AP National News

JERUSALEM (AP) — An ultranationalist ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tendered his resignation as a deputy minister in the new government. Avi Maoz’s departure was the first crack in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, which assumed office in late December after securing a parliamentary majority in the November elections. The Noam faction leader said

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympic bid-rigging scandal has widened with Japanese advertising giant Dentsu and five other companies getting charged. Executives or management-level officials from each of the accused companies, and an Olympic organizing committee official, were also charged with violating anti-monopoly laws. According to prosecutors the charges against

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KUPIANSK, Ukraine (AP) — A tank carrying Ukrainian infantry speeds toward a target position marked with a metal sheet. The soldiers climb down, hurl grenades and unleash a crackle of machine-gun fire. Then they repeat the moves, getting faster with every iteration. It’s only a drill. But with the sounds

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher Tuesday in Asia after Wall Street benchmarks clawed back some losses from their worst week since early December. Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Shanghai advanced while Hong Kong and Mumbai declined. Stocks have come under selling pressure as analysts raised forecasts for how

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police began searching a landfill Tuesday for evidence related to the grisly killing of model Abby Choi, whose dismembered body parts were found in a refrigerator and pots. Ex-husband Alex Kwong, his father Kwong Kau and his brother Anthony Kwong were charged with murder

BEIJING (AP) — China is ordering closer adherence to the dictates of the Communist Party and leader Xi Jinping in legal education before its parliament starts its annual session. The directive demands that schools “oppose and resist Western erroneous views” such as constitutional government, separation of powers, and judicial independence. The directive and similar ones

By JENNIFER O’MAHONY Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spain is building on its reputation in renewable energy to position itself as Europe’s future leader in green hydrogen. But industry players and experts express caution over ramping up an industry that would be wholly reliant on massive increases in the availability of zero-carbon electricity. Spain’s Minister

By The Associated Press U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Kazakhstan for a series of meeting with top diplomats of Central Asian nations. Blinken’s visit to Astana and later this week to Uzbek capital Tashkent marks his first trip to Central Asia as secretary of state. It comes just days after the first

By AMY TAXIN Associated Press FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Mabu saunters across a grassy field and raises his long, gray trunk to wrangle food from a hole carved inside a large boulder, captivating the attention of a girl propped up on her father’s shoulders. At this zoo in a central California farming community, the 32-year-old

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s coronavirus emergency declaration has ended. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the emergency to lift Tuesday. California was one of six remaining states that still had emergency declarations in place. Illinois’s emergency will end May 11, coinciding with the end of the federal coronavirus emergency. Texas Republican

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president says the main mission of his country’s military has changed to ensure the protection of its territory as disputes with China and U.S.-China rivalry intensify. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spoke to troops two weeks after summoning China’s ambassador to protest the use of

By JOHN ANTCZAK and SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Parts of the Northeast are gearing up for what could be very heavy snow early Tuesday, after tornadoes and other powerful winds swept through parts of the Southern Plains, killing at least one person in Oklahoma, and some Michigan residents faced a sixth

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago is holding a mayoral election, but it will likely take a runoff before a winner is declared. Nine candidates are competing Tuesday for a chance to be Chicago’s next mayor. That includes Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who was elected in 2019 and is seeking her second term.

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A special House committee dedicated to countering China will make its debut on Tuesday, the opening act in what lawmakers hope will be a robust effort to overcome partisan divisions and address a “generational challenge” to America’s national security. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., says

BEIJING (AP) — Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is due in Beijing to begin a three-day state visit Tuesday as geopolitical tensions rise over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China says the visit is an “opportunity to promote the further development of all-around cooperation between the two countries,” but

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is fighting for reelection Tuesday after a history-making but tumultuous four years in office and a bruising campaign threaten to make her the city’s first one-term mayor in decades. Lightfoot in 2019 became the first Black woman and first openly gay mayor of

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has begun hearing arguments in a partisan legal fight over President Joe Biden’s plan to wipe away or reduce student loans held by millions of Americans. The high court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, heard arguments on Tuesday in two challenges to the plan,

By LAURA UNGAR AP Science Writer Five years ago, scientist He Jiankui shocked his peers and the world with claims that he created the first genetically edited babies. Now, after serving three years in a Chinese prison for practicing medicine without a license, he faces obstacles and critics as he tries to re-enter science. For

By LAURA UNGAR and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab? Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” in that it