AP-National

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japan has reported that its economy contracted at a 2.1% annual pace in July-September as consumption and investment weakened. Slowing wage growth in the world’s third-largest economy also sapped its vitality. The Cabinet Office said Wednesday in quarterly terms the economy contracted by 0.5%. The numbers

MEXICO (AP) — The company run by Mexican TV, retail and banking magnate Ricardo Salinas Pliego says it has failed to reach agreement with bondholders in the United States who are owed tens of millions of dollars in past-due payments. His TV Azteca company issued a statement Tuesday saying it needed a restructuring of bonds

Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Eight high school students in Las Vegas between the ages of 13 and 17 were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in the fatal beating of a classmate. Las Vegas police say investigators are still working to identify two more students who participated in the Nov. 1 fight that

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans are pushing new boundaries over immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border. A proposal moving toward Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk would let police arrest migrants who enter the country illegally and give judges the ability to order them back across the border. The bill

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — A 78-year-old woman has died from injuries suffered in the wildfire last August that devastated the historic Maui town of Lahaina. Police announced an updated fatality count Tuesday, saying there are now 100 dead overall. Officials say the elderly victim was flown to Oahu after the

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Firefighters have fully contained and extinguished a small wildfire on Maui that broke out during a warning that gusty winds and low humidity posed a risk that fires could spread rapidly. It took less than an hour to put out the fire, which which burned about

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday was summoned to federal court for the second time in two weeks to testify in an antitrust trial threatening to topple a pillar of an internet empire that he helped build. Pichai spent more than two hours in a San Francisco courtroom defending

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it has successfully tested new solid-fuel engines designed for intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The report Wednesday comes as North Korea works on developing nuclear-capable weapons targeting its rivals in the region. State media said military scientists tested the first-stage and second-stage missile engines

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers are digging into an outside accounting firm’s role in preparing financial statements at the heart of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit. On Tuesday, they upped the blame with expert testimony from a former federal financial regulator. Jason Flemmons testified on

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGMERY, Ala. (AP) — The creation of a Democratic-leaning congressional district in Alabama has drawn a sprawling field of candidates as Democrats eye a rare chance to flip a Republican seat in the battle for control of the House of Representatives. The new, court-ordered district is viewed as a once-in-a-generation

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona woman who shared her Thanksgiving table seven years ago with a stranger she accidentally texted will be opening up her home again this year to two new strangers. Wanda Dench is teaming up with Airbnb to expand the festivities, and the company said it will make a donation to the

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The State Board of Education is considering a universal definition of “age appropriate” educational materials in South Carolina schools and libraries. A proposal advanced Tuesday seeks to bar descriptions or visual depictions of “sexual conduct” and anything defined as “obscene” or “indecent.” The regulation

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Two people were killed and a third injured when a small plane crashed in the mountains south of Salt Lake City. Utah County Sheriff’s officials say the two apparently died on impact and the third was walking around when rescuers arrived. The plane went down around midday Tuesday for unknown reasons

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An auction of federal Gulf of Mexico leases for oil and gas drilling must be held in 37 days, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, rejecting environmentalists’ arguments against the sale and throwing out plans by the Biden administration to scale back the sale to protect

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press A Detroit police corporal accused of shooting three photojournalists with rubber pellets while they covered protests against police brutality has been ordered to stand trial. Prosecutors say Daniel Debono is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 28 in Wayne County Circuit Court on felonious assault charges. The photojournalists encountered Debono and

NYE, Montana (AP) — Work has resumed at a precious metals mine in south-central Montana a day after an Idaho man died in an underground machinery accident. The worker died early Monday when he was operating a machine that bolts wire panels onto the stone walls of an underground tunnel to prevent falling rock during

MACON, Ga. (AP) — Two women were arrested Tuesday, accused of helping one of four men who escaped from a Georgia jail last month. Jacorshia Smith and Janecia Green of Macon face a charge of aiding the escape of 37-year-old Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, who was captured Sunday at a home in Augusta. Authorities did not

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their long anticipated meeting at Filoli, a historic country house and museum with lavish gardens just south of San Francisco. Experts say this is an ideal location for the two world leaders to meet for

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Anchorage scrambled Tuesday to come up with more temporary housing for the homeless after back-to-back snowstorms dumped more than 3 feet of snow on the city in just nine days, an amount that is high even by Alaska standards. The concern grows as temperatures are expected

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A man awaiting trial in the kidnapping of a 16-year-old western Michigan girl who was later killed has died from medical complications. U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said Tuesday that 63-year-old Gerald Bennett was admitted Nov. 7 to a hospital for cancer treatment. He died Monday. Bennett was found competent last