President Donald Trump opened a state visit to Japan on Saturday by needling the country over its trade imbalance with the United States. "Maybe that's why you like me so much," he joshed. Trump also promoted the U.S. under his leadership, saying "there's never been a better time" to invest or do business in America, and he urged corporate leaders to come. The president's first event after arriving in Tokyo was a reception with several dozen Japanese and American business leaders at the U.S. ambassador's residence. He said the two countries "are hard at work" negotiating a trade agreement. Get More

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton on Saturday called a series of short-range missile tests by North Korea earlier this month a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and said sanctions must be kept in place. Washington's position on the North's denuclearization is consistent and a repeated pattern of failures to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons should be stopped, he said, defending the recent U.S. seizure of a North Korean cargo. The U.S., however, is willing to resume talks with North Korea at any time, Bolton said. Bolton was speaking to reporters in Tokyo ahead of President Donald Trump's arrival for a four-day visit to Japan. Get More

A House GOP conservative complaining a long-overdue $19 billion disaster aid bill leaves out money needed to address the migrant crisis at the border blocked the bill Friday, extending a tempest over hurricane and flood relief that has left the measure meandering for months. The move came a day after the measure flew through the Senate despite a Democratic power move to strip out President Donald Trump's $4.5 billion request for dealing with a migrant crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. Get More

The Trump administration on Friday invoked a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, citing threats the kingdom faces from Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified Congress of the decision to use an emergency loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with sales of $7 billion in precision guided munitions, other bombs and ammunition and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, without lawmakers' approval. Get More

For millennials looking to buy their first home, the hunt feels like a race against the clock. In the seven years since the housing crash ended, home values in more than three-quarters of U.S. metro areas have climbed faster than incomes, according to an Associated Press analysis of real estate industry data provided by CoreLogic. Get More

Theresa May announced Friday that she will step down as U.K. Conservative Party leader on June 7, admitting defeat in her attempt to take Britain out of the European Union and sparking a contest to become the country's next prime minister. She will stay as caretaker prime minister until the new leader is chosen, a process likely to take several weeks. The new Conservative leader will become prime minister without the need for a general election, and will take up the task of trying to secure Britain's exit from the EU. Her voice breaking, May said in a televised statement outside 10 Downing St. that she would soon be leaving a job that it has been "the honor of my life to hold." Get More

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott admitted Friday there was a "lack of due diligence" in the raid of a freelance journalist's home and office to obtain information on a confidential source who leaked a police report to him. He also promised "an independent, impartial investigation by a separate investigatory body" in a statement released Friday evening. "I am specifically concerned by a lack of due diligence by department investigators in seeking search warrants and appropriately addressing Mr. Carmody’s status as a member of the news media," Scott said. "This has raised important questions about our handling of this case and whether the California shield law was violated." Get More

An Afghan security forces raid against Taliban fighters in eastern Nangarhar province mistakenly killed at least six civilians, including a woman and two children, provincial officials said Saturday. Attahullah Khogyani, the provincial governor's spokesman, said 10 insurgents were also killed in the Friday night attack in Sherzad district. The civilians' vehicle was exiting the area right after the raid and security forces thought that Taliban fighters were trying to escape, so they opened fire and mistakenly killed the civilians, Khogyani said. Get More

A flood of laws banning abortions in Republican-run states has handed Democrats a political weapon heading into next year's elections, helping them paint the GOP as extreme and court centrist voters who could decide congressional races in swing states, members of both parties say. The Alabama law outlawing virtually all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest, is the strictest so far. Besides animating Democrats, the law has prompted President Donald Trump, other Republican leaders and lawmakers seeking re-election next year to distance themselves from the measure. Their reaction underscores that Republicans have risked overplaying their hand with severe state laws that they hope will prod the Supreme Court, with its ascendant conservative majority, to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion. Get More

A U.N. maritime tribunal ruled Saturday that Russia must immediately release three Ukrainian naval vessels it captured in November and free the 24 sailors it detained. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued its order at its Hamburg headquarters following a hearing earlier this month. Russia stayed away from both the hearing and Saturday's session. Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that Russia could send a signal of "real readiness to stop the conflict with Ukraine" by complying with the order. Get More

The U.S. ambassador to China urged Beijing to engage in substantive dialogue with exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama during a visit to the Himalayan region over the past week, the U.S. Embassy said Saturday. Terry Branstad also "expressed concerns regarding the Chinese government's interference in Tibetan Buddhists' freedom to organize and practice their religion," an embassy statement said. "He encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a settlement that resolves differences," it said. Get More

Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has banned two visitors after a group of middle school students said it was subjected to racism during a field trip. Museum officials apologized to students and staff at Dorchester's Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy in a letter posted on their website Wednesday. The museum acknowledged "a range of challenging and unacceptable experiences that made them feel unwelcome." Friday, officials announced that two patrons they say made disparaging remarks to those students on two separate occasions on May 16 had been banned from the grounds of the museum. Get More

A longtime Utah judge has been suspended without pay for six months after making critical comments online and in court about President Donald Trump, including a post bashing his "inability to govern and political incompetence." Judge Michael Kwan's posts on Facebook and LinkedIn in 2016-2017 violated the judicial code of conduct and diminished "the reputation of our entire judiciary," wrote Utah State Supreme Court Justice John A. Pearce in an opinion posted Wednesday. Kwan's Facebook account was private but could have been shared by friends, Pearce wrote. Get More

New Jersey police say 10 people have been wounded following a shooting at a Trenton bar. Authorities say police were notified of gunfire at about 12:25 a.m. Saturday outside a bar in the 300 block of Brunswick Avenue. Arriving officers found several victims in and around the unidentified bar. Get More