AP National News

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s profit fell nearly 18% from a year earlier in the April-June quarter as a semiconductor shortage that has slammed the industry dented production at Japan’s top automaker. Toyota officials apologized Thursday to customers who have been waiting for their cars after putting in orders. Some

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After infuriating China over her trip to Taiwan, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met South Korean political leaders in Seoul on Thursday but avoided making direct public comments on relations with Beijing and Taipei that could further increase regional tensions. Pelosi, the

BEIJING (AP) — China says military exercises by its navy, air force and other departments are underway in six zones surrounding Taiwan. The drills were prompted by a visit to the island by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi this week and are intended to advertise China’s threat to attack the self-governing

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Jurors in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are expected to walk through the still blood-spattered rooms of Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday in a visit to the three-story building where he murdered 14 students and three staff members four

By HYUNG-JIN KIM AND HUIZHONG WU Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met top South Korean political leaders on Thursday, a day after she concluded her high-profile visit to Taiwan by renewing Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to defending democracy on the self-governing island despite vehement protests from China. Regional tensions

By HAVEN DALEY and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press KLAMATH RIVER, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters have gotten their first hold on California’s deadliest and most destructive fire of the year and expected that the blaze would remain stalled through the weekend. The McKinney Fire near the Oregon border was 10% contained as of Wednesday night and

BEIJING (AP) — Police in southern China have arrested a 47-year-old man suspected of an attack that killed three people and injured six others at a kindergarten in Jiangxi province. A police statement said that Liu Xiaohui was arrested at 10:50 p.m. on Wednesday, about 12 hours after the morning attack. Police have not provided

By MICHAEL REZENDES Associated Press BISBEE, Ariz. (AP) — MJ was a tiny, black-haired girl, just 5 years old, when her father admitted to his bishop that he was sexually abusing her. The father, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an admitted pornography addict, was in counseling with his

By MICHAEL REZENDES Associated Press When an Arizona bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, learned that a member of his ward was sexually assaulting his 5-year-old daughter, he followed church policy and called the Mormon Abuse Help Line. The bishop later told law enforcement that

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden barnstormed the country during her debut year as first lady as if on a one-woman mission to help her husband’s administration tackle the problem of the moment: getting people vaccinated and boosted against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. New headwinds blowing in year two — President

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Republicans on Thursday will settle a nine-way primary in a reconfigured congressional district in Nashville they are hoping to flip, while Democrats will choose their nominee for governor in what could be a history-making bid to topple the GOP incumbent. Two of three Democratic candidates

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — At a dinner with the president of Finland shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell assured his host that the U.S. Senate would swiftly ratify NATO membership if the north European country chose to apply to the military alliance. It was a bold

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Even in hindsight, Nichole Schmidt can’t be sure if anything could have been done to save her daughter Gabby Petito from a messy and violent relationship that ended in murder nearly a year ago in the western wilderness. But there is work to do, she

By THALIA BEATY Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The virtual cat hero from the new video game sensation “Stray” doesn’t just wind along rusted pipes, leap over unidentified sludge and decode clues in a seemingly abandoned city. The daring orange tabby is helping real world cats as well. Thanks to online fundraising platforms, gamers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is proposing tougher rules for when airlines must give passengers refunds for changing their travel plans. The Transportation Department issued a proposal Wednesday that would require refunds if the airline changes a passenger’s arrival or departure by several hours, or adds another stop on their itinerary. The proposal comes

By DAVID RISING Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is calling for calm in the Taiwan Strait, urging against any “provocative action” in the wake of a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that has infuriated Beijing. In a rare statement from the 10-nation group

By AAMER MADHANI and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials believe Russia is working to fabricate evidence concerning last week’s deadly strike on a facility housing prisoners of war in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia is looking to plant false evidence to make

By HYUNG-JIN KIM AND HUIZHONG WU Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet top South Korean political leaders on Thursday, a day after she concluded her high-profile visit to Taiwan by renewing Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to defending democracy on the self-governing island despite vehement protests from China. Pelosi

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The construction of facilities needed for a planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea next year from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant has begun despite opposition from the local fishing community. Plant workers started construction of a pipeline to transport the wastewater from hillside

By SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A prominent Guatemalan journalist’s initial hearing before a judge has been suspended after the judge announced that the journalist’s lawyers were also targets of the government’s investigation. José Rubén Zamora is president of the newspapr El Periodico and was arrested Friday. Following Wednesday’s hearing, he