Top General News
Year 2: Biden plans more public outreach, less legislating
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden launched into his second year in office Thursday with a new focus on making fatigued Americans believe they’re better off under his leadership as he embraces a pared-back agenda before the midterm elections. The persistence of the...
Jan. 6 committee requests interview with Ivanka Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking Ivanka Trump, daughter of former President Donald Trump, to voluntarily cooperate as lawmakers make their first public attempt to arrange an interview with a Trump family member. The...
US sanctions Ukrainian officials accused of helping Russia
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department levied new sanctions Thursday against four Ukrainian officials, including two current members of parliament who administration officials say are part of a Russian influence effort to set the pretext for further invasion of Ukraine. The...
Supreme Court won't speed challenge to Texas abortion limits
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the latest setback for abortion rights in Texas, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to speed up the ongoing court case over the state's ban on most abortions. Over dissents from the three liberal justices, the court declined to order a federal appeals court...
US charges Belarus with air piracy in reporter's arrest
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. prosecutors charged four Belarusian government officials on Thursday with aircraft piracy for diverting a Ryanair flight last year to arrest an opposition journalist, using a ruse that there was a bomb threat. The charges, announced by federal prosecutors in...
Democrats eye new strategy after failure of voting bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats were picking up the pieces Thursday following the collapse of their top-priority voting rights legislation, with some shifting their focus to a narrower bipartisan effort to repair laws Donald Trump exploited in his bid to overturn the 2020 election. ...
Jury in federal trial in Floyd killing appears mostly white
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A jury of 18 people who appeared mostly white was picked Thursday for the federal trial of three Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing, a case that the judge told potential jurors has “absolutely nothing” to do with race. The...
Aiming to make CDC nimble, agency director has rankled many
NEW YORK (AP) — From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the top U.S. public health agency has been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information. Now, increasingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also being criticized for moving too fast. ...
Cuban protesters await sentencing, facing long prison terms
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban courts have wrapped up the hearing phase of six mass trials for people accused of involvement in the largest and most unruly protests on the island in decades, leaving more than 100 defendants awaiting potentially heavy sentences. Relatives of defendants and...
EXPLAINER: Why fear of 5G halting flights has faded
The rollout of new 5G wireless service in the U.S. failed to have the much-dreaded result of crippling air travel, although it began in rocky fashion, with international airlines canceling some flights to the U.S. and spotty problems showing up on domestic flights. Airline industry...
Latest General News
Japan widens virus restrictions as omicron surges in cities
TOKYO (AP) — Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan beginning Friday as Japan widens COVID-19 restrictions due to the omicron variant causing cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas. The restraint, which is something of a...
Slavery ban testimony heard by Vermont legislators
Vermont legislators are again taking up a proposed constitutional amendment to make it clear that slavery and indentured servitude are prohibited, as some other states have done. Vermont's constitution currently says no person 21 or older should serve as a slave unless bound by...
Jury in federal trial in Floyd killing appears mostly white
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A jury of 18 people who appeared mostly white was picked Thursday for the federal trial of three Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing, a case that the judge told potential jurors has “absolutely nothing” to do with race. The...
Montana seeks to overturn court ruling on abortion access
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana's attorney general is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a 1999 opinion that found the state constitution's right to privacy guarantees a woman's access to an abortion — the opinion Planned Parenthood is using to challenge three new abortion laws. ...
Enbridge says it has fixed pierced aquifer near oil pipeline
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Enbridge Energy said it has stopped the flow of spilled artesian groundwater that began a year ago when workers installing the Line 3 oil pipeline in northwestern Minnesota punctured an aquifer. The spill near Enbridge's terminal in Clearbrook was one of the...
Oregon residents decry proposed 'permanent' mask mandate
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of Oregon residents claimed government overreach on Thursday, as officials at the state’s health authority consider indefinitely extending the current indoor mask requirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oregon Health Authority held a public...
Republicans on Senate panel OK guns on college campuses
PHOENIX (AP) — The seemingly never-ending fight between Arizona gun rights advocates who want students to be able to carry guns and colleges and universities that opposes allowing firearms on campuses is back yet again. Republicans on the Arizona state Senate Judiciary committee...
Kentucky House passes its version of new 2-year state budget
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's Republican-led House passed its version of a new two-year state budget Thursday, endorsing increased education spending and a pay raise for state employees. The budget bill was put on an unprecedented fast track, clearing a committee and the full...
French energy giant Total joins push for Myanmar sanctions
PARIS (AP) — French energy conglomerate TotalEnergies has asked the American and French governments to support targeted sanctions against Myanmar's oil and gas funds, the largest single source of income for the country's military leaders. In a letter to Human Rights Watch released...
Energy entities eye clean-energy strategy for western states
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Two electric utilities and a federal energy agency with millions of customers in eight western states have reached a tentative agreement centered on a new energy transmission line connecting their power grids. Idaho Power, PacifiCorp and the Bonneville Power...
