefficiency and overspending" of the organization is well-known, and she would not let "the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of."

She also said that while the mission was pleased with the results of budget negotiations, it would continue to "look at ways to increase the U.N.'s efficiency? while protecting our interests."

___

'Sound of Music' actress Heather Menzies-Urich dies at 68

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actress Heather Menzies-Urich, who played one of the singing von Trapp children in the hit 1965 film, "The Sound of Music," has died. She was 68.

Her son, actor Ryan Urich, told Variety that his mother died late Sunday in Frankford, Ontario. She recently had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

"She was an actress, a ballerina and loved living her life to the fullest," Urich said.

Menzies-Urich played Louisa von Trapp, the third-oldest of the seven von Trapp children, in the film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

"The Sound of Music" captured five Academy Awards, including best picture.

___

Durant delivers on both ends, Warriors beat Cavaliers 99-92

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James drove to the basket in the waning seconds and Kevin Durant swatted away any chance Cleveland had at a Christmas Day comeback.

Durant pumped his fist again and again, emphatically shook his head and pounded his chest in delight. It looked a lot like the dominant Durant from the NBA Finals six months ago.

Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:33 left, Durant delivered on both ends of the floor, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Cavaliers 99-92 on Monday in a festive holiday rematch of the past three Finals.

"There's just so much joy in the arena today because it's Christmas and we all feed off of that," Durant said.

Durant's block against a driving James with 24.5 seconds left went out of bounds off James, who said he thought he was fouled on the play. Durant finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

___

NFL protests named top sports story of 2017

DENVER (AP) — President Donald Trump couldn't stand NFL players kneeling in protest during "The Star-Spangled Banner." His angry call to fire players who didn't stand for the national anthem rekindled both the national debate over the issue and the movement itself.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick initiated the protests last year to bring attention to racial inequality and police brutality against minorities. Kaepernick is currently out of football, and relatively few players were demonstrating this season before the president stoked his feud with the NFL .

During a speech at a political rally in Huntsville, Alabama, in late September, Trump said, "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired, he's fired."

Criticism from players, owners and fans — and some praise — greeted Trump's remarks, which sparked a massive show of defiance that weekend, with more than 200 players protesting by choosing not to stand for the national anthem.

The president's feud with the NFL is the runaway winner for the top sports story of 2017 in balloting by AP members and editors, easily outdistancing the corruption scandal engulfing college basketball and the Houston Astros winning their first World Series and lifting the spirits of a city devastated by Hurricane Harvey.

___

Peru's president grants medical pardon for jailed Fujimori

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's president announced Sunday night that he granted a medical pardon to jailed former strongman Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski released a statement on Christmas Eve saying he decided to free Fujimori for "humanitarian reasons," citing doctors who had determined the ex-leader suffers from incurable and degenerative problems.

The 79-year-old Fujimori, who governed from 1990 to 2000, is a polarizing figure in Peru. Some Peruvians laud him for defeating the Maoist Shining Path guerrilla movement, while others loathe him for human rights violations carried out under his government and some human rights groups quickly criticized the pardon.

His daughter, Keiko Fujimori, narrowly lost Peru's last presidential election to Kuczynski, and her party dominates congress. Her party mounted an attempt this month to oust Kuczynski over business ties to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which is at the center of a huge Latin American corruption scandal, but the president survived the impeachment vote late Thursday.

Critics of Fujimori again raised speculation that Kuczynski agreed to pardon the former leader in return for some opposition lawmakers not supporting his impeachment.