News

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have begun the serious work of trying to implement President Joe Biden’s expansive spending plan. But getting there will require remarkable legislative nimbleness, since Biden has said the revenue to pay for it must come only from Americans who earn more than $400,000 a

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and ROBERT BURNS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military officer is defending his phone calls to his Chinese counterpart during the final months of Donald Trump’s presidency as an effort to avoid misunderstandings and conflict. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered his explanation Wednesday

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban are arriving in the U.S., and a handful of former Trump administration officials are working to turn Republicans against them. The former officials are writing position papers, appearing on conservative television outlets and meeting privately with GOP lawmakers

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A small cargo plane has crashed in a steep mountainous forest in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua province, killing all three people on board. An official says rescuers reached the crash site of the Rimbun Air plane and confirmed that all three crew members were dead. He says

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader has criticized South Korean President Moon Jae-in and threatened a “complete destruction” of relations hours after Moon said South Korea’s growing missile capabilities will serve as a “sure deterrence” against North Korean provocations. Moon made

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press Writer MIAMI (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is seeking to add to a new member to his team negotiating in Mexico with his political opponents — an ally jailed in Cape Verde awaiting extradition to the U.S. on money laundering charges. An announcement on Venezuela’s state television Tuesday said

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s largest hospital is implementing crisis standards of care, or prioritizing resources and treatments to those patients who have the potential to benefit the most. The move comes as Alaska hospitals have been overwhelmed by a surge in COVID-19 patients. The announcement came Tuesday in a

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. official says 4 million Afghans are facing “a food emergency” and the majority live in rural areas where $36 million is urgently needed for the coming months to ensure the planting of winter wheat, feed for livestock, and cash assistance for vulnerable families,

By JOHNSON LAI, HUIZHONG WU and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press JIADONG, Taiwan (AP) — An F-16 screeched across the sky before landing on a highway cut through pineapple fields in southwestern Taiwan to refuel quickly and take off again. The Taiwanese military exercise Wednesday envisions a Chinese attack taking out the island’s main airfields, necessitating