AP National News

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights groups argue is vital for protecting democracy has collapsed. The outcome late Wednesday in the Senate was a setback for President Joe Biden and his party after a raw, emotional debate. Democrats were unable to change Senate rules to

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are higher after China cut interest rates to shore up flagging economic growth and Japan reported a double-digit rise in exports. Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1% as investors tried to figure

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Palestinian foreign minister is criticizing U.S. President Joe Biden for moving too slowly to reverse all of the Trump administration’s adverse policies against the Palestinians and not using America’s special relationship to pressure Israel to abandon “its rejection of a two-state solution and peace

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The first flights carrying fresh water and other aid to Tonga were finally able to leave after the Pacific nation’s main runway was cleared of ash left by a huge volcanic eruption. A C-130 Hercules military transport plane left New Zealand carrying water containers, kits

By AAMER MADHANI and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says he thinks Russia will invade Ukraine and is warning President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does. Biden also said a “minor

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have arrested a 31-year-old man in connection with the slaying of a woman while she worked at a Los Angeles furniture store last week. Shawn Laval Smith was taken into custody shortly before noon Wednesday in Pasadena. Investigators offered a $250,000 reward during a news conference Tuesday for information leading

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Online social platform Twitter has suspended the account of one of Mexico’s wealthiest men and a close ally of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for alleged violations of its abuse and harassment policies. Ricardo Salinas Pliego, a magnate with operations in retail, banking and television, posted on his Instagram account a

LAREDO, Texas (AP) — FBI agents have conducted a search near U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s home in Texas as they conducted what an FBI spokeswoman called “court-authorized law enforcement activity.” The motive and scope of the search was not immediately known. But a reporter for The Monitor of McAllen, Texas, which first reported the operation,

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights groups argue is vital for protecting democracy has been blocked by a Republican filibuster. The vote was expected, but is still a setback for President Joe Biden and his party after a raw, emotional debate. Democrats immediately pivoted toward

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego police have determined the causes of death of a 40-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son who plunged from the third level of San Diego’s Petco Park, just as thousands of baseball fans were heading inside for a Padres game last year. Police say Raquel Wilkins’ death on Sept. 25,

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say two U.S. Marines were killed and 17 others injured when the 7-ton truck they were riding in overturned near their North Carolina base. The State Highway Patrol said the truck was making a right turn onto a highway Wednesday afternoon when it lost control and overturned. A highway

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the parents of a U.S. student Otto Warmbier, who died after being imprisoned by North Korea, should receive about $240,000. The 22-year-old was returned to the United States in a vegetative state and died shortly after. The payment will come from money seized from a

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Disability rights activists and advocates for Britney Spears are backing a California proposal to provide more protections for those under court-ordered conservatorships, while promoting less-restrictive alternatives. Their move came as the volatile Spears case again boiled over Wednesday in a Los Angeles County courtroom. The advocacy

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Criminal investigators are telling South Dakota lawmakers that they didn’t believe the state’s attorney general when he told them he never saw the body of the man he fatally struck on the night of the 2020 crash. Investigators said they doubted the Republican attorney general’s insistence

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man convicted of a Southern California rampage that included shootings, carjackings and murder has been sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole by a judge who called him “evil personified.” Thirty-eight-year-old Artyom Gasparyan was sentenced Tuesday in Los Angeles. In August, a jury convicted him of more than

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Viewers parked themselves in front of their televisions to watch football and stay out of the January chill. The NFL says an average of 30.5 million people watched their wild card games over the weekend either on television or digitally. That was up 21 percent

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Georgia man convicted of participating in a scheme in Florida to steal more than $1.8 million in veteran and Social Security benefits has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison. Court documents show Jamare Mason was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. He pleaded

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld as valid a voter-approved election system that would end party primaries in the state and institute ranked choice voting in general elections. A brief order released Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling from last year. A fuller opinion explaining the

By ZEKE MILLER and JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden acknowledges that the pandemic has exhausted and demoralized many Americans in his first year in office. Yet Biden is defending his administration’s efforts on the pandemic and noting the economy is actually surging despite concerns about inflation. He says he may

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The first flights carrying fresh water and other aid to Tonga were finally able to leave after the Pacific nation’s main runway was cleared of ash left by a huge volcanic eruption. A C-130 Hercules military transport plane left New Zealand carrying water containers, kits