AP National News

MONTREAL (AP) — The premier of the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec says adult residents who refuse to get vaccinated against the coronavirus will be charged a financial penalty. Premier Francois Legault says that not getting vaccinated leads to consequences for the health care system and not all Quebecers should pay for that. He said

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A conversation between a pair of Australian TV anchors criticizing Novak Djokovic and discussing his visa saga has gone viral. Opinions on Djokovic’s case ahead of the Australian Open are running strong on both sides in the country. Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern were in the studio for Australia’s Seven Network

By JIM SALTER Associated Press A Missouri coroner’s inquest jury has found that the death of a Black man at the hands of a white neighbor in a small-town trailer park was justified. The six-member coroner’s inquest jury convened Tuesday to examine the death of Justin King in Bourbon, Missouri. Their decision disappointed civil rights

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick will fill Florida’s vacant U.S. House seat. Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Republican Jason Mariner during a special election Tuesday. She’ll replace Democrat Alcee Hastings, who was the longest-serving member of the Florida delegation before he died in April of pancreatic cancer. Cherfilus-McCormick’s election boosts Democrats’

By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s attorney general is urging the state Supreme Court to promptly decide if former New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof is eligible to run for governor, after elections officials declared he wasn’t. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a memorandum to the Supreme Court that the

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer China is blocking more than a dozen U.S. airline flights to the country because some passengers on recent flights tested positive for COVID-19. The move is the latest development in a dispute between the two countries over international flights and rules designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — Federal investigators say a medical transport plane struck power lines in cloudy weather before it crashed last month near San Diego, killing two flight nurses and two pilots. The Learjet 35A crashed on Dec. 27 while preparing to land at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. A preliminary report by the

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Authorities say a Tennessee man wanted in the fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph in his hometown of Memphis has been captured in Indiana, while another man was indicted on murder charges. A grand jury indicted 32-year-old Cornelius Smith on first-degree murder and other charges in Dolph’s death, the Shelby County, Tennessee,

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick will fill Florida’s vacant U.S. House seat. Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Republican Jason Mariner during a special election Tuesday. She’ll replace Democrat Alcee Hastings, who was the longest-serving member of the Florida delegation before he died in April of pancreatic cancer. Cherfilus-McCormick’s election boosts Democrats’

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a successful flight test of a hypersonic missile he claimed would remarkably increase the country’s “war deterrent.” The report by North Korean state media on Wednesday came a day after the militaries of South Korea and Japan

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A formal challenge of North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s qualifications to run for Congress has been delayed while redistricting litigation is pending. The challenge was filed by a group of voters over Cawthorn’s involvement in the Washington rally last January that preceded the Capitol riot. Three trial judges granted on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is demanding records and testimony from a former White House aide they say helped draft former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, along with two others it says were in communication with people close to Trump. Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson is the Democratic chairman

By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press The Missouri Supreme Court has vacated three convictions in separate cases that involved video participation in the trials, which have been used more extensively during the coronavirus pandemic. One of the cases involved an adult male who was convicted in St. Louis Circuit Court of statutory rape. Two of the

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE, COLLEEN LONG and JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden is challenging senators to “stand against voter suppression,” urging them to change Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation that Republicans are blocking from debate and votes. Biden, who has been criticized by some in his own

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Judge Steve Harvey? At least for one week, it seems like an inspired idea. The comic’s “legal” show was the most-watched non-football program on television last week for its debut episode. The Nielsen company says its audience of 5.2 million people was almost 2 million

By SOPHIA TAREEN and KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago schools will offer more COVID-19 testing and have standards to close school related to infection rates, but the cost of a bitter union battle and five days of missed schools has parents and union members questioning if it was worth it. The Chicago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Emmett Till, the Chicago teenager murdered by white supremacists in the 1950s, and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. She insisted on an open casket funeral to demonstrate the brutality of his killing. Till was abducted, tortured and killed after

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An attorney hired by the Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration says a complaint demanding the removal of the Milwaukee County district attorney is invalid. The complaint was filed last month over Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s office handling of a bail recommendation for a man

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The judge handling the federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights is urging attorneys to “move the case along” to reduce chances that the proceeding will be disrupted by COVID-19. Jury selection starts Jan. 20 for Tou