AP National News

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — America’s defense chief has rebuked China, vowing to confront its potential military threats in Asia and warning that its pursuit of hypersonic weapons intended to evade U.S. missile defenses “increases tensions in the region.” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s stern comments after

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations is predicting that a record 274 million people – who together would amount to the world’s fourth most-populous country – will require emergency humanitarian aid next year in countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria and Yemen face a raft of challenges including war, insecurity,

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy has been denied bail and moved to jail after being charged in a Michigan school shooting that killed four students and injured others. Authorities on Wednesday revealed that Ethan Crumbley’s parents were summoned to discuss his behavior just a

By RONALD BLUM and STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writers IRVING, Texas (AP) — Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. EST, plunging the sport toward a management lockout that will end labor peace after 9,740 days over 26 1/2 years. Players and owners had successfully reached four consecutive agreements without a stoppage,

By DON BABWIN and SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett’s legal team will seek to dent the credibility of a star state witness who testified about how he said the former “Empire” actor recruited him and his brother to stage a racist, homophobic attack on Smollett. But casting doubts on the testimony

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors and attorneys for the suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in Daunte Wright’s shooting death have seated nine of the 14 jurors needed for her trial, including a woman who said she owns a stun gun. Kim Potter, who is white, is charged with

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are mixed after a turbulent day on Wall Street as traders tried to forecast the impact of the coronavirus’s omicron variant. Tokyo and Sydney fell while Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. Shanghai was unchanged. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index ended down 1.2%.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan says it has retracted a ban on new incoming international flight bookings to defend against the new variant of the coronavirus only a day after the policy was announced. The transport ministry on Wednesday issued a request to international airlines to stop taking new reservations for

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Members of the United Auto Workers union apparently will approve picking their leaders in direct elections. With 72% of the ballots counted, nearly 63% favor direct elections. About 37% want to keep the current system of delegates selecting the union’s leadership. A federal court-appointed monitor who

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The new U.S. ambassador to New Zealand says he wants to find areas of common ground with China in a region where tensions often run high. Tom Udall, a former U.S. senator from New Mexico, held his first press conference in his new role Thursday

NEW YORK (AP) — The holly, jolly, best time of the year has gotten a light-filled launch. The towering Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center has been officially turned on. The 79-foot Norway spruce is covered with more than 50,000 lights in a rainbow of colors. It bears a crystal-covered, 900-pound star. The tree was lit

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The city of Chicago has dropped its lawsuit against the police union over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on city employees. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday that data shows a growing number of Chicago Police Department employees are complying with the orders requiring employees to disclose their vaccine

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer Organizers for GivingTuesday say American donors gave $2.7 billion during Tuesday’s giving day. The donations top last year’s record, when American donors gave nearly $2.5 billion in the aftermath of the racial justice protests and amid growing needs brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The GivingTuesday organization, which promotes

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has broken its daily record for coronavirus infections for a second straight day with more than 5,200 new cases, as pressure mounts on a health care system grappling with rising hospitalizations and deaths. The rapid delta-driven spread comes amid the emergence of the

YELLOW BLUFF, Ala. (AP) — Authorities say a suspect and sheriff’s deputy are dead after a domestic call in Alabama erupted in gunfire. The shooting broke out Wednesday afternoon in the town of Yellow Bluff in Wilcox County. County District Attorney Michael Jackson initially said the deputies were injured. But he later said one of

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom says in no uncertain terms that he thinks shoplifters should be prosecuted under existing California laws. He’s calling out local officials whom he said have been reluctant to do so. He was responding to a recent run of large-scale thefts in California and

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers say DNA and genome sequencing have identified a body found decades ago on Fire Island just west of Anchorage. Troopers say the victim was Michael Allison Beavers, who owned an excavation business in suburban Chugiak. He was last seen in November 1979, when

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer The head of the women’s professional tennis tour tells The Associated Press that the suspension of all WTA tournaments in China could extend beyond 2022. The WTA on Wednesday said it would not play in China next year because of concerns about the safety of Grand Slam doubles champion

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. chief had a piece of good news in the midst of Ethiopia’s year-long war against forces from the Tigray region: 157 trucks with food and humanitarian aid arrived in Tigray’s capital for the first time in more than six weeks and another aid

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Carlos Santana has successfully undergone a heart procedure and is canceling several Las Vegas shows planned for December. The 74-year-old guitarist released a video message Wednesday saying he asked his wife to take him to the hospital on Saturday because of an issue with his chest. Universal Tone Management’s president said