AP National News

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will hold a special session in just over two weeks to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for large employers and a separate vaccine requirement for health care workers. The announcement comes amid rising coronavirus cases. The high

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California woman who punched a flight attendant in the face and broke her teeth during a flight has pleaded guilty to a federal charge. Prosecutors say 28-year-old Vyvianna Quinonez of Sacramento entered a plea Wednesday to interfering with a flight attendant. Quinonez was on a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Federal authorities argue that new state law forbidding local police from enforcing federal gun laws is hampering efforts to protect the public. A blistering court brief filed Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice outlines multiple examples. The brief said that after an Independence police officer was killed in a

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Sports Writer GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Angels for Higher is giving people with Down syndrome opportunities to work as greeters at sports arenas and other venues across the country. The organization began in 2019 after Robert Hendershot watched his son thrive as a greeter at sports venues across Southern California. Trevor

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Young Kim is running for reelection in a newly redrawn district in Southern California, the latest move by a House member following a reshaping of congressional districts finalized this week. The South Korean immigrant and former state legislator says she will run

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas prosecutors say a 21-year-old Democratic state lawmaker who is charged with domestic battery in a disturbance involving his brother is no longer eligible for diversion. Johnson County Assistant District Attorney Samantha Shannon said in a Zoom hearing on Wednesday that the issue is that a warrant was issued for Aaron

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts tribe’s long-disputed reservation was reaffirmed by the Biden administration on Wednesday. The decision by the U.S. Interior Department confirmed the status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe’s Reservation, Tribe Chairman Brian Weeden said in a written statement. The decision means the tribe’s reservation has remained in federally protected trust status

By AMY FORLITI and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The jury at suburban Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter’s manslaughter trial for the killing of Black motorist Daunte Wright has completed its third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict. The jury weighing the white former Brooklyn Center officer’s fate broke at around 6

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 has struck in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s western coast, but there are no immediate reports of damage. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake occurred around 4:22 p.m. Wednesday off the coast of Jalisco state. Mexico’s National Civil Defense office says

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden has tested negative for COVID-19. Vice President Kamala Harris also tested negative after close contact with a staffer who was diagnosed the next day with the coronavirus. Biden was in close contact on Air Force One last Friday with a

By LAURA UNGAR and MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writers Two new British studies provide some early hints that the omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than delta. Scientists stress that even if the findings of these early studies hold up, any reductions in severity need to be weighed against the fact omicron spreads

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors say a Chicago banker should spend at least four years in prison after he was convicted of delivering $16 million in loans to Paul Manafort in a bid for power in the administration of ex-President Donald Trump. Stephen Calk is set to be sentenced Feb.

By AMY FORLITI and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury pushed toward the end of its third day of deliberations Wednesday at the trial of a suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright, with no hint of its progress and the Christmas holiday looming. The court reported

NEW YORK (AP) — Christmas came early — or really late, depending how you look at it, when a professor at the City College of New York in Harlem discovered a box postmarked in 2020, holding $180,000 in cash. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the toaster-sized box was addressed to the chair

By AMANDA LEE MYERS AP Entertainment Writer Los Angeles (AP) — As the “Insecure” chapter of Natasha Rothwell’s life comes to a close, she’s writing many more. In “The White Lotus,” Rothwell stood out among an ensemble cast who all put in stellar performances. Rothwell wrote a romantic comedy with herself in mind to play

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Relatives, lawmakers and other supporters are pleading for clemency for a trucker sentenced to 110 years in prison after an explosive brake-failure crash that left four people dead in Colorado. Supporters of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos rallied at the state Capitol in Denver on Wednesday to make their case.

By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A jury has ended an abbreviated first week of deliberations without reaching a verdict at the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. The jury finished a second full day Wednesday of considering the British socialite’s fate by requesting more transcripts of trial testimony.