AP National News

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 in a scintillating NL wild-card game. The 106-win Dodgers advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against the rival Giants. Game

ROCKVILLE, Utah (AP) — Authorities say a man who is suspected of shooting at vehicles and causing a lockdown of a tourist town outside of Zion National Park in southern Utah was apprehended Wednesday night. The Washington County Critical Incident Task Force said in a statement that officers responded Wednesday at about 3:40 p.m. to

By JIM GOMEZ and AARON FAVILA Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo, who leads the opposition, says she will run for president in next year’s elections in a long-anticipated decision. The liberal lawyer could face a potentially bruising faceoff with her opponent in the 2016 vice presidential race, the son

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A new study suggests the number of U.S. children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic may be larger than previously estimated. And the toll has been far greater among Black and Hispanic Americans. The study was published Thursday by the medical journal Pediatrics. It found that

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — The money flowing to cities and states from the American Rescue Plan is so substantial and can be used for so many purposes that communities across the U.S. are trying out new, longer-term ways to fix what’s broken in their cities. In Rockford, Illinois, that means

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Facebook product manager who has accused the social network giant of threatening children’s safety — and the integrity of democracy — is urging Congress to take action to rein in a largely unregulated company. Will real change come this time? When Frances Haugen came

By MICHAEL BIESECKER, STEFANIE DAZIO and MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A massive cargo ship made a series of unusual movements while anchored in the closest spot to a Southern California oil pipeline that ruptured and sent crude washing up on beaches. The Coast Guard is investigating whether a ship anchor

By KATHY GANNON and ABDUL SATTAR Associated Press QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful earthquake has collapsed at least one coal mine and as many as 100 mud houses in a remote, mountainous part of southwest Pakistan. The quake early Thursday killed at least 20 people and injured more than 200. A local official says

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Flash flooding in Alabama caused by as much as 6 inches of rain covered roads and trapped people who needed to be rescued. Emergency managers say people had to be helped out of rising water in parts of metro Birmingham on Tuesday night. In south Alabama near the Florida line, water

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are higher, tracking a rally on Wall Street after signs of progress on resolving the standoff in Congress over the debt ceiling. Benchmarks in Japan, South Korea, Australia and Hong Kong advanced. Shanghai trading is closed for a Chinese national holiday. Analysts say vaccination

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A group of French senators visiting Taiwan as part of a regular parliamentary exchange met with President Tsai Ing-wen during a trip that comes in a particularly tense moment between Taiwan and China. Tsai gave senator Alain Richard an official distinction recognizing “his contributions to Taiwan-France

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Sage Steele will not appear on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” the remainder of this week and has been pulled from moderating an upcoming network event following comments she made on a recent podcast. Steele appeared on a podcast hosted by former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler where she criticized ESPN and the Walt Disney

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Scott Morrison has welcomed France’s decision to return its ambassador to Australia and says the bilateral relationship is bigger than the canceled submarine contract. Morrison dismissed suggestions that Australia needed to rebuild its relationship with France after canceling a $66 billion contract last month,

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The World Health Organization is working to ship COVID-19 medical supplies into North Korea, a possible sign the North is easing one of the world’s strictest pandemic border closures to receive outside help. WHO said it has started the shipment of essential COVID-19 medical supplies

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful earthquake has shaken a remote mountainous part of southwestern Pakistan that is dotted with coal mines and mud houses. At least 11 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the quake that collapsed at least one mine and many houses. A local official says rescue efforts are

ROCKVILLE, Utah (AP) — A man who is suspected of shooting at vehicles and causing a lockdown of a tourist town outside of Zion National Park in southern Utah was apprehended Wednesday night, Residents of Rockville, which has about 220 residents, were told to take shelter after reports at 4:30 p.m. that a person shot

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Texas to suspend a new law that has banned most abortions in the state since September. The order Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman freezes for now the strict abortion law known as Senate Bill 8. It bans abortions

By STEFANIE DAZIO, MATTHEW BROWN and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Some of the oil that spilled from a pipeline into the waters off Southern California has been breaking up naturally in ocean currents. That’s according to a Coast Guard official who spoke to reporters Wednesday. Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier says

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer A Facebook executive is pushing back on a whistleblower’s claims — supported by the company’s own internal research — that the social network’s products harm children and fuel polarization in the U.S. Monika Bickert, Facebook’s head of global policy management, told The Associated Press Wednesday that Facebook does not

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Marshals say the husband of a slain social media star killed himself in a Florida home when authorities showed up to arrest him in connection with his wife’s death last year in Texas. Houston, Texas police held a news conference Wednesday saying there was no confrontation at the