AP National News

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a post-holiday retreat on Wall Street, as markets count down to the end of a painful year for investors. Shares fell in Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul but rose in Hong Kong as the Chinese government took further steps

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government says it will start issuing new passports in another major step away from anti-virus travel barriers. That sets up a potential flood of millions of tourists out of China for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday. It raises the possibility of an influx of free-spending Chinese visitors to Asia,

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will be asking voters for a second term leading one of the nation’s biggest cities. Republicans will try to take full control of the Virginia Legislature. Governors’ mansions are up for election in Louisiana and Mississippi, and a Democratic governor in red-state

BERLIN (AP) — The U.N. Security Council and the U.N. human rights chief have decried increasing restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan, urging the country’s Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately. The rights chief pointed Tuesday to “terrible consequences” of a decision to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations. Last week, Taliban authorities stopped

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press KINGSHILL, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday traveled to a place very familiar to him — the U.S. Virgin Islands — to enjoy some downtime and warmer weather and to ring in a new year with family. The president and his wife, first lady Jill Biden,

BANGKOK (AP) — Police in Thailand say an Irish tourist has died after falling out of a moving train. The man was identified as 45-year-old Patrick Ward, whose Irish passport said he was born in New Zealand. Police say Ward traveled on Tuesday by rail with a tour group from the Bangkok to Kanchanaburi town,

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic has arrived in Australia almost a year after he was deported over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination, Tennis Australia confirmed Wednesday. Djokovic will open his 2023 campaign in Adelaide as he prepares for a shot at a 10th Australian Open title. The 21-time major winner has been granted a

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has presented new plans to further bolster his military power next year at a meeting of the nation’s political officials. Kim’s comments reported by state media Wednesday indicate he’ll continue provocative weapons tests after a record run of missile

NORCO, Calif. (AP) — An 80-year-old Southern California liquor store owner who opened fire with a shotgun and wounded a would-be armed robber this summer has died, the store reported Tuesday. Craig Cope died Tuesday morning, and a memorial at Norco Market & Liquor will be held at a later date, according to a Facebook

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Tuesday: Southwest Airlines Co., down $2.15 to $33.94. The airline had to cancel roughly two-thirds of its flights over the last couple of days, which it blamed on problems related to staffing and weather. Las Vegas Sands Corp., up $1.94 to $48.46.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president appealed to the country’s citizens Tuesday not to accept holiday handouts and gifts from drug gangs, after videos posted online showed garish pickup trucks handing out loads of gifts while bystanders described the drivers as members of the Jalisco drug cartel. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that some

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s tax returns are expected to be released by the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday. That’s according to a congressional aide, who was not authorized to discuss the timing of the release publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Friday is

By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has ordered Kari Lake, the Republican who lost the Arizona governor’s race, to pay $33,000 in fees for witnesses who helped defend officials against Lake’s failed challenge of her defeat to Democrat Katie Hobbs. But Judge Peter Thompson rejected a request for hundreds of thousands

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A divided appeals court has tossed out the insider trading convictions of four men, prompting a sharp dissent from one judge who says the decision will let insiders sell confidential government information to the highest bidders. Tuesday’s decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

By MARCOS ALEMAN Associated Press SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Nine months into a state of emergency declared by President Nayib Bukele to fight street gangs, El Salvador has seen more than 1,000 documented human rights abuses and about 90 deaths of prisoners in custody. And Bukele’s popularity ratings have soared. For decades, El

By REBECCA SANTANA and ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is keeping pandemic-era limits on asylum in place for now, dashing hopes of migrants who have been fleeing violence and inequality in Latin America and elsewhere to reach the United States. Tuesday’s ruling preserves a major Trump-era policy that was scheduled

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines scrubbed thousands of flights again Tuesday in the aftermath of the massive winter storm that wrecked Christmas travel plans across the U.S., and the federal government said it would investigate why the company lagged so far behind other carriers. A day after most U.S.

Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president appealed to the country’s citizens Tuesday not to accept holiday handouts and gifts from drug gangs, after videos posted online showed garish pickup trucks handing out loads of gifts while bystanders described the drivers as members of the Jalisco drug cartel. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed

By CHINEDU ASADU By Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities say a car crashed out of control into a crowded street party in southern Nigeria, killing seven people and injuring 29 others, including children. An official says the driver lost control and plowed into the crowd Tuesday at the carnival gathering in Nigeria’s Cross