AP National News

By JOHN LEICESTER and NICK PERRY Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Muted New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world ushered in the fourth calendar year framed by the global Covid-19 pandemic. In France, a doctor sighed when asked what 2022 might bring. He said medical workers were exhausted “because the waves come one after another.”

By FRAZIER MOORE Associated Press Betty White was America’s naughty sweetheart. With a wholesome smile and a dirty joke she charmed millions of viewers decade after decade, rising from $50-a-week to ageless superstar. Even in her 90s, in defiance of time and expectations, she still enjoyed a cocktail before dinner, a weekly poker night and

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Wall Street ended 2021 on a weak note Friday, but still managed to end the year with big gains. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%. It wound up with a yearly gain of 26.9%, nearly as big as its gain two years ago, just before the pandemic set in. The

By The Associated Press Tributes from fellow actors and comedians poured in on social media Friday in reaction to the death of Betty White. The Golden Girls” star was 99. Henry Winkler thanked White for her humor, warmth and activism. Seth Meyers says White was the only “Saturday Night Live” host he ever saw get

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Beaches along the south Los Angeles County coast have been closed due to a spill of untreated sewage. Authorities say a sewer main line failed Thursday afternoon in the city of Carson and 6 million to 7 million gallons of sewage was discharged into the Dominguez Channel, a waterway that

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The Rose Parade and Rose Bowl college football game between Ohio State and Utah are set to go forward on New Year’s Day despite surging cases of COVID-19, which forced the cancellation of the 2021 parade. The 133rd edition of the Pasadena, California, tradition is scheduled to feature actor Levar Burton

By BRITTANY PETERSON, PATTY NIEBERG and COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — Tens of thousands of Coloradans driven from their neighborhoods by a wind-whipped wildfire are beginning to get a look at the damage done. Authorities say 500 homes were probably destroyed. At least seven people were injured, but there have been no

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — Conservationists and tribal leaders are suing the U.S. government to try to block construction of two geothermal plants in northern Nevada’s high desert. They say Ormat Technologies’ project planned in the Dixie Meadows about 100 miles east of Reno will destroy a sacred hot springs and

CHICAGO (AP) — Authorities say a man suspected in the shooting of one police officer and wounding of another at a northern Illinois hotel has been taken into custody. Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield says Darius Sullivan was arrested Friday morning at a home in North Manchester, Indiana. He says Sullivan surrendered to a

By LYNN ELBER and FRAZIER MOORE Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Betty White, whose saucy, up-for-anything charm made her a television mainstay for more than 60 years, has died. She was 99. White’s death was confirmed Friday by her longtime agent Jeff Witjas. Her quirky characters over more than a half-century included the oddball

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has dropped plans to give the country’s highest honor to an Israeli historian amid criticism of his work on the genocide in Bosnia. The German news agency dpa reported Friday that the Foreign Ministry has withdrawn its nomination for Gideon Greif to receive Germany’s Order of Merit. Bosnian news

By DARKO VOJINOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Boisterous New Year’s Eve celebrations have kicked off in Serbia’s capital of Belgrade, where mass gatherings have been allowed despite fears of the fast-spreading omicron variant. Large crowds gathered in city on Friday night for outdoor concerts, fireworks and a light show at a newly-constructed Dubai-style

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Major stock indexes were mixed in thin trading Friday afternoon, as the market closed out what has turned out to be another banner year for Wall Street. Gains by industrial companies, household goods makers and real estate firms being kept in check by a slide in technology and communications

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press A New York resident and “Jeopardy” contestant who was stumped this week by a clue about his state’s governor got a do-over. Ben Walthall joined Gov. Kathy Hochul’s virtual coronavirus briefing Friday to tell her he knows who she is now. Hochul says New Yorkers “believe in second chances” before

By BRITTANY PETERSON, PATTY NIEBERG and COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press/Report for America SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — Tens of thousands of Coloradans driven from their neighborhoods by a wind-whipped wildfire are anxiously waiting to learn what’s left standing of their lives. Authorities say 500 homes were probably destroyed. At least seven people were injured, but there

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio high school football player who says coaches forced him to eat a pizza covered with pepperoni grease in violation of his religious beliefs is suing his former district and ousted coaches. The athlete says in the federal civil rights suit filed this week that Canton coaches ordered the athlete

CHICAGO (AP) — Authorities say a man suspected in the shooting of one police officer and wounding of another at a northern Illinois hotel has been taken into custody. The Illinois State Police said in a statement that Darius Sullivan was found Friday morning, a day after authorities warned that he should be considered armed

By MARIA DI MENTO of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy It was a healthy year for big gifts to charitable causes in 2021, a year that saw one of the largest multibillion-dollar contributions in more than a decade, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy tally. The power philanthropists Bill Gates and Melinda French

By ACACIA CORONADO and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Sarah Weddington is being remembered this week as a champion of feminism whose work impacted the nation’s politics as views shifted on abortion.  The young Texas lawyer who won the Roe v. Wade case at the U.S. Supreme Court died Sunday at 76.

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer Flight cancellations surged again on the last day of 2021, with airlines blaming it on crew shortages related to the spike in COVID-19 infections. By late morning Friday on the East Coast, airlines scrubbed more than 1,550 U.S. flights, according to tracking service FlightAware. The disruptions are likely to