AP National News

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare says it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug whose benefits have been widely questioned. Tuesday’s decision from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a major development in the nation’s tug-of-war over the fair value of new medicines that offer tantalizing possibilities but

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations has launched its biggest ever appeal — for over $5 billion to help 22 million Afghans whose country is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse as well as 5.7 million Afghan refugees in five neighboring countries. The U.N.

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island attorney general’s office is probing into the North Kingstown School Department after student-athletes filed a complaint that the school violated the students’ civil rights by allowing former boys’ basketball coach Aaron Thomas to disrobe athletes for “fat tests” for two decades. U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said in a

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A man who was punched and kicked in the head by two Atlanta-area police officers during a traffic stop in 2017 has reached a settlement with the county that employed them. Demetrius Hollins had filed a federal lawsuit in September alleging the stop was unjustified and that

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Investigators of a Philadelphia rowhouse fire that killed 12 family members say they are left with the words of “a traumatized 5-year-old child” as they piece together how a lighter ignited a nearby Christmas tree. Commissioner Adam Thiel hesitated to point blame at a news conference Tuesday but said the boy was

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, angrily accused a senator Tuesday of making false accusations that are leading to threats against him. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has repeatedly said Fauci lies about the pandemic and in a hearing Tuesday also claimed that he tried to discredit

By CURT ANDERSON and BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Most abortions would be banned in Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy under bills filed by Republicans on the first day of the state’s legislative session. The measures filed Tuesday by Sen. Kelli Stargel and Rep. Erin Grall are similar to a Mississippi

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — There was a prominent Atlanta resident missing Tuesday when President Joe Biden swung through the city to press for voting rights protections: Stacey Abrams. During a day that was shrouded in the city’s legacy as the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, the absence of one of

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis grew up listening to the opera on the radio, is a fan of Argentine tango and thinks Mozart “lifts you to God.” But it still came as a something of a shock to see the 85-year-old pontiff coming out of a downtown Rome record shop late Tuesday with a CD

By JIM SALTER Associated Press A Black man’s death at the hands of a white neighbor in a small-town Missouri trailer park is being examined by a jury at a coroner’s inquest, a seldom-used inquiry that could provide guidance to the prosecutor in determining if a crime was committed. The six-member coroner’s inquest jury convened

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans is bringing back an indoor mask mandate to fight the spread of COVID-19 while preparing for an influx of visitors for the Mardi Gras season. The city health director, Dr. Jennifer Avegno, announced the plan Tuesday. The mandate takes effect Wednesday at 6 a.m.

By MARIA CHENG and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically. The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already

By TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press As smoke poured through the halls a New York City high-rise on Sunday, killing 17 people, tenants were faced with a life or death decision: Should they stay put or try to escape? Several survivors later told reporters that when they saw their hallways fill with smoke, they returned to

By CLAUDIA LAUER and THALIA BEATY Associated Press UPPER DARBY, Pa. (AP) — Authorities and witnesses say a pilot crash landed a medical helicopter without loss of life in a residential area of suburban Philadelphia, somehow avoiding a web of power lines and buildings as the aircraft fluttered, hit the street and slid into bushes

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Officials say the U.S. Navy will comply with Hawaii’s order to remove fuel from a massive underground storage tank facility blamed for contaminating the Navy’s drinking water system. Rear Adm. Blake Converse tells members of Congress the Navy is making preparations to defuel

By DASHA LITVINOVA and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow and Washington both have taken uncompromising stands ahead of more talks amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. The U.S. has rebuffed a demand to halt NATO expansion and the Kremlin says it will see if it’s worthwhile to even keep negotiating. At

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Sites associated with Black history in five Southern states will each receive grants of $50,000 from the Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal advocacy group based in Alabama. Officials with the nonprofit law center say the recipients were selected in consultation with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. They include the

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made clear in his State of the State speech that he likes teachers, first responders and freedom and he doesn’t like Dr. Anthony Fauci, critical race theory, abortion, illegal immigration and Burmese pythons. DeSantis opened his speech Tuesday with a subject he

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A Neo-Nazi who helped lead a campaign to threaten journalists and Jewish activists in three states has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison. A jury convicted Kaleb Cole in September of having sent Swastika-laden posters to journalists and employees of the Anti-Defamation League in Washington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Health Department is ordering all hospitals in the state to allow the transfer of critically ill patients. It’s an effort to help people in rural areas receive care as the state continues to see a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases. The department said Tuesday that a system called Mississippi