AP National News

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at his first troop review, has renewed his pledge to consider “all options,” including acquiring enemy base strike capability, and vowed to create a stronger Self-Defense Force to protect the country amid growing threats from China and North Korea. Kishida says the

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say shots were fired near a food court at a shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington. Pierce County Sheriff’s Sgt. Darren Moss said at least one person was struck and injured at the Tacoma Mall. People called 911 just after 7 p.m. Friday to say multiple shots were fired. The Tacoma

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The widow of South Korea’s last military dictator has issued a brief apology over the “pains and scars” caused by her husband’s brutal rule as dozens of relatives and former aides gathered at a Seoul hospital to pay their final respects to Chun Doo-hwan. Chun,

HONOLULU (AP) — A Honolulu city worker has died after being trapped in a tank at a sewage treatment plant. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports firefighters received a 911 call requesting “a confined space” rescue at the Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant. Because of federal rules, a hazardous materials unit was first deployed to check the air

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched airstrikes targeting the country’s capital, Sanaa. Saudi state-run television reported the strikes early Saturday morning, citing the Saudi-led coalition as urging civilians to stay away from the sites, without identifying them. The strikes come amid heavy fighting around the city

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The president of the U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances says there is an “almost total, structural” lack of punishment in Mexico for the crime of abducting and disappearing people.  Carmen Rosa Villa Quintana wound up almost two weeks of fact-finding and interviews with victims’ families in Mexico on Friday. Villa Quintana

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — President Joe Biden is back at his rental home on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket after spending most of Friday downtown with his family. The president, first lady Jill Biden, their children and grandchildren went out for lunch, a post-Thanksgiving Day tradition. They browsed a favorite

By The Associated Press This week’s new entertainment releases include a new album from saxophone legend Kenny G, a documentary about the 12 young soccer players and their coach trapped in a flooded Thailand cave, and Jane Campion makes a triumphant return to filmmaking in “The Power of the Dog.” On the small screen, “Zoey’s

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — In 2010, the year he turned 80, Stephen Sondheim had to endure a public fuss when a Broadway theater was being renamed in his honor. At a ceremony outside the 1,055-seat auditorium on West 43rd Street, the composer looked sheepish by the time he got

By JAMES ANDERSON Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Minnesota’s Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is calling on House leaders to take “appropriate action” against Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert for using anti-Muslim language in describing a recent encounter with Omar. Boebert said Friday she has reached out to Omar and apologized “to anyone I offended in the

By TOM FOREMAN Jr. and JONATHAN DREW Associated Press DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A police chief says three people were shot and wounded Friday during an apparent fight between two groups at a North Carolina mall crowded with shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving. Authorities said in the late afternoon that one person was detained

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Sondheim, the songwriter who reshaped the American musical theater in the second half of the 20th century, has died. He was 91. Sondheim influenced several generations of theater songwriters, particularly with such landmark musicals as “Company,” “Follies” and “Sweeney Todd.” His most famous ballad,

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization is postponing its conference set to open Tuesday after Switzerland initiated new travel restrictions following the emergence of a worrying new coronavirus variant, officials said. The MC12 conference at WTO headquarters in Geneva was set to take up key issues like a long-awaited

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A city councilman says a person was shot during an apparent fight Friday at a North Carolina mall crowded with shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving. Police said in the late afternoon that there was no further threat to the public. Durham City Councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton told multiple news outlets a

By ZENEL ZHINIPOTOKU and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Police and media reports say an unknown gunman has opened fire on a bus carrying teenagers in western Kosovo, killing three people and injuring one. The bus came under attack in Gllogjan, 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital Pristina by masked

By RAF CASERT and CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The world is racing to contain a new coronavirus variant that is potentially more dangerous than the one that has fueled waves of infection on nearly every continent. A World Health Organization panel on Friday named the variant “omicron” and classified it as a

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania (AP) — Authorities say a man eating Thanksgiving dinner inside a home in the Philadelphia suburbs was killed by a stray bullet that pierced a window. Prosecutors say no one in the home was involved in the argument outside that sparked the shooting. The suspected gunman has not been captured. Montgomery County District

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization is postponing its conference set to open Tuesday after Switzerland initiated new travel restrictions following the emergence of a worrying new coronavirus variant, a Geneva-based trade official said. The MC12 conference at WTO headquarters in Geneva was set to take up key issues

By ZENEL ZHINIPOTOKU and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Police and media reports say unknown gunmen have opened fire on a bus carrying teenagers in western Kosovo, killing three people and injuring one. The bus came under attack in Gllogjan, 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital Pristina by masked men,

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria has designated the armed groups blamed for hundreds of abductions and killings in northern areas as terrorist organizations, in a major swing in response to a key security challenge facing Africa’s most populous country. The office of Nigeria’s attorney-general, Abubakar Malami, said in a statement