AP National News

By RIO YAMAT and ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Police in southern Oregon are searching for a man accused of torturing a woman he held captive, less than two years after he was convicted in Nevada of critically injuring another woman he held captive for two weeks. Police Chief Warren Hensman, of

MIAMI (AP) — Federal authorities have charged 25 people accused of participating in a wire fraud scheme in Florida that they say created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment. Recently unsealed federal grand jury indictments allege the defendants took part in a scam that sold more than 7,600 fraudulent

By JANIE HAR and AO GAO Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The shooting that left four dead at a California mushroom farm on Monday was at least the second time an employee tried to kill a coworker on the property, records show. Martin Medina, a manager at California Terra Garden, was charged with attempted

By JAMIE STENGLE, RIO YAMAT and DEEPA BHARATH LOS ANGELES (AP) — Those killed when a gunman opened fire at a Los Angeles-area dance hall are being remembered by friends and family for the zest for life that brought them out that night to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Eleven people were killed when a

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Democratic-led Virginia Senate panel has defeated several bills that would have restricted abortion access in the state. Among them was a measure that was a priority for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Senate Committee on Education and Health voted the measures down without debate Thursday

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this weekend amid a sharp spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence that has alarmed the Biden administration. Blinken’s visit to Israel has been planned for some weeks, but a deadly Israeli raid on a

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A circuit court must get more information from the South Carolina Department of Corrections regarding the agency’s attempts to acquire lethal injection drugs. The Thursday order from the South Carolina Supreme Court means it could be four more months until justices decide whether a

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A group of Texas death row inmates have filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s prison system over its policy of mandatory and indefinite solitary confinement for all prisoners who are awaiting execution. They say the policy causes severe physical and psychological harm and restricts their

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh says the public shouldn’t read anything into the high court’s historically slow start to releasing opinions. Every year the justices begin hearing cases in October and generally finish their work by the end of June before going on a summer break. This

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Restaurants are beginning the new year with a recurring problem: labor shortages. Chipotle said Thursday it’s looking to hire 15,000 people in North America to ensure its stores are staffed up ahead of its busy spring season. Other chains are also looking for workers: Taco Bell has more than

By ADRIAN SAINZ and REBECCA REYNOLDS Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Five fired Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A farmworker charged in the killings of seven current and former co-workers at two Northern California mushroom farms admitted during a jailhouse interview Thursday that he committed the fatal shootings. Chunli Zhao, 66, told KNTV-TV that he wasn’t in his right mind when he entered a mushroom farm where he

By ELÉONORE HUGHES and EDMAR BARROS Associated Press BOA VISTA, Brazil (AP) — Severe malnutrition and disease, particularly malaria, are decimating the Yanomami population in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and on Jan. 20 the federal government declared a public health emergency. While many in Brazil were left wondering how the calamity could materialize seemingly overnight, it

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska lawmaker is taking another shot at trying to pass a bill that would not only allow people to carry concealed handguns without a permit, it would prohibit cities and counties from issuing local laws to do so within their borders. Sen. Tom Brewer,

By R.J. RICO and JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency, giving him the option of calling in the Georgia National Guard to help “subdue riot and unlawful assembly.” The declaration lets the Republican governor call up to 1,000 Guard members over the next 15 days.

By AAMER MADHANI and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special operations forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and 10 other terrorist operatives in remote northern Somalia, the Biden administration announced Thursday. The operation carried out on Wednesday targeted Bilal al-Sudani, a key financial facilitator for the global terrorist organization,

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press The first officer to arrive after Alex Murdaugh called 911 and reported his wife and son were shot noted the the attorney was upset but that he had no tears in his eyes. Colleton County Sgt. Daniel Greene’s body camera footage was shown Thursday during the first day of testimony

By HANNA ARHIROVA and SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more missiles and self-exploding drones at nearly a dozen Ukrainian provinces early Thursday, causing the first war-related death in Kyiv this year and killing at least 11 people overall, according to Ukrainian authorities. The attacks adhered to Russia’s recent pattern of

By JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer The Food and Drug Administration says there are too many unknowns about CBD products to regulate them as foods or supplements. The FDA said Congress needs to create new rules for the massive and growing market. FDA officials said Thursday that the marijuana-derived compound poses risks to people and

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose Thursday to send Wall Street to its highest level in nearly eight weeks following reports suggesting the economy and corporate profits may be doing better than feared. The S&P 500 climbed 1.1% to clinch its highest finish since Dec. 2. The Dow Jones