AP National News

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Australia’s former prime minister has accused China of being a bully and expressed enthusiastic support for Taiwan while visiting the democratically ruled island. Speaking at a conference Friday, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott called for solidarity to help preserve Taiwan’s self-determination. He said, “Nothing is more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A powerful magnitude 5.9 earthquake has shaken the Tokyo area, injuring more than 30 people and halting trains and subways. It caused buildings to sway and hanging objects such as signs to swing violently. Trains were halted for safety inspections, and many elevators automatically stopped. Traffic disruptions

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A malfunction caused West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice to become trapped in the elevator at the governor’s mansion. The Republican governor’s office says he was trapped for about 30 minutes after the malfunction. A statement says mansion staff, state police, and other state government personnel used a crowbar and other tools

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has blocked portions of the largest proposed residential housing development in San Diego County’s history. He acted Thursday after the state attorney general and others objected that it would be too prone to wildfires. That and a similar recent challenge in Northern California

By ROBERT JABLON Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say Northern California wildfires may have killed hundreds of giant sequoias, although it may take months to fully assess the damage. Officials say the KNP Complex fire that erupted last month has burned into 15 groves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. More than

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Police say the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old woman by a Southern California school safety officer is being investigated as a possible homicide. Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez was declared brain dead after last month’s shooting and died Tuesday after she was removed from life support. The officer who shot her has

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A powerful magnitude 5.9 earthquake has shaken the Tokyo area, injuring more than 30 people and halting trains and subways. Officials say there is no danger of a tsunami. The Meteorological Agency says the quake was centered just east of Tokyo at a depth of 80 kilometers

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has became the first state to prohibit “stealthing,” or removing a condom without permission during intercourse. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law Thursday. It adds the act to the state’s civil definition of sexual battery, making it clear that victims can sue perpetrators, including for

By AMY TAXIN Associated Press HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — More than five days after an offshore pipeline ruptured off the Southern California coast, there’s still no confirmation of exactly how much oil has spilled into the ocean. The company operating the affected oil platforms has said publicly that no more than 126,000 gallons leaked.

By KEVIN FREKING, ALAN FRAM and ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has dodged a U.S. debt disaster by approving legislation to lift the federal limit on new borrowing by nearly a half-trillion dollars. The bill, likely to be approved by the House as well, should temporarily avert an unprecedented U.S. default

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — An Afghan man already facing charges in the 2008 gunpoint kidnapping of a New York Times reporter and another journalist in facing new charges in the killing of three American soldiers. A revised indictment against Haji Najibullah filed Thursday accused him of commanding the Taliban fighters behind a fatal

CHICAGO (AP) — A jury has convicted a former Northwestern University professor of first-degree murder in the 2017 stabbing death of his boyfriend. Jurors in Cook County deliberated less than two hours Thursday before returning the guilty verdict against Wyndham Lathem, a renowned microbiologist whom Northwestern fired after he fled the Chicago area following the

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A TV adaptation of the late Sue Grafton’s million-selling Kinsey Millhone mystery novels, a prospect the author once swore she would return from the dead to prevent, is now the works. A+E Studios announced this week that it had acquired rights to Grafton’s famed alphabet

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the electric car maker will relocate its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas. Musk says, though, that the company will keep expanding its manufacturing capacity in the Golden State. Musk gave no timeline for the move late Thursday when he addressed the

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will restore two sprawling national monuments in Utah, reversing a decision by President Donald Trump that had opened some of lands for mining and development. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments encompass more than 3.2 million acres. They include red-rock lands sacred to Native

NEW YORK (AP) — The Brooklyn Nets listed Kyrie Irving as ineligible to play in their home exhibition game Friday, another strong indication he has not met New York’s vaccination requirement. Irving has not been with the Nets for any of their practices in New York, where professional athletes are required to be vaccinated against

By SAM METZ AP / Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada-based technology company that had lobbied state lawmakers to let it form a semi-autonomous smart city in the rural desert has withdrawn its proposal. Blockchains said on Thursday that it no longer planned to construct a smart city that revolved around

By PADMANANDA RAMA and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal is pushing President Joe Biden to hold the line. The head of the influential Congressional Progressive Caucus wants Biden to keep his ambitious social spending plan closer to $3 trillion instead of the $2 trillion range that he has

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Glenn Youngkin has not talked much lately about the 2020 election, President Donald Trump’s lies about fraud and the insurrection on Jan. 6. But when he has, it has not gone smoothly. The GOP nominee for governor of Virginia argued this week that the state’s

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Newly released video that shows Minneapolis police officers talking about “hunting people” during unrest following the death of George Floyd has become an issue in the upcoming citywide election. Mayor Jacob Frey says body camera footage that also shows officers kicking and beating a man who had surrendered is “galling.” But some