North America

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Homeland Security Department said Saturday that Texas denied federal agents access to a stretch of border when they were trying to rescue three migrants who drowned.

The federal government’s account came hours after U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said the Texas Military Department and Texas National Guard “did not grant access to Border Patrol agents to save the migrants” Friday night. Mexican authorities recovered the bodies of a woman and two children Saturday across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas.

USA (AP) —Subfreezing temperatures across much of the U.S. left millions of Americans facing potentially dangerous cold Sunday as Arctic storms threatened near-blizzard conditions in the northeast and several inches of snow in portions of the South.

The National Weather Service warned that windy, subfreezing conditions in Montana and the Dakotas could push wind chills as low as minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56 degrees Celsius).

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States had delivered a private message to Iran about Iran-backed Houthis responsible for attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

"We delivered it privately and we're confident we're well-prepared," Biden told reporters at the White House before departing to the Camp David presidential retreat for the weekend.

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States does not support the independence of Taiwan, after Taiwanese voters rebuffed China and gave the ruling party a third presidential term.

Earlier in the day, the Taiwanese ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te came to power, strongly rejecting Chinese pressure to spurn him, and pledged both to stand up to Beijing and seek talks.

"We do not support independence..." Biden said, when asked for reaction to Saturday's elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy officer who had been jailed in Japan over a car crash that killed two Japanese citizens was released from U.S. custody on Friday, one month after he was returned to the United States and placed in a federal prison, his family said.

Lt. Ridge Alkonis was ordered released by the U.S. Parole Commission, according to the Justice Department and a family statement that described the extra detention in a Los Angeles detention facility as “unnecessary.” In total, he spent 537 days locked up either in Japan or the U.S.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday asked the Supreme Court to order Texas to stop blocking Border Patrol agents from a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border where large numbers of migrants have crossed in recent months, setting up another showdown between Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration over immigration enforcement.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Federal prosecutors said Friday that they will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket.

Payton Gendron, 20, is already serving a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole after he pleaded guilty to state charges of murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism in the 2022 attack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — From his hospital room, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin first orchestrated and then watched in real time as the U.S. retaliatory attack on Yemen-based Houthi militants unfolded Thursday night.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military early Saturday struck another Houthi-controlled site in Yemen that it had determined was putting commercial vessels in the Red Sea at risk, a day after the U.S. and Britain launched multiple airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels.

Associated Press journalists in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, heard one loud explosion.

U.S. Central Command said the “follow-on action” early Saturday local time against a Houthi radar site was conducted by the Navy destroyer USS Carney using Tomahawk land attack missiles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden can make an increasingly strong case that he’s helped fix inflation — if only he can get voters to believe him.

Figures issued this past week reflected a historic level of progress on battling high prices, hinting that inflation could be near the Federal Reserve’s 2% target around the time of November’s election. The consumer price index posted an an annual increase of 3.4%, but the prices charged by the producers of goods and services rose a meager 1% over the past year.