AP National News

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Friday after Wall Street benchmarks fell on worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates. Markets rose in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China in muted trading. Oil prices rose. Hot readings on the U.S. jobs market Thursday

By MARTHA MENDOZA and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press CAPITOLA, Calif. (AP) — Hurricane-force winds, surging surf and heavy rains from a powerful “atmospheric river” pounded California on Thursday, knocking out power to tens of thousands, causing flooding, and contributing to the deaths of at least two people, including a toddler whose home was crushed by

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has begun erupting inside its summit crater. The eruption comes less than one month after Kilauea and its larger neighbor Mauna Loa stopped releasing lava. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected a glow in webcam images indicating Kilauea had begun erupting inside a crater at

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Federal authorities say a Border Patrol agent in body armor was struck by gunfire but not seriously hurt while confronting the occupants of a vehicle suspected of smuggling migrants in New Mexico. Customs and Border Protection said the agent was shot in the chest multiple times Thursday but released after

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A 10-year-old Australian boy remained in a coma Friday following a collision earlier this week between two helicopters that killed four people, including the boy’s mother. Another boy, age 9, who was hospitalized in critical condition after the crash, awoke Thursday after suffering brain trauma, according to health authorities. The 9-year-old

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials want to pay reparations for government-forced or coerced sterilizations, but are having a hard time finding victims. The state has $4.5 million in reparations to distribute. Some people were victimized during the eugenics movement that peaked during the 1930s. Others were sterilized while in

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Russell Pearce, a Republican lawmaker who was the driving force behind Arizona’s landmark 2010 immigration legislation known as the “show me your papers” law and other anti-immigrant measures, has died. He was 75. Pearce’s family said on social media that he died Thursday at his home in

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — With its flights running on a roughly normal schedule, Southwest Airlines is now turning its attention to repairing its damaged reputation after it canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded. CEO Robert Jordan said Thursday that Southwest has processed about 75% of the

By MARK PRATT Associated Press Nate Thayer, a fearless reporter who survived several brushes with death while covering conflict in Southeast Asia and was the last Western journalist to interview Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, has died. Thayer’s brother said he was found dead at his Falmouth, Massachusetts, home on Tuesday. He was 62 and

By JOHN WAWROW and CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has begun to communicate in writing with his family and others who have been at his bedside since he went into cardiac arrest three days ago — and his first question was, “Did we win?” his doctors

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has struck down a ban on abortion once cardiac activity is detected — typically around six weeks. The court’s 3-2 decision on Thursday said the ban violates a state constitutional right to privacy. The law banned abortions after cardiac

By MARÍA VERZA and CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican security forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, an alleged drug trafficker wanted by the United States and one of the sons of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in a pre-dawn operation Thursday that set off gunfights and roadblocks across the western state’s capital.

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Palestinians and many Muslim and non-Muslim supporters sharply disagreed with Israel over the visit of an ultranationalist Israeli Cabinet minister to a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. The Palestinians warned it could lead to another deadly

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — Opponents of the largest lithium mine planned in the U.S. urged a federal judge in Nevada on Thursday to vacate the U.S. government’s approval of the project until it completes additional environmental reviews and complies with all state and federal laws. U.S. District Judge Miranda Du

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has paid his respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Vatican embassy in Washington. Biden signed a condolence book in honor of Benedict, the first pope to resign in 600 years. Benedict died Dec. 31 at age 95. Francis,

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press Court documents unsealed Thursday after the suspect in the November fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students made his first court appearance in Idaho reveal the timeline for how Bryan Kohberger went from being on law enforcement radar to becoming the man charged with four counts of first-degree murder

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill aimed at easing the cost for prisoners to call family and friends. The legislation clarifies that the Federal Communications Commission can set limits for fees on audio and video calls inside corrections facilities. Phone calls from prisons and

By LISA MASCARO and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — For a long and frustrating third day, divided Republicans kept the speaker’s chair of the U.S. House sitting empty Thursday, as party leader Kevin McCarthy failed again and again in an excruciating string of ballots to win enough GOP votes to seize the chamber’s

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — A preliminary report on a Hawaii medical transport plane that went missing says a witness saw it hit the ocean. The National Transportation Safety Board report says the witness — a small plane pilot — reported seeing the Hawaii Life Flight plane Dec. 15 make a