AP National News

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors and retailers are pushing back on assertions by California’s governor and attorney general that they have enough tools to combat shoplifting and other retail thefts. California Retailers Association President Rachel Michelin says recent large-scale thefts in which groups of individuals steal in plain sight or

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly nine months, the Federal Reserve has relentlessly raised interest rates to try to slow the U.S. job market and bring inflation under control. And for just as long, the job market hasn’t seemed to get the message. The November employment report the government issued

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is upset that her beloved Mariah Carey Christmas album has gone missing. But she was promised a replacement copy courtesy of the five-time Grammy winner herself. The Democrat in a tweet Friday asked that whoever took the album could leave it at her office door, no questions asked.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The chief of the National Guard has tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from an overseas trip to visit guard troops in Europe for Thanksgiving. Guard spokesman Wayne Hall says Gen. Dan Hokanson has been working remotely and isolating himself from contact with others all week.

By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new coffee table book celebrates Betty White’s life and career as she nears 100. The book by a veteran entertainment journalist details White’s journey in Hollywood, including hosting an early variety-talk show. White became a TV sitcom star in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”

By ALAN SUDERMAN, ERIC TUCKER and FRANK BAJAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The phones of 11 U.S. State Department employees were hacked using technology from Israel’s NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire company. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said the employees

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Botswana scientist who may well have discovered the omicron variant of the coronavirus says he has been through a “rollercoaster of emotions” — the pride of accomplishment followed by dismay over the travel bans immediately slapped on southern African countries. Dr. Sikhulile Moyo was doing genomic

By AMY FORLITI and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The jurors deliberating at former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter’s trial in the death of Daunte Wright are a mostly white group, with two people who identify as Asian and one as Black. And they include a medical editor, IT workers, a former special

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The parents of a teen accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. A prosecutor described chilling moments that day when a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a person bleeding and the words

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A magistrate has set a $250,000 bond for the Ohio sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Casey Goodson Jr. in the back five times. Now-retired Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Meade, who is white, was charged with murder and reckless homicide almost a year after the Dec.

By ALAN SUDERMAN and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The phones of 11 U.S. State Department employees were hacked using technology from Israel’s NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire company. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said the employees were all

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Police say a mall shooting in North Carolina that left three people wounded was the result of an attempted robbery, and one of the wounded was the suspected robber. The Durham Police Department said in a news release Friday that the Nov. 26 shooting wasn’t random or gang-related. According to police,

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed five Republican-authored anti-abortion bills, a move that came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could curtail if not end a woman’s right to abortion. Evers is making his support for abortion rights

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s high-stakes race for an open U.S. Senate seat is seeing candidates bringing big bank accounts and big-time connections from blue states. Introducing Carla Sands, Mehmet Oz — best known as the host of TV’s “Dr. Oz Show” — and David McCormick, all three of whom

By STAN CHOE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Wall Street is slumping Friday following a mixed reading on U.S. jobs, one that investors said was tough to parse, in the market’s latest bout of dizzying trading. The S&P 500 was 1.6% lower after erasing an early gain. It’s coming off a jolting stretch where

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s foreign minister has sharply criticized a system of deterring migrants from reaching European shores that she argues has so far only served the interest of EU states. Her statement was made by video call on Friday at a conference hosted by Italy. She asked other countries to “not push the problem

By KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed into law the stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running through Feb. 18. The White House thanked congressional leaders for their work — they had defused a partisan standoff after Senate Republicans tried to hold off

BRUSSELS (AP) — A Belgian zoo says that a pair of hippopotamuses in its care have been placed in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. Antwerp Zoo’s two hippos – Imani and Hermien – were confirmed Friday to have contracted the disease.  It’s possibly the first time ever such animals have caught it, and it’s

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has at least one thing in common with thousands of parents and grandparents this winter: He’s picked up a cold from his young grandson. The president has had an unusually low, scratchy voice and an occasional cough all week, prompting questions from the press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Far-right activist Ammon Bundy says time he has spent campaigning to be Idaho’s next governor should count toward his order to perform community service after being convicted of obstructing police during his arrest for trespassing at the state Capitol. Aaron Welling is Bundy’s campaign treasurer and told court officials late last