Top General News
Florida gov signs GOP voting law critics call 'un-American'
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a major rewrite of Florida's elections law on Thursday, tightening rules around drop boxes and mail-in voting in the presidential battleground. Critics say the changes will make it harder for voters, particularly the elderly and people of...
More support easing vaccine patent rules, but hurdles remain
GENEVA (AP) — Several world leaders on Thursday praised the U.S. move to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor nations by suspending patent protections on the shots. But it wasn't clear if that would actually lead to the measures being lifted — and what it would mean if they were. ...
Challenger hits Liz Cheney, says GOP must work with Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Elise Stefanik stated her case Thursday for replacing Rep. Liz Cheney as the No. 3 House Republican leader, implicitly lambasting Cheney's battles with former President Donald Trump by saying, “We are one team and that means working with the president." ...
EXPLAINER: Why patents on COVID vaccines are so contentious
The Biden administration’s call to lift patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help poor parts of the world get more doses has drawn praise from some countries and health advocates. But it has run into resistance from the pharmaceutical industry and others, who say it won’t help curb...
Arrested youth detention center worker was fired, rehired
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former worker at a New Hampshire youth detention center recently charged with holding down a teenage boy during a rape was fired years before that, over allegations of physical and psychological abuse, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. ...
Rio: At least 25 deaths during a police operation in a slum
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police targeting drug traffickers raided a slum in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday and at least one officer and 24 suspects died after being shot, authorities said. A police helicopter flew low over the Jacarezinho favela as heavily armed men fled...
Chicago suburb set to pay reparations, but not all on board
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — When Teri Murray tried to buy her first home in 1968, searching this leafy college town for the perfect place, she thought she was an ideal candidate: married, steadily employed, ample savings. But banks rejected her, offering dubious excuses that...
Study: Residents left big metros during pandemic for family
Cece Linder was living in a 770-square-foot apartment outside Washington, D.C., last spring when the area went into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, after a few months of both living and working in the small space, Linder decided to leave the...
NY: Broadband cos paid for 8.5M fake net neutrality comments
The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission's contentious 2017 repeal undid...
Slugger Albert Pujols designated for assignment by Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols has been designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels, abruptly ending the 41-year-old superstar slugger's decade with his second major league team. The Angels announced the move Thursday, a day after Pujols wasn't in their...
Latest General News
Italy set to vaccinate small island populations in one go
ROME (AP) — Italy is set to start a mass vaccination campaign Friday on some of its small, remote islands with few residents and limited health care services, though one isle jumped the gun and got most of its adults inoculated on its own. The office of Italy’s virus...
Gaza reporter says she was beaten for not wearing headscarf
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A female Palestinian reporter said Thursday that a member of the Hamas-run border patrol in Gaza beat her with a tree branch for not wearing an Islamic headscarf last month, an incident that sparked a public outcry. The Islamic militant...
Higher penalties for rioting advance in N. Carolina House
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Punishments for rioting in North Carolina would be increased and new criminal counts created for mayhem resulting in death in legislation approved by a House judiciary committee on Thursday. The measure was pushed personally by chief sponsor House...
Study: Residents left big metros during pandemic for family
Cece Linder was living in a 770-square-foot apartment outside Washington, D.C., last spring when the area went into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, after a few months of both living and working in the small space, Linder decided to leave the...
Public land agencies begin implementing fire restrictions
SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — State and federal public land management agencies in Arizona are beginning to impose fire restrictions due to hot and dry weather conditions across the state and an increase in fire starts caused by people. The Apache-Sitgreaves National...
'Piano Pat,' Montana tiki bar entertainer for decades, dies
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Patricia Sponheim, known as “Piano Pat," who entertained crowds at a tiki bar in downtown Great Falls, Montana, for more than 50 years, has died at 86. Sponheim died Tuesday, according to a notice by Schneider Funeral Home. ...
Study: Residents left big metros during pandemic for family
Cece Linder was living in a 770-square-foot apartment outside Washington, D.C., last spring when the area went into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, after a few months of both living and working in the small space, Linder decided to leave the...
Rio: At least 25 deaths during a police operation in a slum
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police targeting drug traffickers raided a slum in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday and at least one officer and 24 suspects died after being shot, authorities said. A police helicopter flew low over the Jacarezinho favela as heavily armed men fled...
Shooting at Idaho middle school injures 3; student captured
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A shooting at an eastern Idaho middle school Thursday injured two students and a custodian, and a male student has been taken into custody, authorities said. The victims' injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Jefferson County Sheriff...
Israel accuses Spanish woman of aiding banned militant group
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities on Thursday charged a Spanish woman under the country's anti-terrorism laws, accusing her of funneling large sums of donations from European governments to a banned Palestinian militant group. Juana Ruiz Sánchez was charged in a...
