(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, pool) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department’s top national security official is resigning from his position after revelations that the department secretly seized records from Democrats and members of the media. John Demers will leave his position by the end of next week. That’s according to a Justice Department official who spoke to The Associated Press on…
U.S. regulators are allowing for the release of 10 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine from a troubled Baltimore factory. But material to make many more must be thrown out because of possible contamination. That’s according to a person familiar with the decision. The FDA announced Friday that it had determined that two batches from the plant could…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House dropped Trump-era executive orders intended to ban the popular apps TikTok and WeChat and will conduct its own review aimed at identifying national security risks with software applications tied to China, officials said Wednesday. A new executive order directs the Commerce Department to undertake what officials describe as an “evidence-based” analysis of transactions involving apps that are manufactured…
Aaron Rodgers (AP) GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers wasn’t with the Green Bay Packers for their first mandatory minicamp session. This marks the latest chapter in the standoff between the team and its MVP quarterback. Rodgers also hadn’t participated in the Packers’ voluntary organized team activities. That represented a change from his usual offseason routine. The Packers have…
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson,File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has recovered the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month, officials said Monday. The operation to recover the cryptocurrency from the Russia-based hacker group is believed to be the first of…
(courtesy: Biogen via AP) WASHINGTON (AP) – Government health officials have approved the first drug that they say may help slow Alzheimer’s disease. The surprise decision came after the agency’s independent advisers said the treatment hadn’t been shown to help treat the brain-destroying disease. The Food and Drug Administration is not required to follow their advice. The agency approved the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A unanimous Supreme Court has ruled that thousands of people living in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons are ineligible to apply to become permanent residents. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court Monday that federal immigration law prohibits people who entered the country illegally and now have Temporary Protected Status from seeking “green cards” to remain in…
(AP) – Facebook said it is suspending former President Donald Trump’s accounts for two years following its finding that he stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The two-year suspension is effective from Jan. 7, so Trump has 19 months to go. In a press release, the former president called Facebook’s decision “an insult.” “They shouldn’t be allowed…
(AP) – Facebook plans to end a contentious policy championed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg that exempted politicians from certain moderation rules on its site, according to reports from the tech site The Verge, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. The company’s reasoning for the policy was that what political leaders say is newsworthy and in the public interest…
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a modest 559,000 jobs in May, an improvement from April’s sluggish gain but still evidence that many companies are struggling to find enough workers as the economy rapidly recovers from the pandemic recession. Last month’s job gain was above April’s revised total of 278,000. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8%…
(courtesy: Facebook/Biden) WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is unveiling President Joe Biden’s plans to share COVID-19 vaccines with the world, including directing 75% of excess doses through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program. The White House has previously stated its intent to share 80 million vaccine doses with the world by the end of June. The administration says…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has used the 100th anniversary of Tulsa’s race massacre to plea for sweeping legislation in Congress to protect the right to vote. Biden’s message comes as Republican-led state governments pass new restrictions making it tougher to cast ballots. Biden called out lawmakers in Congress — including two senators in his own party — for…
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — American pharmaceutical company Moderna says it has begun the process to win full U.S. regulatory approval for the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in adults. Moderna announced Tuesday it has begun a “rolling submission” to the Food and Drug Administration of data from its studies of the two-dose vaccine. Moderna’s vaccine already has been cleared for emergency…
WASHINGTON, D.C./DULUTH, Minn. — U.S. Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat representing Minnesota, wants to expand and support mental health resources with several proposals in Congress as clinics are seeing their patient lists fill up like never before. For Mental Health Awareness Month, Senator Smith posted several tweets on her Twitter page about her own journey with depression. “Having that opportunity…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republicans have blocked the creation of a bipartisan panel to study the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The Senate fell sort of the 60 votes needed to consider a House-passed bill that would have formed a 10-member commission evenly split between the two parties. It was another sign of GOP fealty to former President Donald…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to 406,000, a new pandemic low and more evidence that the job market is strengthening as the virus wanes and the economy further reopens. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 38,000 from 444,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly applications for jobless…
(AP Photo/Noah Berger) SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — An assailant opened fire at a California railyard serving Silicon Valley, killing eight people. Authorities say the suspect is also dead. The shooting took place around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday at a light rail facility in San Jose next door to the sheriff’s department and across a freeway from the airport. The facility…
(courtesy: CNN) (CNN) – Police in San Jose, California, are responding to a shooting downtown near Younger Avenue and San Pedro Street, according to a tweet from the San Jose Police Department. Units are currently at the scene of a shooting in the area of Younger Av and San Pedro St. This is still an active scene and we ask…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) NEW YORK (AP) — Online shopping giant Amazon is buying MGM, the movie and TV studio behind James Bond, “Legally Blonde” and “Shark Tank,” with the hopes of filling its video streaming service with more stuff to watch. Amazon is paying $8.45 billion for MGM, making it the company’s second-largest acquisition after buying grocer Whole Foods…
(AP) – Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12. The company released the preliminary findings Tuesday based on testing on more than 3,700 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States. Earlier this month, the U.S. and Canada authorized another vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech to be used starting at age 12. Moderna intends to submit…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is doubling U.S. emergency spending to help communities prepare for hurricanes and other extreme weather events while launching a new effort at NASA to better understand and track the impacts of climate change. The $1 billion in federal spending being announced Monday is a small fraction of what the U.S. spends on weather-related disasters….
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Hamas have announced a cease-fire to end a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced late Thursday that his Security Cabinet approved the Egyptian-mediated proposal. Hamas quickly followed suit and said it would honor the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 444,000, a new pandemic low and a sign that the job market keeps strengthening as consumers spend freely again, viral infections drop and business restrictions ease. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 34,000 from a revised 478,000 a week earlier. The number…
DETROIT (AP) — Kia is recalling more than 440,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. for a second time to fix a problem that can cause engine fires. And the automaker is telling owners to park them outdoors and away from structures because fires could happen when the engines aren’t running. The recall covers certain Optima sedans from 2013 through…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a major rollback of abortion rights, saying it will take up Mississippi’s bid to enforce a 15-week ban on the procedure. The court’s order Monday sets up a showdown over abortion, probably in the fall, with a more conservative court ready to consider dramatically altering nearly 50 years of rulings…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the coming six weeks. White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the doses would come from existing U.S. production of Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine stocks. It isn’t yet clear which countries will receive them. President Joe Biden will…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is easing indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places. That’s according to a person briefed on the announcement, expected later Thursday at the White House. The new guidance will still call for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like…
(AP) — McDonald’s is raising pay at 650 company-owned stores in the U.S. as part of its push to hire thousands of new workers in a tight labor market. The fast-food giant followed Chipotle, which also announced pay hikes this week. Wages and benefits for U.S. workers have been growing quickly as vaccinations increase and employers try to meet growing…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 473,000, a new pandemic low and the latest evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs as consumers ramp up spending and more businesses reopen. Applications declined 34,000 from a revised 507,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims — a rough measure of the…
NEW YORK — Federal health advisers are meeting to issue recommendations on how to vaccinate kids as young as 12 with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. This week, the Food and Drug Administration cleared the expanded use of Pfizer’s shots, citing evidence the shots worked as well in those 12 to 15 years old as those 16 and older. Kids in…
NEW YORK (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is calling time on her longtime-running talk show. Reports say the daytime host, who has seen a ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided that her upcoming season will be the last. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” started airing in 2003 and has a mix of dancing, games and giveaways along…
(Garret Ellison | MLive) LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is threatening to go after Enbridge’s profits from a Great Lakes oil pipeline if it isn’t shut down. The Democratic governor issued the warning Tuesday in a letter to Enbridge, a Canadian oil transport company. Whitmer ordered the company last November to close the line by May 12….
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The national anthem would have to be played before all sporting events held at Wisconsin venues that received any public funding under a bill up for a vote Tuesday in the state Assembly. The sweeping proposal received bipartisan support in committee, even as a group representing parks and recreation areas across the state questioned whether it…
(AP) – COVID-19 vaccines finally are headed for more kids as U.S. regulators on Monday expanded the use of Pfizer’s shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall. Shots could begin as soon as a federal vaccine advisory committee issues recommendations for…
(AP) – This year’s graduating class of college seniors is poised for better prospects than were the 2020 graduates, who had the misfortune to graduate in the depths of the disastrous coronavirus recession. Though the competition will be stiff — this year’s graduates will have to compete, in many cases, with 2020 graduates who are still seeking their first full-time…
(CNN) – Olivia and Liam are the two most popular baby names in America for the second year in a row. The Social Security Administration released its annual list of top baby names on Friday. The top ten girl names in 2020 are: Olivia Emma Ava Charlotte Sophia Amelia Isabella Mia Evelyn Harper The top ten baby boy names in…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration says the government will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. That reverses a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Monday that LGBTQ people should have the same access to health…
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A gunman opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado, slaying six adults before killing himself Sunday, police said. The shooting happened just after midnight in a mobile home park on the east side of Colorado Springs, police said. Officers arrived at a trailer to find six dead adults and a man with serious injuries…
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers added just 266,000 jobs last month, sharply lower than in March and a sign that some businesses are struggling to find enough workers as the economic recovery strengthens. With viral cases declining and states and localities easing restrictions, businesses have added jobs for four straight months. Still, the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1% from…
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Authorities say a shooting at an eastern Idaho middle school has injured two students and a custodian, and a student suspected of being the shooter has been taken into custody. The Jefferson County sheriff says the victims’ injuries aren’t believed to be life-threatening. Police were called to the school around 9:15 a.m. Thursday, and multiple law…
NEW YORK (AP) — Peloton is recalling about 125,000 of its treadmills. The move comes less than a month after the company denied the machines were dangerous and said it would not pull them from the market, even though they were linked to the death of a child and injuries of 29 others. Peloton said Wednesday that it will now…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 498,000, the lowest point since the viral pandemic struck 14 months ago and a sign of the job market’s growing strength as businesses reopen and consumers step up spending. Applications declined 92,000 from a revised 590,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims —…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan late Tuesday lifted an outdoor mask requirement except in gatherings of at least 100 people and in organized contact sports and said teen athletes no longer must undergo regular COVID-19 testing if they are fully vaccinated. Under a revised pandemic order that takes effect Thursday, the state also eased caps on outdoor event sizes and said vaccinated…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former President Donald Trump won’t return to Facebook — for now. The social network’s quasi-independent Oversight Board voted to uphold his ban from the platform after his account was suspended four months ago for inciting violence that led to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot. While upholding the suspension, the board faulted Facebook in a statement…
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The death toll from the collapse of an overpass on the Mexico City metro rose to 24 Tuesday as crews untangled train carriages from the steel and concrete wreckage that fell onto a roadway. Monday night’s accident was one of the deadliest in the history of the subway, and questions quickly arose about the structural integrity…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden is setting a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one dose to 70% of adult Americans by July 4. This comes as the administration pushes to make it easier for people to get shots and to bring the country closer to normalcy. The new goal, which also includes fully…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin Army National Guard member and his friend have been charged with entering the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack. Abram Markofski and Brandon Nelson are charged with four counts including entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Markofski joined the National Guard…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15 by next week, setting up shots for many before the beginning of the next school year. That’s according to a federal official and a person familiar with the process. The FDA action would be followed by a meeting…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is extending the requirement that travelers wear face masks on planes, trains, and buses. The rule was set to expire May 11, but the Transportation Security Administration said Friday that it will extend the requirement through Sept. 13. Children under 2 and people with certain disabilities are exempted. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration says…
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A packed boat being used in a suspected human smuggling operation capsized and broke apart in powerful surf along the rocky San Diego coast. Three people were killed and more than two dozen were hurt. Lifeguards, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other agencies responded around 10:30 a.m. Sunday following reports of an overturned vessel near the…
