US & World News

Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling Sets Off New Court Fights

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The fall of Roe v. Wade shifted the battleground over abortion to courthouses around the country Monday, as one side sought quickly to enact statewide bans and the other tried to block or at least delay such measures. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to end constitutional protection for abortion opened the gates for a wave of litigation…

Juul Seeks To Block FDA Ban On E-Cigarette Sales In US

(AP) — Juul on Friday asked a federal court to block a government order to stop selling its electronic cigarettes. The e-cigarette maker asked the court to pause what it calls an “extraordinary and unlawful action” by the Food and Drug Administration that would require it to immediately halt its business. The company filed an emergency motion with the U.S….

Congress Sends Landmark Gun Violence Compromise To Biden

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House sent President Joe Biden the most wide-ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades on Friday, a measured compromise that at once illustrates progress on the long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists. The Democratic-led chamber approved the election-year legislation on a mostly party-line 234-193 vote, capping a spurt of action prompted by voters’…

Supreme Court Overturns Roe V. Wade; States Can Ban Abortion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion…

Officials: US To Send Rocket Systems, Other Aid To Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, U.S. officials said Thursday. The latest package will include four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and is expected to be announced later Thursday. The first four HIMARS that the U.S. previously sent have already gone into…

LGBTQ Students Would Get New Protections Under Biden Plan

(AP) — The rights of LGBTQ students would become enshrined in federal law and victims of campus sexual assault would gain new protections under new rules proposed by the Biden administration on Thursday. The proposal, announced on the 50th anniversary of the Title IX women’s rights law, is intended to replace a set of controversial rules issued during the Trump administration by Education…

Supreme Court Expands Gun Rights, Striking New York Limits

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public. The justices’ 6-3 decision follows a series of recent mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities — including New York, Los Angeles…

FDA Bans Juul E-Cigarettes Tied To Teen Vaping Surge

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Thursday ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the U.S. market, the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping. The action is part of a sweeping effort by the Food and Drug Administration to bring scientific scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after…

Powell: Fed Aims To Avoid Recession But Says It’s Possible

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sought Wednesday to reassure the public that the Fed will raise interest rates high and fast enough to quell inflation, without tightening credit so much as to throttle the economy and cause a recession. Testifying to the Senate Banking Committee, Powell faced skeptical questions from members of both parties about the Fed’s ability…

US Importing Baby Formula From Mexico To Ease Shortage

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing logistical support to import the equivalent of about 16 million 8-ounce baby formula bottles from Mexico starting this weekend, as part of its efforts to ease nationwide supply shortages caused by the closure of the largest U.S. manufacturing plant. The Department of Health and Human Services is expediting the…

Biden To Call For 3-Month Suspension Of Gas And Diesel Taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday will call on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months — an election year move meant to ease financial pressures at the pump as the public is increasingly concerned about high gas prices and inflation. The Democratic president will also call on states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar…

Texas Top Cop: Uvalde Police Response An ‘Abject Failure’

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Law enforcement authorities had enough officers on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building, and they never checked a classroom door to see if it was locked, the Texas public safety chief testified Tuesday, pronouncing the police response an “abject failure.” Police officers with…

The Moments Resonating From The Jan. 6 Hearings (So Far)

NEW YORK (AP) — By the numbers, the Jan. 6 committee hearings attracted 20 million live viewers on opening night, 11 million for the first daytime session and nearly 9 million for Thursday’s third installment. Yet those traditional Nielsen company yardsticks don’t begin to measure the true reach of what is being said there. Memorable moments from each hearing are…

Biden Hosts Climate Meeting Amid High Gas Price Pressure

WASHINGTON (AP) — Equating the oil and gas industry to Big Tobacco, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that “fossil fuel producers and financiers have humanity by the throat.” But President Joe Biden wasn’t quite itching for a fight. With both soaring energy prices and a warming planet weighing on the world at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, Biden talked…

FDA Authorizes 1st COVID-19 Shots For Infants, Preschoolers

(AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week. The Food and Drug Administration’s action follows its advisory panel’s unanimous recommendation for the shots from Moderna and Pfizer. That means U.S. kids under 5 — roughly 18 million youngsters — are eligible for the shots,…

Biden Says New Shipping Costs Law May Help Tame Inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday meant to lower the cost of shipping goods across oceans, a move the White House says will help ease logistical costs for retailers that have remained high since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and helped fuel record inflation. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act passed unanimously by the Senate via voice vote in March…

Production At Bedeviled Baby Formula Factory Halted By Storm

(AP) — Severe weather has forced Abbott Nutrition to pause production at a Michigan baby formula factory that had just restarted after being closed for several months, contributing to a national shortage. Production for Abbott’s EleCare specialty formula has been suspended, but there is enough supply to meet demand until production is restarted, the company said. Abbott had prioritized ramping…

US Expected To Send $1 Billion More In Aid To Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is expected to announce Wednesday that it will send about $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, the largest single tranche of weapons and equipment since the war began, in a effort to help stall Russia’s slow but steady march to conquer the eastern Donbas region, U.S. officials said. According to the officials, the aid is expected…

Buffalo Supermarket Gunman Charged With Federal Hate Crimes

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The white gunman who killed 10 Black people in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket was charged Wednesday with federal hate crimes and could face the death penalty. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Payton Gendron coincided with a visit to Buffalo by Attorney General Merrick Garland. The attorney general was expected to address the…

Wall Street Rallies After Dismal Week As Fed Decision Looms

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rallying Wednesday, on track for their first gain in six days, but more turbulence may be ahead when the Federal Reserve announces in the afternoon how sharply it’s raising interest rates. The S&P 500 was 1.4% higher as investors ready for the Fed’s rate hike, which most investors expect to be triple the usual amount…

Biden Focuses On Workers As High Inflation Remains A Risk

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden told the largest federation of labor unions on Tuesday that he’s working to rebuild the U.S. economy around workers, an attempt to draw a contrast with Republicans who have increasingly attracted blue-collar votes. “We should encourage unions,” Biden said. “I’m not just saying that to be pro-union. I’m saying it because I’m pro-American.” The…

1/6 Panel Postpones Hearing With Ex-Justice Dept. Officials

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol has postponed a hearing for later this week that was to feature dramatic testimony from former Justice Department officials who threatened to resign over then-President Donald Trump’s pursuit of false election fraud theories. The hearing had been set for Wednesday, but the committee on Tuesday morning…

Excessive Heat Rolls East, Bakes Much Of Central, Eastern US

(AP) — More than 100 million Americans are being warned to stay indoors if possible as high temperatures and humidity settle in over states stretching through parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas. The National Weather Service Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said Monday 107.5 million people will be affected by combination…

US: Pfizer COVID-19 Shot Appears Effective For Kids Under 5

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials said Sunday that kid-sized doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines appear to be safe and effective for kids under 5, a key step toward a long-awaited decision to begin vaccinating the youngest American children. The Food and Drug Administration posted its analysis of the Pfizer shot ahead of a Wednesday meeting where outside experts will vote…

Jan. 6 Panel: Trump Ex-Campaign Manager Pulls Out Of Hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Bill Stepien abruptly pulled out of Monday’s appearance before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, citing a family emergency, the panel said. The committee was told on Monday morning that Stepien’s wife was in labor, according to a person briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition…

Senate Negotiators Announce A Deal On Guns, Breaking Logjam

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate bargainers announced a bipartisan framework Sunday responding to last month’s mass shootings, a noteworthy though limited breakthrough offering modest gun curbs and bolstered efforts to improve school safety and mental health programs. The proposal falls far short of tougher steps long sought by President Joe Biden and many Democrats. Even so, the accord was embraced by…

Capitol Riot Panel Blames Trump For 1/6 ‘Attempted Coup’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has laid the blame firmly on Donald Trump, saying the assault was not spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. With a never-before-seen 12-minute video of extremist groups leading the deadly siege and startling testimony from Trump’s…

US Inflation Hit A New 40-Year High Last Month Of 8.6%

WASHINGTON (AP) — The prices of gas, food and most other goods and services jumped in May, raising inflation to a new four-decade high and giving American households no respite from rising costs. Consumer prices surged 8.6% last month from 12 months earlier, faster than April’s year-over-year increase of 8.3%, the Labor Department said Friday. The new inflation figure, the…

US Lifts COVID-19 Test Requirement For International Travel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A senior administration official said the mandate expires Sunday at 12:01 a.m. EDT, saying the Centers for…

Authorities: 3 Dead, Trooper Wounded In Maryland Shooting

SMITHSBURG, Md. (AP) — A suspect opened fire at a business in western Maryland on Thursday, leaving three dead before the suspect and a state trooper were wounded in a shootout, authorities said. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that three victims were found dead at Columbia Machine Inc. in Smithsburg. The suspect then fled in…

More Americans Apply For Jobless Benefits Last Week

WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for jobless aid last week, but the total number of Americans collecting unemployment remains at a five-decade low. Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 27,000 to 229,000 for the week ending June 4, the most since mid-January, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally track the number of layoffs. The four-week average for…

Officials: Millions Of COVID-19 Shots Ordered For Youngest

NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been ordered for small children in anticipation of possible federal authorization next week, White House officials say. The government allowed pharmacies and states to start placing orders last week, with 5 million doses initially available — half of them shots made by Pfizer and the other half the vaccine produced by Moderna, senior…

Jan. 6 Capitol Attack Committee Goes Prime Time With Probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — With never-seen video, new audio and a mass of evidence, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will attempt to show the “harrowing story” of the deadly violence that erupted that day and also a chilling backstory as the defeated president, Donald Trump, tried to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory. Thursday’s prime-time hearing will open with eyewitness testimony from the first police officer pummeled in the mob riot and…

House Passes Gun Control Bill After Buffalo, Uvalde Attacks

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a wide-ranging gun control bill Wednesday in response to recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle and prohibit the sale of ammunition magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. The legislation passed by a mostly party-line vote of 223-204. It…

Justice Dept. Names 9 To Aid In Review Of Uvalde Shooting

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has named a team of nine people, including an FBI official and former police chiefs, to aid in a review of the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the team during a meeting in his office in Washington on…

Moderna Says Updated COVID Shot Boosts Omicron Protection

(AP) — Moderna’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine that combines its original shot with protection against the omicron variant appears to work, the company announced Wednesday. COVID-19 vaccine makers are studying updated boosters that might be offered in the fall to better protect people against future coronavirus surges. Moderna’s preliminary study results show people given the combination shot experienced a higher boost…

4th Grade Uvalde Survivor: ‘I Don’t Want It To Happen Again’

WASHINGTON (AP) — An 11-year-old girl who survived the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, recounted in video testimony to Congress on Wednesday how she covered herself with a dead classmate’s blood to avoid being shot and “just stayed quiet.” Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grader at Robb Elementary School, told lawmakers in a pre-recorded video that she watched a teacher…

Simone Biles, Other Women Seek $1B-Plus From FBI Over Nassar

DETROIT (AP) — Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and dozens of other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar are seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop the sports doctor when the agency first received allegations against him, lawyers said Wednesday. There’s no dispute that FBI agents in 2015 knew that Nassar was accused…

Target Is Cutting Prices To Get Rid Of Excess Inventory

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Retail giant Target is cutting prices in an effort to get rid of excess inventory, the company said Tuesday. The Minneapolis-based retailer is taking a set of actions to “right-size its inventory for the balance of the year and create additional flexibility to focus on serving guests in a rapidly changing environment,” a news release said. Those actions include canceling…

Figure Skating Minimum Age Rises To 17 Before 2026 Olympics

PHUKET, Thailand (AP) — No 15-year-old figure skaters will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics following the controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at this year’s Beijing Games. A new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events was passed Tuesday by the International Skating Union in a 110-16 vote that will raise the minimum age to 17…

Biden Orders Emergency Steps To Boost U.S. Solar Production

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ordered emergency measures Monday to boost crucial supplies to U.S. solar manufacturers and declared a two-year tariff exemption on solar panels from Southeast Asia as he attempted to jumpstart progress toward his climate change-fighting goals. His invoking of the Defense Production Act and his other executive actions come amid complaints by industry groups that the solar…