News

By STEFANIE DAZIO and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Officials investigating one of California’s largest oil spills are looking into whether a ship’s anchor may have struck a pipeline on the ocean floor, causing a major leak of crude. The head of the company that operates the pipeline said Monday that

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he will dissolve the lower house next week in preparation for Oct. 31 elections as he seeks a fresh mandate to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the sagging economy and security threats from China and North Korea. Kishida was

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears is thanking fans who have called for years to #FreeBritney after major changes in the conservatorship that has long controlled her life and money. Spears’ posts on Twitter and Instagram Monday were her first public comments on the case since a judge suspended her father as her conservator last

By MORGAN LEE AND SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Progressive mayors are seeking reelection to New Mexico’s largest city and its fast-growing state capital as voting begins Tuesday, contending with challenges from Hispanic candidates from the more conservative wing of the Democratic Party. The Nov. 2 election is a preamble

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Scott Morrison says international tourists won’t be welcomed back to Australia until next year, with the return of skilled migrants and students given higher priority. Morrison says Australia is expected to reach the vaccination benchmark on Tuesday at which the country could begin to

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — Refugee admissions to the United States fell to a record low during the 2021 budget year despite President Joe Biden’s pledge to bring back the program that was decimated by the Trump administration. A total of 11,445 refugees were allowed into the United States during the

By GARY FIELDS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland is directing the FBI and U.S. attorneys to meet with federal, state and local law enforcement to address the increasing threats targeting school board members, teachers and other employees in the nation’s public schools. Last week the National School Boards Association asked President

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A regulatory commission in Mexico has fined three manufacturers of tampons and diapers just over $15 million for allegedly conspiring to fix prices for the products. Mexico’s Commission on Economic Competition said Monday the price-fixing probably cost consumers about $73 million in artificially inflated prices. The three companies did not respond

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An aspiring actor has pleaded guilty to running a massive Ponzi scheme that raised at least $650 million from investors in phony Hollywood film licensing deals. Zachary Horwitz pleaded guilty Monday in Los Angeles to federal securities fraud. Prosecutors say Horwitz secured loans for his film company by falsely claiming the

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Police say an alligator attacked and injured a homeless woman who fell into a Florida canal. St. Petersburg police say the woman was resting on a sea wall when she fell into the canal early Monday. News outlets reported that the woman is in her 50s. She was taken to

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal jury in Los Angeles has awarded $6.3 million to actor Shannen Doherty in a lawsuit alleging that State Farm failed to pay for damage to her house in a 2018 California wildfire. The jury found State Farm’s failure to pay benefits for Doherty’s Malibu home were “unreasonable and without