Shutdown less likely as Senate closes in on budget agreement

WASHINGTON (AP) — Buoyed by the sudden likelihood of a budget pact, lawmakers are on track to avoid a repeat of last month's government shutdown — though President Donald Trump unexpectedly raised the possibility of closing things down again if he can't have his way on immigration.

"I'd love to see a shutdown if we can't get this stuff taken care of," Trump declared Tuesday, repeating the sentiment for emphasis.

Trump's comments were strikingly disconnected from the progress on Capitol Hill, where the House passed a short-term spending measure Tuesday night and Senate leaders were closing in on a larger, long-term pact ahead of a Thursday night deadline. The broader agreement would award whopping spending increases to both the Pentagon and domestic federal programs, as well as approve overdue disaster relief money and, perhaps, crucial legislation to increase the government's borrowing limit and avoid possible default.

Democratic leaders have dropped their strategy of using the funding fight to extract concessions on immigration, specifically on seeking extended protections for the "Dreamer" immigrants who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. Instead, the Democrats prepared to cut a deal that would reap tens of billions of dollars for other priorities — including combatting opioids — while taking their chances on solving the immigration impasse later.

Tuesday night's 245-182 House vote, mostly along party lines, set the machinery in motion. The six-week stopgap spending bill contains increases for the military that long have been demanded by Trump and his GOP allies. But the measure appears increasingly likely to be rewritten by the Senate to include legislation implementing the brewing broader budget pact.

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Casino mogul Steve Wynn resigns amid sex misconduct claims

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned Tuesday as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts amid sexual misconduct allegations.

"In the last couple of weeks, I have found myself the focus of an avalanche of negative publicity," Wynn said in a written statement Tuesday. "As I have reflected upon the environment this has created — one in which a rush to judgment takes precedence over everything else, including the facts — I have reached the conclusion I cannot continue to be effective in my current roles."

The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 26 that a number of women said Wynn harassed or assaulted them and that one case led to a $7.5 million settlement.

The Las Vegas billionaire has vehemently denied the allegations, which he attributes to a campaign led by his ex-wife.

Last month, Wynn resigned as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.

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Pentagon says Trump ordered Washington military parade

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has asked the Pentagon to plan a grand parade of the U.S. armed forces in Washington this year to celebrate military strength, officials said Tuesday.

The Washington Post, which was first to report the plan, said Trump wants an elaborate parade this year with soldiers marching and tanks rolling, but no date has been selected.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the request Tuesday evening. She said Trump wants the Pentagon to "explore a celebration" that will allow Americans to show appreciation for the military.

A Pentagon spokesman, Charlie Summers, said Pentagon officials are aware of the request and are "looking at options."

Muscular military parades of the kind that are common in authoritarian countries like China and North Korea are not quintessentially American. The U.S. traditionally has not embraced showy displays of raw military power, such as North Korea's parading of ballistic missiles as a claim of international prestige and influence.

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Taiwan quake kills 4, tilts buildings; over 140 missing

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers were working Wednesday to reach five people trapped and more than 140 people unaccounted for in several buildings damaged by a strong earthquake near Taiwan's eastern coast.

The shallow, magnitude 6.4 quake late Tuesday night caused at least four buildings in worst-hit Hualien county to cave in and tilt dangerously, killing four people.

Video footage and photos showed several midsized buildings leaning at sharp angles, their lowest floors crushed into mangled heaps of concrete, shattered glass, bent iron beams and other debris. Firefighters could be seen climbing ladders hoisted against windows as they sought to reach residents inside apartments.

The quake injured 225 people, two dozen of them critically, in Hualien county, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported. The force of the tremor buckled roads and disrupted electricity and water supplies to thousands of households, the National Fire Agency said.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen moved to reassure the Taiwanese public that every effort would be made to look for survivors. In a post on her official Facebook page, Tsai said she arrived in Hualien Wednesday to review rescue efforts.

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SpaceX's big new rocket blasts off, puts sports car in space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX's big new rocket blasted off Tuesday on its first test flight, carrying a red electric sports car aiming for an endless road trip past Mars.

The Falcon Heavy rose from the same launch pad used by NASA nearly 50 years ago to send men to the moon. With liftoff, the Heavy became the most powerful rocket in use today, doubling the liftoff punch of its closest competitor.

For SpaceX, the private rocket company run by Elon Musk, it was a mostly triumphant test of a new, larger rocket designed to hoist supersize satellites as well as equipment to the moon, Mars or other far-flung points. For the test flight, a red sports car made by another of Musk's companies, Tesla, was the unusual cargo, enclosed in protective covering for the launch.

The three boosters and 27 engines roared to life at Kennedy Space Center, as thousands watched from surrounding beaches, bridges and roads, jamming the highways in scenes unmatched since NASA's last space shuttle flight. At SpaceX Mission Control in Southern California, employees screamed, whistled and raised pumped fists into the air as the launch commentators called off each milestone. Millions more watched online, making it the second biggest livestream in YouTube history.

Viewers were left with video images beamed from space of Musk's red Roadster circling the blue planet after the protective covering had dropped away and exposed the car. A space-suited mannequin was at the wheel, named "Starman" after the David Bowie song.

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Pence seeks to reassure allies on N. Korean nuclear threat

TOKYO (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is seeking to reassure and refocus American allies on the growing nuclear threat from North Korea with visits to Japan and South Korea this week.

In meetings with government leaders, military officials and U.S. service members, Pence says he wants to make sure the Winter Olympics don't distract from the bellicose government's human rights abuses and nuclear program. He is set to meet Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh AH'-bay) to discuss increasing pressure on the North.

Pence watched Japanese troops demonstrate the simulated deployment of Japan's surface-to-air missile defense system, which would attempt to intercept a North Korean missile. He also participated in a briefing at Japan's Ministry of Defense on the threat.

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Asian shares mirror Dow comeback, dollar steady

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares saw a broad rebound on Wednesday, mirroring the bounce-back rally on Wall Street, though gains were in a modest range and most benchmarks gave up some gains after opening sharply higher.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index surged as soon as trading began as investors sought bargains, finishing morning trading up 3.1 percent at 22,270.56. South Korea's Kospi, which saw only modest losses on Tuesday, fell back by midday, losing 0.7 percent to 2,435.05.

The Nikkei 225 tumbled as much as 7.1 percent on Tuesday before regaining some lost ground to close 4.7 percent lower.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.0 percent at 5,889.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.2 percent to 30,953.48, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.1 percent to 3,376.36.

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday as a late surge helped them regain almost half their losses from the day before, when they had their biggest plunge in 6 ½ years amid heavy trading and huge swings for the market.

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Puerto Ricans grab machetes, shovels to help restore power

COAMO, Puerto Rico (AP) — It took only minutes for Hurricane Maria to kill power to the Puerto Rican town of Coamo, cracking wooden poles, snapping power lines and hurling transformers to the ground.

For months, residents begged Puerto Rico's power company and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bring back their electricity, with few results.

So the people of this town of 40,000 high in the mountains of southern Puerto Rico have started restoring power on their own, pulling power lines from undergrowth and digging holes for wooden posts in a do-it-yourself effort to solve a small part of the United States' longest-running power outage.

"If we don't do this, we'll be without power until summer," said Vice Mayor Edgardo Vazquez, who is using hand-drawn maps to organize a brigade that includes teachers, handymen, a postal worker and an accountant, backed by municipal workers with professional equipment, tools and experience in light electrical work.

Puerto Rico's power company and the Corps of Engineers have thousands of workers and managers from mainland public utilities and private companies working across the island to restore power. The federally funded multibillion-dollar effort has been slowed by rough terrain, slow arrival of supplies and delays in asking for help from power companies on the U.S. mainland after the Sept. 20 Category 4 storm. More than 400,000 power customers across Puerto Rico remain in the dark.

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Trump aide: Some immigrants 'too lazy' to sign up for DACA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some immigrants may have been "too afraid" or "too lazy" to sign up for the Obama-era program that offers protection from deportation, White House chief of staff John Kelly said Tuesday as he defended President Donald Trump's proposal on the divisive issue.

Kelly discounted the possibility that Trump would announce a temporary extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program beyond March 5, when its protections could expire. He said the administration would not ask Congress to set a later date to give bargainers more time to reach a bipartisan deal, but said the government would not start deporting "Dreamers" who don't have criminal records.

"They are not a priority for deportation," he told reporters.

Kelly spoke as lawmakers have deadlocked in an effort to reach an immigration compromise. Barring an unlikely last-minute agreement, the Senate is expected to begin debating the issue next week, and it is unclear what if any plan will survive.

"We just don't know where 60 votes are for any particular proposal," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., citing the votes needed for passage. Republicans have a slim majority and any measure will need around a dozen Democratic votes to succeed.

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Pyeongchang Games set to open with Russians still in doubt

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics open in two days, but the issue of which Russians are in — and which are out — is dominating the agenda of IOC President Thomas Bach.

As Bach presides Wednesday over meetings with roughly 100 IOC members, the Court of Arbitration for Sport — sport's top legal body — is expected to decide appeals by 32 Russian athletes seeking spots in the Games.

The 32 failed to pass mandatory International Olympic Committee vetting, imposed as a result of Russian doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee expects 168 Russian athletes to compete under the neutral banner of "Olympic Athletes From Russia." Hundreds more have been barred, and many have gone to court seeking entry and causing last-minute chaos.