AP-National

By STEPHEN WADE and AUDREY MCAVOY Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Hawaii-born Akebono Taro, one of the greats of sumo wrestling and a former grand champion, has died. He was 54. He was the first foreign-born wrestler to reach the level of “yokozuna” — or grand champion — in Japan. “It is with sadness that

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — As NBC News Group chairman, Cesar Conde is already busy overseeing the network’s broadcast and digital news operations, along with CNBC, MSNBC, Telemundo and NBC-owned local affiliates. Yet the executive also has a second paid job. And a third — as a member of Walmart

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Don Beyer’s car dealerships were among the first in the U.S. to set up a website. As a representative, the Virginia Democrat leads a bipartisan group focused on promoting fusion energy. He reads books about geometry for fun. So when questions about regulating artificial intelligence emerged, the

By DAVID FISCHER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — South Florida researchers are using biodegradable drinking straws to prevent laboratory-grown coral from becoming really expensive fish food. Scientists around the world have been working for years to address the decline of coral reef populations. One solution has been to grow new coral in a

By ANDREW DeMILLO and JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Arguments before a federal appeals court that is considering whether to reinstate Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for minors focused Thursday on whether it and similar restrictions adopted by two dozen states discriminate on the basis of sex. Ten judges with the

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When he was elected two years ago as Manhattan’s first Black district attorney, Alvin Bragg spoke candidly about his unease with the job’s political demands. A former law professor, he’s more comfortable untangling complex legal questions than swaggering up to a podium. But when the first

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press SMITHVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Before his transgender daughter was suspended after using the girls’ bathroom at her Missouri high school. Before the bullying and the suicide attempts. Before she dropped out. Before all that, Dusty Farr was — in his own words — “a full-on bigot.” By which he meant

By DAVID RISING Associated Press RUN TA EK, Cambodia (AP) — It’s been more than a year since Yem Srey Pin moved with her family from the village where she was born on Cambodia’s Angkor UNESCO World Heritage site to Run Ta Ek, a dusty new settlement about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away. Hers is

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press SMITHVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Before his transgender daughter was suspended after using the girls’ bathroom at her Missouri high school. Before the bullying and the suicide attempts. Before she dropped out. Before all that, Dusty Farr was — in his own words — “a full-on bigot.” By which he meant

By JACK JEFFERY, JULIA FRANKEL and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — It was hours after sundown when the eight aid trucks drove from the makeshift jetty, cobbled together from tons of wreckage left across Gaza by months of war. The trucks were escorted by three vehicles carrying aid workers

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed U.S. lawmakers at the Capitol on Thursday, urging them to consider the importance of global commitments at a time of tension in the Asia-Pacific and deep skepticism in Congress about U.S. involvement abroad. Kishida is in Washington this week visiting President

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A new study has found that voters in 19 countries, including in three of the world’s largest democracies, are widely skeptical about whether their political elections are free and fair. And many favor a strong, undemocratic leader. The report Thursday by the International Institute for

By DAVID RISING Associated Press RUN TA EK, Cambodia (AP) — It’s been more than a year since Yem Srey Pin moved with her family from the village where she was born on Cambodia’s Angkor UNESCO World Heritage site to Run Ta Ek, a dusty new settlement about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away. A tattered

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Reporters Without Borders says one of its representatives was denied entry into Hong Kong, calling it a “new decline” in the city’s press freedoms. The group, also known as RSF, says its Taipei-based staffer Aleksandra Bielakowska was stopped at the airport Wednesday by immigration officers. She

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man was killed and five others — including two children — were injured in a barrage of gunfire Wednesday in the nation’s capital. The shooting happened just after 6 p.m. in the Carver Langston neighborhood of Washington, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said. Investigators believe the suspects exited a vehicle

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — Two Nigerian brothers have pleaded guilty to sexually extorting teenage boys and young men in Michigan and across the country. U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said Wednesday that 22-year-old Samuel Ogoshi and 20-year-old Samson Ogoshi of Lagos, Nigeria, pleaded guilty to conspiring to sexually exploit teenage boys. The Ogoshis were accused of

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal fishery managers have voted to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row, and only the fourth time in state history, because of dwindling stocks. The unanimous vote Wednesday by the Pacific Fishery Management Council is a blow to

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China has accused the European Union of protectionism and “reckless distortion” of the definition of subsidies in response to a new EU investigation into Chinese wind turbine makers. The Commerce Ministry said China had made “solemn representations” on the issue in a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s prime minister and senior presidential officials offered to resign Thursday after their ruling party suffered a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections in a blow to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol. The results of Wednesday’s elections mean the liberal opposition forces will prolong their

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Officials have confirmed the identities of an Australian bomber and the remains of two air crew members more than 80 years after they crashed in flames off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The Royal Australian Air Force said in a statement on Wednesday that Beaufort