AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Trump digs in on election lies, insults accuser during CNN town hall event

During a contentious CNN town hall Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump dug in on his lies about the 2020 election, downplayed the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, and repeatedly insulted the woman whom a civil jury this week found him liable of sexually abusing and defaming.

Trump, returning to the network after years of acrimony, also refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russian aggression and said the U.S. “might as well” default on its debt obligation, despite the potential devastating economic consequences.

The live, televised event — held in early-voting New Hampshire — underscored the challenges of fact-checking Trump in real time. The former president was cheered on and applauded by an audience of Republican and unaffiliated voters as moderator Kaitlan Collins sometimes struggled to get a word in edgewise. Trump — who at one point snapped that Collins was “a nasty person” — continued to insist the 2020 election had been “rigged,” even though state and federal election officials, his own campaign and White House aides, and numerous courts have said there is no evidence to support his claims.

Trump also defended his delayed response on Jan. 6, when a mob of his supporters violently stormed the Capitol in a bid to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s win. Trump — who pulled out a printout of his tweets from that day — instead lashed out at the Black police officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Babbit, calling him a “thug.” And he said he is inclined to pardon “a large portion” of Jan. 6 defendants — more than 670 rioters have been convicted of crimes related to that day.

Trump, who is the undisputed frontrunner for the Republican nomination to take on Biden once again, also rejected a suggestion that he apologize to his former vice president, Mike Pence, who was targeted by the mob after Trump wrongly insisted that Pence had the power to overturn the election results.

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George Santos pleads not guilty to federal indictment and says he won’t resign

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos, infamous for fabricating his life story, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he duped donors, stole from his campaign and lied to Congress about being a millionaire, all while cheating to collect unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve.

Afterward, he said he wouldn’t drop his reelection bid and defied calls to resign.

Santos’ 13-count federal indictment was a reckoning for a web of fraud and deceit that prosecutors say overlapped with the New York Republican’s fantastical public image as a wealthy businessman — a fictional biography that began to unravel after he won election last fall.

Santos, 34, was released on $500,000 bond following his arraignment, about five hours after turning himself in to face charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He surrendered his passport and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

“This is the beginning of the ability for me to address and defend myself,” a cheerfully combative Santos told reporters swarming him outside a Long Island federal courthouse. He said he’s been cooperating with the investigation and vowed to fight the prosecution, which he labeled a “witch hunt.”

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Dutch suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance will be sent from Peru to US to face fraud charges

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s government will allow the extradition to the United States of the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway on the Dutch Caribbean Island of Aruba, bringing her family hope there will be justice in the case.

Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot will face trial for alleged extortion and wire fraud, charges stemming from the Holloway case. The Peruvian Embassy in Washington told The Associated Press on Wednesday the executive order allows for his temporary extradition.

Holloway, who lived in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she was last seen during a trip with classmates to Aruba. Her mysterious disappearance after a night with friends at a nightclub sparked years of news coverage, particularly in the tabloid and true-crime media.

Holloway’s body was never found, and no charges were filed against van der Sloot in the case. A judge later declared Holloway dead.

A grand jury in Alabama in 2010 indicted van der Sloot on wire fraud and extortion charges, accusing him of trying to extort $250,000 from Holloway’s mother in exchange for information on where her daughter was buried.

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Mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, known as Dooce to fans, dead at 47

NEW YORK (AP) — The pioneering mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, who laid bare her struggles as a parent and her battles with depression and alcoholism on her site Dooce.com and on social media, has died at 47.

Armstrong’s boyfriend, Pete Ashdown, told The Associated Press that he found her Tuesday night at their Salt Lake City home.

She had two children with her former husband and business partner, Jon Armstrong, began Dooce in 2001 and built it into a lucrative career. She was one of the first and most popular mommy bloggers, writing frankly about her children, relationships and other challenges at a time that personal blogs were on the rise.

She parlayed her successes with the blog, on Instagram and elsewhere into book deals, putting out a memoir in 2009, “It Sucked and then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown and a Much Needed Margarita.”

That year, Armstrong appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and was on the Forbes list of the most influential women in media.

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Israeli-Palestinian fighting intensifies as Egyptian cease-fire efforts falter

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian militants fired hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Wednesday, while Israel pressed ahead with a series of airstrikes that have killed 23 Palestinians, including three senior militants and at least 10 civilians.

A state-run Egyptian TV station announced that Egypt, a frequent mediator between the sides, had brokered a cease-fire. But the truce efforts appeared to falter as fighting intensified late Wednesday, with neither side showing any sign of backing down.

Early Thursday, the Israeli military said it targeted the commander of Islamic Jihad’s rocket squad in an airstrike on a building in the southern Gaza Strip. The military said Ali Ghali was hiding in an apartment and that two additional militants from the group were killed alongside him in the airstrike at a Qatari-built residential complex in Khan Younis. Ghali instructed and took part in rocket attacks against Israel in recent months. There was no comment from the militant group.

In a prime-time TV address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel had dealt a harsh blow to the militants. But he cautioned: “This round is not over.”

“We say to the terrorists and those who send them. We see you everywhere. You can’t hide, and we choose the place and time to strike you,” he said, adding that Israel would also decide when calm is restored.

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Idaho man who dangled from Senate balcony during Capitol riot receives 15-month prison sentence

An Idaho man who traveled to Washington in a car loaded with weapons and was photographed dangling from the Senate balcony during the Capitol riot was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison.

Josiah Colt, one of the first rioters to reach the Senate floor on Jan. 6, 2021, later pleaded guilty that year to obstructing Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s White House victory.

Also Wednesday, a man who accompanied Colt to the District of Columbia in a rental car with two pistols, knives, a stun gun, body armor and other gear was sentenced to about three years in prison, according to court records. Las Vegas resident Nathaniel DeGrave, who also entered the Senate gallery, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and assault charges last year.

Both men had agreed to cooperate with investigators as part of their plea deals.

Prosecutors say Colt, DeGrave and a third man, Ronald Sandlin, came to Washington prepared for violence and were intent on stopping lawmakers from certifying the results of the 2020 election as they joined the angry mob of then-President Donald Trump supporters in storming the Capitol.

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GOP says Biden family financial records a smoking gun. White House calls it a ‘political stunt’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing growing pressure to show progress in their investigations, House Republicans on Wednesday detailed what they say are concerning new findings about President Joe Biden’s family and their finances.

The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is recently obtained financial records connected to the president’s son Hunter Biden, brother James Biden and a growing number of associates who received millions of dollars in payments from foreign entities in China and Romania. They suggest, without evidence, that the payments were part of a wide-ranging scheme to enrich themselves off the family name.

To help them get here, Congressional Republicans relied on more than 150 suspicious activity reports as a roadmap to follow what they call the Bidens’ complicated financial money trail.

The confidential reports, called SARs for short, are often routine, with larger financial transactions automatically flagged to the government. The filing of a SARs report is not evidence on its own of misconduct.

But Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee leading the probe, said Wednesday that other types of financial records obtained through congressional subpoenas and lawsuits have now become the focus of their investigation.

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A skin patch to treat peanut allergies? Study in toddlers shows promise

WASHINGTON (AP) — An experimental skin patch is showing promise to treat toddlers who are highly allergic to peanuts — training their bodies to handle an accidental bite.

Peanut allergy is one of the most common and dangerous food allergies. Parents of allergic tots are constantly on guard against exposures that can turn birthday parties and play dates into emergency room visits.

There is no cure. The only treatment is for children 4 and older who can consume a special peanut powder to protect against a severe reaction.

The patch, named Viaskin, aims to deliver that kind of treatment through the skin instead. In a major test with youngsters ages 1 to 3, it helped those who couldn’t tolerate even a small fraction of a peanut to eventually safely eat a few, researchers reported Wednesday.

If additional testing pans out, “this would fill a huge unmet need,” said Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, an allergist at Children’s Hospital Colorado who helped lead the study.

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Jalen Brunson scores 38 points, Knicks beat Heat 112-103 in Game 5 to cut deficit to a game

NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while playing all 48 minutes in a season-extending performance, and the New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat 112-103 on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Knicks denied the Heat’s first attempt to become just the second No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals and sent the series back to Miami for Game 6 on Friday night.

RJ Barrett added 26 points and Julius Randle had 24 for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who stayed alive in hopes of reaching the conference finals for the first time since 2000. They did that by getting by the Heat in seven games in the second round, a possibility that still exists.

The Knicks built a 19-point lead in the third quarter, then hung on when the Heat finally got their 3-pointers to start falling and cut it to two with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

Jimmy Butler had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Heat, getting held below 25 points for the first time in this postseason. Bam Adebayo added 18 points and Duncan Robinson had 17.

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Why Ryan Reynolds, Snoop Dogg, other celebrities want to buy the Ottawa Senators

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — While some hockey fans may be surprised by multiple celebrities facing off for a minority ownership stake in the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, experts who study the business of sport say the prospect stands to lift the team’s profile to new heights. It is also seen as a safe way for stars to park their money.

Vancouver-born actor Ryan Reynolds and rapper Snoop Dogg have both confirmed their interest, while Toronto recording artist The Weeknd has reportedly also thrown his hat into the ring.

For film or music stars interested in owning a professional sports team, the opportunity simply doesn’t come around often, said Michael Naraine, associate professor of sport management at Brock University.

“When you think about professional sport, it is a cartel-like system. There are only 32 teams, only 32 seats,” he told The Canadian Press. “Teams like the Ottawa Senators, even though they’ve never won the Stanley Cup and they are not doing so hot momentum-wise on the ice, they’re still highly coveted. That’s the kind of impetus for why celebrities are now wanting to get into sports ownership.”

The board of directors of Senators Sports & Entertainment initiated the process to sell the team last November after the death of owner Eugene Melnyk earlier that year. Melnyk left the franchise to his daughters, Anna and Olivia.

The Associated Press