AP National News

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Hubble Space Telescope and its upcoming replacement are vastly different. The deputy project scientist for the new James Webb Space Telescope says comparing the two is like asking if you love your second child as much as your first. With Hubble pushing 32

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors are considering an emergency order to speed up the city’s ability to stem the high number of overdose deaths in its troubled Tenderloin district. The emergency order is part of Mayor London Breed’s plan to crack down on drug use

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarus has labeled the local service of U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty extremist, launched a criminal probe against one of its journalists and arrested another one. It’s the latest move in a crackdown on independent media. Belarusian journalists and ordinary citizens face up to seven

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — At least four people have died after a sailboat carrying dozens of migrants struck rocks off southern Greece and sank. The coast guard said the bodies were recovered from around a rocky islet near the island of Antikythera, some 235 kilometers (145 miles) south of Athens, after their vessel struck the

By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian media say Iraq’s foreign minister has called for direct negotiations between Iran and the United States. It’s a rare appeal just days before world powers are set to resume talks over the tattered nuclear accord in Vienna. The top Iraqi diplomat spoke at a news

By AMY FORLITI and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The jury has reached a trial outcome in the manslaughter trial of the suburban Minneapolis police officer who killed Black motorist Daunte Wright after she says she mistook her gun for her Taser during a traffic stop. The jury announced it had a trial

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The last three months have been very dry in New Mexico and it’s going to get worse. That’s the word from forecasters with the National Weather Service and other climate experts in the state. They said during a meeting this week that New Mexico reservoirs

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are warning the public not to eat certain brands of packaged salads, which they say are linked to two small, long-running listeria outbreaks in which three people died. One outbreak is linked to packaged salads produced by Fresh Express and another has

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A prosecutor says former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo won’t face criminal charges after a female state trooper said she felt “completely violated” by his unwanted touching at an event at a Long Island racetrack in September 2019. Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith

By AMY FORLITI and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jurors weighing the case against a suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright opened their fourth day of deliberations on Thursday with the Christmas holiday looming. That is raising questions about how the judge will handle former Brooklyn Center

By BARBARA SURK Associated Press NICE, France (AP) — France has condemned the Malian transitional authorities’ decision to allow the deployment of the Wagner Group, and accused Moscow of funding the private military company’s use of mercenaries in the West African country. “We are aware of the involvement of the Russian government in providing material

By JIM MUSTIAN, JEFFREY COLLINS and CANDICE CHOI Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden promised to distribute hundreds of millions of free COVID-19 tests and to open more testing sites, but the stepped-up efforts will not come in time for the holidays. Americans have been searching drugstores for scarce home tests or

By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press Five teenagers were charged Thursday after the vehicle stolen at gunpoint in Philadelphia from U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon was found in neighboring Delaware, police said. Scanlon’s blue Acura MDX was located Wednesday night in Newark, Delaware, about 45 miles (74 kilometers) from Philadelphia, Delaware State Police said. The five

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Joan Didion, the revered author and essayist whose provocative social commentary and detached, methodical literary voice made her a uniquely clear-eyed critic of a uniquely turbulent time, has died. She was 87. Didion’s publisher Penguin Random House announced the author’s death on Thursday. She died from

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. A federal appeals court ruled against Trump two weeks ago, but prohibited documents held by the National

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s public health agency says preliminary data suggest that people with the omicron variant are between 50% and 70% less likely to need hospitalization than those with the delta strain of the coronavirus. The U.K. Health Security Agency findings add to emerging evidence that omicron produces milder

Associated Press Wall Street delivered another strong year in 2021, as a spike in consumer demand fueled by the reopening of the global economy pumped up corporate profits. Investors faced plenty of challenges, however, most notably a resurgence of inflation and the persistent coronavirus pandemic. Retail investors made their presence felt by boosting GameStop and

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — A Muskogee, Oklahoma, sixth-grader has been honored by law enforcement and school officials for his heroic actions not just once, but twice in the same day. The Muskogee Phoenix newspaper reports Davyon Johnson used the Heimlich maneuver on a classmate who was choking on a bottle cap. Later that same day,

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have requested permission to appeal a ruling that opened the door for his extradition from Britain to the United States on spying charges. The attorneys on Thursday asked for permission to appeal the High Court’s ruling, arguing that the U.S. government’s pledge Assange wouldn’t be subjected