AP National News

By ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says it’s streamlined the approval process for urgent use of National Guard forces in the District of Columbia. The announcement Thursday comes after months of study in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Pentagon says the changes

By PATTY NIEBERG Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Thousands of residents in two communities near Denver have been ordered to evacuated because of a wind-fueled wildfire that engulfed parts of the area in smoky, orangish skies. Louisville’s 21,000 residents were told to evacuate Thursday after the 13,000 people in Superior were ordered to

By MARTHA BELLISLE and TERRY TANG Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in record numbers. And experts lament that most of the youngsters are not vaccinated. Dr. Paul Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia says it’s “heartbreaking” knowing

LOUISVILLE, Colo. (AP) — Residents of a northern Colorado town have bene ordered to evacuate because of a wildfire driven by strong winds. The entire town of Superior, which has about 13,000 residents, was ordered to evacuate Thursday because of a fire that has spread northwest of town. Superior is about 20 miles northwest of

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has reported a sharp increase in coronavirus-related deaths as the National Health Service says it is building temporary structures at hospitals in England to prepare for a possible surge of patients infected with the highly transmissible omicron variant. The government reported 332 deaths Thursday, the

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The bodies of 15 more migrants killed in a Dec. 9 truck crash in southern Mexico have been returned to Guatemala. The remains in brown wood-colored coffins were flown back to their homeland Thursday aboard a Mexican military C-295 transport aircraft. The Mexican government says that so far, 50 of the

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A jury has held Teva Pharmaceuticals responsible for contributing to the opioid crisis. Jurors delivered their verdict Thursday in a sweeping lawsuit filed by New York state and joined by two Long Island counties. The Suffolk County jury found the company played a role in furthering

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer A late slide pulled major indexes into the red on Wall Street Thursday, leaving the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly below the record highs they set a day earlier. The benchmark S&P 500 gave up 0.3%. The Dow and the Nasdaq each fell 0.2%. Trading

HONOLULU (AP) — Military officials tell Hawaii lawmakers that they need more time to flush jet fuel from their Pearl Harbor water system. Navy leaders addressed state lawmakers Wednesday, saying they hope to finish flushing the Navy’s system by the end of January. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Navy said in early December that they

By AAMER MADHANI and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Thursday about the Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. It was a new round of leader-to-leader talks as the Kremlin has stepped up its calls for security guarantees and test fired hypersonic missiles to

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of onboard outbreaks fueled by the omicron variant. The CDC says it has more than 90 cruise ships under investigation or observation as a

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press Authorities say a 2-year-old Alaska boy has been killed by his guardians months after his father strangled his mother. Pleas of not guilty were entered for Steven Melovidov and Sophie Myers-Melovidov during court hearings Thursday. Troopers say the boy was flown from St. Paul Island to an Anchorage area

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have designated a member of the Pussy Riot punk group, a satirist and an art collector as “foreign agents” as part of efforts to stifle dissent. The Justice Ministry on Thursday applied the label to Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. She is a Pussy Riot member who became widely known for taking part

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Stocks edged higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in health care and communication companies outweighed a pullback in technology and other sectors. Trading was relatively quiet with many investors having closed out their positions for the year. The S&P 500 and Dow were hovering just

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol says the Supreme Court should let stand an appeals court ruling that the National Archives turn over documents from former President Donald Trump that might shed light on the events. In a filing Thursday with the court, lawyers for the committee

The world’s population is projected to be 7.8 billion people on New Year’s Day 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That represents an increase of 74 million people, or a 0.9% growth rate from New Year’s Day 2021.  The Census Bureau estimates that starting in the new year, 4.3 births and two deaths are

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a California man arrested in Iowa had an assault rifle, ammunition and a “hit list” that named President Joe Biden, former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and others. The Des Moines Register reports that police pulled over the man on Interstate 80 on Dec. 21 because he

By TALI ARBEL and PAUL WISEMAN Associated Press The forces that have scrambled thousands of flights since Christmas Eve could ease in January, but that’s cold comfort to the millions of flyers with New Year’s plans. And if 2021 has taught us anything, it’s that 2022 will likely be just as unpredictable. Airlines weren’t spared

BERLIN (AP) — Police say a man identifying himself as a German army soldier who recorded a threatening video with demands including the removal of coronavirus restrictions has been arrested. The roughly one-minute clip circulating online featured the man, who said he was a staff sergeant, demanding a response “by tomorrow” to his calls for

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Prince Andrew wasn’t on trial in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case but her conviction is bad news for the man who is ninth in line to the British throne. With the conclusion of the Maxwell case, attention will now turn to a U.S. civil suit in