AP-National

INDEPENDENCE, Calif. (AP) — Two climbers reported missing this week on California’s Mount Whitney have been found dead. Sheriff’s officials say a friend who had been with the climbers called authorities Tuesday night after they failed to arrive as planned at their campsite. A helicopter crew and teams on the slopes launched a search. Officials

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Several people have been detained by police at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after demonstrators blocked a parking garage in their ongoing protest movement connected to the Israel-Hamas war. Tensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the United States and increasingly in

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii health officials say testing on west Maui residents shows no evidence of widespread lead exposure from last summer’s wildfires. Blood samples were taken from more than 500 people to screen for the toxic metal after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the town of Lahaina, killing

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and called on the Security Council to reconsider Palestine’s request to become the 194th member of the United Nations. The world body approved the Arab and

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — An annual survey of more than 500 European companies has found that slowing growth in China is weighing on company plans to expand their businesses in the world’s second largest economy. China still ranks high as a place to invest, but the share of companies considering an

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark walked into her new home arena Thursday night with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling. A late-arriving but still louder-than-usual crowd roared during her first official introduction to Fever fans. And when Clark made the layup for her first basket

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed a $105 billion bill designed to improve safety and customer service for air travelers, a day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires. The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports,

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Air Vanuatu has filed for bankruptcy protection a day after it cancelled all international flights, stranding thousands of travelers. The South Pacific state-owned airline had cancelled more than 20 flights to and from the Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane, and the New Zealand city of

Associated Press WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — Maui officials say they will hire an outside expert to analyze how the county’s emergency management agency handled devastating wildfires nine months ago. The Aug. 8 wildfire was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. It killed 101 people and destroyed much of the historic town of

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A man who says he was paralyzed after being hit with a Taser while running from police in Colorado has filed a federal lawsuit against one of the officers. Lawyers for Jacob Root allege the officer fired a Taser at Root’s back without warning and he couldn’t

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bill that would have consolidated six South Carolina heath care agencies and was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers of the General Assembly has died in a procedural move by a member angry he was mocked by his colleagues. Republican Rep. Josiah Magnuson has been against

By STEPHEN SMITH and SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Just two days before a sheriff’s deputy in Florida shot him dead, U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson called home to find out what his 10-year-old sister wanted for her birthday. It was a typical gesture for the 23-year-old from

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A Chinese billionaire has been sentenced to time served in connection with a scheme to funnel illegal straw donations to politicians’ campaigns in New York and Rhode Island. Hui Qin appeared in federal court on Long Island, New York, on Thursday and was sentenced to seven months in prison —

By ZEN SOO AP Technology Writer HONG KONG (AP) — A top public relations executive from Chinese technology firm Baidu has apologized after she made comments that were seen as glorifying a culture of overwork. Baidu’s head of communications Qu Jing implied in the videos that she was not concerned about her employees as she

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press Former President Donald Trump is limited in what he can publicly say as he fights charges that he made payments to a porn actor to illegally influence the 2016 election. But he’s getting help from some GOP allies who are glad to show up and talk. U.S. Sen. Rick

By MATT BROWN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has recorded a video commencement message that is being played for graduates at historically Black colleges and universities across the country this spring. The surprise video, which has debuted at a handful of HBCU commencement ceremonies in the past week, will appear at

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A judge must decide whether Virginia law allows frozen embryos to be considered property that can be divided up and given a monetary value. The Fairfax County judge heard arguments Thursday from a divorced couple who disagree over the ex-wife’s desire to use two frozen embryos

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana’s government says it gave permission for the U.S. military to fly two powerful F/A-18F Super Hornet jets over its capital to demonstrate the close military and other forms of cooperation between this oil-exporting South American nation and the United States. The country had about three hours notice of the exercise

REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Biden administration rule aims to speed up asylum processing at the southern border, enabling it to quickly reject a limited group of people believed to have committed serious crimes or who have terrorist links. The change announced Thursday comes during an election year when immigration is

Associated Press The fatal shooting of a U.S. Air Force airman at his off-base apartment in the Florida Panhandle by a sheriff’s deputy brings to mind other instances of Black people being killed by law enforcement in their own homes as they’re going about their day. Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was killed on May