Top General News
Biden to sign virus measures, requires mask use to travel
WASHINGTON (AP) — Deep in the deadliest coronavirus wave and facing worrisome new mutations, President Joe Biden will kick off his national COVID-19 strategy to ramp up vaccinations and testing, reopen schools and businesses and increase the use of masks — including a requirement that Americans...
US official: Biden proposing 5-year extension of nuke treaty
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is proposing to Russia a five-year extension of the New START treaty limiting the number of U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons, U.S. officials said Thursday. The proposal was being communicated to Russian officials, said one official, who spoke on...
Biden revokes Trump report promoting 'patriotic education'
President Joe Biden revoked a recent Trump administration report that aimed to promote “patriotic education” in schools but that historians mocked and rejected as political propaganda. In an executive order signed on Wednesday in his first day in office, Biden disbanded Donald Trump’s...
Time, transparency needed as Biden inherits frazzled census
Battered by criticism that the 2020 census was dangerously politicized by the Trump administration, the U.S. Census Bureau under a new Biden administration has the tall task of restoring confidence in the numbers that will be used to determine funding and political power. Picking up the pieces of a long,...
Twin suicide bombings rock central Baghdad, at least 32 dead
BAGHDAD (AP) — Twin suicide bombings ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 32 people and wounding dozens, officials said in what was the first massive bombing in years, harkening back to darker days of rampant militant attacks. The rare suicide bombing hit the Bab...
'Just move on': Republicans grapple with post-Trump future
For the first time in more than a decade, Republicans are waking up to a Washington where Democrats control the White House and Congress, adjusting to an era of diminished power, deep uncertainty and internal feuding. The shift to minority status is always difficult, prompting debates over who is to blame for...
Lilly: Drug can prevent COVID-19 illness in nursing homes
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Drugmaker Eli Lilly said Thursday its antibody drug can prevent COVID-19 illness in residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care locations. It's the first major study to show such a treatment may prevent illness in a group that has been devastated by the pandemic. ...
Woman accused of helping steal Pelosi laptop freed from jail
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman facing charges that she helped steal a laptop from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the attack on the U.S. Capitol will be released from jail, a federal judge decided Thursday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson directed that Riley June Williams...
French doctor who made Down discovery closer to sainthood
ROME (AP) — The French doctor who discovered the genetic basis of Down syndrome but spent his career advocating against abortion as a result of prenatal diagnosis has taken his first major step to possible sainthood. Pope Francis on Thursday approved the “heroic virtues” of Dr. Jerome...
Dog spent days outside Turkish hospital waiting for owner
ISTANBUL (AP) — A devoted dog has spent days waiting outside a hospital in northern Turkey where her sick owner was receiving treatment. The pet, Boncuk (Bon-DJUK), which means bead, followed the ambulance that transported her owner, Cemal Senturk, to hospital in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on Jan. 14....
Latest General News
Michigan official shows gun after public meeting criticism
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A county official in northern Michigan displayed a rifle during an online meeting in response to a citizen's comments about a far-right extremist group, drawing outrage from some local residents. Ron Clous, an elected member of the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners,...
Florida authorities arrest man after Capitol bomb threat
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida authorities arrested a 61-year-old Tallahassee man in connection with a bomb threat overnight that prompted the closure of the state Capitol “out of an abundance of caution.” Tallahassee police said they arrested Mark Wayne Clark, 61, for making a false bomb...
Despite reactions, California says virus vaccine can be used
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California said it's safe to immediately begin using a batch of coronavirus vaccine doses after health officials urged a halt to injections and held a review because several people had reactions. Wednesday's decision frees up more than 300,000 doses to counties, cities and...
Vatican convicts ex-bank chief in property embezzlement scam
ROME (AP) — The Vatican’s criminal tribunal on Thursday convicted the former head of the Vatican bank and his lawyer of embezzling millions of euros in proceeds from the sales of Holy See-owned real estate, and sentenced them to nearly nine years in prison each. The court also awarded the bank,...
Albuquerque, county, water authority to promote pay equality
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The city of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and their joint water authority say they will promote gender pay equality by giving a 5% contract preference to businesses that pay men and women equitably. A statement released Thursday said the preference being offered by the city, the...
EU summit assesses virus restrictions amid worrying reports
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders assessed more measures to counter the spread of coronavirus variants during a video summit Thursday as the bloc's top disease control official said urgent action was needed to stave off a new wave of hospitalizations and deaths. The 27 leaders were looking at further...
Vaccinations urged for Southern California dockworkers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Port executives, union leaders and elected officials are pushing for dockworkers to become eligible for coronavirus vaccinations to prevent a slowdown of cargo moving through the booming twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. According to the International Longshore Workers Union, 694...
French victims of child abuse speak out in new #MeToo wave
PARIS (AP) — “I was 9. ... It was my father. He raped me until I was 17.” The French government pledged on Thursday to toughen laws on the rape of children after a massive online movement saw hundreds of victims share accounts about sexual abuse within their families. The move comes in the...
Hard-luck Maryland town gets a $731.1 million Powerball win
LONACONING, Md. (AP) — The latest jackpot-winning Powerball ticket, worth $731.1 million, was sold in a struggling coal mining town whose biggest previous claim to fame was being the hometown of baseball Hall of Famer Lefty Grove. Someone bought it at Coney Market, a convenience store in the Allegany...
Dutch lawmakers back coronavirus curfew despite criticism
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A majority of Dutch lawmakers backed the government’s planned curfew Thursday, despite fierce criticism from some opposition legislators. The four parties that make up the ruling coalition and several opposition parties backed a curfew from 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. —...
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