National News

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's downgrading of South Korea's trade status took effect Wednesday, a decision that has already set off a series of reactions hurting their relations. Japanese manufacturers now must apply for approval for each technology-related contract for South Korean export, rather than the simpler checks granted a preferential trade partner, which is still…

NEW YORK (AP) — One by one, 16 women who say they were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein poured out their anger Tuesday, lashing out at him as a coward and a manipulator, after a judge gave them the day in court they were denied when he killed himself behind bars. "He robbed me of…

NORMAN, OK (AP) — An Oklahoma judge on Monday found Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries helped fuel the state's opioid crisis and ordered the consumer products giant to pay $572 million, more than twice the amount another drug manufacturer agreed to pay in a settlement. Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman's ruling followed the first…

HONG KONG (AP) — Lawmakers on each side of Hong Kong's political divide said Monday the other side bears responsibility after violence during anti-government protests over the weekend. Pro-government members of the Legislative Council condemned the acts of protesters who blocked streets, threw gasoline bombs and assaulted police officers. "You can say a lot of…

By RYAN J. FOLEY and JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press After a white supremacist discussed plans on Facebook for a mass shooting at a synagogue, police in Washington used a new law to quickly seize his 12 firearms, long before he was convicted of any crime. But when a Tennessee father became alarmed about his son…