AP National News

By LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is traveling to Capitol Hill to pitch House Democrats on a dramatically scaled back domestic policy package. It’s now $1.75 trillion and without a paid family leave program and other priorities. But it’s still a sweeping proposal with new

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A lawyer defending WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has argued that promises offered by the U.S. government that he would not be subjected to harsh prison conditions if he is extradited to face American justice are not enough to address concerns about his fragile mental health and high

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — The Vatican has abruptly canceled the planned live broadcast of President Joe Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis. The live broadcast of Biden’s visit was trimmed to just the arrival of his motorcade in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. Cancelled was the live coverage of Biden, the

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — A U.N.-backed report says sites containing some of the world’s most treasured forests, including the Yosemite National Park in the U.S., have been emitting more heat-trapping carbon dioxide than they have absorbed in recent years. According to the report released Thursday, factors like logging, wildfires and clearance

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland has defended a Justice Department memo aimed at combating threats and violence against teachers, administrators and other school officials. Congressional Republicans are insisting Garland rescind the directive, but he’s signaling he has no plans to do so despite their criticism. The memo took

BOSTON (AP) — Utility crews are working to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in New England after a nor’easter battered the coast with hurricane-force wind gusts. Authorities said Thursday that over 300,000 customers lacked service in Massachusetts. Power restoration could take days in some areas of southeastern Massachusetts. Some schools

By LEANNE ITALIE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — With a buffalo plaid design and a nod to sustainability, Ralph Lauren on Thursday unveiled navy blue uniforms for Team USA to wear during the closing ceremonies of the winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing. Just six months after the summer games closed in Tokyo, winter

By VICTORIA MILKO and KRISTEN GELINEAU Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An investigation by The Associated Press has found that the Myanmar military has been torturing detainees across the country in a methodical and systemic way since its takeover of the government in February. The AP investigation was based on interviews with 28 people imprisoned

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho company that successfully brought genetically modified potatoes to the market has announced an agreement to help a California-based plant breeding company grow strawberries they say will stay fresh longer and have a longer growing season. J.R. Simplot Company and Plant Sciences Inc. said Thursday

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL AP Science Writer NEW DELHI (AP) — COVID-19 travel restrictions will cut the representatives of Pacific island nations attending U.N. climate talks that begin this weekend in Scotland. Their absence means the conference known as COP26 may not hear much from countries most threatened by climate change despite contributing only a fraction

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has denied a defense request to dismiss the most serious charge against a former suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she meant to use a Taser instead of a handgun when she fatally shot Black motorist Daunte Wright. Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter will stand trial in

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Hampered by COVID-19 cases and supply shortages, the U.S. economy slowed sharply to a 2% annual growth rate in the July-September period, the weakest quarterly expansion since the recovery from the pandemic recession began last year. The government estimate fell below expectations and would have been

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A lawyer defending WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has argued that promises offered by the U.S. government that he would not be subjected to harsh prison conditions if he is extradited to face American justice are not enough to address concerns about his fragile mental health and high

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s chief executive is calling for climate leadership ahead of two major international meetings focused on curbing global warming. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned Thursday that the world is facing “a moment of truth.” World leaders are gathering in Rome for a weekend summit of the Group

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An Ethiopian government spokesman says a new airstrike has hit the capital of the country’s Tigray region following several days of such strikes last week, and a Tigray spokesman asserts that six people have been killed, as the year-long war intensifies. The government spokesman tells The Associated Press that Thursday’s airstrike

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has decided to keep its pandemic stimulus efforts unchanged even as consumer prices spike and central banks in other parts of the world look to dial back support as their economies bounce back from the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak. The

By LEANNE ITALIE AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — How did Gordon Ramsay spend his pandemic lockdown? Getting frenetic in a kitchen, of course. The chef with a dizzying number of books, restaurants and TV shows was home in Cornwall, England, with mouths to feed last year when he did a series of lives

By ANNA LIZ NICHOLS Associated Press/Report for America LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In order to combat the struggles low-income and first-generation college students can face, former New York Mets owner and real estate developer Fred Wilpon alongside his wife Judy created the Kessler Scholars Program in 2008. The program helps scholarship recipients combat various collegiate

By LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will make a trip to Capitol Hill Thursday to speak to House Democrats about his domestic agenda and the bipartisan infrastructure deal. Later, the president will make remarks at the White House. The developments suggested a possible agreement was

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — African health officials and the United Nations are warning of a looming shortage of up to 2 billion syringes for mainly low- and middle-income countries around the world as the supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses rises, and routine vaccinations could be affected, too. The U.N. children’s