AP National News

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press MARLY-LE-ROI, France (AP) — The increasingly fraught fight in France against an unprecedented surge in coronavirus infections is putting a stop to eating and drinking in entertainment venues. That means no more munching, crunching and slurping while watching a movie. The anti-coronavirus measures kick in Monday, once France’s New Year

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — The Catholic Church and the northern Italian city of Ferrara are making their peace with Antonio Vivaldi nearly 300 years after the city’s archbishop effectively canceled the staging of one of his operas. Ferrara Archbishop Giancarlo Perego is attending the opening Thursday of Vivaldi’s “Il Farnace” at

By NASSER KARIMI and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian state television says Tehran has launched a rocket with a satellite carrier bearing three devices into space, though it’s unclear if any object entered orbit. The state TV report on Thursday did not say when the launch was conducted or what devices

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 close to 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

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Democratic lawmakers in California, Maryland and Washington passed far-reaching policing reforms this year in response to the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. But the first full year of state legislative sessions since the killing sparked a summer of racial justice protests produced a far more

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A member of the jury that convicted Minnesota police officer Kim Potter of manslaughter in the killing of Daunte Wright says jurors felt she made an honest mistake when she drew her firearm instead of her Taser, but that she was still responsible for his death. The juror spoke with KARE-TV reporter

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Stocks were modestly higher Thursday, helped by a bit of good economic data. Trading was relatively quiet with many investors having closed out their positions for the year. Companies that rely on consumer spending as well as health care and communications stocks accounted for a big share of the

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Officials from the state of Virginia and the city of Richmond have tentatively decided the future of their now mostly relocated Confederate monuments. The officials on Thursday announced a proposal to transfer ownership to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. Included in the transfer would be an enormous

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Electric car maker Tesla is recalling certain Model 3s because a coaxial cable for its backup camera can become worn and fail to transmit to the driver’s main console. All Model 3s from model years 2017 to 2020 are included in the recall, with as many as

WINFIELD, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama say homes and buildings were damaged and trees blown down as a line of intense thunderstorms rolled across several Southern states. The storms Wednesday brought the threat of tornadoes and high winds, though it wasn’t immediately known whether a twister caused the damage in Alabama on Wednesday evening.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police say a man fatally shot his 16-year-old daughter in the family’s Ohio home after he mistook her for an intruder. Authorities say the mother called 911 after the shooting in Columbus around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday and said the father had shot at someone he thought was breaking into the house

By DAVID CRARY and JOHN HANNA Associated Press Year after year, several thousand women in the U.S. carry an unintended pregnancy to term and then offer the baby for adoption. It’s a choice commended by many foes of abortion. Yet despite a huge demand for babies from Americans yearning to adopt, perhaps 40 times more

BRADLEY, Ill. (AP) — Authorities are searching for two people believed to have been involved in the fatal shooting of one police officer and wounding of another at a northern Illinois hotel. The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that two Bradley police officers were shot late Wednesday while speaking to people in a room

CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese security forces have fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Khartoum as thousands of people rallied again in the capital and elsewhere in the country to protest  the October military coup. Despite tightened security measures and closures of bridges and roads, protesters marched on Thursday in Khartoum, beating drums and waving

The Associated Press Stocks are opening with slight gains on Wall Street Thursday, keeping the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering just above the latest record highs they set a day earlier. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in the first few minutes of trading, led by gains in banks, health care

By KAREN MATTHEWS and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio says New York City will ring in 2022 in Times Square as planned despite record numbers of COVID-19 infections in the city and around the nation. De Blasio said on NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday that he wants

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell below 200,000, more evidence that the job market remains strong in the aftermath of last year’s coronavirus recession. Jobless claims dropped by 8,000 to 198,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week

By NASSER KARIMI and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian state television says Tehran has launched a rocket with a satellite carrier bearing three devices into space, though it’s unclear if any object entered orbit. The state TV report on Thursday did not say when the launch was conducted or what devices

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s former president says he had just minutes to decide to flee in the hours before the Taliban took control of the capital in August. Ashraf Ghani told Britain’s BBC in a rare interview aired on Thursday that he had “no inkling” he would be leaving by