AP National News

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Israel say they are exploring a “Plan B” for dealing with Iran if the Islamic Republic does not return in good faith to negotiations to salvage the languishing landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair

ROME (AP) — Italy’s highest court has annulled an arrest warrant for a key suspect in the Vatican’s fraud and extortion trial. The court’s action puts into question whether and when Gianluigi Torzi might be extradited from Britain. In a decision Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation sent the case back to a Rome court which

By STEPHEN McGRATH Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Doctors in Romania’s capital has issued an open letter titled “a cry of despair” as the country’s overwhelmed health care system copes with record coronavirus infections and deaths. The College of Physicians of Bucharest said Wednesday in a letter addressed to Romanians that the medical system

MADRID (AP) — Spanish rescuers have saved over 200 migrants on the perilous seaborne route from Africa to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Emergency services for the Canary Islands say that rescuers saved 90 migrants from two boats intercepted near the island of Gran Canaria. Another 55 people were pulled from a boat

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The great Brexit brawl is heading into its next standoff as European Union concessions to improve trade in Northern Ireland are likely to be deemed insufficient by the United Kingdom. The EU’s top Brexit official has proposed major changes in the customs system for Northern Ireland. It

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Pamela is moving inland over Mexico’s northwest region after slamming into the coast just north of Mazatlan at hurricane strength. Pamela made landfall 40 miles (65 kms) north of the port city of Mazatlan, which also serves as a resort for Mexican tourists. Civil defense officials say wind and rains did

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and MARIAM FAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The nomination of a Pakistani-born businessman who’d be the highest-ranking Muslim in the U.S. government is in jeopardy because Senate Republicans have repeatedly blocked his confirmation. The stalemate has led to Democratic charges of anti-Muslim bias and galvanized some Muslim and Jewish organizations

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag of the coronavirus pandemic. The COLA increase amounts

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Four people have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, nearly eight years after the death of a man who was pinned to the floor by security guards at a Detroit-area shopping mall. The Michigan attorney general’s office reopened the case in 2020. McKenzie Cochran struggled with security guards and was hit with

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and TANYA TITOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The head of the Russian sovereign fund bankrolling the shot says Russia is ready to provide up to 300 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative. That’s despite the lack of WHO approval and Sputnik V vaccine production issues

By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Danny Strong pops up in an eclectic batch of series, from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to “Gilmore Girls” to “Billions.”  But when it comes to investing his time as a creator, there’s consistency in the projects he tackles. Among them: the TV movies “Recount”

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The chief of the World Health Organization has honored the late Henrietta Lacks, an American woman whose cancer cells ended up providing the foundation for vast scientific breakthroughs, including research about the coronavirus. The recognition from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday came more than a

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has held the director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Corrections and the warden of the city’s jail in contempt of court. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said Wednesday he was also asking the Justice Department to investigate whether the

TYLER, Texas (AP) — Prosecution is resting its case in the capital murder trial of a former nurse accused of killing four patients at an East Texas hospital. The Tyler Morning Telegraph reports that defense attorneys will begin calling witnesses Wednesday after prosecutors spent 11 days presenting evidence and expert testimony against 37-year-old William George

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer Thousands of public servants who were rejected from a student loan forgiveness program will get their cases reviewed by the Education Department as part of a new settlement. The Wednesday settlement aims to resolve a 2019 suit accusing the department of mismanaging its Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The lavish waxworks temple Madame Tussauds has opened its first Middle East location on a small artificial island off the coast of Dubai. Former President Donald Trump stars at the exhibit  among 60 other celebrities and world leaders. The display was unveiled on Wednesday and also features a sultry

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sounds ready to reinstate the death penalty for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. In more than 90 minutes of arguments Wednesday, the court’s six conservative justices seemed likely to embrace the Biden administration’s argument that a federal appeals court mistakenly threw out Tsarnaev’s

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas and other fuels, the U.S. government said Wednesday it expects households to see their heating bills jump as much as 54% compared to last winter. Nearly half the homes in the U.S. use natural gas for

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization says officials have begun vaccinating people in eastern Congo against Ebola, after it was confirmed last week that the disease killed a toddler. The U.N. health agency said Wednesday that people at high risk of catching the disease, including the young boy’s

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Kremlin has “constructive” relations with the Biden administration and has voiced hope that mutual interests would eventually help normalize U.S.-Russia ties. Putin addressed an array of topics while speaking during a panel discussion at an international energy conference in Moscow on