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By DAVID KOENIG (AP Business Writer) The United Auto Workers and Detroit’s Big Three carmakers resumed talks aimed at ending a strike now in its fourth day, and under the threat that the walkout could soon spread. Stellantis said it resumed negotiations with the union Monday and described the talks as “constructive.” A spokesman for General Motors said representatives of the company and the United Auto Workers also were continuing to negotiate. However, UAW President Shawn Fain said on NPR, “We have a long way to go,” and if the companies don’t respond to the union’s demands, “then we will...

By TOM KRISHER, MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and JOHN SEEWER (Associated Press) DETROIT (AP) — Nearly one in 10 of America’s unionized auto workers went on strike Friday to pressure Detroit’s three automakers into raising wages in an era of big profits and as the industry begins a costly transition from gas guzzlers to electric vehicles. By striking simultaneously at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler owner Stellantis for the first time in its history, the United Auto Workers union is trying to inflict a new kind of pain on the companies and claw back some pay and benefits workers gave up in recent...

By TOM KRISHER and DAVID KOENIG (AP Auto Writers) DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union says it will go on strike at three vehicle assembly plants as it presses Detroit companies to come up with better wage and benefit offers. The factories include a General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Ford factory in Wayne Michigan, near Detroit, and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. Contracts between 146,000 auto workers and the companies are set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Workers will stay on the job at all other plants. “Time is of the essence,” union President...

By SAMY MAGDY and YOUSEF MURAD (Associated Press) DERNA, Libya (AP) — Search teams combed streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea Wednesday to look for bodies in a coastal Libyan city where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed at least 5,100 people. The Mediterranean city of Derna has struggled to get help after Sunday night’s deluge washed away most access roads. Aid workers who managed to reach the city described devastation in its center, with thousands still missing and tens of thousands left homeless. “Bodies are everywhere, inside houses, in the...

By KIM TONG-HYUNG (Associated Press) SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un rolled through Russia on an armored train Tuesday toward a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, a rare encounter between isolated leaders driven together by their need for support in escalating standoffs with the West. Kim is expected to seek economic aid and military technology for his impoverished country, and, in a twist, appears to have something Putin desperately needs: munitions for Russia’s war in Ukraine. It’s a chance for the North Korean leader to get around crippling U.N. sanctions and...

By MICHAEL CASEY and STEVE LeBLANC (Associated Press) WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The maker of an extremely spicy tortilla chip sold as the One Chip Challenge and popularized as a dare on social media is pulling the product after the family of a Massachusetts teenager blamed the stunt for his death. The cause of Harris Wolobah’s death last Friday hasn’t been determined and an autopsy was still pending as of Thursday, but the 14-year-old’s family blames the challenge. Since his death, the Texas-based manufacturer, Paqui, has asked retailers to stop selling the individually wrapped chips — a step...

By FRANK BAJAK (AP Technology Writer) All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have reached an agreement in principle with Google to settle a lawsuit filed in 2021 over the tech giant’s alleged monopolistic control of app distribution for the software that runs most of the world’s cellphones. The agreement, cited in a court filing reached Tuesday, is subject to approval by the plaintiffs’ attorneys general and the board of directors of Google’s parent company, execution of an agreement, and court approval. The terms of the temporary pact bar the parties from disclosing its...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The felony convictions of four former Navy officers in one of the worst bribery cases in the maritime branch’s history were vacated Wednesday following allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, the latest setback to the government’s yearslong efforts in going after dozens of military officials tied to a defense contractor nicknamed Fat Leonard. U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino called the misconduct “outrageous” and agreed to allow the four men to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $100 fine each. Last year after the trial, Sammartino had ruled the lead federal...

By SAMYA KULLAB (Associated Press) KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile tore through an outdoor market in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing 17 people and wounding dozens, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the country with more than $1 billion in new American funding for Ukraine, including military and humanitarian aid. Blinken’s fourth visit to the country was overshadowed by the strike in the city of Kostiantynivka, near the front line in the Donetsk region, that turned the marketplace into an inferno. It was one of the deadliest bombardments of civilians in the...

By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s health episodes show “no evidence” of a stroke or seizure disorder, the Capitol physician said Tuesday, but his statement still left questions about the apparent freeze-ups that have drawn concerns about the 81-year-old’s situation. McConnell returned to work at the Capitol after the summer recess, and his office released a letter from attending physician Brian P. Monahan concerning the long-serving Republican leader’s health. The GOP leader froze up last week during a...